The bloom may be off American Idol’s rose, but it still took the top two spots in last week’s list of most watched shows. Although if we were to sort by HH Rating things would’ve looked a little bit different. But by that metric, one of my favorites Boston Legal would have made the list at number 20 with a 6.4/11 (household rating/share) and 9.59 million viewers. But we sort by viewers, sorry Denny Crane!
CBS took two spots in the top 5 with CSI (#3) beating out the NCAA final where Memphis couldn’t make its free throws near the end of the game and Kansas wound up winning in overtime. Overall, CBS had nine shows in the top 20, with Without a Trace (#9), NCIS (#10), Criminal Minds (#11), CSI:NY (#12), 60 Minutes (#13), Prelude to a Championship (#14), and Survivor: Micronesia (#15) sewing up the 9-15 spots.
ABC had but four spots – both airings of Dancing With the Stars, joined by the return of Desperate Housewives (#8) and Samantha Who? (#19). NBC placed but two shows on the list, which is semi impressive in that both ran against the NCAA Final and DWTS. The solid Medium was #18, and Deal or No Deal was #20.
FOX had a total of 5 shows with the Idol Gives Back telethon (#6), Hell’s Kitchen (#16) and Don’t Forget the Lyrics (#17) joining #1 and #2 American Idol.
Hell’s Kitchen doesn’t trail it’s “born in the summer” brother Survivor by much overall, and in the 18-49 demographic, Gordon Ramsay’s HK puts a beatdown on Jeff Probst. But that’s a story for another day (look for it on Thursday).
Eight shows on the list had a household rating of 10 or higher and 15 million viewers or more.
Nielsen Top Twenty Shows by viewers for the week ending 04/13/08:
| Rank | Show | Net | HH RATING (LIVE+SD) | HH SHARE (LIVE+SD) | Viewers (LIVE+SD) (000) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AMERICAN IDOL-TUESDAY | FOX | 14.2 | 22 | 24,668 |
| 2 | AMER IDL THU RSLT SP-4/10(S) | FOX | 12.0 | 19 | 20,133 |
| 3 | CSI | CBS | 12.5 | 19 | 20,094 |
| 4 | DANCING WITH THE STARS | ABC | 12.8 | 20 | 19,684 |
| 5 | CBS NCAA BSKBL CHAMPSHIPS(S) | CBS | 12.1 | 20 | 19,501 |
| 6 | IDOL GIVES BACK 2-SP 8P(S) | FOX | 10.4 | 16 | 17,751 |
| 7 | DANCING W/STARS RESULTS | ABC | 11.1 | 17 | 17,017 |
| 8 | DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES | ABC | 10.3 | 15 | 16,371 |
| 9 | WITHOUT A TRACE | CBS | 9.7 | 16 | 14,493 |
| 10 | NCIS | CBS | 8.8 | 14 | 14,048 |
| 11 | CRIMINAL MINDS | CBS | 8.4 | 13 | 13,325 |
| 12 | CSI: NY | CBS | 8.0 | 13 | 12,383 |
| 13 | 60 MINUTES | CBS | 8.1 | 13 | 12,168 |
| 14 | PRELUDE TO A CHAMPIONSHIP(S) | CBS | 7.9 | 12 | 12,037 |
| 15 | SURVIVOR: MICRONESIA | CBS | 6.8 | 11 | 11,587 |
| 16 | HELL'S KITCHEN | FOX | 6.5 | 10 | 11,208 |
| 17 | DON'T FORGET THE LYRICS | FOX | 6.6 | 10 | 10,895 |
| 18 | MEDIUM | NBC | 7.0 | 11 | 10,858 |
| 19 | SAMANTHA WHO? | ABC | 7.3 | 11 | 10,421 |
| 20 | DEAL OR NO DEAL-MON | NBC | 6.2 | 9 | 10,223 |
Nielsen Ratings Data: ©2008 Nielsen Media Research, Inc. All Rights Reserved
it looks like this is the worst american idol season, THOSE ARE ITS LOWEST RATINGS EVER SINCE IT BECAME A HIT.
it looks like this is the worst american idol season, THOSE ARE ITS LOWEST RATINGS EVER SINCE IT BECAME A HIT.
ABC may have higher ratings in the top 20, but CBS has more shows being watched in the top 20. What’s better? A few shows with the highest ratings, or more than a few shows with high ratings… but not the highest. I have to admit, I believe the later…
ABC may have higher ratings in the top 20, but CBS has more shows being watched in the top 20. What's better? A few shows with the highest ratings, or more than a few shows with high ratings… but not the highest. I have to admit, I believe the later…
Heidi, in terms of which is better for the network’s bottom line we’re the first to admit we don’t have enough information to be sure.
They’d want the cheapest to air primetime schedule that would attract the most advertising revenue.
We have no direct data on advertising revenue, but 18-49 ratings are likely an analog to them. We have only the most anecdotal information on the costs of different shows.
Heidi, in terms of which is better for the network's bottom line we're the first to admit we don't have enough information to be sure.
They'd want the cheapest to air primetime schedule that would attract the most advertising revenue.
We have no direct data on advertising revenue, but 18-49 ratings are likely an analog to them. We have only the most anecdotal information on the costs of different shows.