NBC Wins Wednesday Overnights; ABC

THE PROGRAMMING INSIDERThursday, September 2, 2010 Prime-Time Metered Market Wednesday Ratings:NBC Wins; ABC’s CMA Music Festival Down Year-to-Year Ratings Box:What’s Hot/What’s Not On the Air Tonight:Prime-Time Programming Options TV Tidbits:Notes of Interest TV Trivia Time: Hi’Ya, Mr. B________________________________________________________________________________ Prime-Time Metered Market Wednesday Ratings:NBC Wins; ABC’s CMA Music Festival Down Year-to-Year Wednesday 9/01/10 HH Rtg/Shr NBC 5.0/ 8CBS 4.4/ 7ABC 4.0/ 7Fox 3.6/ 6CW 0.9/ 1 ---------- -Percent Change From the Year-Ago Evening (Wednesday, September 2, 2009):Fox: +20, ABC: + 5, CBS: no change, NBC: - 7, CW: -19 ---------- -Percent of Schedule in Repeats: 23 -Number of Days Until Start of the 2010-11 Season: 18 ---------- -Yesterday’s Winners:Big Brother (CBS), America’s Got Talent (NBC) -Yesterday’s Losers (excluding repeats):Plain Jane (CW) ---------- -Ratings Breakdown:Despite facing yearly musical extravaganza CMA Music Festival: Country’s Night to Rock on ABC, NBC dominated the overnights on this first Wednesday of September, with a 14 percent advantage over second-place CBS. Next was ABC, followed by Fox and, of course, distant The CW. Aforementioned CMA Music Festival: Country’s Night to Rock averaged a 4.0 rating/7 share in the overnights from 8-11 p.m., which was down by 13 percent from its year-ago telecast on Monday, August 31, 2009 (4.6/ 7). Comparably, that translated into 7.39 million viewers and a 2.0 rating/6 share among adults 18-49 in the Live Plus Same Day results. Here is the half-hour overnight breakdown: CMA Music Festival: Country’s Night to Rock (ABC) 8:00 p.m.: 4.4/ 8 (#2) 8:30 p.m.: 4.0/ 7 (#3) 9:00 p.m.: 4.1/ 7 (#2) 9:30 p.m.: 4.0/ 6 (#3)10:00 p.m.: 4.1/ 7 (#2)10:30 p.m.: 3.3/ 6 (#3) NBC opened the evening with recently renewed game show Minute to Win It (#3: 3.8/ 7 at 8 p.m.), followed by America’s Got Talent (#1: 6.8/11) and a repeat of Law & Order: SVU (#1: 4.4/ 8) from 9-11 p.m. As usual, America’s Got Talent was the top-rated show of the evening, but one of the standouts of the season, Alice Tan Ridley (Precious star Gabourey Sidibe’s mother), was sent packing. Over at CBS, addictive Big Brother, which is enjoying a summer season of growth, won the 8 p.m. hour in the overnights, with a 5.0/ 9. As for tonight’s live eviction, let’s hope we will be celebrating tonight. Go Meow Meow! Also on CBS last night were repeats of Criminal Minds (#2: 4.2/ 7) and CSI: NY (#2: 4.0/ 7) from 9-11 p.m. Over at Fox, another two-hour installment of Masterchef, which is a modest summer player among adults 18-49, averaged a 3.6/ 6 in the overnights from 8-10 p.m., with the half-hour breakdown as follows: Masterchef (Fox) 8:00 p.m.: 3.4/ 6 (#4) 8:30 p.m.: 3.7/ 6 (#4) 9:00 p.m.: 3.6/ 6 (#4) 9:30 p.m.: 3.8/ 6 (#4) At some point, Gordon Ramsay is going to have his own network. The CW capped off the evening with a repeat of America’s Next Top Model (#5: 1.0/ 2) and the season (or series) finale of Plain Jane (#5: 0.8/ 1), which lived up to its title in the ratings this summer. As a reminder, here is what you will be seeing on the broadcast networks on Wednesday this fall (with new shows in caps and bolded), followed by the odds of survival for the new series: ABC 8:00 p.m.: The Middle (new time) 8:30 p.m. BETTER TOGETHER 9:00 