| Scoreboard |  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Viewers (million) | 14.884 | 14.341 | 10.897 | 7.964 | 3.946 | 2.413 |
| Rating/Share: Adults 18-49 | 3.3/9 | 3.8/10 | 4.6/12 | 3.2/8 | 1.6/4 | 1.2/3 |
| Rating/Share: Adults 18-34 | 1.8/5 | 2.6/8 | 4.4/13 | 2.7/8 | 1.9/5 | 1.6/5 |
The second night of the new television year spread around the good news again. CBS had the largest average audience with 14.884 million viewers (just ahead of ABC with 14.341 million). ABC had the most viewed show of the night in Dancing with the Stars which averaged 18.195 million viewers (NCIS was second with 17.718 million viewers). Fox ruled the age demos averaging a 4.6 rating for adults 18-49 (ABC was second with a 3.9) and a 4.4 rating for adults 18-34 (NBC was second with a 2.7).
While NCIS was the most viewed show from 8-9, House, with about 70% of its viewers crushed it in the age demos for the hour. House had the highest overall age demo ratings for the night with a 5.0 for 18-49 and a 4.7 for 18-34. In the battle of unscripted shows, NBC’s Biggest Loser: Families fell about 10% from last week, but managed to beat the premiere of ABC’s Opportunity Knocks particularly in the demos. Quite disappointing for ABC. CW’s 90210 audience fell 11% from last week, and it was down 17% for the 18-49s and almost 21% for the 18-34s. Look for a CW press release spinning the gender data later.
Dancing with the Stars had the biggest audience and the biggest 18-49 demo from 9-10, but the premiere of The Mentalist did CBS proud, holding all of the 18-49 demo from NCIS and even building on its 18-34 demo. With real competition, Fringe shed 28% of its audience from last week. It also lost 19% of its 18-49 demo and 11% of its 18-34 demo. Still, it won the 18-34 demo for the hour by a wide margin, and was competitive in the 18-49 demo. Less consolation for the CW as Privileged lost 23% of its audience, 18% of its 18-49s and 7% of its 18-34s. It finished a distant sixth in all categories for the hour.
Dancing the the Stars also swept the 10-11 hour, but the premiere of Law & Order:SVU was just a tick behind in the 18-34 demo. We don’t have historical 18-34 data, so I can’t compare that with last year. The premiere of Without a Trace was second in audience for the hour but a distant third in the demos.
Full details:
| Time | Net | Show | Viewers Live+SD (Millons) | 18-49 Rating/ Share | 18-34 Rating/ Share |
| 8:00 | CBS | NCIS (premiere) | 17.718 | 3.5/10 | 1.8/5 |
| FOX | House | 12.134 | 5.0/14 | 4.7/15 | |
| NBC | Biggest Loser: Families | 6.644 | 2.6/7 | 2.2/7 | |
| ABC | Opportunity Knocks (premiere) | 6.634 | 1.9/5 | 1.5/5 | |
| UNI | Cuidado con el Angel | 3.954 | 1.6/4 | 1.9/6 | |
| CW | 90210 | 2.963 | 1.5/4 | 1.9/6 | |
| 9:00 | ABC | Dancing with the Stars | 17.870 | 4.5/11 | 3.1/8 |
| CBS | The Mentalist (premiere) | 15.549 | 3.5/9 | 1.9/5 | |
| FOX | Fringe | 9.651 | 4.2/10 | 4.0/11 | |
| NBC | Biggest Loser: Families | 7.725 | 3.4/8 | 2.8/8 | |
| UNI | Fuego en la Sangre | 4.452 | 1.8/4 | 2.1/6 | |
| CW | Privileged | 1.862 | 0.9/2 | 1.3/4 | |
| 10:00 | ABC | Dancing with the Stars | 18.520 | 5.0/13 | 3.3/9 |
| CBS | Without a Trace (premiere) | 11.385 | 2.8/7 | 1.6/5 | |
| NBC | Law & Order: SVU (premiere) | 9.524 | 3.8/10 | 3.2/9 | |
| UNI | Aqui y Ahora | 3.433 | 1.4/4 | 1.5/5 |
Shows are sorted by viewers in each time slot. Demo winners for each timeslot are in bold.
