The Winter Olympics Beat American Idol

THE PROGRAMMING INSIDERFriday, February 26, 2010 Prime-Time Metered Market Thursday Ratings:Dominant Winter Olympics Beats American Idol 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: Pinky’s Little Sis ______________________________________________________________________ Prime-Time Metered Market Thursday Ratings:Dominant Winter Olympics Beats American Idol Thursday 2/25/10Note: The following results exclude the New York and Boston markets. HH Rtg/Shr NBC 15.2/23Fox 8.2/12CBS 6.3/ 9ABC 3.1/ 5CW 1.2/2 ---------- -Percent Change From the Year-Ago Evening (Thursday, February 26, 2009):NBC: +280, Fox: - 6, CBS and CW: -25 each, ABC: -28 ---------- -Yesterday’s Winners:The 2010 Winter Olympics (NBC), American Idol (Fox) -Honorable Mention:Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains (CBS) -Yesterday’s Losers (excluding repeats):The Deep End (ABC) ---------- -Ratings Breakdown:NBC led this fourth Thursday in February with soon-to-conclude The Vancouver Olympic Winter Games at an average 15.2 rating/23 share in the overnights for the prime-time portion. This included a victory of 12 percent over the first live results show of the season on Fox’s American Idol, which scored an 11.5/17 in the 8 p.m. hour (versus a 12.9/19 for The Winter Olympics). But Idol will still, of course, dominate among adults 18-49. Take a look at the half-hour breakdown for the Vancouver Games: 8:00 p.m.: 12.2/18 (#1)8:30 p.m.: 13.5/20 (#1)9:00 p.m.: 16.4/24 (#1)9:30 p.m.: 16.7/25 (#1)10:00 p.m.: 16.9/26 (#1)10:30 p.m.: 15.2/25 (#1) As for American Idol, I was one for four in my predictions who would be the first quartet of contestants to be eliminated. Although Janell Wheeler did indeed depart, I thought we would be seeing more of also booted Ashley Rodriguez, Joe Munoz and full-of-himself Tyler Grady, who was not necessarily a good sport about his departure. Leading out of American Idol on Fox was Kitchen Nightmares in place of canceled drama Past Life at a third-place 4.9/ 8 in the overnights at 9 p.m. With solid lead-in support, Kitchen Nightmares outdelivered Past Life’s overnight performance from one week earlier (2.3/ 3 on Feb. 18) by 113 percent. Over at CBS, must see Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains was below average (but still worthy of honorable mention), with a third-place 7.3/11 at 8 p.m. Needless to say, I was very happy with the results last night. Go heroes! Survivor led into a repeat of The Mentalist (#2: 6.5/10 at 9 p.m.), which flipped time periods, followed by veteran CSI at an also second-place 5.1/ 8 at 10 p.m. This could, do doubt, be the plan on Thursday next season, with aging CSI inching closer to retirement. In series-finale news, ABC’s The Deep End earned its cancellation stripes with a fourth-place 3.1/ 5 the overnights at 8 p.m. Next on ABC was a repeat of aging Grey’s Anatomy (#4: 3.5/ 6 at 9 p.m.), followed by an encore telecast of spin-off Private Practice at a third-place 2.7/ 4 at 10 p.m. Serialized dramas never repeat well. The CW closed the night with repeats of already renewed The Vampire Diaries (#5: 1.3/2) and Supernatural (#5: 1.2/ 2). As suggested in recent weeks, The CW may want to free up the Thursday 9 p.m. hour next season for something new and use Supernatural to anchor Friday (if veteran Smallville does not return). Source: Nielsen Media Research data (R = repeat)_____________________________________________________________________________ Ratings Box:What’s Hot/What’s Not -Updated Winter Olympic Results:Based on the first 13 nights of the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games (through Wednesday, Feb. 24), NBC is estimating a total tune-in to-date of 177 million viewers on the networks of NBC Universal. Average viewership is 24.9 million -- 20 percent above the 20.7 million for the comparable period in Turino in 2006 According to NBC Sports:-46 percent of Olympic viewers changed their typical routine to watch the Olympics.-34 percent delayed doing laundry or other household chores -- including paying bills -- in order to watch the Olympics.-59 percent said they didn't watch some of their "regular shows" in order to watch the Olympics.-35 percent of viewers cried or became teary-eyed while watching (25 percent among men).-66 percent of viewers cheered aloud while watching the Olympics.-63 percent stayed up longer than usual to watch, resulting in 42 percent being "more tired than normal."-42 percent of viewers said the Olympic sport they would most like to try is bobsled. Source: Nielsen Media Research data_______________________________________________________________________________ On the Air This Weekend:Prime-Time Programming Options Friday 2/26/10 ABC: 8:00 p.m. Movie: The Blades of Glory10:00 p.m. 20/20 CBS: 8:00 p.m. Ghost Whisperer (R) 9:00 p.m. Medium (R)10:00 p.m. Numbers (R) NBC: 8:00 p.m. 2010 Winter Olympics Fox: 8:00 p.m. 41st Annual NAACP Image Awards CW: 8:00 p.m. Smallville 9:30 p.m. Smallville (R) --------------- Saturday 2/27/10 ABC: 8:00 p.m. Movie: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (R) CBS: 8:00 p.m. Numb3rs (R) 9:00 p.m. Cold Case (R) 10:00 p.m. 48 Hours Mystery NBC: 8:00 p.m. 2010 Winter Olympics Fox: 8:00 p.m. Cops (original and repeat) 9:00 p.m. America’s Most Wanted --------------- Sunday 2/28/10 ABC: 7:00 p.m. America’s Funniest Home Videos 8:00 p.m. