| Scoreboard |  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Viewers (million) | 14.59 | 10.42 | 7.81 | 3.60 | 3.54 |
| Rating/Share: Adults 18-49 | 4.2/11 | 3.7/10 | 3.4/9 | 1.4/4 | 1.4/4 |
Sorry folks, but as I write this (9:20am PDT) I hadn’t yet seen the 18-34 or Univision data. I could wait for it to show up, but, I didn’t! CBS won the night, both overall and in the 18-49 demo. In viewers CBS led ABC by a wide margin, and among 18-49 year olds, not as wide, but still a comfortable lead. Update: I have added in the 18-34 data. Note that some of the 18-49 data is slightly different than some other sources, but I chalk this up most likely to rounding (we’re talking differences of 1/10th of a ratings point). Also, our data reflects that last night’s Kitchen Nightmares was a repeat — I have no idea whether it was or wasn’t.
CSI was the evening’s most watched show, though with 18.84 million average viewers it was down 18% from last week’s season premiere which hauled in almost 23 million. Though CSI had more than four million more viewers than Grey’s Anatomy, Grey’s easily bested CSI among 18-49 year olds. At 14.57 million Grey’s was actually up a tad from last week’s overnight of 14.54 million. Grey’s was also up two tenths of a ratings point among 18-49 year olds vs. last week.
Berman crows on about the SNL: Weekend Update Special, but that dropped from 10.59 million viewers and a 5.0/12 among 18-49 year olds last week to 8.61 million and a 4.1/10 last night. Of course for NBC those are great numbers regardless, but either way the election will be over in a few weeks and then…no more specials. The truth is everything in the NBC lineup fell down versus last week, from My Name is Earl, to the second installment of Kath & Kim (no shock there) to The Office, to ER. Though with the numbers ER is pulling (it won the demo at 10pm) they may be talking about revival soon.
In the battle of the new series CBS’ Eleventh Hour actually grew viewers versus last week while ABC’s Life on Mars dropped by more than three million viewers to 8.47 million and went from first to worst. Last week it was second among 18-49 year olds, this week it was last. I liked the first episode, and last night’s is on the DVR, but I suspect like most people, I don’t get around to watching shows from the 10pm hour on DVR the same night. Regardless the DVR numbers beyond last night (which are baked in already) won’t really matter, and ABC has to be disappointed with these results.
Supernatural fans – I didn’t love last night’s episode. They are in “filler episode” mode. Great, the producers were bored and wanted to an artsy fun episode shot entirely in black and white. But perhaps I wanted to see the Oktoberfest girls in living color? Cute episode, but pure filler — the equivalent of a Lwaxana Troi episode on Star Trek: The Next Generation…
Fox’s whole lineup for the night may be filler. There’s nothing to say about Hole in The Wall, but how long will it be before they nix Kitchen Nightmares in favor of doing TWO installments of the successful Hell’s Kitchen a year? It seems to work well for Survivor.
Full details:
| Time | Net | Show | Viewers (Millons) | 18-49 Rating/Share | 18-34 Rating/Share |
| 8:00 | CBS | Survivor: Gabon | 12.88 | 4.2/12 | 2.4/8 |
| ABC | Ugly Betty | 8.21 | 2.6/8 | 2.3/7 | |
| NBC | My Name is Earl | 6.54 | 2.6/8 | 2.2/6 | |
| CW | Smallville | 4.15 | 1.7/5 | 1.7/6 | |
| FOX | Hole in the Wall | 3.62 | 1.4/4 | 1.5/5 | |
| 8:30 | NBC | Kath & Kim | 6.01 | 2.5/7 | 2.2/7 |
| 9:00 | CBS | CSI | 18.84 | 5.1/12 | 3.2/9 |
| ABC | Grey’s Anatomy | 14.57 | 5.9/14 | 5.8/16 | |
| NBC | The Office | 8.07 | 4.1/10 | 4.6/13 | |
| FOX | Kitchen Nightmares (R) | 3.45 | 1.4/3 | 1.2/3 | |
| CW | Supernatural | 3.06 | 1.2/3 | 1.0/3 | |
| 9:30 | NBC | SNL: Weekend Updata | 8.61 | 4.1/10 | 4.0/11 |
| 10:00 | CBS | Eleventh Hour | 12.04 | 3.2/9 | 2.1/6 |
| NBC | ER | 8.81 | 3.6/10 | 2.1/6 | |
| ABC | Life on Mars | 8.47 | 2.7/7 | 2.1/6 |
Shows are sorted by viewers in each time slot. .