Here are some interesting half hour results. Obviously, gaining viewers is better than losing viewers. Those looking strong here: House, Opportunity Knocks, and Law & Order:SVU.
Privileged, Fringe and Without A Trace look weak. While The Mentalist was essentially steady, that’s a big positive for a premiere.
| Time | Net | Show | Viewers Live+SD (Millons) | 18-49 Rating/ Share | 18-34 Rating/ Share |
| 8:00 | FOX | House | 11.504 | 4.7/14 | 4.4/15 |
| 8:30 | FOX | House | 12.781 | 5.2/14 | 4.9/15 |
| 9:00 | FOX | Fringe | 10.130 | 4.3/11 | 4.1/12 |
| 9:30 | FOX | Fringe | 9.172 | 4.0/10 | 3.7/10 |
| 8:00 | ABC | Opportunity Knocks (premiere) | 5.976 | 1.6/5 | 1.3/4 |
| 8:30 | ABC | Opportunity Knocks (premiere) | 7.291 | 2.1/6 | 1.7/5 |
| 9:00 | CW | Privileged | 1.979 | 0.9/2 | 1.3/4 |
| 9:30 | CW | Privileged | 1.745 | 0.8/2 | 1.2/3 |
| 9:00 | CBS | The Mentalist (premiere) | 15.713 | 3.4/9 | 1.9/6 |
| 9:30 | CBS | The Mentalist (premiere) | 15.384 | 3.6/9 | 1.9/6 |
| 10:00 | CBS | Without a Trace (premiere) | 11.845 | 2.9/7 | 1.6/5 |
| 10:30 | CBS | Without a Trace (premiere) | 10.925 | 2.7/7 | 1.5/5 |
| 10:00 | NBC | Law & Order: SVU (premiere) | 8.978 | 3.5/9 | 2.9/8 |
| 10:30 | NBC | Law & Order: SVU (premiere) | 10.069 | 4.0/11 | 3.4/10 |
Nielsen TV Ratings: ©2008 The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved.
Definitions:
Fast Affiliate Overnight Ratings: 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. While routinely used for “next day” immediate analysis, these fast affiliate ratings are by process inaccurate for programs that air live across a network since they represent affiliate time period performance. For example, last night’s 10-11pm affiliate #’s would reflect 10pm on the East Coast but also 10pm on the West Coast which for a live event would not represent the same broadcast or portion of the broadcast.
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.
Simon Baker should still be on Smith, a show that was too quickly cancelled IMO.
But now he’s got a great vehicle. I liked how he went “Aussie” for the next week’s preview voice over.
I was a Prison Break viewer until Robin Tunney was killed off.
Good to see her on a quality show.
Amanda Righetti, quite a change from the O.C. and North Shore
characterizations. I guess there’s only space for one forceful
female in the room
The picture on the home page has me wanting to go check out the videos of Sapp on DWTS. Damn you…
Amazing numbers for Fox in the demo. Fringe held up pretty well against DWTS. (All those 18-34 yr olds are probably too young to see the similarities with the X-Files.) Actually last nights episode was the first one that made me want to watch again next week, so good job. Now if it could just make me want to watch it live!
DEIB, I wonder why the Simon Baker legion didn’t gravitate over to Smith? I’m guessing they didn’t like him playing a psychopathic killer.
“amazing numbers for FOX”? Disastrous in my opinion. House is crushing down like a sand castle
BTW, on a total viewing basis, I agree The Mentalist did CBS proud. However (and I don’t blame this on the Mentalist) despite the total viewers victory, this was not a great night for CBS. On Monday night, in *every* half hour, they had above a 2.0 rating (and sometimes above a 3.0) among 18-34. On Tuesday night, every half hour was *under* 2.0 among 18-34 year olds.
Maybe I’m not getting the “amazing numbers” for Fringe. It did just a bit better than the pilot, and the 28% decline from last week is a bit alarming.
Also those 18-34 year olds know it’s ripping off X-Files. They watch because Abrams’ name is attached.
I do see FOX probably giving it a full season order, however. FOX has to stop the bleeding on the other nights.
Come on. 32 million people watched NCIS and Mentalist and it wasn’t a great night? I know how important are the demos but still 32 million for two shows is great even if the are 100 years old
Robert and Bill – So glad you are back and just in time too!!!
