Scoreboard NBC CBS Uni ABC FOX CW
Total Viewers (million) 27.23 5.79 3.89 3.84 3.47 .997
Rating/Share: Adults 18-49 9.1/26 1.4/4 1.6/5 1.3/4 1.0/3 0.4/1

Michael Phelps didn’t win a gold medal last night, but he didn’t lose any either and is still on the chase for 8 gold medals in one Olympic games which would break Mark Spitz’s record. We can’t say for sure that a ~15% or so drop in the ratings can be attributed to this, but we can say that Phelps will likely get offers to appear on 30 Rock, The Office, My Name Is Earl, Chuck and Hereos. And of course multiple appearances on the Today and Tonight shows.

As expected, up against nothing but repeats and Greatest American Dog, (and the Olympics) Univision rose to second in the 18-49 demographic, though the distance between UNI and ABC is Grand Canyon-esque. While Greatest American Dog has somewhat lived up to its name, in fairness it didn’t really drop much from last week when it wasn’t running against the Olympics.

A rerun of Criminal Minds was the second most watched program of the evening with 6.8 million viewers. The best half-hour of the Olympics coverage (in primetime) was the 10:00p-10:30p half hour when 31.72 million (11.1/29 rating/share among 18-49 year olds). From 10:30-11:00 it “dropped” to 28.96 million and a 10.4/29. But I don’t think the peacocks are gonna cry over a Michael Phelps-less 30.34 million for the hour.

I know some of you want to freak out about the Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles marathon this week. These numbers won’t make you feel any better. Me, I’m not freaking out. It’s not like they’re going to cancel the second season because of these numbers. But if you want to freak out anyway it lost more than half the lead-in from a rerun of Bones. Me, I’m going to enjoy my Summer anyway.

Full details:

Time Net Show Viewers (Millons) 18-49 Rating/Share
8:00 CBS Greatest American Dog 5.21 1.3/4
NBC Olympics: Men’s Gymnastics, swimming 23.07 7.1/23
ABC Wife Swap (R ) 3.25 1.1/4
UNI Al Diablo con los Guapos 4.35 1.8/6
CW America’s Next Top Model (R ) 1.05 0.4/1
FOX Bones (R) 4.51 1.2/4

9:00 CBS Criminal Minds (R) 6.36 1.4/4
UNI Fuego en la Sangre 4.22 1.8/5
ABC Supernanny (R ) 3.92 1.3/4
CW Pussycat Dolls Presents: Girlicious (R) 0.94 0.4/1
NBC Olympics: Men’s Gymnastics, swimming 28.29 9.4/26
FOX Terminator: TSCC (R) 2.43 0.8/2

10:00 ABC Primetime: Crime 4.34 1.3/4
CBS CSI: NY (Repeat) 5.79 1.3/4
UNI Don Francisco Presenta 3.11 1.3/4
NBC Olympics: Men’s Gymnastics, swimming 30.34 10.8/29

Definitions:

Overnights: Local metered-market ratings service of Nielsen Station Index (NSI) in which household ratings and shares are provided to clients the morning following the day or evening of telecast.

Rating: Estimated percentage of the universe of TV households (or other specified group) tuned to a program in the average minute. Ratings are expressed as a percent.

Share (of Audience): The percent of households (or persons) using television who are tuned to a specific program, station or network in a specific area at a specific time. (See also, Rating, which represents tuning or viewing as a percent of the entire population being measured.)

LIVE+SD: The number that watched a program either while it was broadcast OR watched via DVR on the same day [through 3AM the next day] the program was broadcast.

For more information see Numbers 101.

Nielsen Ratings Source: (C) 2008 The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved.
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