p.m.: Modern Family 9:30 p.m. Cougar Town 10:00 p.m.: THE WHOLE TRUTH CBS 8:00 p.m.: Survivor: Nicaragua (new day) 9:00 p.m.: Criminal Minds 10:00 p.m.: THE DEFENDERS NBC 8:00 p.m.: UNDERCOVERS9:00 p.m.: Law & Order: SVU (new time)10:00 p.m. LAW & ORDER: LOS ANGELES Fox 8:00 p.m. Lie To Me (new day and time) 9:00 p.m.: Hell’s Kitchen (new day) CW 8:00 p.m.: America’s Next Top Model 9:00 p.m. HELLCATS Odds of Survivor for the New Shows (based on 1-1, the best, to 10-1, the worst): Better Together (ABC): 2-1Law & Order: Los Angeles (NBC): 2-1Undercovers (NBC): 7-1The Defenders (CBS): 8-1Hellcats (CW): 8-1 Source: Nielsen Media Research data (R = repeat) Ratings Box:What’s Hot/What’s Not -29 Million Viewers Tune into President Obama on Tuesday:Nielsen is reporting that 29.23 million viewers tuned into President Barack Obama’s address to the country in the Tuesday 8-8:20 p.m. ET block this week on ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, Telemundo, Univision, CNN, CNBC, CNTRC, Fox News and MSNBC. Comparably, viewing levels were down by nine percent from his address on the oil spill on June 15, 2010, and down 28 percent from his speech on Dec. 1, 2009 when he announced a strategy for U.S. involvement in Afghanistan. -Speaking of Tuesday:Based on the fast affiliate ratings, Univision finished first for the night on Tuesday in adults 18-34 (2.1 rating/6 share) and second overall among adults 18-49, with a 1.8/ 6 in the demo. Results in total viewers was fourth (behind NBC, CBS and ABC), with 4.33 million viewers. Source: Nielsen Media Research data (R = repeat) On the Air Tonight:Prime-Time Programming Options Thursday 9/02/10 ABC: 8:00 p.m. Wipeout (R) 9:00 p.m. Rookie Blue 10:00 p.m. NightlinePrime: Secrets of Your Mind: Why We Do What We Do CBS: 8:00 p.m. Big Brother 9:00 p.m. CSI (R)10:00 p.m. The Mentalist (R) NBC: 8:00 p.m. Community (R) 8:30 p.m. 30 Rock (R) 9:00 p.m. The Office (R) 9:30 p.m. Community (R)10:00 p.m. Law & Order: SVU (R) Fox: 8:00 p.m. Bones (R) 9:00 p.m. Fringe (R) CW 8:00 p.m. The Vampire Diaries (R) 9:00 p.m. 90210 (R) Of Note on Cable:-Futurama: Comedy Central, 10 p.m. ET (season finale)-Top 20 Most Shocking: Battling Babes 2, truTV, 10 p.m. ET______________________________________________________________________ TV Tidbits:Notes of Interest -The Jamie Foxx Project on Fox:Fox has picked-up a half-hour sketch comedy for midseason tentatively titled The Jamie Foxx Project, which will be executive produced by the Academy Award winner and former In Living Color ensemble player. The focus will be on pop culture, with planned spoofs of celebrities, TV shows, movies, commercials and music featured. Comedian/actor Affion Crockett (The Boondocks) will star and produce. -More Hung and Memphis Beat:HBO has renewed comedy Hung for a third season, with an order for 10 new episodes slated to air in 2011. TNT, meanwhile, has picked-up freshman drama Memphis Beat for a second season, with an unspecified number of new episodes for 2010-11. The cable net renewed its other recently introduced crime solver, Rizzoli & Isles, last month. -Jane Lynch on Nickelodeon:Recent Emmy winner Jane Lynch will guest star as Pam Puckett, the eccentric mother of Sam on Nickelodeon’s red-hot iCarly. The episode, “iSam’s Mom,” airs on Saturday, Sept. 11 at 8 p.m. ET. -One Tree Hill and LUX Crossover:CW serialized dramas One Tree Hill and