Nielsen TV Ratings: ©2008 The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved. Source Marc Berman/Mediaweek.
Definitions:
Fast Affiliate Ratings: These first national ratings, including demographics, are available at approximately 11 AM (ET) the day after telecast, and are released to subscribing customers daily. These data, from the National People Meter sample, are strictly time-period information, based on the normal broadcast network feed, and include all programming on the affiliated stations, sometimes including network programming, sometimes not. The figures may include stations that did not air the entire network feed, as well as local news breaks or cutaways for local coverage or other programming. Fast Affiliate ratings are not as useful for live programs and are likely to differ significantly from the final results, because the data reflect normal broadcast feed patterns. For example, with a World Series game, Fast Affiliate Ratings would include whatever aired from 8-11PM on affiliates in the Pacific Time Zone, following the live football game, but not game coverage that begins at 5PM PT. The same would be true of Presidential debates as well as live award shows and breaking news reports.
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.)
Time Shifted Viewing – Program ratings for national sources are produced in three streams of data – Live, Live+Same Day (Live+SD) and Live+7 Day. Time shifted figures account for incremental viewing that takes place with DVRs which are currently in approximately 24.4% of all U.S. TV households. Live+Same Day (Live+SD) include viewing during the same broadcast day as the original telecast, with a cut-off of 3:00AM local time when meters transmit daily viewing to Nielsen for processing. Live+7 Day ratings include incremental viewing that takes place during the 7 days following a telecast.
For more information see Numbers 101.
October 17th, 2008 at 9:56 am
I agree with you about Supernatural, it wasn’t my favorite episode either. I’m too much into the story to feel like dealing with filler episodes. Still, I wish the ratings were better.
October 17th, 2008 at 10:00 am
I really feel sorry for Life on Mars this show is fun to watch and hope more people watch next week.
October 17th, 2008 at 10:02 am
Lynne, if you’d like, I could point you in the direction of where to obtain the original series, and then you can see what perfection on TV is.
October 17th, 2008 at 10:17 am
Please oh please, could you update the post later with 18-34 demo? This is the only site i find that has it rather consistantly!
October 17th, 2008 at 10:20 am
Hey,
Do you have the 1/2 hour breakdowns for SN?
Thanks!
October 17th, 2008 at 10:29 am
i’ve added the 18-34 data to the table in the post.
immie: 3.177mm from 9-9:30, 2.945mm from 9:30-10
October 17th, 2008 at 10:37 am
I’m stunned that Eleventh Hour is up and Life On Mars is down!! ER will be dropping further without those SNL Weekend Update specials. That’s a poor showing for every network apart from CBS.
October 17th, 2008 at 10:40 am
Thank you a thousand times for the 18-34! I have to get info on my fave The Office, it’s always reassuring to see those numbers for it. I have to say, it is one of the very few bright spots in NBCs linup, although last week was nice when it actually trumped Grey’s in the 18-34!
October 17th, 2008 at 10:42 am
Fox 3.98 ??? With those numbers, I think it’s more like 3.54 ?
October 17th, 2008 at 10:45 am
julia… perfection? way to go at setting the expectations so high that there’s bound to be disappointment.
October 17th, 2008 at 10:45 am
The night’s average for CW looks off, too.
October 17th, 2008 at 10:45 am
Tom, did you see the original?
October 17th, 2008 at 10:46 am
Also, ignore my comment about CW. I was averaging Hole in the Wall with Supernatural.
October 17th, 2008 at 10:47 am
Max, I used Berman’s numbers for that table, but you are correct. Now that we can see the direct report Fox had 3.536. I’ve corrected the table.
