| Scoreboard for Sun. Feb 17, 2008 |  |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Viewers (million) | 11.11 | 10.00 | 9.22 | 7.30 | .84 |
| Rating/Share: Adults 18-49 | 3.7/9 | 4.0/10 | 2.1/5 | 3.2/8 | 0.3/1 |
ABC won the night in total viewers, but the peacocks at NBC will be puffing their chests out about winning the 18-49 demo. ABC has a Sunday night hit on its hands with Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. There were two hours worth last night and more people watched it than any other show on Sunday. Unfortunately for ABC, Brothers & Sisters at 10pm does not have mainstream appeal.
NBC scored with 2 hours worth of the American Gladiators season finale and then two hours of the movie, Knight Rider. In the last half hour, Kit and Michael had over 13 million viewers. I’d probably have bet heavily against that. Will the series be revived? They must at least be thinking about it.
The real story here for me is CBS. And I’m sure I’ll take some hate mail for it, but the problem this network faces is in attracting 18-49 viewers. Indeed, CBS came in last or next to last (beating only the CW) in the 18-49 demo every single half hour of Sunday night. The problem is that on this Sunday, at least two of the four shows it aired, Big Brother and Dexter are aimed at younger people. How bad is the problem? It’s really bad. In the 7:30p half hour, 60 Minutes had 13.12 million people tuned in and American Gladiators had only 6.94 million and still beat CBS handily in the 18-49 demo.
What happened to Big Brother? It finished next to last, in both viewers AND the 18-49 demo, beating only the CW. What happened to Dexter? It finished last (by 10pm, FOX and CW were off the primetime grid or it would have at least thrashed the CW) in viewers and the 18-49 demo.
Dexter did a bit better than Jericho and it also did better than Big Brother, but all three of these shows have the same problem, they seem to be targeted at an audience who don’t actually watch CBS much.
Still Dexter averaged over 8 million. And this is one of the reasons why I don’t want to hear from Jericho fans (even though I am one!!) about online watching, downloads, and DVR. Dexter has been out a while. Dexter torrents are all over the Internet, Showtime made downloads available, the DVDs are out, etc. Two seasons aired on Showtime already and it’s been all over the on demand. But Dexter still wound up with more viewers than the Jericho premiere.
CBS has a problem - its audience is older, and when it puts on new shows targeted at younger people it doesn’t find them in bulk (compare even its Cold Case, which doesn’t target so much to the youth to Big Brother and Dexter in the table below). In light of that and other factors, I thought Dexter performed well.
See the full night’s half hourly details:
sorry TVBigshots players, all I got was the half hourly data and no HH Ratings info was available at press time, but you can see the HH rating info on Zap2it.
| Time | Network | Show | Viewers (Millons) | 18-49 Rating/Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | America's Funniest Home Videos | 7.59 | 2.3/7 | |
| CBS | 60 Minutes | 11.67 | 2.0/6 | |
| NBC | American Gladiators | 5.24 | 2.0/6 | |
| FOX | NASCAR | 11.87 | 4.5/13 | |
| CW | CW Now | 0.67 | 0.3/1 | |
| 7:30 | ABC | America's Funniest Home Videos | 10.3 | 3.3/9 |
| CBS | 60 Minutes | 13.12 | 2.1/6 | |
| NBC | American Gladiators | 6.94 | 2.9/8 | |
| FOX | King of the Hill (Repeat) | 5.08 | 2.2/6 | |
| CW | Everybody Hates Chris (Repeat) | 0.72 | 0.2/1 | |
| 8:00 | ABC | Extreme Makeover: Home Ed. | 11.86 | 3.9/10 |
| CBS | Big Brother 9 | 7.16 | 2.3/6 | |
| NBC | American Gladiators | 7.88 | 3.3/8 | |
| FOX | The Simpsons | 7.81 | 3.6/9 | |
| CW | Everybody Hates Chris (Repeat) | 1.06 | 0.4/1 | |
| 8:30 | ABC | Extreme Makeover: Home Ed. | 13.18 | 4.3/10 |
| CBS | Big Brother 9 | 6.3 | 2.1/5 | |
| NBC | American Gladiators | 9.13 | 3.8/9 | |
| FOX | King of the Hill | 6.46 | 2.9/7 | |
