| Scoreboard for Thurs. May 8, 2008 |  |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Viewers (million) | 15.03 | 11.62 | 6.98 | 6.58 | 3.25 |
| Rating/Share: Adults 18-49 | 4.3/12 | 4.4/12 | 2.0/5 | 2.8/8 | 1.3/4 |
As is typical for primetime Thursdays, it’s mixed leadership between the Tiffanys and the Mouse with CBS having the most viewers and ABC winning the 18-49 demographic, though only barely due to the “there’s no Lindsay Lohan yet” 18-49 performance of Ugly Betty. ABC is dominant in the 9pm and 10pm hour in the demo with Grey’s Anatomy (which outperformed CSI in the demo by 20%) and LOST.
I really enjoyed last night’s LOST. Some of the magic for me is in the casting. Michael Emerson is wonderful as a creepy Benjamin Linus and relatively new addition Kevin Durand is great as an evil mercenary. Line of the night from Ben: “Destiny is a fickle bitch.” LOST had 11.28m and a 4.9/13 in the demo. I also watched Supernatural, and it was the best episode I remember seeing in a while and enjoyed it, but it only drew 2.53m and a 1.0/3 in the demo. Relax people, it’s already been renewed (c’mon, it’s the CW!).
My Name is Earl, the NBC network finale of Scrubs (soon to be appearing on an ABC network near you) and The Office all fared just a bit worse than they did in last week’s overnight report. The season finale of 30 Rock, however picked up a smidge in total viewers, though it’s 18-49 numbers were off by half a ratings point from last week.
While DVR viewing is certainly having an impact, the dramatic drop off can’t be completely ascribed to DVRs. Grey’s Anatomy had 15.6m viewers last night. But at least half of the DVR viewers are already baked into the numbers. So even if Grey’s pulls 4 million live plus seven day DVR viewers they’ll only gain back a couple million viewers at most which would put it at 17.6m. Last year’s overnight number for the comparable Thursday was 19.58 million, so it’ll still be down 20 percent-ish over last year even after DVR is factored in, unless there was record-setting DVR viewing for it — which we won’t know for a couple of weeks.
Grey’s also was down in the 18-49, from a 7.8/21 to a 6.1/16. They will make up a lot of ground here via the remaining couple million or so DVR viewers who’ll almost all be in the 18-49 demographic.
CSI pulled 17.82 million and a 4.9/13, or the same demo numbers as LOST, which had about six million less viewers than CSI. I still haven’t watched last night’s episode that was penned by the Two and a Half Men crew, but it’s on the DVR and I will definitely check it out.
CBS’s Survivor: Micronesia was down just a touch from last week with 11.98m viewers and a 4.0/12 in the 18-49 demographic. It easily won the 8pm hour. Last night’s Without a Trace was up almost 3 million total viewers versus last week with 14.6 million, but LOST still easily beat its 3.3/9 in the demo.
Last night’s details:
| Time | Network | Show | Viewers (Millons) | 18-49 Rating/Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8:00 | CBS | Survivor: Micronesia | 11.98 | 4.1/12 |
| FOX | Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader | 7.73 | 1.9/6 | |
| ABC | Ugly Betty | 7.99 | 2.4/7 | |
| NBC | My Name is Earl | 6.08 | 2.6/8 | |
| CW | Smallville | 3.96 | 1.5/5 | |
| 8:30 | NBC | Scrubs | 5.37 | 2.5/7 |
| 9:00 | CBS | CSI | 17.82 | 4.9/13 |
| FOX | Don't Forget the Lyrics | 6.22 | 2.0/5 | |
| ABC | Grey's Anatomy | 15.60 | 6.1/16 | |
| NBC | The Office | 7.22 | 3.6/9 | |
| CW | Supernatural | 2.53 | 1.0/3 | |
| 9:30 | NBC | 30 Rock | 5.61 | 2.1/5 |
| 10:00 | CBS | Without a Trace | 14.60 | 3.8/10 |
| ABC | LOST | 11.28 | 4.9/13 | |
| NBC | ER | 7.61 | 2.9/8 |
Nielsen Ratings Source: Nielsen Media Research. Full night’s results available via Marc Berman/Mediaweek.
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I love 30 Rock
Liz Lemon rocks!
the offices number to tend to increase quite a bit w/ live+7 and should be up again next week for the season finale. Will jim propose? Will toby leave? Will dwight get back together w/angela?
Will NBC ever retire ER? I think it may be time.
I wonder how long the trend will continue to put game shows on weak nights for a network(tonight fox, usually NBC)
CBS pretty much rules Thursdays. At least LOST seems to be holding its own. Other than the Office its the only show I watch every week on Thursdays.
CBS should try moving Without a Trace to the Tuesday 10pm so-called death slot.
Or maybe CBS could create a new show titled DEATH SLOT and air it Tuesday at 10pm – a CSI type show examining the deaths of TV series over the years. Tee hee hee. Episode 1 – Jericho.
greys anatomy ratings went up from last week, it had 15.11 total viewers, with a 6.0 in the demo, while this week it had 15.60 total viewers, and a 6.1 in the demo. so it should be fine, 15 million viewers per week is awesome for mots shows.
honest question,
how many seasons can greys go? it already is getting boring, and definitly losing viewers, there was a spand last year where greys wouldnt hit anything below 20 million viewers, now they r struggling to get 15! so truthfully, already on season 4, with a definite season 5 coming, how many seasons will it go?
and one more thing…
i think ER needs the boot, seriously, 14 seasons is long enough. if it were hitting 10 million per week, then fine, but its not even hitting 8 anymore, it had a great run, but is time for ER to R.I.P.
ok, a random question, but why hasnt october orad got the boot yet? ratings were terrible, it was worse the men in trees, yet that got axed, and technically october road is still around? is there a reason for this, or are they giving it the ax on tuesday when the lineup is announced?
Oh btw, I think this website is great and I love how you set the ratings out + describe what the trends are for the night. Keep up the good work.
KAYARN AMD JACK,ONLY A IDIOT WOULD THINK 30 ROCK IS FUNNY.IT IS THE WORST SHOW EVER.
So many shows die on Friday nights though… I dunno if I want Supernatural moved there.
In any case, the show has always been up against new eps of CSI/Grey's this season and it's still managed to get around 3 million viewers. These last 3 weeks have been really bad for it. Lucky it got the early renewal.
I would also like to see Gossip Girl on Thursday nights. Let's see if that smart CW boss still calls it a “hit” when it gets 1.something million viewers.
She won't do it though. GG is the lovechild of the CW. Sad.