I agree with Bob. CBS is never going to be FOX in the 18-34 demos. Those 20-somethings just don’t get CBS. The 18-49 demo (or those 30-50 who watch CBS) is very good.
FOX’s numbers are amazing, but not in a good way. It’s amazing how much House has dropped and that Fringe lost more than 3 million viewers week-to-week.
Bob, total viewers is not what pays Fox’s bills so the results were hardly “disastrous” and actually excellent relative to the other networks (they won both demos!). But relative to Fox’s expectations, they may well be a bit disappointed, but are hardly running around declaring the sky is falling.
Is this SVU’s lowest rated premiere ever?
What’s interesting to me is that Fringe lost 1 million viewers from 9:00 to 9:30. While a few other shows lost maybe 150k or 100k viewers during their episode, none lost as many as Fringe.
CBS wasn’t Fox among 18-49 year olds either. Or ABC, and was just barely better than NBC (but better is better).
Holly,
I think House fans are rejecting the new residents. 1 season of them was okay, 2 seasons, with the focus on bland but pretty No. 13, has made people angry. They want the old “ducklings” back.
I’m nor saying FOX is going bankrupt but every show with the exception of Bones is failing them badly. People are saying FOX should pull PB and SCC, but then what? Those who expect 24 to bring good numbers might be in for a shocker.
Outlander, House did run over into 9pm slightly (accordingt to my DVR). It could be that when that’s factored out of the final numbers the drop for Fringe won’t be as steep — but still will likely be steeper than it was for other shows.
Bob, you used the word “disastrous”. House is certainly still printing cash for Fox. I’m not sure about Fringe only because of the limited commerials, but I will not be surprised if Fringe’s numbers drop off even from where they are. But for the Fall, Fox seems to make its money on NFL, House and the Sunday animations. If Family guy doesn’t do well in the demos, I think they’ll worry. Otherwise, American Idol cures all that ails them…
“CBS wasn’t Fox among 18-49 year olds either. Or ABC, and was just barely better than NBC (but better is better).’
Robert,
You’re right, but at least it wasn’t a 2:1 drop in that demo. Also, you have to look at drop in the demo for House and Fringe. The total audience loss is affecting the demo. (Of course I’m not saying anything you don’t already know.)
If ABC actually had a hit in the 8pm hour, it might actually compete with FOX in the demo.
@Robert. I say disaster beacause the drop from last year is simply amazing both in viewers and in demos. And House was given the post SB spot last year. I truly found the downfall of House the main story this season so far alongside 90210’s bombing
Andrea, I agree on the cast changes in House. The original cast obviously had success, why change it? Made no sense to me.
Andrea, the week over week drops in viewers and demo for House and Fringe were as surely expected by Fox as they were by us as last week was not yet a full landscape of new competition. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think CBS’ numbers were bad at all — I just don’t view them as great relative to the demo competition. I agree CBS won’t be Fox and isn’t looking to be among 18-34 year olds, but that they had not even one half hour of a 2.0 or better in that demo can’t be deemed great even by the brass at CBS.
Bob, fair enough. We view that differently. I view some of House’s drop to being on at 8pm rather than 9pm. I am not particularly amazed or surprised especially as even at 9pm, the post WGA strike airings last season were already diminished ratings wise.
I agree with Bill & Andrea about the House cast though. While the survivor style competition was sort of fun, once that was over with, I wanted the old crew back on screen full time.
Bob,
Nothing’s getting pulled at FOX until midseason. Lie To Me just got the 13 ep order, so I’m sure they’ll be shooting quite soon. FOX has a lot of pilots in the pipeline as well. It needs them. The buzz for 24 and Dollhouse is that they’re troubled productions. Even American Idol has lost some steam and FOX is tinkering with it for next season.
Andrea,
I agree with you about house. its not the same without the old crew. Maybe FOX will pick up on this and bring the old team back. House is still fine, but theres got to be a reason for this much decline in viewers.
I think FOX should be concerned about the million viewer drop-off after the first half hour of Fringe. It’s basically shed all the House viewers. By the end of the night it was back to it’s premiere numbers.
FOX may have another stand-alone show on their hands. They really need to find a better way to pair these shows together.
Hmm. On days when CW is super happy with the numbers, don’t they usually have their spin out by now?