October 17th, 2008 at 10:51 am
And CW actually came in fourth for the night in viewers, and tied in the demo. Too bad that really just shows how poorly FOX did, not how great CW did.
October 17th, 2008 at 10:51 am
I thought last night’s Supernatural episode was just about the most boring episode of the entire series, and slightly ridiculous, too. I’m guessing at the half hour it shed a lot of viewers (just like Ghostfacers), and that next week we’ll be down, too. Ratings always go down the week after a bad episode.
October 17th, 2008 at 10:56 am
Julia, for the CW Thursday nights perform very well and consistently (admittedly “for the CW” is a large caveat, but…). Now that Friday Night Smackdown is gone, in terms of total viewers its typically its best night of the week.
October 17th, 2008 at 11:15 am
Hi, Robert! Do you has a half hour Breakdown for EH? Thanks!!!!!!
October 17th, 2008 at 11:24 am
doesn’t matter julia… the point is not “life on mars” which i’m sure is the best series ever created in this universe or any other that might exist including ones in other dimensions… however when suggesting a favorite show/movie/whatever to someone… it helps to not oversell it. no matter how perfect the particular item is because it will not live up to the high expectations you’ve set up. that goes for everything… including your favorite tv show, ice cream, pizza place or personal pleasure enhancement device.
October 17th, 2008 at 11:30 am
Thank you for the lesson, Tom.
October 17th, 2008 at 11:37 am
I thought this episode was absolute FUN….a needed break from the main storyline and definitely a chance for the writers/producers/director to stretch and do something fun and different. Totally disagree with the assessment of the episode. The show deserves so much more in the way of credit and attention, it’s a shame that it is on one of the toughest nights on television. The CW needs to give more attention/money to this show as it deserves more of both.
And Tom, totally disagree with your statement about “overselling” a show; every single person I have gotten to give Supernatural a look has loved it! They have all gone back and watched the first 3 seasons and are completely devoted to the show now. And the age range? 15-50!!
October 17th, 2008 at 11:51 am
If only the age range was 12-34 . . .
October 17th, 2008 at 11:59 am
LIFE ON MARS…there was an ill-fated 2005 NBC show “NY-70″…a cop show set in the 1970’s…problem was the huge production costs…especially when shooting exteriors…dressing up the actors, the extras, rental costs for period vehicles to line the streets…to make it look like it was New York circa 1970…the boneheads at NBC didn’t realize this huge production costs for a weekly series till they were into shooting a few episodes…then they canned the whole thing..and here we are a few years later and david kelly whose creative expiration date expired along with meg ryan’s perky cuteness a few years ago…is at it again…life and mars…ny-70..same shit, different day, same outcome=cancelled series.
MICHAEL IMPERIOLI- if you stood on a set and watched this guy work what you see is a one dimensional actor, physically a short, skinny dude who wouldn’t scare a fly with that same played out brooklyn wise guy routine…you dont need acting school for that. to focus a series around him…women viewers will have very little interest in tuning into mikey i. wearing a very a cheesy “jason lee-earl” moustache.
MARC BERMAN- bloated, pasty faced tv exec wannabee…overdosing on mass quantities of bad take out chinese food and lack of exercise. BERMAN’S WARDROBE WOULD FIT RIGHT IN ON LIFE ON MARS.
YESTERDAY’S LOSERS: MARC BERMAN, LIFE ON MARS, MOLLY SHANNON’S CRAP SHOW, FOX PRESIDENT KEVIN REILLY WHO’S PERFORMING AS BAD AS HE DID WHEN HE WAS PREZ AT NBC.
October 17th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
Did anyone watch both 11th Hour and Life on Mars? Which was better? I am only watching Life on Mars and I really love it. I am wondering if some LOM fans checked out 11th Hour this week and vise versa.
Where people settle should be interesting… do you think that will be clear by week three Rob?
