Modest Start for NBC's Parenthood

THE PROGRAMMING INSIDERWednesday, March 3, 2010 Prime-Time Metered Market Tuesday Ratings:Fox Wins; Modest Start for NBC’s Parenthood National Ratings in Prime-Time:Week of February 22, 2010 Ratings Box:What’s Hot/What’s Not On the Air Tonight:Prime-Time Programming Options TV Tidbits:Notes of Interest TV Trivia Time: Hello, Mum ________________________________________________________________________________ Prime-Time Metered Market Tuesday Ratings:Fox Wins; Modest Start for NBC’s Parenthood Tuesday 3/02/10Note: Cincinnati, Orlando and Portland are excluded from the following averages. HH Rtg/Shr Fox 14.8/22CBS 10.5/16NBC 5.6/ 9ABC 4.6/ 7CW 0.5/ 1---------- -Percent Change From the Year-Ago Evening (Tuesday, March 3, 2009):CBS: +30, ABC and Fox: + 7 each, NBC: + 6, CW: -55 ---------- -Yesterday’s Winners:American Idol (Fox), NCIS (CBS), NCIS: Los Angeles (CBS), Lost (ABC), The Good Wife (CBS) -Disappointing:Parenthood (NBC) -Yesterday’s Losers (excluding repeats):20/20: Before They Were Famous (ABC) ---------- -Ratings Breakdown:Fox led the Tuesday overnight troops care of American Idol, but there was plenty of room for significant second-place CBS. Third overall was NBC, which featured the series-premiere of highly promoted family drama Parenthood, followed by ABC and another Tuesday of repeats on The CW. Beginning with Fox, a two-hour edition of American Idol featuring the male performers was on the dominant map with a 14.8 rating/22 share in the overnights from 8-10 p.m. Take a look at the half-hour breakdown: American Idol (Fox)8:00 p.m.: 13.9/21 (#1)8:30 p.m.: 15.2/22 (#1)9:00 p.m.: 14.9/22 (#1)9:30 p.m.: 15.0/22 (#1) My two picks to bid adieu tomorrow: John Park and Jermaine Sellers. CBS scored another rock solid Tuesday with its combination of NCIS (#2: 12.3/19), spin-off NCIS: Los Angeles (#2: 9.8/14) and The Good Wife (#2: 9.5/16), which outdelivered the series-premiere of NBC’s Parenthood (#2: 5.4/ 9) by a hefty 80 percent in the overnights. Comparably, Parenthood opened at similar levels to a repeat of Law & order: SVU on the year-ago evening (5.2/ 9 on March 2, 2009), with retention out of the 9:30 p.m. portion of lead-in The Biggest Loser (6.1/ 9) of 89 percent. It also built from the final Tuesday performance of former occupant The Jay Leno Show (4.2/ 7 on February 9) by 29 percent. While the retention certainly sounds good, chances are the percentage will be significantly lower among key adults 18-49. Given the ample promotion on The Winter Olympics, this is a disappointing start for Parenthood. Earlier in the evening on NBC was young adult-driven The Biggest Loser at a 5.7/ 8 from 8-10 p.m., with the half-hour breakdown as follows: The Biggest Loser (NBC)8:00 p.m.: 5.4/ 8 (#3)8:30 p.m.: 5.5/ 8 (#3)9:00 p.m.: 5.8/ 8 (#4)9:30 p.m.: 6.1/ 9 (#4) Over at ABC, Lost finished third at 9 p.m., with a respectable 6.8/10 in the overnights, but that should be enough to take the hour among adults 18-49 (hence the “winners” listing). But 10 p.m. special 20/20: Before They Were Famous finished third, with a 4.1/ 7. Earlier in the evening on ABC was a repeat of Lost at a fourth-place 3.1/ 5 at 8 p.m. If Lost continues to confuse you, the advantage of watching the 8 p.m. encore is the pop-up commentary. Last, and very least, were repeats of The CW’s 90210 (0.6/ 1) and Melrose Place (0.5/ 1), which return with original episodes next Tuesday. Source: Nielsen Media Research data (R = repeat)_____________________________________________________________________________ National Ratings in Prime-Time:Week of February 22, 2010 Dominant NBC stood well above the competition, of course, care of the second (and final) week of The Vancouver Olympic Winter Games, which held an ample advantage over second-place Fox. Particularly beneficial for NBC was the half-hour series premiere/preview of The Marriage Ref, which led out of The Winter Olympic Closing