| Scoreboard |  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Viewers (million) | 8.63 | 5.75 | 5.29 | 3.31 | .995 |
| Rating/Share: Adults 18-49 | 2.3/7 | 1.7/5 | 1.4/4 | 1.1/3 | 0.4/1 |
NBC again won the night led by a two hour installment of America’s Got Talent and the best ratings of the broadcast nets for its coverage of the Democratic Convention at 10pm. But while Talent’s numbers are still robust for summer fare at 10.13 million viewers and a 2.7/8 (rating/share) among 18-49 year olds, the trend of viewers was down. Tuesday night’s 10.96 million was up until last night, the season-low for the show, and 10.13 million is lower than 10.96 million, so there definitely appears to be no Olympics halo here. The demo numbers were also down from the 3.1/9 among 18-49 year olds on Tuesday.
But as Bill noted yesterday, it’s “garbage time” and as such there isn’t much to say about the night and really probably won’t be until the much awaited return of Gossip Girl next week. While I’m jesting about Gossip Girl, I am definitely interested in seeing how the reincarnation of Beverly Hills 90210 performs next Tuesday night.
NBC easily led the 10pm coverage of the Democratic Convention versus its broadcast rivals ABC and CBS. We’ll hopefully have the data for the cable networks posted sometime around 3pm PDT.
Full details:
| Time | Net | Show | Viewers (Millons) | 18-49 Rating/Share |
| 8:00 | CBS | Greatest American Dog | 5.60 | 1.7/5 |
| NBC | America’s Got Talent (8p-10p) | 10.13 | 2.7/8 | |
| ABC | Wife Swap (R ) | 3.46 | 1.2/4 | |
| CW | America’s Next Top Model (R ) | 1.13 | 0.5/2 | |
| FOX | Bones (R) | 5.52 | 1.6/5 | |
| 9:00 | CBS | Criminal Minds (R) | 6.68 | 1.8/5 |
| ABC | Supernanny (R ) | 3.82 | 1.2/3 | |
| CW | Pussycat Dolls Presents: Girlicious (R) | 0.86 | 0.4/1 | |
| FOX | Bones (R) | 5.98 | 1.8/5 | |
| 10:00 | NBC | Democratic Convention | 5.63 | 1.6/5 |
| CBS | Democratic Convention | 3.59 | 0.9/3 | |
| ABC | Democratic Convention | 3.31 | 0.9/3 | |
| AGT Half Hour Detail | ||||
| 8:00 | NBC | America’s Got Talent | 9.22 | 2.3/8 |
| 8:30 | NBC | 10.23 | 2.6/8 | |
| 9:00 | NBC | 10.32 | 2.8/8 | |
| 9:30 | NBC | 10.65 | 3.0/8 |
Nielsen TV Ratings: ©2008 The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved. Source Marc Berman/Mediaweek.
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.
August 28th, 2008 at 11:44 am
Here's what I don't understand. How are people coming into a show in the half hour? Don't they feel like they've missed something by not watching “AGT” from the beginning?
August 28th, 2008 at 11:48 am
Many shows show similar behavior, not just reality shows. There are more people home from 9pm-10pm than 8pm-9pm, particularly in the summer.
August 28th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
I love NBC good news for all
August 28th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
It's not like there's some intricate plotline going on in the show. This isn't Lost.
August 28th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
Sandy, I agree. I often have watched clips of AGT via YouTube etc, and feel like it is something you can enjoy without knowing the context of the full talent contest.
August 28th, 2008 at 12:31 pm
Thanks for the reply. That makes sense.
August 28th, 2008 at 1:13 pm
I would just like to say that, in a twist of great cosmic retribution for the CW's total shunning of the new season of Supernatural, the new 90210 is pre-empted in the Chicago metro area due to baseball. HA!