October 17th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
The “Truth” Hurts— Michael Imperioli one-dimensional? I am sure there are many unemployed actors that would love to have his job offers, his 2004 Emmy Award, plus his multiple Emmy nominations for both writing and acting. This is not an untalented individual.
October 17th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
TTH:
LOM’s is no longer a David Kelly production. He left with the first pilot that was set in California.
Also, I assume that the new NY tax incentive made placing LOM in Gotham much more attractive.
October 17th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
Also Michael Imperioli isn’t the lead in the series as your post implies.
October 17th, 2008 at 12:55 pm
Julia26: I watched LOM and Eleventh Hour. Personally, I think LoM is a much much better show, both in acting and writing, than EH. Which probably spells its doom since all the shows I like are doing badly in the ratings recently.
Part if it has to be that LOM is kind of hard to market because it’s a hybrid of different genres (cop, crime procedural, time travel). EH, on the other hand, is a straight crime procedural which CBS excels at marketing. EH also has a fantastic lead-in (CSI) with a similar viewing pool–I’m not sure how many diehard Grey’s fans are interested in a cop show.
October 17th, 2008 at 1:09 pm
Thanks Mandi! I watch Grey’s and I think they need more of a love story with someone in 1973 (Anne Norris is going to be that person I think) as well as with Lisa Bonet in the future. That might get more Grey’s fans interested.
October 17th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
Personally, I *loved* last night’s Supernatural! I thought it was hilariously funny and wonderfully clever. I laughed so much my face hurt for an hour after it was over. (I’m not kidding.) It might have been filler, but often I find filler episodes are good for showing another side of the characters. And I loved all the homage bits to old Hollywood monster movies. The camera angles, the lighting, the music, the cheesy monsters moments, the dialogue. It was fluff, but it was fun. Dean wore *lederhosen*, for goodness sake! And after all the deadly serious things they’ve been tackling since the beginning of the season (and back into last season), I found “Monster Movie” a refreshing pause before we dive into what will no doubt be more deadly seriousness next week and for many weeks after.
October 17th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
i’m sure supernatural is also the best show ever. in fact i’m pretty sure every show has a group of fans that think their show is the best ever. or outstanding. moonlight apparently was the best show ever too based on these boards. it’s all good as long as people watch tv.
October 17th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
I haven’t watched the US version of Life on Mars but I loved the original one. How would anyone who has watched both say the new one measures up?
Fox had a decent run on Thursdays when “Smarter than a 5th Grader” was new and then they started shifting stuff around. I do like me some Gordon Ramsay but I can see how people tire of “Kitchen Nightmares” after a while. I think “Hell’s Kitchen” works good as a summer show and a quick replacement but don’t think it could compete on Thursdays with the big dogs on CBS and ABC.
October 17th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
I haven’t watched the US version of Life on Mars but I loved the original one. How would anyone who has watched both say the new one measures up?
I haven’t seen the second episode yet but I saw the premiere and this is pretty much how I felt they stacked up.
http://www.remotecontrolsyou.com/tv/2008/10/life-on-mars-ne.html
October 17th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
Rae, I can’t really argue your points, I’m just not personally a lover of the filler episodes. It’s a personal preference and I understand I don’t speak for all of the show’s fandom. There were funny moments (particularly Dean dressed as Hansel).
Tom, “The Wire” was the best show ever…sheesh, I thought everyone agreed on that!
Gleebo, you may be right (and I do like me some Gordon Ramsay, too) but the most recent Hell’s Kitchen was a “spring” show, not summer. It performed very well in the April/May portion (as well as the June portion) but for the April/May period it was on Tuesdays, not Thursdays and had Idol as its lead-in. Though it always had fewer viewers than the DWTS results show, it won among 18-49 year olds rather convincingly.