| CW | Aliens in America (Repeat) | 0.92 | 0.4/1 | |
| 9:00 | ABC | Extreme Makeover: Home Ed. | 13.82 | 4.7/11 |
| CBS | Cold Case | 9.45 | 2.1/5 | |
| NBC | Movie: Knight Rider | 12.35 | 4.8/11 | |
| FOX | Family Guy | 7.23 | 3.6/8 | |
| CW | Girlfriends (Repeat) | 0.86 | 0.4/1 | |
| 9:30 | ABC | Extreme Makeover: Home Ed. | 15.12 | 5.4/12 |
| CBS | Cold Case | 9.78 | 2.2/5 | |
| NBC | Movie: Knight Rider | 12.61 | 4.9/11 | |
| FOX | American Dad | 5.35 | 2.5/6 | |
| CW | The Game (Repeat) | 0.79 | 0.4/1 | |
| 10:00 | ABC | Brothers and Sisters | 8.83 | 3.1/8 |
| CBS | Dexter (CBS Premiere) | 8.3 | 2.3/6 | |
| NBC | Movie: Knight Rider | 13.12 | 5.2/13 | |
| 10:30 | ABC | Brothers and Sisters | 8.18 | 2.8/7 |
| CBS | Dexter (CBS Premiere) | 7.99 | 2.2/6 | |
| NBC | Movie: Knight Rider | 13.12 | 5.2/13 |
Nielsen Ratings Source: Nielsen Media Research. Full night’s results available via Marc Berman/Mediaweek.
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February 18th, 2008 at 11:48 am
I guess I’m confused by your surprise. Of course CBS is losing in the 18-49 battle. In any chart I’ve seen since I can remember, CBS has always had the oldest skewing audience. Furthermore, CBS has the fewest “unscripted” shows of any net, 5 by my count (8 on ABC, 7 on NBC, and 7 on FOX). This is a rough guess based on shows featured on each networks web site, but I think it is evident that CBS is very dependent on scripted shows and will do very well when they come back from the strike.
February 18th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
Daniel, it’s not new, and it’s not a surprise, but it is getting worse. Further, your assertion is not quite true. CBS does very, very well (and OK in the demo too) with its scripted dramas in the crime/mystery genre. Its franchise of CSI along with shows like Criminal Minds and Without a Trace are great performers (along with the comedy, Two and a Half Men).
The question is, could CBS successfully launch new scripted dramas that are not the modern day equivalent of Murder She Wrote and attract a big audience.
The answer seems to be no.
February 18th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
Just to clarify, Dexter did not do better than Jericho in the 18-49 demo. Only in households.
February 18th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
Hi all. The Sunday premiere of BB8 got 5.85 mil viewers. I just looked it up. So while the #s are pretty bad, it’s still similar to what it did during the summer. Of course, it gained significant momentum as the summer wore on. I don’t know if it will be able to get that same momentum now, considering its competition.
February 18th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
Good point Jericho Fan, Jericho did a 2.5/7 in the 18-49 in the overnights vs. 2.3/6ish for Dexter.
February 18th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
In the summertime there are many fewer viewers to attract. Doing as well as it did in the summer during February sweeps is not just pretty bad, it’s very bad.
You’d have to hope it would do at least as well as it did later in the summer run (~8 million). Also BB is down huge in the demo from (I belive) the summer finale that did ~8 million and a 3.2 in the demo. It has lost a lot of 18-49 viewers since the Tuesday, Sept 4 airing.
February 18th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
Yes Robert, I agree that CBS does do very well with its scripted shows. That is why, I believe, it is not doing well with the strike hurting those shows.
I was thinking that, if CBS REALLY wanted to promote to a younger audience, we’d see promos on Comedy Central, MTV, VH1 and the other Viacom networks. Even though CBS and Viacom split, Sumner Redstone still head honcho for both.
I’m convinced that CBS is playing the “high tide raises all boats” programming card trying for as many eyeballs as possible, regardless of age.
February 18th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
CBS is the network your parents watch.