Julia, for PR folks everywhere, some days are easier than others
Robert – I guess I’m missing what makes The Mentalist “a winner” (not here) when it came in third in the demo in it’s premiere? Don’t the numbers just go down from here (usually)?
Polly,
In CBS’s case, demo isn’t everything
Polly, The Mentalist just got what will almost definitely be the biggest audience for a new show this season. Whatever the demo numbers, how is that not winning?
Do you think that if 90210 fails Dawn Ostroff will be fired? Pretty please?
Frank, all I can do is speculate.I think it’s MUCH too early to even speculate easily about Fringe — last night was it’s first airing against full competition and it held 80% of the House lead-in. If it continues to perform in the demos as it did last night, I don’t think Fox will be displeased.
As for TSCC, total viewers probably don’t matter, but if it’s not closer to a 3.0 than a 2.0 among 18-49 year olds (and it isn’t) it’s not a good sign. Unlike some, I don’t really believe the DVR numbers will matter so much since the show is doing under 6 million live + SD.
Polly: The Mentalist was clearly a winner in terms of total viewers and performed well (but not great, relatively speaking) in the demos. It was Bill who said it did CBS proud, not me!
This may be pure conjecture but wasn’t the mid-season finale of Eureka on at the same time as Fringe? Think maybe some of the hardcore sci-fi fans may have decided to let the DVR pick up Fringe that night.
Thanks, Robert. Hopefully TSCC can move that 18-49yr demo. Otherwise, I imagine I’ll be watching Chuck live come the Spring.
I still have to wonder about DVR numbers though. It may not save a show, but to me a large contingent of time-shifted viewers would at least tell FOX that the live viewers from last season did not abandon the show. FOX may find that enough of an incentive to change the show time or the day to try to bring the live viewers back.
Angie,
I don’t watch CW, but the execs must know something if they ordered 13 eps for 90210; plus, as I understand, Gossip Girl has rebounded in the ratings.
FrankJ: I don’t see TSCC getting 4 million in DVR numbers.
wow.. CBS is skewing older each day.
Robert,
I think you’re comparing apples to oranges a bit. House and Fringe are the best Fox has to offer. Tonight’s ratings are head and shoulders above what Fox will get any other night (in demo and viewers). On the other hand, NCIS has always been one of the oldest skewing shows on CBS.
If you compare House to NCIS, yes, House wins in the demo. But if you compare what each network expects out of these shows, I think Fox is way more concerned about House’s numbers than CBS is about NCIS’s
They should put a show on after HOUSE called BOAT which would featuring a coroner who lives in a boat and solves crimes who has an asian side-kick. The crossover possibilities would be endless.
And before FRINGE they should air a show called LUNATIC about the mental hospital from FRINGE starring an aging Jack Nicholson as Dr. Ratchett and run by Massive Dynamics to house “problems”.
Im just saying.
Well if your take on CBS is “when you ain’t got nothing (in the demo), you got nothing to lose”, I agree CBS is less worried.
But I doubt the Fox programmers are clueless and had to expect some drop off simply by changing timeslots for a show with already diminished ratings post-writer’s strike.
Whether it’s wise to try to build a new franchise with Fringe I can’t say and time will tell. But I don’t buy analysis that says “Fringe is back to its premiere numbers and House is doing it no good.” Its premiere was heavily promoted and aired against zero competition (unless you count the CW).
As a show maybe Smith was too complicated, but Baker’s psychopath was appropriately creepy.
On the Mentalist Baker beautifully morphs Patrick Jane the fake psychic into
Jane the sharp eyed criminal investigator with a mission.
The hair styling and wardrobe change really established the transformation.
As a show maybe Smith was too complicated, but Baker’s psychopath was appropriately
creepy.
On the Mentalist Baker beautifully morphs Patrick Jane the fake psychic into
Jane the sharp eyed criminal investigator with a mission.
Just a little more expansion for how I think about these things. It’s truly apples-to-apples, but the apple is $$ advertising revenue. I’d speculate even based on last night’s numbers Fox commands perhaps up to 50% more advertising $ for House than CBS does for NCIS even with far fewer total viewers. While I’m sure Fox would prefer it be 100%, I don’t think it will sneeze at ~50%. I’m only talking about top line ad revenue, and not profits — I’d speculate House costs at least a little more to make.
