The Overnights: CW's 'Shedding for the Wedding' DOA

With behemoth American Idol on board, Fox scored an easy overnight Wednesday victory, more than doubling the household rating of distant second place CBS on Feb. 23. Fox scored an average 14.5 rating/22 share, according to Nielsen Media Research data, followed by CBS (7.0/11), ABC (4.6/7), NBC (3.5/6) and The CW (1.4/2). As expected, there was no interest in The Biggest Loser clone, Shedding for the Wedding, with an embarrassing 0.8 rating/1 share in the overnights at 9 p.m. on The CW. And pathetically, this is the only new entry The CW has in midseason. Considering most new series drop in the vicinity of 10 percent-20 percent in week two, the only advantage of debuting this low is not having too much farther to fall. The CW still wants critics to believe that veteran America’s Next Top Model is a force to be reckoned with. Unfortunately, the latest chapter of the tired reality/competition kicked off with just a 2.0/3 in the overnights at 8 p.m. By the numbers, this was a loss of 35 percent from its year-ago midseason opener. Maybe it's time for Tyra Banks and her band of model wannabes to call it quits. Fox’s American Idol stood well above the competition, of course, with a 14.5/22 in the overnights from 8-10 p.m. Has anyone even noticed Simon Cowell’s absence? In week two news, Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior on CBS finished first in the 10 p.m. hour, with a 6.3/11 in the overnights. But compared to its week-ago debut (8.2/14 on Feb. 16), that was a loss of (a noticeable) 23 percent. Plus, Suspect Behavior dipped by 26 percent from the 9:30 p.m. portion of lead-in (and parent series) Criminal Minds (8.5/13). So, this may not be the automatic hit everyone assumed it would be. Earlier in the evening on CBS was Survivor: Redemption Island at a second place 6.4/10 at 8 p.m., which was identical to one week earlier. Two episodes into this season and kooky Phil is now one of the more memorable contestants in the entire history of the series. Where does Mark Burnett find these nut-jobs? In week three news, ABC sitcom Mr. Sunshine posted more losses, with a distant third place 4.5/ 7 in the overnights at 9:30 p.m. In just two weeks, Mr. Sunshine has declined by 42 percent, and the retention for out-of-demo favorite Modern Family (No. 3: 7.4/11 at 9 p.m.) was just 61 percent. Earlier in the evening on ABC were sitcoms The Middle (No. 3: 5.3/8) and lackluster Better With You (No. 3: 3.8/6) from 8-9 p.m. And capping it off was failing recent entry Off the Map, which lived up to its title with a last place 3.4/6 at 10 p.m. Just what we needed—Grey’s Anatomy set in the jungle! Over at NBC, two episodes of game show Minute to Win It cannot compete with American Idol, with a paltry 2.5/4 in the overnights from 8-10 p.m. But veteran Law & Order: SVU moved into the No. 2 spot at 10 p.m., with a 5.5/10.

Convergent TV

The Overnights: CW's 'Shedding for the Wedding' DOA

Marc Berman

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Marc Berman