If they want to reprogram the audience’s thinking, then they might have to take a short-term hit in the ratings until the youth demo gets used to finding certain shows on CBS. But if they keep trying out new shows and then dump them right away because of lower ratings, they will never be able to change. And young viewers will only grow to hate CBS even more because they tend to not like having shows they like getting yanked off the schedule. They took Moonlight off the schedule so they could put on a show for my grandma to watch. Way to go, CBS.
February 18th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
Daniel C, then it seems silly to me that they would put on anything that wouldn’t achieve raising all boats. Publicly they will say they don’t care about the youth demo because that is what the CW is for. Of course, if the CW had any performance whatsoever, I might cut them some slack on that.
Also, insiders at CBS say they do focus on the 25-54 demo in their ad pitches, but these days, most of CBS’ viewers(well over 50% typically) are outside of that demo.
February 18th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
But BB has a lot more competition than in the summer. And if one looks at the trend of all BB series, they start slow… and build throughtout their run. Plus it’s cheap as dirt to make. I think it should settle in to around 7 mil an episode, be on for 8 weeks, and then it will go back to being a summer series.
February 18th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
Andy, I’ve made a few inquiries regarding residual payments on reruns, etc. The consensus is, regardless how cheap BB is to make, if they would get twice as many viewers sticking on an hour of reruns of 2.5 Men, CBS is losing a measurable amount of money by running BB (or any poor performer) instead. And let me clarify, it’s not that CBS is not making money anyway — it indeed is. Its just not optimizing to make as much money possible. That’s a disservice to its shareholders.
February 18th, 2008 at 12:54 pm
Thanks for your info Robert. Another question if I can ask… about DVRs. When those ratings are included, is it just a sample (like normal TV ratings), or is every DVR included?
February 18th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
Andy, it’s not every DVR or even close. What Nielsen did for the 2007-2008 is increase the panel representation from about ~9% (I think) to 21%. So it should be that 21% of the Nielsen “sample” have DVRs.
Unfortunately short of what you could buy from Tivo data wise, the Nielsen DVR data is still the best freely available stuff. Consider that Tivo now represent less than 20% of the overall DVR market with Comcast, Time Warner, Dish, DirectTV etc. having the other 80%. While they can certainly collect data from the set top boxes, that data isn’t available (at least to us).
February 18th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
Oh, I was curious if my DVR viewing would matter. But clearly it doesn’t. Thanks for the explanation.
February 18th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
it may matter to someone (not sure which DVR, who your provider is, etc. and whether they are selling your data), but unless you’re a Nielsen family, it does not matter to the Nielsen data.
February 18th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
Unfortunately, not a Nielsen family…it drives me crazy when I see my favorite shows doing poorly and I can’t do anything about it! haha… I guess that’s how everyone feels.
February 18th, 2008 at 1:48 pm
I guess I'm confused by your surprise. Of course CBS is losing in the 18-49 battle. In any chart I've seen since I can remember, CBS has always had the oldest skewing audience. Furthermore, CBS has the fewest “unscripted” shows of any net, 5 by my count (8 on ABC, 7 on NBC, and 7 on FOX). This is a rough guess based on shows featured on each networks web site, but I think it is evident that CBS is very dependent on scripted shows and will do very well when they come back from the strike.
February 18th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
Daniel, it's not new, and it's not a surprise, but it is getting worse. Further, your assertion is not quite true. CBS does very, very well (and OK in the demo too) with its scripted dramas in the crime/mystery genre. Its franchise of CSI along with shows like Criminal Minds and Without a Trace are great performers (along with the comedy, Two and a Half Men).
The question is, could CBS successfully launch new scripted dramas that are not the modern day equivalent of Murder She Wrote and attract a big audience.
The answer seems to be no.
February 18th, 2008 at 2:20 pm
Just to clarify, Dexter did not do better than Jericho in the 18-49 demo. Only in households.
February 18th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
The first season of Dexter is even available online at Netflix. You can watch an unlimited number of shows and movies that they have online if you subscribe to at least a one DVD a month plan, for under 9 bucks.
Dexter is all over the ‘net. This is great exposure for the show.
I not feeling the mythology of the new Jericho season two.