sophomore Life Unexpected are hoping to garner attention with a crossover episode on Tuesday, Oct. 12. In the storyline, One Tree Hill’s Haley James Scott (Bethany Joy Galeotti) and Mia Catalano (Kate Voegele) will perform at a Portland music festival where newlyweds Cate (Shiri Appleby) and Ryan (Kerr Smith) have their morning show on Life Unexpected. -Speaking of One Tree Hill:Former N.Y.P.D. Blue star Sharon Lawrence will appear on a recurring basis next season as Julian’s (Austin Nichols) mother. -Dancing With the Stars Pairs Up New Celebrity Contestants:We know which celebrities will be competing in the upcoming season of ABC’s Dancing With the Stars, which begins on Monday, Sept. 20. But here is a listing of which dance instructors they will be paired with: Michael Bolton: Chelsie HightowerBrandy: Maksim ChmerkovskiyMargaret Cho: Louis Van AmstelRick Fox: Cheryl BurkeJennifer Grey: Derek HoughDavid Hasselhoff: Kym JohnsonFlorence Henderson: Corky BallasKyle Massey: Lacey SchwimmerBristol Palin: Mark BallasAudrina Patridge: Tony DovolaniMichael “The Situation” Sorrentino: Karina SmirnoffKurt Warner: Anna Trebunskaya Sadly, Mr. TV’s two favorites, Edyta Sliwinska and Ashley Costa, will not be participating this coming season. Wouldn’t it be nice for a change for overrated Cheryl Burke to take a break?_________________________________________________________________________ TV Trivia Time:Hi’Ya, Mr. B Remember George and Dorothy Baxter, the couple outspoken Hazel Burke was the maid for on 1961-66 sitcom Hazel? Who is the daughter in real life of the actress who played Dorothy? a) Meredith Baxter b) Pam Dawber c) Pamela Sue Martind) Elizabeth Montgomery e) Lisa Whelchel The answer to yesterday’s question… Who played the role of David in the pilot of feel-good family drama Eight is Enough? a) Desi Arnaz, Jr. b) Billy Crystalc) Mark Hamill d) Ralph Macchioe) Tom Wopat Is: c) Mark Hamill. Although Mark Hamill at the time did not want to do the series because he had just completed theatrical Star Wars, he reconsidered but had to be recast after suffering a car accident and injuring his face. All together now… There's a magic in the early morning we found, When the sun rise smiles on everything around. It's a portrait of the happiness that we feel and always will, For eight is enough to fill our lives with love. Oh we spend our days like bright and shiny new dimes. If we're ever puzzled by the changing times. There's a plate of homemade wishes on the kitchen window sill, And eight is enough to fill our lives with love -Current kudos goes to:Suzanne Ackley, Barbara Berman, Gerry Bixenspan, Barbara Bloomfield, John Brooker, Larry Collins, Tom Condosta, Harold Cooper, Mark Cosenza, Bob Eisenstaedt, Maureen Goldman, Martha Gonzalez, Ed Griffis, Randy Hainlen, Michelle Harrington, Carolyn Becker Hayes, Carolyn Hommel, Ken Hommel, Bob Ingersoll,David Jackino, Ken Jobe (2x), Deb Kainer, Tom Kilgallon, Steve Kurtzer, Charmaine Leary, Barbara Linebarger, Rick Locke, Melinda Lujan, Patty Lynch, Lisa Menin, Andrew Miller, Joanne Albrecht Murnane, Frank Nicotero, Bill Nuss, Alex Petrilli, Jr. Greg Phelan, Gordon Purcell, Michael Ratliffe, Colleen Roth, David Ruckman, Neal Saban, Greg Salerno, Michelle Stanton

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NBC Wins Wednesday Overnights; ABC

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