Categorized | '

Nielsen Ratings Mon March 17: Dancing is Back

Posted on 18 March 2008 by Robert Seidman

Scoreboard for Mon. March 17, 2008 ABC CBS NBC FOX CW
Total Viewers (million) 14.93 10.61 8.17 6.34 1.68
Rating/Share: Adults 18-49 4.4/12 3.9/10 2.5/7 2.0/5 0.7/2

Dancing With the Stars returned and ABC easily won St. Patrick’s Day night in overall viewers and the 18-49 demographic.  It wasn’t an American Idol style beatdown, but it wasn’t all that close either with ABC averaging more than 4 million viewers more than second place CBS.  But this was the most competitive night of TV, especially in the 18-49 demo in sometime, and the CBS comedies hold up quite well.

Kaley CoucoMany are all starry-eyed over The Big Bang Theory.  Big Bang is a nice little comedy, and its ratings are exactly in line with what it is.  A nice little comedy.  Not a great comedy – not Seinfeld, Cheers or even Two and a Half Men.  It’s not even anywhere near the quality of 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Daughter – which was a great comedy.  I love Kaley Couco, and I can certainly understand getting starry eyed over her.  But Big Bang is a nice little comedy, not a great comedy. 

But even today’s greatest (ratings-wise, anyway) comedy, Two and a Half Men was no match for the return of Dancing With the Stars.  Dancing was by far and away the most watched show of the evening, and while no American Idol, it’s still the best ratings workhorse for the Mouse by far..  Last night was an hour and a half of the men dancing, and those who already are pegging Penn Gillette to go are out of their minds – Adam Corrolla will be drawing the short straw. The fans aren’t going to get rid of the magician quickly, even if he does dance like Shrek.

ABC also ran with an hour and a half of The Bachelor, and while I understand airing DWTS as often as possible, the bloom is definitely off the rose for Bachelor which could barely hold onto a third of the DWTS viewers.  I’m sure Bachelor fans will be whining about what a bad lead-in DWTS is!

NBC ran with My Dad is Better Than Your Dad (but not better than anything ratings-wise, except a repeat of Gossip Girl), Deal or No Deal (which came in 3rd behind DWTS and 2.5 Men) and Medium, which couldn’t beat a rerun of CSI: Miami.

FOX needs to make more Prison Break and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicle quickly.  Cantebury’s Law is tanking (it lost more than 25% of its viewers since last week)and New Amsterdam was next to last in the 9pm hour, beating out only Pussycat Dolls Present: Girlicious.  

OK, I admit it — I’d love to see an episode of Terminator with Kaley C. guest-starring as a terminator alongside Summer Glau…

St. Patrick’s Day Night’s full details:

Time Network Show Viewers (Millons) 18-49 Rating/Share HH Rating
8:00 ABC Dancing With The Stars (8p-9:30) 20.9 5.5/15 13.4
  CBS Big Bang Theory 9.11 3.7/11 5.4
  NBC My Dad is Better than Your Dad 4.68 1.5/4 2.7
  FOX Canterburys Law 5.66 1.7/5 4
  CW Gossip Girl ( R) 1.25 0.6/2 1
           
8:30 CBS How I met Your Mother 9.73 4.3/11 5.7
           
9:00 CBS Two and a Half Men 14.03 5.4/13 8.7
  CW Pussycat Dolls Present: Girlicious 1.57 0.7/2 1.2
  NBC Deal or No Deal 9.93 2.9/7 5.8
  FOX New Amsterdam 7.3 2.3/6 4.8
           
9:30 CBS New Adv. of Old Christine 11.45 4.3/11 7.7
  ABC The Bachelor (9:30p-11p) 8.96 3.3/9 5.4
           
10:00 CBS CSI: Miami (R ) 9.66 3.0/8 6.7
  NBC Medium 9.89 3.2/9 6.7

 

Nielsen Ratings Source: Nielsen Media Research. Full night’s results available via Marc Berman/Mediaweek.

Paid Advertisement
Looking to purchase a new DVD player or one of the many new LCD TVs available?  Check out this online shopping site and browse all of our electronics and televisions today!

Share:
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • MySpace
  • del.icio.us
  • Digg
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • Yahoo! Buzz
  • email

68 Responses to “Nielsen Ratings Mon March 17: Dancing is Back”

  1. D.D. says:

    Wow, you are an ass.

