Comments on: Wednesday Night Ratings: Post Election Blahs Or Just Broadcast TV?

By: Knight Rider has issues (duh), major revamp planned | Last 24 hours news website

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 03:27:58 +0000

[...] guys in the 18-34 demo, but seriously, these people need to zip it. Last week’s episode was beaten outright in its timeslot by Cuidado con el Angel. That’s a telenovela that airs on … wait for [...]

By: Robert Seidman

Robert Seidman — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 03:14:46 +0000

Julia — I think Life got some slack because some of its performance was on Friday nights where the expectations are low. My guesses on why NBC picked up those shows is that NBC’s overall average (especially minus Sunday Night Football) is lower than ABC’s, and NBC doesn’t appear to have had as many shows “on the bench” where ABC has many. Also, Knight Rider does well with young men and the whole show is basically a product placement for Ford, though I have no idea how much money NBC makes from that.

By: Julia

Julia — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 02:57:13 +0000

I don’t get it. Both Life and Knight Rider get a lot worse ratings and key demos than Eli Stone. Yet, both shows were picked up for a full season just recently. And there is still no news on Eli Stone. Why did NBC pick up those two shows?

By: Mel

Mel — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 01:27:45 +0000

Yaaay!! Life was picked up for the rest of the season!! It seems building on KR was enough of a good thing for NBC to order the back nine.

By: Nick C

Nick C — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 00:22:51 +0000

and LIFE was picked up for a full season.

By: cesarrr

cesarrr — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 23:40:31 +0000

Caro
That’s exactly my point, if you were born in the US, your first language shouldn’t be spanish.
And I know for sure that MOST people who watch UNI don’t understand english, you are one of the few exceptions.
And yes, being an american has a lot to do, because the NIELSEN numbers should represent the american viewing habits.

By: Dianne

Dianne — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 21:39:44 +0000

What’s wrong at NBC is that they produce a number of shows that, while episodic, aren’t cookie-cutter replications of themselves. On SVU, for example, or “Life,” each episode is a new story, not the same one as last week with different guest stars (this is a specific allusion to “Criminal Minds”), and therefore requires the viewer to pay attention. One man’s steak is another man’s , I don’t know, cottage cheese, but the point is many if not most people, sadly, turn on the tv to be numbed out, not encouraged to think.

By: KellyH

KellyH — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 21:06:05 +0000

NickC seems to have some sort of inside information/contact at ABC. It would be nice if he told us what it was.

By: Lisa

Lisa — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 17:18:50 +0000

How likely is it that ABC would cancel DSM, Daisies, and Eli Stone (all three) by Jan. or Feb.? That’s a lot of time to fill and doesn’t take into account any other weak spots in their schedule they might want to tweak. Aren’t they more likely to get rid of two of those shows and give the third one a bit more time? If so, would they keep Eli or DSM around?

By: Caro

Caro — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 17:11:16 +0000

I think you are right! I have a few american friends (guys) that will tune into Univison and watch a show even when they don’t understand what is being said (something to do with some of the women’s outfits)

By: Bill Gorman

Bill Gorman — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 16:29:42 +0000

Caro, although we have no good data, I think there is more crossover between Univision’s audience and English network audiences than people in the TV media world would like to acknowledge.

By: Caro

Caro — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 15:47:28 +0000

Cesarr,

Your comment on “Most people who watch Univision are not even americans, and they watch it because they don’t understand english and it’s one of the 2 or 3 options that they have” I have to say is very ignorant.
I AM American and my first language is Spanish! I happen to speak english very well but enjoy watching spanish shows every once in a while. So to correct you, A lot of people that watch Univision DO speak English, have plenty of options but prefer to watch a show in Spanish!
And what does being an American have to do with watching certain channels?

By: Don

Don — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 11:02:26 +0000

For all the talk about ‘Heroes.’ Yes the storyline might be flawed but the Writers Strike is also a factor.

Being the seralized drama that it is it could not return to the airwaves unlike CBS’s sitcoms or crime dramas which have self-contanted stories week after week. At least ‘The 4400′ had self contained stories but hints of an overall arch.

This month we will see how that ‘24′ TV Movie does and what that will mean later in this season.

By: Don

Don — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 10:57:20 +0000

“UNIVISION didn’t “beat” anyone. They target an entire different audience and language. It’s not like people stopped watching knight rider and then tuned in to Fuego en la Sangre.”

True but when Uni they beat KR in the overall ratings. People do take notice. Uni’s audience is a resonable size to be included in the prime time TV ratings.

By: Monic

Monic — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 05:31:45 +0000

But it’s a good thing, right that Life built on Knight Rider’s? audience? In fact, it did better? There’s some hope in that? And also, I really think the elections from the night before had something to do with the turn out in the viewership?

By: Robert Seidman

Robert Seidman — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 05:20:32 +0000

Dalz, keeping in mind we only have half hourly data for the fast nationals and not the final numbers (which will be adjusted lower due to DWTS overrun):

9-9:30p 10.377 million 3.2/8 (18-49), 2.9/8 (18-34)
930-10p 8.701 million 3.1/8, 2.9/8

By: Dalz

Dalz — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 05:12:28 +0000

Bill, can you please provide half-hour data for Private Practice? This was a huge week for the show… nearly 2 million additional viewers from last week!

By: Bill Gorman

Bill Gorman — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 03:44:30 +0000

As far as Life goes, I think that if its 18-49 rating increases next week to a 2.2 it could survive past January.

By: Bill Gorman

Bill Gorman — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 03:41:15 +0000

Expanding on what Holly wrote, I don’t think any other shows besides Lipstick Jungle, Pushing Daisies, Eli Stone, Dirty Sexy Money and *maybe* Life are in danger of cancellation prior to January.

There are a lot more shows that are in danger of not being renewed for 2009-10, but there’s a lot of time between now and May and many things can change.

By: Mel

Mel — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 03:22:33 +0000

Am I reading that correctly? Life built on it’s lead-in from KR? That’s gotta be a positive, right? At least a little . . . .

By: Rachel P

Rachel P — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 03:20:58 +0000

Well, this shows how much of a chunk DWTS can take out of a show…

By: Holly

Holly — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 03:12:34 +0000

Sam, Probably not. DWTS is not Christine’s normal competition and one week isn’t going to kill the show. If it doesn’t improve any from this then it will be in serious trouble, but CBS isn’t going to axe it based on last night.

By: sam

sam — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 03:03:51 +0000

HEY BILL WILL THIS JUST ABOUT KILL CHRISTINES CHANCE OF GETTING RENEWED??

By: cesarrr

cesarrr — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 02:41:27 +0000

UNIVISION didn’t “beat” anyone. They target an entire different audience and language. It’s not like people stopped watching knight rider and then tuned in to Fuego en la Sangre.
Most people who watch Univision are not even americans, and they watch it because they don’t understand english and it’s one of the 2 or 3 options that they have.
I don’t think UNI should be considered an “american” network, and its numbers don’t represent what americans are watching, plus, most of the shows are from mexico or venezuela.

By: ABCFanatic

ABCFanatic — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 01:30:32 +0000

*biggest