The Programming Insider: Dominant Return for CBS' Big Brother

In Today's Issue Prime-Time Metered Market Thursday Ratings: CBS Wins; Solid Return for Big Brother 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: Hungry Carla ________________________________________________________________ PRIME-TIME METERED MARKET THURSDAY RATINGS: CBS Wins; Solid Return for Big Brother Thursday 7/07/11 Household Rating/Share CBS: 4.5/ 8, ABC: 3.7/ 6, Fox: 3.3/ 6, NBC: 1.6/ 3, CW: 0.7/ 1 Percent Change from the Year-Ago Evening (Thursday 7/08/10): NBC: no change, CBS and Fox: -13 each, ABC: -16, CW: -22 Yesterday’s Winners: The Big Bang Theory R (CBS), Big Brother (CBS), The Mentalist R (CBS0 Yesterday’s Losers (excluding repeats): Love Bites (NBC) Ratings Breakdown: CBS led the overnights, with a 22 percent advantage over second-place ABC. Third overall was Fox, followed by distant NBC and lowly The CW. Fifty-four percent of last night’s line-up was in repeats. In season-premiere news, Big Brother 13 on CBS opened with a dominant 4.8 rating/8 share in the overnights at 9 p.m., finishing as the top-rated show of the evening. Comparably, this was equal to one year earlier (when it aired in the Thursday 8 p.m. hour), with growth out of a repeat of Rules of Engagement (#3: 3.8/ 7 at 8:30 p.m.) of 26 percent. Opposite week three of Expedition Impossible on ABC (#2: 3.4/ 6), Big Brother had an advantage of 41 percent. Note to Allison Grodner and company: great early twist! Big Brother led into a repeat of The Mentalist, which won the 10 p.m. hour with a 4.4/ 8 in the overnights. Earlier in the evening on CBS was a repeat of The Big Bang Theory at a first-place 4.6/ 8 at 8 p.m. Over at ABC, consistency was the operative observation care of Wipeout (#3: 4.0/ 7), which might have been a stronger option had the network not aired it during the traditional season, aforementioned Expedition Impossible (#2: 3.4/ 6) and season two of Canadian drama Rookie Blue (#2: 3.9/ 7). On Fox, the live So You Think You Can Dance Results Show dominated the 8 p.m. hour in the overnights, with a 4.4/ 8. Next was a repeat of Glee, which does not play well in non-originals, at a third-place 2.4/ 4. Putting my ratings research hat on, there is every reason to believe Glee on Tuesday will lose steam next season. In more burn-off episode news, the latest installment of colossal failure Love Bites on NBC earned that description, with a last-place 1.5/ 3 at 10 p.m. Earlier in the evening on NBC were encore telecasts of Community (#4: 1.7/ 3), which should not be anchoring Thursday again next season, Parks and Recreation (#4: 1.6/ 3), The Office (#4: 1.8/ 3) and 30 Rock (#4: 1.5/ 3) from 8-10 p.m. The CW aired repeats of The Vampire Diaries (#5: 0.8/ 1) and Nikita (#5: 0.7/ 1), which moves into the Friday 8 p.m. hour this fall. Source: Nielsen Media Research data (R = repeat) ______________________________________________________________ RATINGS BOX: What’s Hot/What’s Not Cable Scorecard – Wednesday, July 6: USA’s combination of dramas Royal Pains and recently introduced Necessary Roughness continued to dominate the cable landscape on Wednesday, while third-place newbie Franklin & Bash on TNT has settled in at acceptable levels. Also compatible are TV Land’s combination of sitcoms Hot in Cleveland (which deserves Emmy recognition) and new Fran Drescher vehicle Happily Divorced. Melissa & Joey and State of Georgia on ABC are not spectacular based on total viewers