October 17th, 2008 at 1:43 pm
Hmmm, I see some Life in Mars original UK version in my future…
October 17th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
in regards to mikey i….michael imperioli…
female viewers 18-49 demographic would clearly wanna spend an hour with “the mentalist” rather then a mustacheod imperioi in bad polyester…
for those of you who are so enamored with life on mars…due to the huge production costs…regardless of ny’s incentives…
how many of you out there have ever had to rent a 1970’s period vehicle from “hollywood nick pagani”? probably none..well he charges a fortune per day…buses, postal trucks, sedans, new york taxi’s, etc…and you have to send extras for wardrobe fittings let alone the cast and dayplayers…week in and week out…regardless of ny incentives the production costs to to “weekly period drama” is a fortune…see ill fated “new amsterdam”…
so unless life on mars does tremendous numbers..how’s this..unless life on mars builds audience…how bout holding audience week to week…WHICH IT AIN’T…
THEN THE FATE OF LIFE ON MARS…IS THE SCRAP HEAP…enjoy this forgettable show while you can. i’d rather surf youtube.com
October 17th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
I thought My Name is Earl was very funny last night it’s back to it’s roots from that awful third season too bad the numbers fell from last week but then again the numbers fell for all the NBC shows so that doesn’t reflect this week’s Earl being a bad episode but I hope it picks up it’s a really funny show atleast in my opinion and I would hate to see NBC cancel it I also want to ask wasn’t Earl at one time drawing a better number than The Office? I could be wrong but I think it did at one point anyways loved that show also loved Smallville and CSI i’m glad to see it crush Grey’s Anatomy in the overall numbers
October 17th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
Although i love Supernatural, i am disapointed with their filler episodes. We waited months to get new episodes after the strike and we got Ghostfacers- boring.
Last nights was boring as well. Overall season 4 so far is boring, that isn’t to say i will stop watching it but come on the writers could do a whole lot better. I mean smallvile has been on the air for 8 seasons and this season so far is excellent:D
What will CW do when all of their WB/UPN shows end? Gossip Girl seems like their only success story, the numbers for 90210 are dwindling( although dvr makes up for it:D it is useless)
90210 can probably pull better numbers, just get some more of the old gang back & promote the hell out of it:D
October 17th, 2008 at 2:34 pm
I liked the Supernatural episode also. The homage to old monster films was very funny. Filler, yes, I suppose so, Robert, but I enjoyed it. More than most of SN’s lighter episodes, actually. Hollywood Babylon is still my favorite ‘light’ episode.
Anyone else liking Smallville so far? I do miss Lex but I’m baskiing in the Lana-lessness of the show. LOL.
October 17th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
Smallville is doing extremely well for its 8th season!
October 17th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
Is Ugly Betty in trouble for cancellation, even though it’s doing pretty good for it’s hour? I sure hope not!!!
October 17th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
Ugly Betty isn’t getting great ratings, but considering how Eli Stone, Pushing Daisies, Private Practice, Dirty Sexy Money, and Life on Mars are doing, I don’t think Ugly Betty has anything to worry about. ABC has much bigger fish to fry…like saving Wednesday…and Friday…and Tuesday…and Thursday at 10…
October 17th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
Joe, My Name is Earl was doing much better than The Office in its first, and I think second season. But those days are gone.
October 17th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
When I learned that Supernatural was to be a special BW filler show I thought I would hate it but turns out I liked it. Don’t think this season is boring either.
October 17th, 2008 at 4:10 pm
I think ABC might move LOM to Mondays, Tuesdays, or Wednesday down the road. Its one of those shows that needs to find its audience as long as the numbers don’t tank any further.
EH is a safe show cause it fits the basic law enforcement procedural crime drama template which CBS has done well with, and has expanded on that with its Tuesday lineup.
LOM however is a procedural with a twist. It intergrates Sci-Fi and Fantasy and that might scare away certain viewers.
From what I gather the revamped version is an honest recreation of the British series. I enjoy it. I hope it can hang in their.
October 17th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
Last year, Ugly Betty was signed until 2011. So it will be around for atleast 1000 episodes. I would be worried about Grey’s except did you see how many people watched it when the DVR numbers were added in? 21 Million. Thats really good. So im not a bit worried.
