| Scoreboard |  |
 |
 |
 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Viewers (million) | 7.54 | 6.96 | 5.24 | 4.33 |
| Rating/Share: Adults 18-49 | 2.5/8 | 1.5/4 | 1.8/5 | 1.5/5 |
While last night’s Saturday Night Football college game on ABC didn’t fare as well as last week’s battle of then undefeated Texas versus (still) undefeated Texas Tech, it still was enough to win the night for ABC. Also this week I think a significant part of the country saw the Cal vs. USC matchup and not the Texas Tech vs. Oklahoma State matchup. Unfortunately we have no way to separate the numbers for the two games at this time.
Still, the numbers don’t surprise me because while last week’s game came down to the last second, this week’s games were not close. With Penn State losing I’m now rooting for the stars to align in such a way that Texas and Texas Tech can play again in the national championship game.
48 Hours Mystery showed surprising strength for a Saturday for CBS, both in total viewers and the 18-49 demographic. And NBC showed strength among 18-49 year olds, at least for a Saturday, with a rerun of its Presidential Bash 2008 special from last Monday night.
On the weekends we usually rely on Marc Berman for data and I can’t reconcile the data he has for the night for Fox in the table above, with the individual show data for Cops and America’s Most Wanted (below) the math doesn’t work, but, I’m just reporting what he has. We’ll see the actual data tomorrow and can correct it then. But I’m not sure anyone would’ve noticed if I hadn’t brought it up…
Full details:
| Time | Network | Show | Viewers (Millons) | 18-49 Rating/Share |
| 8:00 | ABC | Saturday Night Football Ok. State vs. Texas Tech(8p-11p) | 7.54 | 2.5/8 |
| CBS | CSI: NY (R) | 5.90 | 1.4/4 | |
| FOX | Cops | 5.80 | 2.0/6 | |
| NBC | Knight Rider (R) | 2.82 | 0.8/2 | |
| 9:00 | CBS | Without a Trace (R) | 6.94 | 1.4/4 |
| FOX | America’s Most Wanted | 5.49 | 1.9/6 | |
| NBC | SNL Presidential Bash 2008 (R) 9p-11p | 5.09 | 2.0/6 | |
| 10:00 | CBS | 48 Hours Mystery | 8.05 | 1.9/6 |
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.
I didn’t watch any of those networks, I watched CW’s Legend of the Seeker (2 episodes), Smallville and Supernatural and all the shows were really good. I was surprised at how good LOTS is.
I hate the BCS, and while I like Texas Tech and their crazy coach, I think losses by both Texas Tech and Alabama before the end of the season might just plunge the BCS into enough controversy to finally kill it. Although I admit with the powers that be arrayed behind the BCS that hope may be approaching Pushing Daisies fan fantasy levels.
I don’t really hate the BCS, I would just prefer to see an eight team playoff situation for a variety of reasons including that it would just be fun! While that would ensure that undefeated programs get a shot, it would probably create more controversy than it solves (there will be many teams claiming they should’ve had the 8th seed, etc..).
April LOTS is not a CW show, it’s a syndicated show that airs on the CW affiliate where you live. CW doesn’t program nationally on Saturdays which is why we don’t include any info for them. Where I live LOTS doesn’t air on the local CW affiliate.
The way the BCS works, is if Alabama lost and Texas Tech won out, we’d see a rematch of last Saturday’s game for the title. You don’t think Florida, USC, or Penn State would be upset about that?
I thought before that OU was the best team. They’ve beaten everyone they’ve played into the ground. That is except for Texas which did beat OU and didn’t make it look like a fluke. After seeing Texas Tech obliterate Oklahoma State (which beat Missouri and fought Texas hard) I’m beginning to think they may be the best team in the country. They are the only team that made Colt McCoy look human.
Meanwhile Alabama looks like they’d have 1 loss if LSU had even a decent QB.
The real issue appears to be that “Any Given Sunday,” is starting to look like “Any Given Saturday.” Modern day college football isn’t the college football of the 80s. The playing field is much more level than ever before. High School coaches are so much better than they used to be at teaching difficult systems (at least in California and Texas) it results in more players coming into the college game with strong fundamentals. So a well coached team like Boise State can beat a juggernaut like Oklahoma despite OU having NFL talent.