February 18th, 2008 at 2:32 pm
Hi all. The Sunday premiere of BB8 got 5.85 mil viewers. I just looked it up. So while the #s are pretty bad, it's still similar to what it did during the summer. Of course, it gained significant momentum as the summer wore on. I don't know if it will be able to get that same momentum now, considering its competition.
February 18th, 2008 at 2:32 pm
Good point Jericho Fan, Jericho did a 2.5/7 in the 18-49 in the overnights vs. 2.3/6ish for Dexter.
February 18th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
In the summertime there are many fewer viewers to attract. Doing as well as it did in the summer during February sweeps is not just pretty bad, it's very bad.
You'd have to hope it would do at least as well as it did later in the summer run (~8 million). Also BB is down huge in the demo from (I belive) the summer finale that did ~8 million and a 3.2 in the demo. It has lost a lot of 18-49 viewers since the Tuesday, Sept 4 airing.
February 18th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
Yes Robert, I agree that CBS does do very well with its scripted shows. That is why, I believe, it is not doing well with the strike hurting those shows.
I was thinking that, if CBS REALLY wanted to promote to a younger audience, we'd see promos on Comedy Central, MTV, VH1 and the other Viacom networks. Even though CBS and Viacom split, Sumner Redstone still head honcho for both.
I'm convinced that CBS is playing the “high tide raises all boats” programming card trying for as many eyeballs as possible, regardless of age.
February 18th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
CBS is the network your parents watch.
If they want to reprogram the audience's thinking, then they might have to take a short-term hit in the ratings until the youth demo gets used to finding certain shows on CBS. But if they keep trying out new shows and then dump them right away because of lower ratings, they will never be able to change. And young viewers will only grow to hate CBS even more because they tend to not like having shows they like getting yanked off the schedule. They took Moonlight off the schedule so they could put on a show for my grandma to watch. Way to go, CBS.
February 18th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
Daniel C, then it seems silly to me that they would put on anything that wouldn't achieve raising all boats. Publicly they will say they don't care about the youth demo because that is what the CW is for. Of course, if the CW had any performance whatsoever, I might cut them some slack on that.
Also, insiders at CBS say they do focus on the 25-54 demo in their ad pitches, but these days, most of CBS' viewers(well over 50% typically) are outside of that demo.
February 18th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
But BB has a lot more competition than in the summer. And if one looks at the trend of all BB series, they start slow… and build throughtout their run. Plus it's cheap as dirt to make. I think it should settle in to around 7 mil an episode, be on for 8 weeks, and then it will go back to being a summer series.
February 18th, 2008 at 2:49 pm
Andy, I've made a few inquiries regarding residual payments on reruns, etc. The consensus is, regardless how cheap BB is to make, if they would get twice as many viewers sticking on an hour of reruns of 2.5 Men, CBS is losing a measurable amount of money by running BB (or any poor performer) instead. And let me clarify, it's not that CBS is not making money anyway — it indeed is. Its just not optimizing to make as much money possible. That's a disservice to its shareholders.
February 18th, 2008 at 2:54 pm
Thanks for your info Robert. Another question if I can ask… about DVRs. When those ratings are included, is it just a sample (like normal TV ratings), or is every DVR included?
February 18th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
Andy, it's not every DVR or even close. What Nielsen did for the 2007-2008 is increase the panel representation from about ~9% (I think) to 21%. So it should be that 21% of the Nielsen “sample” have DVRs.
Unfortunately short of what you could buy from Tivo data wise, the Nielsen DVR data is still the best freely available stuff. Consider that Tivo now represent less than 20% of the overall DVR market with Comcast, Time Warner, Dish, DirectTV etc. having the other 80%. While they can certainly collect data from the set top boxes, that data isn't available (at least to us).
February 18th, 2008 at 3:00 pm
Oh, I was curious if my DVR viewing would matter. But clearly it doesn't. Thanks for the explanation.
February 18th, 2008 at 3:02 pm
it may matter to someone (not sure which DVR, who your provider is, etc. and whether they are selling your data), but unless you're a Nielsen family, it does not matter to the Nielsen data.
February 18th, 2008 at 3:03 pm
Unfortunately, not a Nielsen family…it drives me crazy when I see my favorite shows doing poorly and I can't do anything about it! haha… I guess that's how everyone feels.