  2. D.D. says:

    Wow, you are an ass.

  3. Bill says:

    No, you need to admit you’re infatuated with Ms. Glau. It’s understandable though, after checking out the 25 “scary” women on the Bachelor, I’d prefer watching Ms. Glau play a “scary” robot.

  4. Bill says:

    No, you need to admit you're infatuated with Ms. Glau. It's understandable though, after checking out the 25 “scary” women on the Bachelor, I'd prefer watching Ms. Glau play a “scary” robot.

  5. I feel as though I admit my infatuation with Ms. Glau on a weekly basis (at least!). Frankj will back me up!

  6. I feel as though I admit my infatuation with Ms. Glau on a weekly basis (at least!). Frankj will back me up!

  7. Tony says:

    Glau is not a scary robot, she’s a very scary robot! And Robert, I’ll back you up too.

  8. Tony says:

    Glau is not a scary robot, she's a very scary robot! And Robert, I'll back you up too.

  9. Jack says:

    You’ve got my back, Robert! :-) Those are some solid numbers for The Big Bang Theory, I admit I enjoy the show. Not as much as, say, The Office, but Kaley Cuoco is definitely a plus for TBBT.

  10. Jack says:

    You've got my back, Robert! :-) Those are some solid numbers for The Big Bang Theory, I admit I enjoy the show. Not as much as, say, The Office, but Kaley Cuoco is definitely a plus for TBBT.

  11. frankj says:

    I don’t think it’s possible to not like Summer.

  12. frankj says:

    I don't think it's possible to not like Summer.

  13. Actually I screwed up, TBBT did 9.11 million and a 3.7/11 (i originally had it in the table as 9.73, 4.3/11 but that was HIMYM. Still solid, but not as good — I guess I love Kaley enough that I want to fudge the numbers on her behalf!

    I’ve updated the table…

  14. Actually I screwed up, TBBT did 9.11 million and a 3.7/11 (i originally had it in the table as 9.73, 4.3/11 but that was HIMYM. Still solid, but not as good — I guess I love Kaley enough that I want to fudge the numbers on her behalf!

    I've updated the table…

  15. Summer Glau!

    One of these days I will do a DVR Battle: Kaley vs. Summer…

  16. Summer Glau!

    One of these days I will do a DVR Battle: Kaley vs. Summer…

  17. Jack says:

    I for one wouldn’t mind if there’s a Kaley pic every tuesday… now that Summer’s off the air :-(

  18. Jack says:

    I for one wouldn't mind if there's a Kaley pic every tuesday… now that Summer's off the air :-(

  19. Sandy says:

    Congratulations to Robert Seidman for being the first person ever in the history of the world to call 8 Simple Rules a great show!

  20. Sandy says:

    Congratulations to Robert Seidman for being the first person ever in the history of the world to call 8 Simple Rules a great show!

  21. Ken says:

    She’ll be back!

  22. Ken says:

    She'll be back!

  23. Shane says:

    C’mon Robert!
    Big Bang, HIMYM, 2.5 Men, and Old Christine did excellent and all had season highs, by the way. I would not have expected this, but CBS still has the most-watched comedy lineup on television at this time.
    I’m pretty sure NBC won’t hold up this well when it returns on April 3rd and 10th…

  24. Shane says:

    C'mon Robert!
    Big Bang, HIMYM, 2.5 Men, and Old Christine did excellent and all had season highs, by the way. I would not have expected this, but CBS still has the most-watched comedy lineup on television at this time.
    I'm pretty sure NBC won't hold up this well when it returns on April 3rd and 10th…

  25. Sandy, John Ritter, may he rest in peace, was a comic genius.

    I wasn’t the first to love on 8 Simple Rules or even the 1000th!

  26. Sandy, John Ritter, may he rest in peace, was a comic genius.

    I wasn't the first to love on 8 Simple Rules or even the 1000th!

  27. Shane, anchored by 2.5 Men, I am not at all surprised CBS has the most watched comedy lineup. ABC’s comedies (even the beloved Samantha Who?) don’t hold up to 2.5 men. While I LOVE 30 Rock, (and like The Office quite a bit) NBC’s current sitcoms will never have the ratings Two and a Half Men does.