An 8 team playoff using the current BCS Bowls would be the best solution. Just keep the BCS ratings and only take the top 8 teams regardless of conference. Sure there would be controversy about the 7th and 8th ranked teams, but that is much better than controversy over the best 2. There would be much less argument about the best team not getting the chance to prove they are best.
I don’t get football at all, at all, at all.
“The way the BCS works, is if Alabama lost and Texas Tech won out, we’d see a rematch of last Saturday’s game for the title. You don’t think Florida, USC, or Penn State would be upset about that?”
I do, but contention about the second team in the BCS championship game isn’t extraordinary and hasn’t lead to its downfall in the past. If both of those teams (TT, UA) lose, I think we’d see a situation where *both* of the positions in the BCS championship game come under contention. It is my, perhaps futile, hope that situation causes the eventual end of the BCS.
Bill, if Florida and USC are left on the outside looking in, that is HUGE. We’re talking the SEC and the PAC 10 screaming bloody murder, while the Big 12 enjoys a BCS title game to themselves.
The latest BCS rankings were released today and they follow what I was thinking from my earlier post. It’s Alabama, Texas Tech, and Texas in the top 3. If Florida beats Bama and Texas Tech and Texas win out there would be a Big 12 only National Title game. We’re also likely talking about undefeated Utah and Boise State on the outside looking in as well as Florida and USC screaming up a storm.
Having one conference get the title game and having it be a rematch would be worse than your scenario for causing an uproar.
Bill,
Do you like the BCS system?
What are the numbers for LOTS?, it’s any page that has the numbers for Legend of the Seeker?
If USC is left on the outside, it’s USC’s fault for losing to a team that was 1-2 at the time USC played them (and a 3 loss team now). Penn State has no beef either, it lost to a team that was 5-4. I was rooting for Joe Pa, but no way they have any beef at all. Same for Florida really though if it if it runs to table the rest of the way and meets and beats Bama in the SEC conference title, that will sting a bit. But, Florida lost to Mississipi, a 5-4 team. If the Texas Tech/Texas game works out — Texas’ only loss will have come against an undefeated team. That’s a *big* if. If Texas Tech beats OU, it certainly deserves a spot having beat the #1, 9 and 5 teams in consecutive weeks.
I have no empathy for Florida, Penn State or USC in that scenario. However, I’d have a lot of empathy for Utah and Boise St. (assuming they remain undefeated). I don’t hate the BCS system, but I’d definitely prefer Utah and Boise State be in the mix. So I guess our current “fantasy” playoff includes: Alabama, Texas, Texas Tech, Florida, USC, Penn State, Boise State, and Utah. That wouldn’t suck at all.
In the current system it gets realllly interesting if Oklahoma wins…
Capkor, I haven’t seen any viewer totals for LOTS yet, I did see that last week in 54 out of the 56 metered markets it averaged a 1.5/3 (household rating/share).
The syndicated show data we get runs two weeks behind, and we only see the top 25 shows (which include averages for shows like Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy), but if the first week’s airings (Saturday 11/1) make the list, we still won’t see it until a week from Tuesday.
Robert, I’m sure Texas fans would love an Oklahoma win. That would put Texas not only in 2nd place in the BCS but make them the Big 12 South winner (since it would be a 3 way tie, Texas, Oklahoma, and Texas Tech) since they have the highest BCS ranking. Winning the Big 12 would just solidify Texas and their shot for the title game. OU’s only chance is if Texas loses to someone.
I hadn’t considered the all Big 12 element of the TT/Texas nat’l championship game. I agree, that may help get rid of the system even more than many 1 loss teams fighting over two spots while potentially locking out up to 2 undefeated teams.
Nick, if Florida beats Alabama, I’d consider it’s chances of jumping Texas to be fairly good, after all, Texas beat Oklahoma and jumped Alabama to the number one spot. Apparently, if you beat the number one team, you jump up tremendously this season.
Vader, the computers won’t be impressed. They don’t even have Alabama number 1. If Texas, Texas Tech, and Florida win out, I bet the coaches have it Tech 1, Florida 2, and Texas 3rd. Same with the Harris poll, but Texas will take some of those 2nd place votes. The computers however will never be impressed with Florida losing to Ole Miss. So Texas will be unanimous 2nd in the computers, and that will be enough.
That’s a good enough scenario to cause all kinds of bitching from the BCS Conferences.