As a complete aside, I’d also speculate House makes a lot more in DVD and syndication revenue than NCIS, but that has nothing to do with last night’s ratings…
P.S. and it is possible House will command well more than 50% more ad revenue (it outperformed NCIS in the 18-34 demo by over 100%)
Will the microscopic 18-49 numbers and declining 18-34’s mean early
cancellation for Privileged? I’m missing it already.
Microscopic for Fox isn’t necessarily microscopic for The CW. They already picked up 90210 for a full year, and it didn’t have stellar numbers last night. Still, I’m sure CW is disappointed in the numbers last night, but I doubt they will pull the trigger on any cancellations for Privileged this soon. We’ll see.
@Gerry: With those ratings I think even CW can’t spin things to look well for Privileged. If they could, their press release would have already been posted here. Too bad really, I like it as well. I mean what’s not to like about JoAnna Garcia, she’s fun. I just hope she can get a better gig soon afterwards. Something not on CW.
Well as for SVU I alwasy watched without a Trace, especially when it was on after CSI: Vegas. But I’ve been watching SVU for several years before Without a Trace ever aired its first episode. It wasn’t a hard decision for me to watch SVU as I love the cast and the stories, but I did feel badly that I couldn’t watch without a Trace. But I’ll take SVU over Without a Trace any day of the week, however there are others that will take without a TRace over SVU, both shows have an overlap in watchers so the watchers had to make a choice. Since USA will probably re-run SVU’s premiere in a week or two that probably made it easy for them to switch to Without a Trace or the other shows on at the same time. Bruckheimer and Wolf rule as far as I’m concerned so I like most things they do. Unfornuately for me they are going head to head against each other.
Robert,
The reason I think it’s apples to oranges is the House is Fox’s number one show and NCIS isn’t even in CBS’s top ten demo shows. It’s like saying Fox is in serious trouble because CSI has better demos than Bones. Or that ABC is loosing the demo race because CSI: NY beats DSM
Holly, there we are on the same page. But perhaps where we differ is this. While the numbers have changed and are down (as I expect they will be across the board for scripted shows) I do not believe the version of this report we will produce for next tuesday will be very different in terms of the relative rankings:
http://tvbythenumbers.com/2007/10/09/greys-anatomy-takes-weekly-18-49-demo-honors/1164
I understand the angle of 18-34 demos for ratings, however in this day and age I think we have to look at the fact that I would rather base a show’s success on overall ratings due to the fact that the majority of 18-34 year olds these days can’t buy anything because the economy is so bad. If I were an advertiser I would be targeting the older generation who have social security and good retirement plans and have money to buy things and go on vacation. Our generation is in trouble and if advertisersare “banking” on 18-34 demos to buy, buy, buy, then surprise, surprise, we’ll see more and more companies going under.
Lots of talk about pulling shows out of the line up because of early failures. I think something that will be unique about this fall is the relative lack of quick deaths because the development pipeline is still somewhat sparse for many of the networks because of the writer’s strike. They don’t really have much on the bench ready to come into the game.
I think the development pipeline will be more or less back to normal by January so while there may be fewer fall cancellations, there may be lots more in January.
Joe, all arguments about how much money age groups have to spend are moot.
If advertisers want to reach lots of young people on television there are relatively few shows where they can do it efficiently. Advertising on those shows then costs more money, and so the shows themselves are more valuable.
Fox should be encouraged by House pulling in a 5.0+ in the demo in its fifth season in a new weaker time slot. This is still a home run for the network.
Fringe is a hit, not a homer which is what I’m sure fox was hoping for, but I doubt their upset. The network would kill to have fringes numbers on their Monday night shows.
Mentalist only gave a mediocre performance, not good but not bad. CBS didn’t look to be aiming for the stars with this one so I give it good chances at survival.
Joe, Total viewers isn’t how the networks get paid. For now the advertisers don’t agree with you. You also may not spend as much time looking at the ads targeted at the 18-34 youth. I confess, I only spend time looking at those aimed at 18-34 year old men. Trucks, Taco Bell, Budweiser, McDonalds, Burger King, Chunky Soup, iPods/iPhones/Gadets. Save for the trucks and gadgets (and I don’t think Apple is going out of business), it’s all stuff they will definitely buy, regardless of economic conditions.
wow. am I the only one who noticed that DWTS lost 3 million from yesterday??
thats not so good.
wasnt it like the only show except idol that had an above 20 million average last season? well I guess we can say goodbye to that this time!