    P.S. those were good numbers across the board, but 2.5 Men did 14.12 million on 11/12/07…

  28. Shane, anchored by 2.5 Men, I am not at all surprised CBS has the most watched comedy lineup. ABC's comedies (even the beloved Samantha Who?) don't hold up to 2.5 men. While I LOVE 30 Rock, (and like The Office quite a bit) NBC's current sitcoms will never have the ratings Two and a Half Men does.

    P.S. those were good numbers across the board, but 2.5 Men did 14.12 million on 11/12/07…

  29. Jack says:

    Well I don’t get it. 2.5 Men constantly has big numbers (incl. repeats). I hate that show. I mean, I get it… it is a much simpler comedy where people do not have to tune in each week (yet they do) and they will laugh for 30 minutes and forget all about the show the minute they change the channel. I don’t like the characters, I don’t care about the characters, I don’t find them amusing at all… I guess I just like a little bit more from a show I watch.

  30. Jack says:

    Well I don't get it. 2.5 Men constantly has big numbers (incl. repeats). I hate that show. I mean, I get it… it is a much simpler comedy where people do not have to tune in each week (yet they do) and they will laugh for 30 minutes and forget all about the show the minute they change the channel. I don't like the characters, I don't care about the characters, I don't find them amusing at all… I guess I just like a little bit more from a show I watch.

  31. Ron says:

    Just remember The Big Bang Theory’s numbers are in the much more difficult 8:00. This time of year with daylight savings time there is quite a difference between 8:00 and 8:30. BBT got much higher numbers than HIMYM ever got in the 8:00. This show did a terrific job on its first night in the 8:00 anchor spot.

  32. Ron says:

    Just remember The Big Bang Theory's numbers are in the much more difficult 8:00. This time of year with daylight savings time there is quite a difference between 8:00 and 8:30. BBT got much higher numbers than HIMYM ever got in the 8:00. This show did a terrific job on its first night in the 8:00 anchor spot.

  33. Ron, today’s great was yesterday’s really bad news. Only 10 short years ago Seinfeld had a HH Rating of 22, of course that was a wacky year where Veronica’s Closet narrowly edged out Friends in HH Rating (16.8 vs 16.4) with Fraiser, Home Improvement and Just Shoot Me all pulling 12.0s.

    If a 5.4 is great, the most amazing aspect of all is this: the broadcast networks even adjusted for inflation are seemingly making more money out of vastly fewer viewers. On the plus side, this walk down memory lane is probably much, much harder for NBC to stomach than it is for CBS!

  34. Ron, today's great was yesterday's really bad news. Only 10 short years ago Seinfeld had a HH Rating of 22, of course that was a wacky year where Veronica's Closet narrowly edged out Friends in HH Rating (16.8 vs 16.4) with Fraiser, Home Improvement and Just Shoot Me all pulling 12.0s.

    If a 5.4 is great, the most amazing aspect of all is this: the broadcast networks even adjusted for inflation are seemingly making more money out of vastly fewer viewers. On the plus side, this walk down memory lane is probably much, much harder for NBC to stomach than it is for CBS!

  35. dearme says:

    I think u should now stop posting CW ratings along with the big networks, it’s just awful to look at.

    I really feel CW should turn into a distributor to place it’s GEMS in the right place (CABLE). Reaper would do gr8 on USA, sandwiched between Monk and Psych. What do u think about the following trade?

    Smallville -> ABC family
    Supernatural -> SciFi channel
    Reaper -> USA network
    Gossip Girl -> MTV
    ANTM -> BRAVO
    Beauty & Geek -> VH1
    One Tree Hill -> ABC family
    Everybody Hates Chris, Girlfriends, Game, Aliens in America -> TBS

  36. dearme says:

    I think u should now stop posting CW ratings along with the big networks, it's just awful to look at.

    I really feel CW should turn into a distributor to place it's GEMS in the right place (CABLE). Reaper would do gr8 on USA, sandwiched between Monk and Psych. What do u think about the following trade?

    Smallville -> ABC family
    Supernatural -> SciFi channel
    Reaper -> USA network
    Gossip Girl -> MTV
    ANTM -> BRAVO
    Beauty & Geek -> VH1
    One Tree Hill -> ABC family
    Everybody Hates Chris, Girlfriends, Game, Aliens in America -> TBS

  37. Dearme: love it though other than Everybody Hates Chris I’ve never watched any of the shows you’re dealing to TBS so I don’t have an informed opinion about that.