and adults 18-49, but the strength of both comedies falls within the your female demos. There were two season premieres on this evening – Restaurant Impossible on Food Network and I Shouldn’t Be Alive on Animal Planet. Here are the results, ranked in order of total viewers, for Wednesday, July 6: Royal Pains (USA) – Viewers: 5.02 million (#1 overall), A18-49: 1.6 rating (#1) Necessary Roughness (USA) – Viewers: 4.42 million (#2), A18-49: 1.3 (#2) Franklin & Bash (TNT) – Viewers: 2.58 million (#3), A18-49: 0.9 (#4) Hot in Cleveland (TV Land) – Viewers: 2.24 million (#4), A18-49: 0.6 (#6t) Happily Divorced (TV Land) – Viewers: 1.82 million (#5), A18-49: 0.5 (#10t) Men of a Certain Age (TNT) – Viewers: 1.79 million (#6), A18-49: 0.4 (#13t) The Challenge Rivals (MTV) – Viewers: 1.66 million (#7), A18-49: 1.0 (#3) Restaurant: Impossible (Food Network) – Viewers: 1.63 million (#8), A18-49: 0.7 (#5) – season premiere Toddlers & Tiaras (TLC) – Viewers: 1.55 million (#9), A18-49: 0.6 (#6t) The Lost Kennedy Home Movies (History) – Viewers: 1.39 million (#10), A18-49: 0.3 (#18t) South Park R (Comedy Central) – Viewers: 1.24 million (#11), A18-49: 0.6 (#6t) Melissa & Joey (ABC Family) – Viewers: 1.08 million (#12t), A18-49: 0.4 (#13t) Flipping Out (Bravo) – Viewers: 1.08 million (#12t), A18-49: 0.6 (#6t) Hollywood Treasure (Syfy, 10 p.m.) – Viewers: 1.06 million (#14), A18-49: 0.5 (#10t) Haunted Collector (Syfy) – Viewers: 1.02 million (#15), A18-49: 0.4 (#13t) Hollywood Treasure (Syfy, 10:30 p.m.) – Viewers: 956,000 (#16), A18-49: 0.4 (#13t) I Didn’t Know I Was Pregnant (TLC, 9:30 p.m.) – Viewers: 857,000 (#17), A18-49: 0.4 (#13t) Behind the Music (VH1) – Viewers: 851,000 (#18), A18-49: 0.5 (#10t) State of Georgia (ABC Family) – Viewers: 807,000 (#19), A18-49: 0.3 (#18t) I Didn’t Know I Was Pregnant (TLC, 9 p.m.) – Viewers: 702,000 (#20), A18-49: 0.3 (#18t) Rocco’s Dinner Party (Bravo) – Viewers: 679,000 (#21), A18-49: 0.3 (#18t) Jon Benjamin Has a Van (Comedy Central) – Viewers: 583,000 (#22), A18-49: 0.3 (#18t) I Shouldn’t Be Alive (Animal Planet) – Viewers: 583,000 (#23), A18-49: 0.2 (#23) – season premiere Clean House (Style) – Viewers: 209,000 (#25), A18-49: 0.1 (#24t) Inside NASCAR (Showtime) – Viewers: 62,000 (#26), A18-49: 0.0 (#26) Source: Nielsen Media Research data (R = repeat) _______________________________________________________________ ON THE AIR THIS WEEKEND: Prime-Time Programming Options Friday 7/08/11 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. Friday Night Lights (series finale) 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. Smallville (R) 9:00 p.m. Supernatural (R) Of Note on Cable: -Say Yes to the Dress (TLC): 9 p.m. (season premiere) -Torchwood (Starz): 10 p.m. (season premiere) -Monster Fish (TLC): 10 p.m. (season premiere) -Say Yes to the Dress: Bridesmaids: 10 p.m. (season premiere) Saturday 7/09/11 ABC: 8:00 p.m. 101 Ways to Leave a Game Show (R) 9:00 p.m. Expedition Impossible (R) 10:00 p.m. Rookie Blue (R) CBS: 8:00 p.m. Chaos 9:00 p.m. 48 Hours Mystery (R) 10:00 p.m. 48 Hours Mystery NBC: 8:00 p.m. Minute to Win it (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 7/10/11 ABC: 7:00 p.m. America’s Funniest Home Videos (R) 8:00 p.m. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (R) 9:00 p.m. Castle (R) 10:00 p.m. Body of Proof (R) CBS: 7:00 p.m. 60 Minutes 8:00 p.m. Big Brother (time period premiere) 9:00 p.m. Undercover Boss (R) 10:00 p.m. CSI: Miami (R) NBC: 7:00 p.m. Dateline 8:00 p.m. America’s Got Talent (R) 9:00 p.m. America’s Got Talent (R) 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: -Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO): 10 p.m. (season premiere) -Famous Food (VH1): 10 p.m. (series premiere) _____________________________________________________________ TV TIDBITS: Notes of Interest All My Children and One Life to Live on at Prospect Park: ABC has licensed soon-to-conclude soaps All My Children and One Life to Live to media production company Prospect Park. The exclusive, multi-year deal will enable the soaps’ stories to continue beyond their final telecasts on ABC. All My Children concludes on the network on September 23 and One Life to Live in January 2012. Prospect Park will produce and deliver the two long-running daytime serials to consumers via online formats and additional emerging platforms, including internet enabled television sets. Under the terms of the arrangement, the programs will continue in the same format and length. More Falling Skies: TNT has renewed recent Steven Spielberg entry Falling Skies for a second season, with an order for 10 additional episodes scheduled to begin in summer 2012. Falling Skies, headlined by former ER star Noah Wyle, takes place in the aftermath of an alien attack that has left most of the world completely incapacitated. Through its first three telecasts, Falling Skies is averaging 6.4 million viewers (through a combination of live and time-shifted viewing). The Roloffs Return to TLC: TLC has ordered four new Little People Big World specials, featuring the Roloff family. The first special, which is scheduled for October, will resolve the cliffhangers left from the series finale. Oprah – Oscar Host?: According to an item in today’s New York Post, Oprah Winfrey is one of the top candidates to host the 84th Annual Academy Awards on ABC next February. Included in the deal could be a behind-the-scenes and post-Oscar special. _______________________________________________________________ TV TRIVIA: Hungry Carla Note: To respond to the trivia, please click HERE. Do not click Reply What was wisecracking Carla’s favorite meal on sitcom Cheers? a) Chicken McNuggets b) fish and chips c) liver and onions d) spaghetti and meatballs e) White Castle hamburgers and onion rings The answer to yesterday’s question… Which one of the following series featured a male character nicknamed “Animal”? a) Lost b) Lou Grant c) Oz d) The Six Million Dollar Man e) The White Shadow Is: b) Lou Grant. Daryl Anderson played Dennis “Animal” Price, the staff photographer at the Los Angeles Tribune. Current kudos goes to: John Beadle, Gerry Bixenspan,, John Brooker, Paul Certo, Audrey Davis, Bob Dropinski, John Ferlazzo, Todd Galloway, George NeJame, Bob Eisenstaedt, Jim Forkan, Jan Frazier, Jerry Gibbons, Maureen Goldman, Robert Gori, Barb Hemberger, Bob Ingersoll, David Jackino, Kathryn Kieser, Todd Koerner, Synda Kollman, Clifford Kroeter, Steven Kurtzer, Howard Lieboff, Mike McKenzie, Mark Misiano, Alan Perris (2x), Gordon Purcell, Patti Rodriguez, Colleen Roth, David Ruckman, Anthony Salerno, David Shearer, Mark Simmons, Mark Maxwell-Smith, Eric Steinberg, Ronnie Tallant, Larry Weinstock, Abbott Wool, Theodore Zavales

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The Programming Insider: Dominant Return for CBS' Big Brother

54 percent of last night’s schedule were repeats

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