February 18th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
Here’s part of Robert Bianco’s USAToday chat session today about the networks. I’d share he has a bit of a differing opinion:
“Waynesville, MO: What is up with NBC? It is amazing how much they have fallen from the glory days of Cosby Show/Cheers/Friends/early-ER. They seem to put junk on the air. I saw that there was American Gladiators and Knight Rider on last night. It this the 90’s still. (There are some exceptions - 30 Rock, FNL, Scrubs, Office) Even the CW tries harder than this. Which network’s higher-ups would you say are doing a good job?
Robert Bianco: Really, Waynesville - I have to thank you. If you hadn’t mentioned “Knight Rider,” which NBC aired without making available for review, I was going to have to find some way to work it in. I don’t know when I’ve seen a more amateurish, inept heap of cynical junk on a major network. I’d call it a two-hour commercial, but that’s an insult to commercials - most of which are better acted and constructed than this clunker. As for those two, poor actors stuck in the car for most of the movie: You can buy lox and bagels with more chemistry and more expressions. As for the question: CBS is widely regarded as the best-run network, with ABC and Fox vying for second. ABC is better at drama than comedy, and some of the decision-making, or makers, lean toward the erratic. Fox benefits and suffers from its beyond-control reality division. As for NBC - it’s not just the worst managed network at the moment. It may have the worst management I’ve ever seen in all my years on the job.”
February 18th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
Daniel C. there is a lot of legacy thinking among people who have been following this stuff for ages. I don’t think most of the legacy thinking is serving the television industry or the networks well at all.
We know what’s going on RIGHT NOW. FOX is winning, and with American Idol, that lead is only going to widen. Despite my “attacks” on CBS, I’d agree it is a better run network than ABC or NBC (much better even). But, for me it’s not just about doing better than your peers, it’s also about making as much money as possible.
From my read, CBS is not focused on maximimizing viewers (or dollars). If that’s because they are already making a ton of money anyway and they don’t care, that’s heinous.
February 18th, 2008 at 4:11 pm
Well, if American Idol was never shown again, I’d be happy.
This franchise is the worst thing that could ever happen to TV. It’s the biggest load of crap there is.
February 18th, 2008 at 4:24 pm
The first season of Dexter is even available online at Netflix. You can watch an unlimited number of shows and movies that they have online if you subscribe to at least a one DVD a month plan, for under 9 bucks.
Dexter is all over the 'net. This is great exposure for the show.
I not feeling the mythology of the new Jericho season two.
February 18th, 2008 at 4:26 pm
now we’re getting very Yogi-esque. Nobody ever goes there anymore, it’s too crowded.
February 18th, 2008 at 4:26 pm
I go back to the strike and that it hurt CBS the most. They are big and set in their ways and were not nimble in new programming. When the shows get going again, CBS will be back on top.
February 18th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
Daniel, I’ll wager many beers FOX wins the year (with the “year” ending with the May sweeps). , reruns of CSI, etc., performed much better for CBS than reruns on other networks and that will be their “we withstood the strike!” mantra I suppose. completely agree with you about CBS inability at being nimble vs. the other nets, though I wouldn’t say ABC was all that effective either.
February 18th, 2008 at 4:35 pm
Oh, absolutely Robert. I agree that FOX will win this year, overall. However, let’s see how May sweeps go when all nets are at full strength.
February 18th, 2008 at 5:32 pm
How is this for an absolute nightmare scenario? Can’t you just imagine Ben Silverman looking at those inexplicably great Knight Rider numbers and penciling it in for fall Friday nights at 9 pm (the same time slot it had in the 1980s I believe), and tossing our beloved Friday Night Lights in the cancellation pile? Makes me sick to my stomach. This….the 1980s network of St. Elsewhere, Hill St. Blues, Cheers, Golden Girls, Cosby Show, Family Ties…….and what show do they try and remake??? The David Hasselhoff series.