Not to introduce politics into the discussion, but Bush is delivering a special primetime address on the economy tonight at 9:01, and McCain wants to postpone the debate on Friday.
If McCain successfully gets the debate pushed back, the networks will probably then have three upcoming nights of programming completely messed up – tonight, Friday (Would they just broadcast repeats?) and whatever night the debate lands on.
Granted, Obama needs to agree to this, but if he does, then, well, poor networks…
While CW definitely has a very different ruler to measure success by, I don’t think a sub-2 mil one hour drama will ever be something they will be able to tolerate. They probably won’t pull it out of rotation right now, because of reasons that Bill already gave, but a back nine order would be VERY shocking to me, barring a miraculous ratings spike.
Jon, tonight’s address will definitely mess with the ratings in the 2/3 of the country where 9pm Eastern time is in prime-time. Pushing all those shows later will likely reduce their audiences, particularly for the 10-11pm shows.
As for Friday, the debate is scheduled for 9pm Eastern. If it doesn’t happen, the networks would almost certainly put on repeats. They aren’t going to burn anything valuable on such short notice.
Robert,
I will agree that the chart will remain largely the same. However, CSI: Miami and 2.5 Men have already beat House in the demo and Heroes is just 0.1 off, so there will be some changes. Even next week when the premieres are all done, I think House will be lower on that list than it was last year.
As for all scripted shows being lower, I’m not sure on that point. I don’t think enough scripted shows have come back to tell whether this is just a problem for FOX or if it will be a problem across the board.
I want your opinions on this but is it just me or is The Mentalist on CBS a complete ripoff of Psych on USA Network??? I did not watch The Mentalist for that reason cause it sounded like a ripoff of a show I like but I could be wrong anybody on this site that watches both shows let me know if they are alike or not
Thanks
Hey, NCIS is already considerably higher than its premiere last year, at least in total audience.
Joseph, I don’t watch either show (I tried to watch Psych, it irritated me), but friends of mine have said that even though they liked The Mentalist it is a complete rip off of Psych.
When I saw the commercials for “Opportunity Knocks”, I knew it had no shot. Then I watched a little and it was really terrible. I don’t know how ABC thought this would succeed against all of the competition in the fall. Should have been a summer show.
Am i the only one who noticed the date on the article is wrong? Tuesday was the 23rd not 24th.
Obviously it’s nice to have really high “overall” viewers, but we all know that the 18-49 and 18-34 numbers are more important. Nice for Fringe… even though I’m about to just watch the rest on DVD..
Ooof! Karma, you are correct
DWTS + CBS Tuesday viewers pretty much share the same stage. They’re older than 18-34, as you can tell by ABC and CBS’ less than stellar ratings in that demo. Once DWTS goes to one hour, I’m pretty sure Without a Trace will do much better than before. Nonetheless, CBS did great last night.
Bill,
I think you’re right about the nets not being quick to cancel this year. No one wants to air reruns after all the reruns last year, there aren’t any shows that are ready but got pushed to mid-season, and almost no one has anything that they can get ready quickly.
“Hey, NCIS is already considerably higher than its premiere last year, at least in total audience.”
Last season’s premiere went up against the first hour of the Dancing with the Stars premiere, the only show that can do serious damage to CBS (I’m sure Without a Trace will be higher in the coming weeks).
“Jon, tonight’s address will definitely mess with the ratings in the 2/3 of the country where 9pm Eastern time is in prime-time. Pushing all those shows later will likely reduce their audiences, particularly for the 10-11pm shows.”
Checking it again, it appears it’ll only be 12-14 minutes, so I guess there won’t be any preemptions, but yeah, it’s still not good news for those shows. And from the sounds of it Obama is standing his ground to still do the debate, so the networks might still be fine.
@Joseph. See the review of the Mentalist on zap2it as too the similarity or lack of with Psych. Though Jane was perhaps channeling Monk by using his hands to
focus his attention as he sized up the room in one sequence.
I really don’t get why people watch House it’s very boring the acting is pretty good but the show drags alot.