    Supernatural to SciFi and Gossip Girl to MTV sounds righteous to me. But would you do something with the CW’s primetime allocation? 2-4 million primetime viewers is at the very least competitive with some all cable channels. Seems like you might as well use the airspace with…something. They’re bringing Supernatural and a bunch of other shows back, so it seems like they’re OK with it for at least another season.

    I can’t stop posting the CW’s numbers though. trainwreck, can’t avert my eyes, etc. ;)

  38. Dearme: love it though other than Everybody Hates Chris I've never watched any of the shows you're dealing to TBS so I don't have an informed opinion about that.

    Supernatural to SciFi and Gossip Girl to MTV sounds righteous to me. But would you do something with the CW's primetime allocation? 2-4 million primetime viewers is at the very least competitive with <s>some</s> all cable channels. Seems like you might as well use the airspace with…something. They're bringing Supernatural and a bunch of other shows back, so it seems like they're OK with it for at least another season.

    I can't stop posting the CW's numbers though. trainwreck, can't avert my eyes, etc. ;)

  39. frankj says:

    I for one wouldn’t mind if there’s a Kaley pic every tuesday… now that Summer’s off the air

    Jack, she may be off the air, but she’s still out there promoting the show!

  40. frankj says:

    I for one wouldn’t mind if there’s a Kaley pic every tuesday… now that Summer’s off the air

    Jack, she may be off the air, but she's still out there promoting the show!

  41. Jack says:

    frankj, indeed she is! :-) BTW, I’ve heard some whispering that FOX did in fact renew Terminator for a second season. I don’t think it’s official yet, but the spoilerTV section @ DarkUFO is reporting that Summer will be back.

  42. Jack says:

    frankj, indeed she is! :-) BTW, I've heard some whispering that FOX did in fact renew Terminator for a second season. I don't think it's official yet, but the spoilerTV section @ DarkUFO is reporting that Summer will be back.

  43. frankj says:

    I’ve heard that too!

    Though considering it’s FOX we’re talking about here…I suppose we’ll all have to hold back the cheering until they actually put out something official.

  44. frankj says:

    I've heard that too!

    Though considering it's FOX we're talking about here…I suppose we'll all have to hold back the cheering until they actually put out something official.

  45. Jake says:

    Good to see that HIMYM grew in audience and out performed TBBT when they switched slots. It tells me that it’s more the slot than it is the show. The Dec 10 8pm HIMYM episode averaged 8.3 million. The 9.73 rating was up to first season numbers! It also tells me that HIMYM has a loyal audience. HIMYM should see even more ratings with the Britney Spears guest spot. Renew it already CBS!

  46. Jake says:

    Good to see that HIMYM grew in audience and out performed TBBT when they switched slots. It tells me that it's more the slot than it is the show. The Dec 10 8pm HIMYM episode averaged 8.3 million. The 9.73 rating was up to first season numbers! It also tells me that HIMYM has a loyal audience. HIMYM should see even more ratings with the Britney Spears guest spot. Renew it already CBS!

  47. frankj says:

    I can’t stop posting the CW’s numbers though. trainwreck, can’t avert my eyes, etc.

    Just wait until they do the revival of 90210.

  48. frankj says:

    I can’t stop posting the CW’s numbers though. trainwreck, can’t avert my eyes, etc.

    Just wait until they do the revival of 90210.

  49. It seems to me that NA could do really well with a better lead-in. For the last two weeks it has had sizable growth over Canterbury’s Law. Where’s the old FOX that would sack CL now and be airing FOX reruns next week?

  50. It seems to me that NA could do really well with a better lead-in. For the last two weeks it has had sizable growth over Canterbury's Law. Where's the old FOX that would sack CL now and be airing FOX reruns next week?

  51. Bill Gorman says:

    CW’s numbers for this week [2.35m average viewers], are below both USA [2.86m] and Disney [2.42m] cable networks from last week. (I’ll get this weeks cable network aggregate data up ASAP).

  52. Bill Gorman says:

    CW's numbers for this week [2.35m average viewers], are below both USA [2.86m] and Disney [2.42m] cable networks from last week. (I'll get this weeks cable network aggregate data up ASAP).