February 18th, 2008 at 5:39 pm
Here's part of Robert Bianco's USAToday chat session today about the networks. I'd share he has a bit of a differing opinion:
“Waynesville, MO: What is up with NBC? It is amazing how much they have fallen from the glory days of Cosby Show/Cheers/Friends/early-ER. They seem to put junk on the air. I saw that there was American Gladiators and Knight Rider on last night. It this the 90's still. (There are some exceptions - 30 Rock, FNL, Scrubs, Office) Even the CW tries harder than this. Which network's higher-ups would you say are doing a good job?
Robert Bianco: Really, Waynesville - I have to thank you. If you hadn't mentioned “Knight Rider,” which NBC aired without making available for review, I was going to have to find some way to work it in. I don't know when I've seen a more amateurish, inept heap of cynical junk on a major network. I'd call it a two-hour commercial, but that's an insult to commercials - most of which are better acted and constructed than this clunker. As for those two, poor actors stuck in the car for most of the movie: You can buy lox and bagels with more chemistry and more expressions. As for the question: CBS is widely regarded as the best-run network, with ABC and Fox vying for second. ABC is better at drama than comedy, and some of the decision-making, or makers, lean toward the erratic. Fox benefits and suffers from its beyond-control reality division. As for NBC - it's not just the worst managed network at the moment. It may have the worst management I've ever seen in all my years on the job.”
February 18th, 2008 at 5:59 pm
Daniel C. there is a lot of legacy thinking among people who have been following this stuff for ages. I don't think most of the legacy thinking is serving the television industry or the networks well at all.
We know what's going on RIGHT NOW. FOX is winning, and with American Idol, that lead is only going to widen. Despite my “attacks” on CBS, I'd agree it is a better run network than ABC or NBC (much better even). But, for me it's not just about doing better than your peers, it's also about making as much money as possible.
From my read, CBS is not focused on maximimizing viewers (or dollars). If that's because they are already making a ton of money anyway and they don't care, that's heinous.
February 18th, 2008 at 6:11 pm
Well, if American Idol was never shown again, I'd be happy.
This franchise is the worst thing that could ever happen to TV. It's the biggest load of crap there is.
February 18th, 2008 at 6:26 pm
now we're getting very Yogi-esque. Nobody ever goes there anymore, it's too crowded.
February 18th, 2008 at 6:26 pm
I go back to the strike and that it hurt CBS the most. They are big and set in their ways and were not nimble in new programming. When the shows get going again, CBS will be back on top.
February 18th, 2008 at 6:28 pm
Daniel, I'll wager many beers FOX wins the year (with the “year” ending with the May sweeps). , reruns of CSI, etc., performed much better for CBS than reruns on other networks and that will be their “we withstood the strike!” mantra I suppose. completely agree with you about CBS inability at being nimble vs. the other nets, though I wouldn't say ABC was all that effective either.
February 18th, 2008 at 6:35 pm
Oh, absolutely Robert. I agree that FOX will win this year, overall. However, let's see how May sweeps go when all nets are at full strength.
February 18th, 2008 at 6:38 pm
What a chump i am. Took the new FOX animations on my TV BigShot entries to have a nice night with all of their fans… and got creamed.
What happened?
February 18th, 2008 at 7:05 pm
I shoulda mentioned that the only FOX I use are the Sunday animations because I hate reality. Figgered they had been hyping the NEW episodes all week on all of their big ratings-winning shows and i would benefit without selling out. Now FOX finally gets ‘creamed’ and I’m all over it like s**t on stink.
February 18th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
How is this for an absolute nightmare scenario? Can't you just imagine Ben Silverman looking at those inexplicably great Knight Rider numbers and penciling it in for fall Friday nights at 9 pm (the same time slot it had in the 1980s I believe), and tossing our beloved Friday Night Lights in the cancellation pile? Makes me sick to my stomach. This….the 1980s network of St. Elsewhere, Hill St. Blues, Cheers, Golden Girls, Cosby Show, Family Ties…….and what show do they try and remake??? The David Hasselhoff series.
February 18th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
Yah… what was up with Knightrider kickin butt? Are we about to trend back to the 80’s… I think I’ve still got some bell-bottoms in storage. Is this a strike-related interim issue or just a fluke. (By the way, bought a new ‘Stang last year cuz I just gotta have it).
