The Programming Insider: Tuesday 7/19/11

In Today's Issue: Prime-Time Metered Market Monday Ratings: ABC Wins; Respectable Return for Hell’s Kitchen on Fox Ratings Box: What’s Hot/What’s Not On the Air Tonight: Prime-Time Programming Options TV Tidbits: Notes of Interest TV Trivia Time: “The Motel California” __________________________________________________________________ PRIME-TIME METERED MARKET MONDAY RATINGS: ABC Wins; Respectable Return for Hell’s Kitchen on Fox Monday 7/18/11 Household Rating/Share ABC: 5.0/ 8, Fox: 4.0/ 6, CBS: 3.4/ 6, NBC: 3.0/ 5, CW: 0.4/ 1 Note: Comparisons to the year-ago period are not available today. Yesterday’s Winners: The Bachelorette (ABC) Honorable Mention: Hell’s Kitchen (Fox), Masterchef (Fox), Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition (ABC) Repeat Count: 54 percent of the line-up was encore telecasts. Ratings Breakdown: ABC opened the week on a winning overnight note as usual, beating a night of all originals on Fox by 1.0 rating points. But results among adults 18-49 could be more of a horse race thanks to the return of Hell’s Kitchen on Fox. Third overall was a night of all repeats on CBS, followed by NBC and lowly The CW, which has been hurt by the lack of any original programming this summer. Summer favorite The Bachelorette on ABC took top-rated honors for the evening, with a 5.6 rating/9 share in the overnights from 8-10 p.m., and the half-hour breakdown as follows: The Bachelorette (ABC) 8:00 p.m.: 5.5/ 9 (#1) 8:30 p.m.: 5.5/ 9 (#1) 9:00 p.m.: 5.6/ 9 (#1) 9:30 p.m.: 5.8/ 9 (#1) Whoever watches The Bachelorette, no doubt, sticks with it throughout the two-hours. Next on ABC was recent entry Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition, which won the 10 p.m. hour with a 4.0. 7 and is expected back next summer. In season-premiere news, aforementioned Hell’s Kitchen on Fox returned with a second-place 4.0/ 7 in the overnights at 8 p.m. Although the Gordon Ramsay-hosted reality/competition trailed the first hour of ABC’s The Bachelorette by 27 percent in the overnights, the gap among adults 18-49 should be smaller. With stronger lead-in support, Masterchef at 9 p.m., also hosted by Ramsay, rose to a season-high 4.0/ 6 at 9 p.m. Over at CBS, there was nothing unusual to report with its encore combination of How I Met Your Mother (#4: 2.9/ 5), which received no Emmy nominations last week, an 8:30 p.m. edition of Mike & Molly (#4: 3.0/ 5), Two and a Half Men (#2, 3.9/ 6), the regularly scheduled edition of Mike & Molly (#4: 2.6/ 4) and Hawaii Five-O (#2: 3.4/ 6). Elsewhere, NBC filled this third Monday of July with a one-hour repeat edition of America’s Got Talent (#3: 3.4/ 6), soon-to-conclude Law & Order: Criminal Intent (#4: 2.6/ 4), which already aired on USA, and an encore telecast of Harry's Law (#3: 3.0/ 5), which moves to Wednesdays at 9 p.m. (out of new sitcom Free Agents) this fall. The CW capped off the night with encore telecasts of Gossip Girl (#5: 0.5/ 1), which moved into the Monday 8 p.m. hour, and One Tree Hill (#5: 0.4/ 1), which will be taking a break until midseason. Next season will mark the conclusion of One Tree Hill. Source: Nielsen Media Research data _______________________________________________________________ RATINGS BOX: What’s Hot/What’s Not Record Phineas and Ferb on Disney Channel: The Friday, July 15th telecast of original Disney Channel Comedy Phineas and Ferb at 9 p.m. ET/PT rose to its largest audience to-date among girls 9-14 (1.0 million), with its third-highest rated telecast ever in kids 6-11 (2.1 million) and tweens 9-14 (1.6 million). Populated with the series premiere of PrankStars, A.N.T. Farm, Phineas and Ferb and Disney Friends for Change Games, Disney Channel delivered the top three telecasts for the evening in tweens 9-14, and 7 of the top 8 overall for the week. Hidden camera series PrankStars opened as the No. 2 telecast for the day among tweens 9-14 (1.6 million) and the No. 2 live-action telecast on Friday among kids 6-11 (1.9 million). Solid Season Opener for Breaking Bad on AMC: Critically applauded AMC drama Breaking Bad opened season four with a record 2.6 million total viewers and 1.45 million adults 18-49 in the 10 p.m. hour on Sunday. Compared to the season three