Ceremony on Sunday with 14.45 million viewers (#13) and a 4.9 rating/14 share among adults 18-49 (#11) at 10:30 p.m. Let’s see what happens tomorrow when The Marriage Ref kicks-off in its regularly scheduled Thursday 10 p.m. time period (out of a one-hour episode of The Office and opposite ABC’s Private Practice and CBS’ The Mentalist). Needless to say, it will likely come in well below its Sunday preview. Led by American Idol, Fox finished a solid second across the board at levels close to one year earlier. Excluding a fourth-place finish among adults 18-34, CBS ranked third with erosion of as much as 29 percent in both households and total viewers. ABC was just the opposite (third in adults 18-34 and fourth elsewhere), also with double-digit losses from the year-ago week. Last-place The CW, which included low-rated Sunday in the year-ago averages, managed to build by 20 percent among both adults 18-49 and adults 25-54. In series-finale news, ABC legal drama The Deep End exited on a typically quiet note, with just 3.87 million viewers (#59 overall) and a 1.1/ 3 among adults 18-49 (#61t) in the Thursday 8 p.m. hour. In the specials department, The 41st Annual NAACP Awards on Fox Friday plunged to a historically low 2.86 million viewers (#69) and a 0.8/ 3 in the demo (#72t). While The Winter Olympics hogged the limelight, there was interesting news outside of NBC on Sunday, with CBS’ recently introduced Undercover Boss outdelivering ABC’s veteran Desperate Housewives for the second consecutive week. Take a look: Sunday 9 p.m.Undercover Boss (CBS)Viewers: 15.15 million (#12), A18-49: 5.1/12 (#10) Desperate Housewives (ABC)Viewers: 10.89 million (#17), A18-49: 3.7/ 9 (#16t) Here are the final national ratings for the week of February 22, 2010 (with percent change versus the comparable year-ago week in parentheses), followed by the top 30 rated programs of the week and the top rated networks on basic cable. -Households:NBC: 12.4 rating/20 share (+218), Fox: 6.3/10 (- 3), CBS: 4.9/ 8 (-29), ABC: 3.6/ 6 (-25), CW: 0.9/ 1 (no change) -Total Viewers: NBC: 21.32 million (+244), Fox: 11.01 (- 1), CBS: 7.81 (-29), ABC: 5.70 (-23), CW: 1.43 (+ 4) -Adults 18-49:NBC: 5.5 rating/14 share (+150), Fox: 4.1/11 (no change), CBS: 2.0/ 5 (-20), ABC: 1.9/ 5 (-24), CW: 0.6/ 2 (+20) -Adults 25-54:NBC: 7.1/17 (+173), Fox: 4.6/11 (- 4), CBS: 2.6/ 6 (-26), ABC: 2.3/ 6 (-21), CW: 0.6/ 1 (+20) -Adults 18-34:NBC: 3.7/12 (+118), Fox: 3.5/11 (+ 3), ABC: 1.6/ 5 (-24), CBS: 1.3/ 4 (-13), CW: 0.6/ 2 (no change) -------------------- Top 30 Rankings -Total Viewers:Winter Olympics – Friday (NBC): 24.52 million, American Idol – Tuesday (Fox): 24.21, American Idol – Wednesday (Fox): 22.96, Winter Olympics – Thursday (NBC): 22.92, Winter Olympics – Saturday (NBC): 20.63, Winter Olympics – Closing Ceremony (NBC): 21.40, Winter Olympics – Tuesday (NBC): 21.28, Winter Olympics – Monday (NBC): 20.93, Winter Olympics – Wednesday (NBC): 19.81, American Idol – Thursday (Fox): 18.03, Vancouver Gold (NBC): 17.99, Undercover Boss (CBS): 15.15, The Marriage Ref (NBC, premiere/preview): 14.45, Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains (CBS): 11.60, NCIS R (CBS): 11.59, The Bachelor (ABC): 11.27, Desperate Housewives (ABC): 10.89, 60 Minutes (CBS): 10.81, Two and a Half Men R (CBS): 10.29, The Amazing Race (CBS): 10.21, Lost (ABC): 9.95, Cold Case (CBS): 9.83, The Mentalist R (CBS): 9.65, The Big Bang Theory R (CBS): 9.16, 24 (Fox): 8.83, NCIS: Los Angeles R (CBS): 8.61, CSI: Miami R (CBS): 7.95, CSI: NY R (CBS): 7.94, Brothers & Sisters (ABC): 7.92, America’s Funniest Home Videos (ABC): 7.86 -Adults 18-49:American Idol – Tuesday (Fox): 9.0 rating/22 share, American Idol – Wednesday (Fox): 8.7/23, Winter Olympics – Friday (NBC): 6.5/20, American Idol – Thursday (Fox): 6.1/17, Winter Olympics – Thursday (NBC): 6.1/17, Winter Olympics – Wednesday (NBC): 5.5/15, Winter Olympics – Tuesday (NBC) and Winter Olympics – Closing Ceremony (NBC): 5.5/14 each, Winter Olympics – Monday (NBC): 5.4/14, Undercover Boss (CBS): 5.1/12, The Marriage Ref (NBC): 4.9/14, Winter Olympics – Saturday (NBC): 4.8/15, Vancouver Gold (NBC): 4.8/14, Lost (ABC): 4.6/11, The Bachelor (ABC): 3.9/10, Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains (CBS): 3.7/10, Desperate Housewives (ABC): 3.7/ 9, Kitchen Nightmares (Fox): 3.4/ 9, Two and a Half Men R (CBS) and The Big Bang Theory R (CBS): 3.3/ 8 each, The Amazing Race (CBS): 3.2/ 8, 24 (Fox) and Family Guy R (Fox): 2.8/ 7 each, Brothers & Sisters (ABC): 2.5/ 7, Cold Case (CBS): 2.4/ 6, NCIS R (CBS), The Simpsons R (Fox) and The Cleveland Show R (Fox): 2.3/6 each, America’s Funniest Home Videos (ABC): 2.2/ 7, How I Met Your Mother R (CBS), CSI: Miami R (CBS) and The Mentalist R (CBS): 2.2/ 6 each, American Dad R (Fox): 2.2/ 5 CABLE What follows are the top 10 rated networks on cable in prime-time for the week of Feb 22 based on total viewers and the three key demos: Total Viewers:USA: 2.96 million, Fox News: 2.05, TNT: 1.89, TBS: 1.79, Nick at Nite: 1.78, A&E: 1.36, Cartoon Network: 1.35, History: 1.30, ABC Family: 1.27, ESPN: 1.26 Adults 18-49:USA: 1.23 million, TBS: 1.03 million, TNT: 926,000, FX: 683,000, CNBC: 613,000, A&E: 611,000, ESPN: 596,000, History: 578,000, Tru: 556,000, ABC Family: 538,000 Adults 25-54:USA: 1.34 million, TNT: 945,000, TBS: 895,000, History: 648,000, A&E: 634,000, CNBC: 624,000, FX: 617,000, Syfy: 568,000, Tru: 567,000, ESPN: 554,000 Adults 18-34:USA: 558,000, TBS: 545,000, TNT: 459,000, MTV: 402,000, Comedy Central: 376,000, FX: 355,000, ESPN: 350,000, A&E: 285,000, ABC Family: 279,000, Nick at Nite: 276,000 Source: Nielsen Media Research data (R = repeat) Ratings Box:What’s Hot/What’s Not -Leno in Late Night Update:Night two of Jay Leno in his old spot as host of NBC’s The Tonight Show proved victorious, with a 4.6 rating/12 share in the overnights on March 2. CBS’ The Late Show with David Letterman averaged a 3.1/ 8, while ABC’s Nightline (3.0/ 7) and Jimmy Kimmel Live (1.7/ 5) finished third. -Top 20 in Syndication – Week of Feb. 15:Here are the top 20 rated programs in syndication (first-run and off-network) based on household rating for the week of Feb.15, followed by an highlights of note: Wheel of Fortune (CBS Television Distribution): 7.2 rating, Jeopardy (CBS): 6.2, Two and a Half Men (Warner Bros.): 5.5, Judge Judy (CBS): 4.7, Oprah (CBS): 4.6, Entertainment Tonight (CBS): 4.4, Wheel of Fortune – Weekend (CBS): 3.8, Family Guy (Twentieth): 3.5, Inside Edition (CBS) and CSI: NY (CBS): 3.2 each, The Office (NBC Universal) and Law & Order: Criminal Intent (NBCU): 3.1 each, Dr. Phil (CBS) and George Lopez (Warner Bros.): 2.8 each, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (Disney-ABC), Seinfeld (Sony Pictures Television) and Everybody Loves Raymond (CBS): 2.7 each, Live With Regis & Kelly (Disney-ABC) and Two and a Half Men – Weekend (Warner Bros.): 2.6 each -NBC Universal’s Access Hollywood (2.4) built by 20 percent over the year-ago week, tying its season high. It also increased from both one week earlier and year-to-year in women 18-49 (1.3), women 25-54 (1.6) and women 18-34 (0.9). -Also from NBC Universal: Maury tied first with Oprah among all talkers in adults 18-34 (1.2: up 20 percent from one year earlier), while Steve Wilkos (1.3) and Jerry Springer (1.4) each tied their season highs in households. -CBS’ Inside Edition still managed to crack the top 10 despite the coverage falling to 89 percent (after being pre-empted in four markets for Olympics coverage). -Aforementioned Oprah extended its winning streak in households to 564 weeks in the category. In off-net sitcoms, Warner Bros.’ Two and a Half Men has now dominated for 122 straight weeks. -Also at Warner Bros., TMZ (2.0 in households) finished the week first among all magazines in women 18-34, adults 18-34 and men 18-34. Source: Nielsen Media Research data (R = repeat) On the Air Tonight:Prime-Time Programming Options Wednesday 3/02/10 ABC: 8:00 p.m. Modern Family (R) 8:30 p.m. The Middle 9:00 p.m. Modern Family 9:30 p.m. Cougar Town 10:00 p.m. The Oprah Winfrey Oscar Special CBS: 8:00 p.m. The New Adventures of Old Christine 8:30 p.m. Gary Unmarried 9:00 p.m. Criminal Minds 10:00 p.m. CSI: NY NBC: 8:00 p.m. Mercy 9:00 p.m. Law & Order: SVU10:00 p.m. Law & Order: SVU (new time period) Fox: 8:00 p.m American Idol (two hours) CW 8:00 p.m. Life Unexpected (R) 9:00 p.m. Gossip Girl (R) -Of Note on Cable:The Locator (WE): 10 p.m. ET (season premiere) ______________________________________________________________________ TV Tidbits:Notes of Interest -Access Hollywood Live from NBCU:NBC Universal has come up with a replacement for exiting Martha (which is heading to Hallmark Channel): Access Hollywood Live, a one-hour spin-off from Access Hollywood that will focus on everything Tinsel Town related. To-date, six NBC Local Media stations will carry the daily hour, including WNBC/New York, KNBC/Los Angeles, WMAQ/Chicago, KNTV/San Francisco, KNSD/San Diego and WVIT/Hartford. -Handicapping The Oscars:Technically this is the movies, I know. But since The 82nd Annual Academy Awards will be airing on ABC this coming Sunday (and hopefully also on WABC in New York too, which is in a current dispute with carrier Cablevision), here are my picks in the supporting actor and actress categories. BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR The Nominees:Matt Damon (Invictus) Woody Harrelson (The Messenger) Christopher Plummer (The Last Station) Stanley Tucci (The Lovely Bones) Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds) Who Should Win: Christoph WaltzWho Will Win: Christoph Waltz With more than two dozen prizes to-date for his role as the evil SS colonel, including Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival, Oscar is expected to accentuate Christoph Waltz’ winning streak. ----- SUPPORTING ACTRESS The Nominees:Penelope Cruz (Nine) Vera Farmiga (Up in the Air) Maggie Gyllenhaal (Crazy Heart) Anna Kendrick (Up in the Air) Mo’Nique (Precious) Who Should Win: Mo’NiqueWho Will Win: Mo’Nique You probably know by now that the wonderful Mo’Nique is one of favorites in this business. She just radiates charm, love and support. But as the horrifically abusive mother in Precious, she is absolutely unrecognizable. See you at the podium, Mo’Nique. _________________________________________________________________________ TV Trivia Time:Hello, Mum Remember camp classic serial Prisoner: Cell Block H? What country was it produced in? AustraliaFranceIrelandItalyRussia The answer to yesterday’s question… What was the name of the Fred and Wilma’s pet saber-toothed tiger on animated The Flintstones? Baby PussGravel GertieHoppityRockySimba Is: a) Baby Puss. To the masses who answered Hoppity, that was Betty and Barney’s pet hopparoo. All together now… Flintstones. Meet the Flintstones. They're the modern stone age family. From the town of Bedrock, They're a page right out of history. Let's ride with the family down the street. Through the courtesy of Fred's two feet. When you're with the Flintstones you'll have a yabba dabba doo time. A dabba doo time. You'll have a gay old time. -Current kudos goes to:Suzanne Ackley, Gerry Bixenspan, Barbara Bloomfield, Tom Condosta, Reid Davis, John Ferlazzo, Arleen Fong, Karen Gardner, Maureen Goldman, Geoffrey Gordon, Brad Hight, Melissa Hodgdon, Kerry Hughes, Bob Ingersoll, Ken Jobe, Michael Johnson, Deb Kainer, Synda Kollman, Mark Krause, Steve Kurtzer, Tom Lawrenson, Howard Lieboff, Patty Lynch, Michael MacCray, Jim Moore, Michael Murphy, Bruce Robinson, David Ruckman, Erin Ryan, Ron Salmon, Maxine Schulman, Michelle Stanton, Nina Tomlinson

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Modest Start for NBC's Parenthood

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