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (R) 9:00 p.m. Desperate Housewives 10:00 p.m. Brothers & Sisters CBS: 7:00 p.m. 60 Minutes 8:00 p.m. The Amazing Race 16 9:00 p.m. Undercover Boss 10:00 p.m. Cold Case NBC: 7:00 p.m. 2010 Winter Olympics Closing Ceremony10:30 p.m. The Marriage Ref (premiere/preview) Fox: 7:00 p.m. ‘Til Death 7:30 p.m. ‘Til Death 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) New Show Descriptions The Marriage Ref (NBC)Comedy Legend Jerry Seinfeld is the creator and producer of this non-scripted look at marriage as celebrities, comedians and sports stars decide who is right…and who is wrong…in real-life disputes between real-life spouses. -The Scoop:Jerry Seinfeld on the difference of doing a sitcom versus The Marriage Ref at the recent Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour in Pasadena: “Whenever I was doing my sitcom, people would come up to me and go “Oh, we — my people where I work, they would be great on your show.” And you would just have to go “Yeah. Let me just get out of here.” But, in this case, regular people are going to come up and say “We would love to be on your show.” And I think a lot of times they are going to be right.” -The Reality:Let’s be honest: Jerry Seinfeld is no expert on marriage. His wife Jessica, in fact, left her first husband after a few weeks of marriage to be with good ‘ol Jerry. Although it makes sense on paper to put Seinfeld back on Thursday (The Marriage Ref is regularly scheduled Thursday at 10 p.m.), the competition – ABC’s Private Practice and CBS’ The Mentalist – will be a definite challenge. -Chances of Survival for The Marriage Ref (Based on 1-1 to 10-1 Odds):5-1________________________________________________________________________ TV Tidbits:Notes of Interest -More How’d You Get So Rich?:TV Land has picked-up How’d You Get So Rich?, the comedy/reality half hour featuring the great Joan Rivers, for a second season. It opens on Wednesday, May 5 at 10 p.m. ET with the first of six new episodes. -Sugarloaf on A&E:Cable net A&E has ordered a new original scripted series called Sugarloaf, the story of an attractive, but difficult detective from Chicago (Matt Passmore) who is forced into exile after being wrongfully accused of sleeping with his former Captain’s wife. Production on 13 episodes will begin this winter in Miami, with a planned summer 2010 premiere. -Dr. Oz Heads to the Stock Exchange:Dr. Mehmet Oz, host of the highest rated syndicated talk show since Dr. Phil, will visit the New York Stock Exchange and ring the Closing Bell to celebrate National Nutrition Month on Tuesday, March 2. Let’s hope that Dr. Oz will bring some of his momentum to the financial marketplace. _________________________________________________________________________ TV Trivia Time:Pinky’s Little Sis Remember finger snapping Pinky Tuscadero, the female version of Arthur “Fonzie” Fonzarelli on Happy Days? What was the name of her younger sister? a) Gloryb) Leatherc) Niecyd) Stella e) Tippy The answer to yesterday’s question… Which one of the following TV characters fondly referred to her father as “Big Daddy”? a) Florence Jean Castleberry b) Diane Chambers c) Blanche Devereaux d) Miss Ellie Ewinge) Harriette Winslow Is: c) Blanche Devereaux, who was played, of course, by the great Rue McClanahan on NBC’s The Golden Girls. All together now… Thank you for being a friend Traveled down the road and back again Your heart is true; your a pal and a confidant. And if you through a party Invited everyone you ever knew You would see the biggest gift would be from me And the card attached would say thank you for being a friend. -Current kudos goes to:Suzanne Ackley, Steve Albright, Mark Amato, Dan Barnhardt, Michelle Yarborough-Bauer, Mikki Beno, Lauren Bergman, Barbara Berman, Deirdre Bianchi, Laurie Biddle, Gerry Bixenspan, Kimay Block (2x), Barbara Bloomfield, Jocelyn Brandeis, Rob Brittain, Cory Chapman, Larry Collins, Jim Colucci, Tom Condosta, Kristen Conner, Kay Copeland, Leslie Creason, Audrey Davis, Holly Escpbar, John Ferlazzo, Arleen Fong, Karen Gardner, Gail Goins, Maureen Goldman, Geoffrey Gordon (2x), Carolyn Becker Hayes, Shannon Herlihy, Heidi Hoffmeister, Sherrie Holliday, Kerry Hughes, Bob Ingersoll, Greg Janover, Ken Jobe (2x), Marie LeFevre Karp, Kevin Keefe, Tom Kilgallon, Synda Kollman, Mark Krause, Patty Lynch, Kathy Martin, Mary Ann McAleer, Michael McCray, Tricia McKee, Debbie Mirr, Jim Moore, Anne Moynihan, Miohael Murphy, Cindy O’Connor, Sandra Pettway, Greg Phelan, Tony Phillips, Mary Politano, Francine Purcell, Gordon Purcell, Michael Ratliffe, Bruce Robinson, Judy Robinson, Lindsay Rothman, Joe Rubi (2x), Ron Salmon, Maxine Schulman, Frances Seda, Kristen Signore, Andrew Stearn, Kristin Strauss, Joe Swaney, Ronnie Tallant, Jodi Tiktin, Nina Tomlinson, Meredith Wayne, Myndi Weinraub, Tammy Wiard, Mark Wristen

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The Winter Olympics Beat American Idol

Marc Berman

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