February 18th, 2008 at 8:17 pm
Jon V: I’m as surprised as you about The Simpsons, Family Guy, and Knight Rider. I had no idea Knight Rider was even going to be on and had I, I’m not sure I would have watched it. I will dig up the movie and give it a look though.
I’m not sure it’s strike related or a fluke. Nostalgia, good theme song, talking cars. It seemed to gain strength every half hour and had very good 18-49 demo performance.
P.S. I think bell-bottoms were a late 60s and early 70s phenomenon. I was straight leg all the way in the 80s.
February 18th, 2008 at 8:38 pm
What a chump i am. Took the new FOX animations on my TV BigShot entries to have a nice night with all of their fans… and got creamed.
What happened?
February 18th, 2008 at 9:05 pm
I shoulda mentioned that the only FOX I use are the Sunday animations because I hate reality. Figgered they had been hyping the NEW episodes all week on all of their big ratings-winning shows and i would benefit without selling out. Now FOX finally gets 'creamed' and I'm all over it like s**t on stink.
February 18th, 2008 at 9:15 pm
Someone posted this on the CBS Message boards:
“I think someone better look at the numbers again. The crux of this piece is that CBS can’t get the 18-49 numbers. They then go on to compare Dexter to Jericho trashing Jericho being out performed by Dexter. But WAIT A MINUTE! Can we rewind the tape?
Total VIewers: Dexter 8.1 million out of 30 miilion viewers (27% of viewers), Jericho 7.3 million out of 22.78 million viewers (31% of viewers).
18-49 Demographic: Dexter 2.3/ 6 share; Jericho 2.5/ 7 share.
Dexter 3rd in time slot out of 3 shows in total viewers (.5 million out of 2nd, 4.78 million out of 1st) and in 18-49 share; Jericho 3rd in time slot out of 3 shows in total viewers (.8 million out of 2nd, 1.19 million out of 1st) and tied for 1st in 18-49 share.
Somebody get a clue!”
Weren’t these your numbers from this week?
I’m a little confussed,
Ana
February 18th, 2008 at 9:21 pm
You go Ana. Love a girl who can crunch numbers.
It’s a mele out there for programmers. Anything goes until next season. They’re just throwin half-cooked spaghetti against the fridge right now.
February 18th, 2008 at 9:35 pm
Ya, and Jericho brand spanking new while Dexter a 2 year old show censored all to heck. I’d really be interested in what kind of numbers Dexter pulls in on Showtime. I wonder how many folks have canceled HBO after the end of shows like Deadwood, Sopranos, and 6 Feet Under and migrated over to Showtime. I think the numbers for Dexter were very impressive considering the reasons stated in this article. Jericho on the other hand, I fully don’t expect it to survive this shortened season 2 and plan to see the the final episode really being the grand finale. At least they will give it a proper ending this time. I don’t intend on seeing a climb in ratings next week, as the trend in these serial shows is either you got on board or you didn’t. (I don’t know that for a fact, it’s just logical reasoning that just now popped into my head.)Now it will be just the dropoffs from those that didn’t like the first episode.
If I’m wrong, I’ll buy you a donut. But only 1, and only 1 person. I’m not rich!
February 18th, 2008 at 10:07 pm
Ana, the problem is that with Dexter on Showtime the best it could do is a bit over million per new episode so 8 million is gravy. I compared the numbers of a cable show that first ran almost 2 years ago to a show that was trying to stay on the air deliberately.
Jericho performed better than Dexter, but relative performance was pretty close (and they both got their butts kicked by Knight Rider either way!), though I’d grant there was a smaller total audience watching the broadcast nets when Jericho ran.
if Dexter goes back to only being on Showtime (as will surely be the case for the “first run” of Season 3 of Dexter), who cares? But Jericho is on a trajectory to go off the air. I care!
Maybe CBS should think about putting Jericho on Showtime. I wonder how many new subscribers Showtime would have to get to keep it alive? 500,000?
February 18th, 2008 at 10:08 pm
Yah… what was up with Knightrider kickin butt? Are we about to trend back to the 80's… I think I've still got some bell-bottoms in storage. Is this a strike-related interim issue or just a fluke. (By the way, bought a new 'Stang last year cuz I just gotta have it).
