The Programming Insider: CBS Wins Thursday Overnights

In Today's Issue Prime-Time Metered Market Thursday Ratings: CBS Wins; ABC and Fox Tied for No. 2 Ratings Box: What’s Hot/What’s Not On the Air This Weekend: Prime-Time Programming Options TV Tidbits: Notes of Interest TV Trivia Time: Four Legged Starlet ________________________________________________________________ Note: The Programming Insider will be going on a brief hiatus until Monday, August 8. ________________________________________________________________ PRIME-TIME METERED MARKET THURSDAY RATINGS: CBS Wins; ABC and Fox Tied for No. 2 Thursday 7/28/11 Household Rating/Share CBS: 4.1/ 7, ABC and Fox: 3.4/ 6 each, NBC: 2.0/ 3, CW: 0.7/ 1 Yesterday’s Winners: The Big Bang Theory R (CBS), So You Think You Can Dance (Fox), Big Brother (CBS) Note: The year-to-year overnight comparisons are not available today. Ratings Breakdown: CBS led this fourth Thursday in July, beating No. 2 ABC and Fox by seven-tenths of a rating point. Fourth overall was NBC, followed by more encore telecasts on The CW. Fifty-four percent of last night’s line-up were repeats. CBS opened with encores of sitcoms The Big Bang Theory (#1: 4.7 rating/9 share), which was the top-rated show of the evening, followed by a repeat of Saturday bound Rules of Engagement at a third-place 3.6/ 7 at 8:30 p.m. Next was the live eviction episode of Big Brother (#1: 4.3/ 7 – so long, Dominic), which is expected to lead the evening among key adults 18-49, followed by an encore telecast of The Mentalist at a dominant 3.9/ 7 at 10 p.m. ABC filled the evening with original episodes of Wipeout (#2: 3.9/ 7), which is not the big summer hit it once was because it aired all season, Expedition Impossible (#2: 3.0/ 5), which has lost steam since Big Brother stepped into the 9 p.m. hour, and Canadian drama Rookie Blue (#2: 3.4/ 6). Fox aired the live So You Think You Dance Results Show (#1: 4.5/ 8), which holds up every summer, and a repeat of failed reality/competition Plain Jane (#5: 0.6/ 1), which is certainly no better the second time around. Elsewhere, NBC filled the evening with repeats of Community (#4: 1.5/ 3), Parks and Recreation (#4: 1.5/ 3), The Office (#4: 1.9/ 3), 30 Rock (#4: 1.7/ 3) and Law & Order: SVU (#3: 2.6/ 5). And The CW capped it off with encore telecasts of The Vampire Diaries (#5: 0.8/ 1) and Plain Jane (#5: 0.6/ 1). Source: Nielsen Media Research data (R = repeat) _______________________________________________________________ RATINGS BOX: What’s Hot/What’s Not Record Gene Simmons Family Jewels: A&E non-scripted reality staple Gene Simmons Family Jewels closed the sixth season on Tuesday with its most-watched episode ever (3.0 million viewers) and a record performance in adults 18-49 (1.7 million) and adults 25-54 (1.9) at 10 p.m. Comparably, season six netted double-digit percent increases versus season five, including 29 percent in total viewers, 33 percent in adults 25-54 and 29 percent in adults 18-49. Cable Scorecard – Wednesday, July 27: USA scripted drama staple Royal Pains was the most-watched show, while the 10 p.m. edition of A&E’s red-hot Storage Wars led the adult 18-49 troops. Here are the results, ranked in order of total viewers, for Wednesday, July 27: Royal Pains (USA) – Viewers: 4.84 million (#1), A18-49: 1.4 (#3) Storage Wars (A&E, 10:30 p.m.) – Viewers: 4.38 million (#2), A18-49: 1.3 (#4) Necessary Roughness (USA) – Viewers: 4.21 million (#3), A18-49: 1.3 (#4) Storage Wars (A&E, 10 p.m.) – Viewers: 4.19 million (#4), A18-49: 1.7 (#1) Franklin & Bash (TNT) – Viewers: 2.84 million (#5), A18-49: 0.9 (#6t) Sons of Guns (Discovery) – Viewers: 2.31 million (#6), A18-49: 0.9 (#6t) Family BrainSurge (Nickelodeon) – Viewers: 1.99 million (#7t), A18-49: 0.4 (#15t) The Challenge Rivals (MTV) – Viewers: 1.99 million (#7t), A18-49: 1.2 (#5) Hot in Cleveland (TV Land) – Viewers: 1.84 million (#9), A18-49: 0.5 (#12t) Operation Repo (truTV, 9 p.m.) – Viewers: 1.75 million (#10), A18-49: 0.6 (#10t) Rescue Me (FX) – Viewers: 1.56 million (#11), A18-49: 0.7 (#8t) Toddlers & Tiaras (TLC) – Viewers: 1.51 million (#12), A18-49: 0.6 (#10t) South Beach Tow (truTV, 10 p.m.) – Viewers: 1.51 million (#13), A18-49: 0.5 (#12t) Happily Divorced (TV Land) – Viewers: 1.39 million (#14), A18-49: 0.4 (#15t) One Man Army (Discovery) – Viewers: 1.35 million (#15), A18-49: 0.7 (#8t)` History Special: Meat America – Viewers: 1.09 million (#16t), A18-49: 0.3 (#24t) South Park R (Comedy Central) – Viewers: 1.09 million (#16t), A18-49: 0.5 (#12t) Deadliest Warrior (Spike) – Viewers: 1.09 million (#18), A18-49: 0.4 (#15t) Destroy Build Destroy (Cartoon Network) – Viewers: 1.08 million (#19), A18-49: 0.2 (#29t) Dude, What Would Happen (Cartoon Network) – Viewers: 1.06 million (#20), A18-49: 0.2 (#29t) Restaurant: Impossible (Food Network) – Viewers: 1.04 million (#21), A18-49: 0.4 (#15t) Ghost Hunters International (Syfy) – Viewers: 941,000 (#22), A18-49: 0.4 (#15t) Dance Moms (ABC Family) – Viewers: 928,000 (#23), A18-49: 0.3 (#24t) Roseanne’s Nuts (Lifetime, 9 p.m.) – Viewers: 885,000 (#24), A18-49: 0.4 (#15t) Melissa & Joey (ABC Family) – Viewers: 883,000 (#25), A18-49: 0.4 (#15t) Roseanne’s Nuts (Lifetime, 9:30 p.m.) – Viewers: 822,000 (#26), A18-49: 0.3 (#24t) E! True Hollywood Story: Snooki (Lifetime, 9:30 p.m.) – Viewers: 757,000 (#27), A18-49: 0.4 (#15t) Jon Benjamin Has a Van (Comedy Central) – Viewers: 743,000 (#28), A18-49: 0.4 (#15t) Legend Quest (Syfy) – Viewers: 732,000 (#29), A18-49: 0.3 (#25t) Rocco’s Dinner Party (Bravo) – Viewers: 610,000 (#30), A18-49: 0.3 (#24t) State of Georgia (ABC Family) – Viewers: 564,000 (#31), A18-49: 0.2 (#29t) I Shouldn’t Be Alive (Animal Planet) – Viewers: 550,000 (#32), A18-49: 0.1 (#33t) Famous Food (VH1) – Viewers: 354,000 (#33), A18-49: 0.2 (#29t) Clean House (Style) – Viewers: 255,000 (#34), A18-49: 0.1 (#33t) The Franchise: A Season with the San Francisco Giants (Showtime) – Viewers: 96,000 (#35), A18-49: 0.0 (#35) Source: Nielsen Media Research data (R = repeat) _______________________________________________________________ ON THE AIR THIS WEEKEND: Prime-Time Programming Options Friday 7/29/11 ABC: 8:00 p.m. Shark Tank (R) 9:00 p.m. Prime: What Would You Do? 10:00 p.m. 20/20 CBS: 8:00 p.m. Flashpoint (R) 9:00 p.m. CSI: NY (R) 10:00 p.m. Blue Bloods (R) NBC: 8:00 p.m. Who Do You Think You are? 9:00 p.m. Dateline (two hours) Fox: 8:00 p.m. Bones (R) 9:00 p.m. House (R) CW 8:00 p.m. Nikita (R, new day and time) 9:00 p.m. Supernatural (R) Saturday 7/30/11 ABC: 8:00 p.m. Movie – Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (R) CBS: 8:00 p.m. The Mentalist (R) 9:00 p.m. 48 Hours Mystery 10:00 p.m. 48 Hours Mystery NBC: 8:00 p.m. Who Do You Think You Are? (R) 9:00 p.m. Law & Order: Criminal Intent (R) 10:00 p.m. Law & Order: Los Angeles (R) Fox: 8:00 p.m. Cops (R) 8:30 p.m. Cops (R) 9:00 p.m. Family Guy (R) 9:30 p.m. The Cleveland Show (R) Sunday 7/31/11 ABC: 7:00 p.m. America’s Funniest Home Videos (R) 8:00 p.m. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (R) 9:00 p.m. The Bachelorette: The Men Tell All CBS: 7:00 p.m. 60 Minutes 8:00 p.m. Big Brother 9:00 p.m. Same Name (series premiere) 10:00 p.m. CSI: Miami (R) NBC: 7:00 p.m. Dateline 8:00 p.m. America’s Got Talent (R, two hours) 10:00 p.m. The Marriage Ref Fox: 7:00 p.m. American Dad (R) 7:30 p.m. Bob’s Burgers (R) 8:00 p.m. The Simpsons (R) 8:30 p.m. The Cleveland Show (R) 9:00 p.m. Family Guy (R) 9:30 p.m. American Dad (R) Of Note on Cable: -Shark Week (Discovery) – begins at 9 p.m. ET ______________________________________________________________ TV TIDBITS: Notes of Interest ION Acquisitions: ION Television has acquired the off-network rights to scripted dramas Psych and Monk from NBC Universal Domestic Television Distribution and House from Universal Media Studios. The deal includes all six seasons and any future seasons of Psych, all eight seasons of Monk, and two episodes per week of House for one year beginning in fall 2012. John O’Hurley on All My Children: Former Seinfeld co-star and game show host John O’Hurley will make several appearances on ABC daytime drama All My Children. He will play a producer who approaches Erica Kane (Susan Lucci) to make a movie from the new book she has just written. Upcoming at BBC America: BBC America has announced its first original scripted drama, Copper, which is set in 1860s in New York City and centers on a young Irish cop. Ten episodes have been ordered, with the planned debut date next summer. Cable Renewals: TLC has renewed Say Yes to the Dress: Bridesmaids for a second season, with an order for 18 new half-hour episodes. Over at Hallmark Channel, freshman Martha Bakes, hosted by hostess extraordinaire Martha Stewart, will open season two on Sept. 26 with the first of 13 new episodes. HBO Series and Season Premiere Dates – Mark Your Calendars: HBO has announced the following fall start dates for five of its new and returning series. The new season of multi Emmy nominated Boardwalk Empire kicks of on Sunday, Sept. 25 at 9 p.m. ET/PT. Next is sitcom Hung, which opens season three on Sunday, Oct. 2 at 10 p.m. ET/PT. Upcoming How to Make It in America, which focuses on two twentysomething year olds as they hustle their way through New York City, follows Hung at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT. Also at HBO, Bored to Death launches seasons three on Monday, Oct. 10 at 9 p.m. ET/PT, leading into comedy Enlightened with the first of its 10 initial episodes at 9:30 p.m. ET/PT. Combining comedy and drama, Enlightened focuses on a self-destructive woman (Laura Dern) who has a spiritual awakening after a meltdown. _______________________________________________________________ TV TRIVIA: Four Legged Starlet Note: To respond to the trivia, please click HERE. What did Charlotte name her Cavalier King Charles spaniel on Sex and the City? a) Joan Crawford b) Bette Davis c) Greta Garbo d) Meryl Streep e) Elizabeth Taylor The answer to Wednesday’s question… Which one of the following actors from critically acclaimed political drama The West Wing did not win an Emmy Award for his or her role on the series? a) Stockard Channing b) Richard Schiff c) Martin Sheen d) John Spencer e) Bradley Whitfield Is: c) Martin Sheen. Our small screen president, Josiah “Jed” Bartlet, went home empty handed, but Sheen did win the Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series Emmy in 1994 for sitcom Murphy Brown. Current kudos goes to: Gerry Bixenspan, Barbara Bloomfield, Jordan Breslow, Andrew Bradner, Steve Clements, John Ferlazzo, Robert Gori, Miachael Holland, Bob Ingersoll, David Jackino, Marie Lefevre Karp, Tom Kilgallon, Steven Kurtzer, Katie Kuyper, Kathy Martin, Matthew Morse, Tony Naldrett, Gordon Purcell, Colleen Roth, Greg Salerno, Michelle Stanton, Myndi Weinraub

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The Programming Insider: CBS Wins Thursday Overnights

Royal Pains on USA leads Wednesday on cable

Marc Berman

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