| Scoreboard for Fri, March 21, 2008 |  |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Viewers (million) | 8.30 | 5.93 | 5.90 | 4.35 | 4.22 |
| Rating/Share: Adults 18-49 | 3.1/10 | 1.4/5 | 1.7/5 | 1.4/5 | 1.4/5 |
On the back of NCAA first round coverage, CBS handily won the night. Let me be very clear: Nielsen is not measuring viewing out of homes or sports bars in the results provided. Nielsen is rumored to be testing such a service and in a comment by “Julia” in yesterday’s overnight results post suggests that the advertisers aren’t thrilled with this at all. We presume this is because the advertisers liked getting those viewers for “free”.
The truth is, even with the basketball coverage CBS only averaged about 800,000 more viewers than last week’s lineup of The Price is Right, and reruns of Ghost Whisperer and Numb3rs, but there was a big change when it came to the 18-49 demographic. CBS won the 18-49 demo last week with a 1.9/6 (nobody averaged above a 2.0 last week) and last night won the demo with a 3.1/10. That’s significant, but it’s fair to say that without out of home viewing being tracked, first round NCAA games are no American Idol either in terms of viewers or the demo. That’s not a shock. We don’t know how adding out of home viewing would change things, but we do know as is, it doesn’t do as well in the demo as even a rerun of Two and a Half Men (3.8) let alone a new episode of 2.5 Men (5.4).
Props to ABC’s 20/20 for being the only thing besides NCAA coverage to break a 2.0 in the 18-49 demographic. Other than that there wasn’t much to say for the night other than ‘Til Death, welcome to the Friday night ghetto, say hello to your friend The Return of Jezebel James. Say goodbye too. Jezebel is as good as canceled and putting ‘Til Death on Fridays just to see whether it could outperform a rerun of House can’t be a good sign. Especially since it didn’t come close to outperforming a rerun of House.
I’d say Amne$ia is toast too, but with the Friday Night numbers being what they are, I’m not so sure. CW tied with NBC and FOX in the 18-49 demo. Something likely to never happen again as soon as Friday Night Smackdown! exits for MyNetworkTV.
See the night’s full details:
| Time | Network | Show | Viewers (Millons) | 18-49 Rating/Share | HH Ratings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8:00 | ABC | Greys Anatomy (Repeat) | 4.14 | 1.0/4 | 2.9 |
| CBS | NCAA Basketball 8p-11p | 8.3 | 3.1/10 | ||
| NBC | Amne$ia | 5.15 | 1.3/5 | 3.5 | |
| CW | Friday Night Smackdown! (8p-10p) | 4.22 | 1.4/5 | ||
| FOX | 'Til Death | 3.35 | 1.1/4 | 2.3 | |
| 8:30 | FOX | The Return of Jezebel James | 3.11 | 1.1/4 | 2.1 |
| 9:00 | ABC | 20/20 (9p-11p) | 6.61 | 2.1/7 | 4.8 |
| NBC | Dateline (9p-11p) | 6.32 | 1.6/5 | 4.4 | |
| FOX | House (Repeat) | 5.48 | 1.7/5 | 3.4 |
Nielsen Ratings Source: Nielsen Media Research. Full night’s results available via Marc Berman/Mediaweek. HH Ratings Data via Zap2it
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If I’m an advertiser, sure I don’t mind any “free” eyeballs I can get. However, those eyes don’t come with ears in a noisy bar. Some guy saying, “Dude” 20 times in a commercial is a lot less annoying if you don’t have to hear him say it each time.
As for 20/20, all it takes to get demo viewers to watch a “news” show on a Friday night is 2 hours of hookers. And I though sweeps were over.
If I'm an advertiser, sure I don't mind any “free” eyeballs I can get. However, those eyes don't come with ears in a noisy bar. Some guy saying, “Dude” 20 times in a commercial is a lot less annoying if you don't have to hear him say it each time.
As for 20/20, all it takes to get demo viewers to watch a “news” show on a Friday night is 2 hours of hookers. And I though sweeps were over.
Could next season we may see the ratings for MyNetworkTV on a day to day basis? It would be funny to see how The CW and MyNetworkTV battle it out on Friday nights.
Could next season we may see the ratings for MyNetworkTV on a day to day basis? It would be funny to see how The CW and MyNetworkTV battle it out on Friday nights.
Josh, We don’t get Overnight data for MyNT, but we also don’t get Overnight data for Univision which has ratings about 1.5x CW’s ratings this season.
For reference, CW’s ratings are about 2x MyNT ratings.
Josh, We don't get Overnight data for MyNT, but we also don't get Overnight data for Univision which has ratings about 1.5x CW's ratings this season.
For reference, CW's ratings are about 2x MyNT ratings.
I understand thanks Bill. Do you get any numbers for MyNetworkTV?
I understand thanks Bill. Do you get any numbers for MyNetworkTV?
Josh, we do get weekly and season-to-date primetime averages, but Bill hasn’t included them in his weekly and season-to-date charts. I probably favor including the info for ION and MNT as well, but…I don’t produce the chart
Josh, we do get weekly and season-to-date primetime averages, but Bill hasn't included them in his weekly and season-to-date charts. I probably favor including the info for ION and MNT as well, but…I don't produce the chart
btw, season-to-date, MNT is averaging
860,0001.13 million viewers per night during primetime vs. 2.6 million for CW. MNT will benefit from Smackdown, and CW will be hurt. But CW seems to be going for being the network for females 18-34 and did not feel Smackdown was a good promotional tool for that demo!btw, season-to-date, MNT is averaging <s>860,000</s> 1.13 million viewers per night during primetime vs. 2.6 million for CW. MNT will benefit from Smackdown, and CW will be hurt. But CW seems to be going for being the network for females 18-34 and did not feel Smackdown was a good promotional tool for that demo!