February 18th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
Jon V: I'm as surprised as you about The Simpsons, Family Guy, and Knight Rider. I had no idea Knight Rider was even going to be on and had I, I'm not sure I would have watched it. I will dig up the movie and give it a look though.
I'm not sure it's strike related or a fluke. Nostalgia, good theme song, talking cars. It seemed to gain strength every half hour and had very good 18-49 demo performance.
P.S. I think bell-bottoms were a late 60s and early 70s phenomenon. I was straight leg all the way in the 80s.
February 18th, 2008 at 11:15 pm
Someone posted this on the CBS Message boards:
“I think someone better look at the numbers again. The crux of this piece is that CBS can't get the 18-49 numbers. They then go on to compare Dexter to Jericho trashing Jericho being out performed by Dexter. But WAIT A MINUTE! Can we rewind the tape?
Total VIewers: Dexter 8.1 million out of 30 miilion viewers (27% of viewers), Jericho 7.3 million out of 22.78 million viewers (31% of viewers).
18-49 Demographic: Dexter 2.3/ 6 share; Jericho 2.5/ 7 share.
Dexter 3rd in time slot out of 3 shows in total viewers (.5 million out of 2nd, 4.78 million out of 1st) and in 18-49 share; Jericho 3rd in time slot out of 3 shows in total viewers (.8 million out of 2nd, 1.19 million out of 1st) and tied for 1st in 18-49 share.
Somebody get a clue!”
Weren't these your numbers from this week?
I'm a little confussed,
Ana
February 18th, 2008 at 11:21 pm
You go Ana. Love a girl who can crunch numbers.
It's a mele out there for programmers. Anything goes until next season. They're just throwin half-cooked spaghetti against the fridge right now.
February 18th, 2008 at 11:35 pm
Ya, and Jericho brand spanking new while Dexter a 2 year old show censored all to heck. I'd really be interested in what kind of numbers Dexter pulls in on Showtime. I wonder how many folks have canceled HBO after the end of shows like Deadwood, Sopranos, and 6 Feet Under and migrated over to Showtime. I think the numbers for Dexter were very impressive considering the reasons stated in this article. Jericho on the other hand, I fully don't expect it to survive this shortened season 2 and plan to see the the final episode really being the grand finale. At least they will give it a proper ending this time. I don't intend on seeing a climb in ratings next week, as the trend in these serial shows is either you got on board or you didn't. (I don't know that for a fact, it's just logical reasoning that just now popped into my head.)Now it will be just the dropoffs from those that didn't like the first episode.
If I'm wrong, I'll buy you a donut. But only 1, and only 1 person. I'm not rich!
February 19th, 2008 at 12:07 am
Ana, the problem is that with Dexter on Showtime the best it could do is a bit over million per new episode so 8 million is gravy. I compared the numbers of a cable show that first ran almost 2 years ago to a show that was trying to stay on the air deliberately.
Jericho performed better than Dexter, but relative performance was pretty close (and they both got their butts kicked by Knight Rider either way!), though I'd grant there was a smaller total audience watching the broadcast nets when Jericho ran.
if Dexter goes back to only being on Showtime (as will surely be the case for the “first run” of Season 3 of Dexter), who cares? But Jericho is on a trajectory to go off the air. I care!
Maybe CBS should think about putting Jericho on Showtime. I wonder how many new subscribers Showtime would have to get to keep it alive? 500,000?
February 19th, 2008 at 4:27 am
Also just noticed… despite all of the big numbers total-viewer wise, the 18/49s were abyssmal. Were all the young kids watching the NBA all-Star game at bars and then partying?
The difference between total and 18/49 was the biggest spread I can remember.
February 19th, 2008 at 6:27 am
Also just noticed… despite all of the big numbers total-viewer wise, the 18/49s were abyssmal. Were all the young kids watching the NBA all-Star game at bars and then partying?
The difference between total and 18/49 was the biggest spread I can remember.
February 19th, 2008 at 7:10 am
Dexter is #1 on ITunes download. I don’t care about CBS, as long as Showtime gets rewarded for making Dexter, I’m happy.
February 19th, 2008 at 9:10 am
Dexter is #1 on ITunes download. I don't care about CBS, as long as Showtime gets rewarded for making Dexter, I'm happy.