October 17th, 2008 at 4:37 pm
you would be worried about Grey’s except for the Live+7 DVR numbers? That’s NUTS. The DVR numbers outside of Live+SD don’t matter. The fact that Grey’s dominates in the demos (18-49, 18-34, Women 18-34) in the live+SD numbers is all that matters. With fewer viewers than CSI, it still dominated the demos. But either way, Grey’s is fine for now.
October 17th, 2008 at 4:43 pm
At the start of this season of Smallville i wanted it to end this year, i just felt the series was worsening but i think this season is the best yet, i don’t miss Lex or Lana (Lana will be in episodes 10-15 this year) and i think the show could go on for a 9th season. It’s ratings have improved a bit versus last years average (4.1 v 3.7) so hopefully the stars will stay. Did anyone hear one tree hill may be ending this season?
supposedly the actors contracts end this season and most of them are saying no to a season 7. Smallville pulled this year off without 2 main characters but i don’t think One Tree Hill could. If Hilarie Burton (Peyton) left i would stop watching, she is one of the best actresses out there and she is Hot!:)
October 17th, 2008 at 5:48 pm
The episode of Smallville from last night was absolutely amazing and I am glad the ratings are going up….Smallville this season is getting really good, the last half of season 7 was forgettable except a few episodes but Smallville is back on track and if you are a spoilers addict you’ll see its getting even better
October 17th, 2008 at 6:30 pm
joe,
greys anatomy killed csi in the demo! so i dotnknow what you r talkin about. Yes csi won in overall viewers, but the demo is more important to the networks. so HA!
October 17th, 2008 at 6:36 pm
With Life On Mars being my favorite new show of the season, I expect it’ll probably end up cancelled. Although with other shows on ABC doing worse, maybe not.
I’m sure I’ll check out the original someday, but I have specifically avoided watching the UK LOM because I wanted to go in with an unbiased view of the US version. Besides, there were only 16 episodes of the original and that’s not even a full season’s worth for a US show. I would like to see this become an ongoing TV series.
October 17th, 2008 at 9:38 pm
Nice ratings for Grey’s Anatomy
Too bad for Life on Mars from 1st to last ehh!!! and its only the second episode of their first season!
I hope Ugly Betty gets more viewers but 2nd place isnt bad at all since I also watch Survivor: Gabon.
October 18th, 2008 at 2:22 am
i am tired of cop shows,,,,i wan,t kitt
October 18th, 2008 at 2:23 am
knight rider rocks, keep it coming!!!!
October 18th, 2008 at 4:44 am
I like the new Knight Rider, but for the serious side I also like Life on Mars. However I am not a fan of basic law enforcement procedural shows.
The only procedural I care to watch is NCIS. It does not take itself too seriously, and I love the running gags in that show.
October 18th, 2008 at 4:48 am
“Too bad for Life on Mars from 1st to last ehh!!! and its only the second episode of their first season!”
Last place yes, but don’t panic just yet. If the numbers continue to tank…THEN PANIC!!!
October 18th, 2008 at 4:51 am
“Smallville this season is getting really good, the last half of season 7 was forgettable except a few episodes but Smallville is back on track and if you are a spoilers addict you’ll see its getting even better.”
I agree, that Smallville it moving in the right direction, and to where Clark as ready to accept his passage into becoming Superman…and towards his True Love.
And hey Lois has the right hair color
October 18th, 2008 at 1:10 pm
I figured that Life on Mars and 11th hour would trade viewers.
I didn’t know whether Life on Mars would go up or 11th Hour would, but I knew there would be an audience shift. It’s odd that all three 10:00 shows scored the same in the 18-34 demo.
October 18th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
oh and the office’ fall is disconcerting…I know it’s far from cancellation, but still, it seems like every NBC show is going down fast. The SNL special didn’t help anything either.
October 19th, 2008 at 11:41 am
NBC is just being kept alive by SNL and ER. NBC is going to be doomed once ER is over next year. I will miss that show. Grey’s Anatomy doesn’t have the medical umph I need like ER.
October 20th, 2008 at 10:45 am
“Grey’s Anatomy doesn’t have the medical umph I need like ER.”
Grey’s was never about the medical umph. It was always about the sex lives.