Joe,
Slight OT, but the retirees are in trouble, as well. Just read in the New York Times that 401Ks are down–while many working people can wait out the bad economy, retirees don’t have that luxury.
It’s really a bad time for all, and probably will get worse.
Dave, completely disagree with everything you said.
Andrea, if you’re right about it getting worse before it gets better, and I fear that you are, it’s potentially a boon for TV viewing in general (more people staying at home).
Joseph, the best way to answer your question is to watch the show to see if it’s a copycat. Boycotting a show because “you heard” it’s a copy of another show is just dumb.
Julia, I’ve read the opposite. The biggest difference, I hear, is that Psych is a straight comedy, The Mentalist is a drama about a fake psychic damaged by the murder of his family.
Andrea what’s up with calling me dumb? LOL………To be honest I like comedy so i’ll stick with Psych rather than the serious but still a ripoff Mentalist
People talked before the fall season that cw needed to show improvement in rating or it would be gone, are the ratings they have good enough to let them stay on air or are they on the bubble?
Sam, too early to tell I think. Their top tier shows have just been hit with real competition this week.
Also, of the 8 *new* hours (plus two regularly scheduled repeat hours) they’re going to program, they still have only premiered 6 of them (yet to come are Stylista and Everybody Hates Chris & The Game) Although only Stylista targets the young women demo that CW seems to care about.
Plus, they leased out their entire Sunday night to Media Rights Capital. How those shows do, and how they’re counted for (or against) CW’s chance for survival is anybody’s guess.
thanks, what kind of ratings would you estimate they need to show an “improvement”
Again, very hard to say. They did dreadfully right off the bat last season, so season to season comparisons are going to be relatively easy for them to beat. Add to that their worst night was Sunday, now out of their control, and that helps them even more.
I honestly don’t think that the CW is going to go away. I think any kind of combination of broadcast stations is too valuable to just walk away from. Even if they do badly, there is *some* value there.
Dawn Ostroff, the CEO, losing her job though is a lot more likely. If they do worse than last year, I think she’s gone.
HOUSE used to be one of my favorite shows. It was on my TOP 5 of best shows ever. But now I hate it. I hate the new interns, especially that ugly guy (DR. TAUB???), and that lame “Thirteen” girl. The show is just ridiculous now, it is too unreal. I even hate Dr. gregory house now, hate the blonde hair on jennifer morrison (dr. cameron). I hate those writers, hate the excecutives for letting them do that to the show. I hope it gets cancelled soon!!!!!
I want more omar epps, more jesse spencer, more Dr. cuddy, who I think is one of the sexiest women on TV.
Well, I don’t see how The Mentalist could have performed higher (did anyone really expect that it would do better than a 3.5 or so in the demo) – this is certainly best case scenario for the night for CBS (remember this is a HUGE improvement over The Unit) and given the demo competition from Fringe and BL:Families and the total viewer competition from Dancing this is a great result (Sure the 18-34 leave quite a bit to be desired) – but remember also PROFIT! This show is new (so arguably costs less than say WAT which is performing much worse) and has room for GROWTH! I think CBS would be popping out the champagne already (especially after WW’s very very mediocre performance the night before). Obviously WAT will uptick next week (but by how much is debatable). I think Eli’s goal is 10mil+ 3+ in demo (if it doesn’t reach close to that at least, then ABC will be very disappointed). As for CW – I know that they will at least stick with the 13 episodes they have ordered (why drop it now and air what, repeats?). At least if they continue to air it they can see what the trend is and if there is any hope (doubtful) in it being successful. I think they will probably slot in Reaper into that timeslot come January and abandon their initial plans to swap it out with Smallville). House is down but I think it could move to Thursday at 8pm (the best move I think for the network) come January. My line-up would see Mon and Tuesday as planned. Bones still on Wed followed by AI/Cleaveland Show (at least once). Thursday House and either KN or possibly the new show Lie. Alternatively, 5th Grader on Thursday at 9 and KN and Lyrics on Fridays. T:SCC is gone and PB may return to air out its remaining episodes in June.
What did I tell you about Fringe? I said to wait and see how it did against some strong competition and sure enough it came off second best. That didn’t surprise me, what did surprise me was NCIS beating House by a considerable margin!! Neber saw that one coming at all.