  53. Mark says:

    I have to disagree with you on big bang theory, maybe it’s just b/c I’m a bit of a geek myself but I would rather watch it than any 30 min comedy on the air right now. It might not be as great as some of the classic comedies you mentioned but it’s every bit as good as anything else out there currently.

  54. Mark says:

    I have to disagree with you on big bang theory, maybe it's just b/c I'm a bit of a geek myself but I would rather watch it than any 30 min comedy on the air right now. It might not be as great as some of the classic comedies you mentioned but it's every bit as good as anything else out there currently.

  55. Sandy says:

    John Ritter was a genius. The show’s writers, however, not so much.

  56. Sandy says:

    John Ritter was a genius. The show's writers, however, not so much.

  57. Mark says:

    Also sorry for not clarifying in my post on Thursday, I just wanted the numbers for Lost last year in the 10 pm slot just to compare to what Eli Stone is doing for my own curiosity, thanks for the data.

  58. Mark says:

    Also sorry for not clarifying in my post on Thursday, I just wanted the numbers for Lost last year in the 10 pm slot just to compare to what Eli Stone is doing for my own curiosity, thanks for the data.

  59. Mark,I like several comedies more than I like Two and a Half Men, but there’s no contesting Men’s current ratings supremacy among sitcoms.

  60. Mark,I like several comedies more than I like Two and a Half Men, but there's no contesting Men's current ratings supremacy among sitcoms.

  61. Mark says:

    Oh no doubt about that, and I like the show as well. Like I said it’s the geek in me I’m sure that makes it my favorite.

  62. Mark says:

    Oh no doubt about that, and I like the show as well. Like I said it's the geek in me I'm sure that makes it my favorite.

  63. Shane says:

    I think that lower ratings are much more acceptable today than before because of the prominence of the 18-49 demographic. Nets like NBC and the CW have focused all of their energy on the coveted demographic, though I personally think it’s because HH ratings have worked against them for a while.

    I also think that advertisers are more prone these days to advertise during a show with a “cult” following because they understand the power of these shows…for example, Heroes. The show hasn’t really done well in HHs for a while, but still makes mega bucks for NBC. Advertisers are probably attracted by the numbers the show gets from the men demographic. One can easily tell when Spider Man 3 and Mountain Dew are heavily promoted during it.

  64. Shane says:

    I think that lower ratings are much more acceptable today than before because of the prominence of the 18-49 demographic. Nets like NBC and the CW have focused all of their energy on the coveted demographic, though I personally think it's because HH ratings have worked against them for a while.

    I also think that advertisers are more prone these days to advertise during a show with a “cult” following because they understand the power of these shows…for example, Heroes. The show hasn't really done well in HHs for a while, but still makes mega bucks for NBC. Advertisers are probably attracted by the numbers the show gets from the men demographic. One can easily tell when Spider Man 3 and Mountain Dew are heavily promoted during it.

  65. Adam says:

    HIMYM is definately the best sitcom on TV right now, but as a self described geek I definately enjoy TBBT as a lead in. I watched both last night. Please renew “mother” CBS!

  66. Adam says:

    HIMYM is definately the best sitcom on TV right now, but as a self described geek I definately enjoy TBBT as a lead in. I watched both last night. Please renew “mother” CBS!

  67. jay turney says:

    I have to admit, I like thus show. Sesides DH, its all ABC has. Call me a asexist, and kiss my a**, but I love these womens’ dancing. This, not AI, is entertainment. Priscella Presley, Monica Seles ”’ this is freaking competitiion Kudos, ABC. This is your best show, along with Desperate housiwives. We guys will watch your shows, if you leave out the victimization crap. American women rule. Show us more strong women. Three cheers for American Dance whatever.

  68. jay turney says:

    I have to admit, I like thus show. Sesides DH, its all ABC has. Call me a asexist, and kiss my a**, but I love these womens' dancing. This, not AI, is entertainment. Priscella Presley, Monica Seles ''' this is freaking competitiion Kudos, ABC. This is your best show, along with Desperate housiwives. We guys will watch your shows, if you leave out the victimization crap. American women rule. Show us more strong women. Three cheers for American Dance whatever.


Renew of Cancel Index


Play Fan Excuse Bingo!