premiere in July 2010, growth was as much as 142 percent among men 18-34. Source: Nielsen Media Research data ____________________________________________________________________ ON THE AIR TONIGHT: Prime-Time Programming Options Tuesday 7/19/11 ABC: 8:00 p.m. Wipeout (R) 8:30 p.m. 101 Ways to Leave a Game Show 9:00 p.m. Combat Hospital CBS: 8:00 p.m. NCIS (R) 9:00 p.m. NCIS: Los Angeles (R) 10:30 p.m. The Good Wife (R) NBC: 8:00 p.m. It’s Worth What? (series premiere) 9:00 p.m. America’s Got Talent (two hours) Fox: 8:00 p.m. Hell’s Kitchen 9:00 p.m. Masterchef CW: 8:00 p.m. 90210 (R) 9:00 p.m. Shedding for the Wedding (R) New Program Descriptions It’s Worth What? A pair of contestants are taken through a series of challenges that escalate in difficulty in this new game show with the ultimate potential payoff: $1 million. Comedian Cedric the Entertainer hosts. ______________________________________________________________ TV TIDBITS: Notes of Interest Sinclair Broadcast Group Re-Ups Third Cycle of Friends: Classic sitcom Friends, a staple in off-network syndication for over one decade, has been renewed through 2017 by the Sinclair Broadcast Group in all 16 of its markets. The stations included in the deal are WPGH-TV/WPMY-TV (Pittsburgh), WLFL-TV/WRDC-TV (Raleigh), WNUV-TV/WBFF-TV (Baltimore), WZTV-TV/WUXP-TV (Nashville), WSTR-TV (Cincinnati), WCGV-TV/WVTV-TV (Milwaukee), WTTO-TV/WABM-TV (Birmingham), WTVZ-TV (Norfolk), WUTV-TV/WNYO-TV (Buffalo), WDKY-TV (Lexington), WVAH-TV/WCHS-TV (Charleston, WV), WSMH-TV (Flint), KBSI-TV/WDKA-TV (Paducah), WUHF-TV (Rochester, NY), WSYT-TV/WNYS-TV (Syracuse), and WTAT-TV/WMMP-TV (Charleston, SC). The third cycle of Friends, which will be available for the first time in TrueHB, will begin in December 2013. Charlie Sheen Signs New Sitcom Deal: It is not a network sitcom, nor are there any announced clearances yet. But former Two and a Half Men star Charlie Sheen will headline Anger Management in first-run syndication. Produced by Lionsgate and distributed by Debmar-Mercury (home of The Wendy Williams Show, Family Feud, and Tyler Perry’s House of Payne and Meet the Browns), Anger Management is loosely based on the 2003 theatrical of the same name with Jack Nicholson and Adam Sandler. Sheen will have a significant ownership stake in the project. Once a staple in first-run syndication back in the 1980s, first-run sitcoms are on something of a comeback trail: Tyler Perry’s House of Payne and Meet the Browns are both distributed by Debmar-Mercury, and are produced directly for syndication and cable. Anger Management with Charlie Sheen is expected to debut sometime in the 2011-12 season. American Horror Story on FX: FX has ordered 13 episodes of a new scripted drama, American Horror Story, from former Nip/Tuck executive producers and current Glee co-creators/executive producers Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk. American Horror Story revolves around a family of three who move from Boston to Los Angeles to reconcile past anguish. The ensemble cast includes Dylan McDermott (The Practice), Connie Britton (Friday Night Lights) and Jessica Lange in her first regularly scheduled series role. American Horror Story begins production in Los Angeles July 27 and will premiere on FX in October. ____________________________________________________________ TV TRIVIA TIME: “The Motel California” Note: To respond to the trivia, please click HERE. Do not click Reply Which one of the following TV characters owned a car he referred to as “The Motel California”? a) Chandler Bing b) Al Bundy c) Arthur “Fonzie” Fonzarelli d) Mario “Salami” Pettrino e) Dwayne Schneider The answer to yesterday’s question… What state was short-lived NBC classic Freaks and Geeks set in? a) Idaho b) Michigan c) Minnesota d) Oregon e) Wisconsin Is: b) Michigan. Chippawa, Mich., to be exact. Current kudos goes to: Gerry Bixenspan, Barbara Bloomfield, Larry Collins, Larry Corsa, Maureen Goldman, Bob Ingersoll, Gordon Purcell, Michelle Stanton, Myndi Weinraub, Larry Weinstock

Convergent TV

The Programming Insider: Tuesday 7/19/11

'The Bachelorette' wins night

Marc Berman

About

Subscriptions

Events

Publications

WORK SMARTER - LEARN, GROW AND BE INSPIRED.

Subscribe today!

Marc Berman