| Scoreboard |  |
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 |
 |
 |
 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Viewers (million) | 14.55 | 11.24 | 7.89 | 5.47 | 4.78 | 4.15 |
| Rating/Share: Adults 18-49 | 4.1/10 | 3.9/10 | 3.3/8 | 2.2/6 | 2.2/6 | 1.6/4 |
| Rating/Share: Adults 18-34 | 2.6/7 | 3.4/9 | 3.1/9 | 2.4/7 | 2.2/6 | 1.4/4 |
I’ll update with the show 18-34 data later if I can (I have the data, but it’s in half hour format and averaging out the hours manually would delay the other numbers up).
Now updated with 18-34 show data, plus Univision shows. The Latin Grammy Awards seemed to have performed solidly for Univision.
A big note: the New York Jets vs. New England Patriots game is inflating the CW’s numbers. The game aired on the CW affiliate in New York (in Boston, I think it aired on ABC and those shows are less prone to be severely impacted, but it could be that Life on Mars received a boost due to this — all of that will be adjusted in the final numbers we post on a weekly basis).
Though I don’t have the Univision show detail below, and though I know the broadcast nets do not compete with Univision for the same advertising dollars, it still has to sting Fox a little bit that Uni put the beat-down on it.
Otherwise, the numbers line up pretty much as expected for the night. Survivor wins the 8pm hour, CSI has the most viewers at 9pm, but Grey’s Anatomy outperforms it in the 18-49 (and 18-34) year old demographics, and Eleventh Hour has the most viewers at 10pm. But, fueled by the Anthony Edwards guest appearance, ER jumped to almost 10 million viewers and easily won the 18-49 demo. ER won the demos last week, too, but last week it had about 1.2 million fewer viewers. Broadcasting and Cable has a video clip up from the show in its overnight report.
The Office and 30 Rock hit season lows, but to in fairness, 30 Rock is performing much better than anyone (including NBC) could’ve hoped for, and The Office is hurt by two things: massive DVR viewing, and having Kath & Kim as its lead in.
Full details:
| Time | Net | Show | Viewers (Millons) | 18-49 Rating/Share | 18-34 Rating/Share |
| 8:00 | CBS | Survivor: Gabon | 13.02 | 4.1/11 | 2.4/7 |
| ABC | Ugly Betty | 9.20 | 2.8/8 | 2.5/7 | |
| NBC | My Name is Earl | 6.99 | 2.8/8 | 2.4/7 | |
| UNI | Latin Grammy Awards 2008 | 5.87 | 2.3/6 | 2.7/8 | |
| FOX | Kitchen Nightmares | 4.65 | 2.1/6 | 2.1/6 | |
| CW | Smallville | 4.38 | 1.7/4 | 1.6/5 | |
| 8:30 | NBC | Kath & Kim | 5.08 | 2.1/5 | 1.8/5 |
| 9:00 | CBS | CSI | 18.93 | 5.1/12 | 3.3/8 |
| ABC | Grey’s Anatomy | 15.59 | 5.9/14 | 5.8/15 | |
| NBC | The Office | 8.18 | 4.0/9 | 4.5/12 | |
| UNI | Latin Grammy Awards 2008 | 5.69 | 2.3/5 | 2.6/6 | |
| FOX | Kitchen Nightmares | 4.91 | 2.3/5 | 2.3/6 | |
| CW | Supernatural | 3.91 | 1.6/4 | 1.4/3 | |
| 9:30 | NBC | 30 Rock | 7.51 | 3.6/8 | 3.8/10 |
| 10:00 | CBS | Eleventh Hour | 11.69 | 3.1/8 | 2.2/6 |
| NBC | ER | 9.80 | 3.7/10 | 3.0/8 | |
| ABC | Life on Mars | 8.94 | 2.9/8 | 2.1/6 | |
| UNI | Latin Grammy Awards 2008 | 4.84 | 2.0/5 | 2.2/6 |
Shows are sorted by viewers in each time slot.
Nielsen TV Ratings: ©2008 The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved.
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 think Izzie has a tumor and thay’s why she can see Denny.
Ah, I knew it would be too much to hope for, for Supernatural to do better than America’s Next Top Model…
Molly Shannon has managed to find a look 300x scarier than those Amy Winehouse drunken paparazzi photos.
sorry folks, I briefly had Fox and Uni labels wrong in the table at the top. It has been fixed, sorry for any confusion.
Damn, 30 Rock merely ties Heroes, not beats it.
true, but so far this season the trend is more 30 Rock’s friend than Heroes’.
Don’t you mean 4.38 rather than 4.3/8 in Smallville?
oh, and Izzie and Denny are BS, give me some AI please
This week UB beat Survivor in 18-34 again?
Oy, is Denny back? He was the reason I stopped watching in the first place.
Wow, I really expected ER to do better last night. The October 9th episode actually did better in the A18-49 demo (a preliminary 4.0/10) and only a few hundred thousand fewer viewers.
Yes, he’s back. Nobody can see him but Izzie can. and that’s why the rumor of Izzie having a cerebral tumor. I hope she die! she’s son annoying! I can see the ratings going UP when she will die. (sorry, I cant stand Izzie character, she’s the worst part of Grey’s IMO)
The only reason Smallville was down this week cause of Football taking over the channel in some places, with Doomsday coming to Smallville will probably bring it up to 5.5 Million to 6.39 Million. (Just guessing.) xD
Kath and Kim is no laughing matter on NBC. Earl was actually up .2 in the demo last night, but Kath and Kim’s -0.3 drop derailed The office (-0.2) and 30 Rock (-0.3) from what should have been an up night. I am having a hard time wondering what kind of sitcom would actually do WORSE for NBC than this show (ok, that may be a stretch… there have been some awful sitcoms over the years), but surely there is something that could build on Earl’s low numbers, rather than draining even more viewers away right before NBC’s biggest money maker comes on… seems to me like they would want to throw the Office at least one bone before throwing it in front of the CSI/Grey’s bus.
Kath and Kim is no laughing matter on NBC. Earl was actually up .2 in the demo last night, but Kath and Kim’s -0.3 drop derailed The office (-0.2) and 30 Rock (-0.3) from what should have been an up night. I am having a hard time wondering what kind of sitcom would actually do WORSE for NBC than this show (ok, that may be a stretch… there have been some awful sitcoms over the years), but surely there is something that could build on Earl’s low numbers, rather than draining even more viewers away right before NBC’s biggest money maker comes on… seems to me like they would want to throw the Office at least one bone before throwing it in front of the CSI/Greys bus.
It doesn’t look good for Kitchen Nightmares. It’s a shame, I enjoy that show. For me it’s the only thing worth watching on Thursday’s.
Yes, I did mean 4.38 million for Smallville. And Ladiesman, Smallville’s numbers listed HERE were likely *higher* than they would have been otherwise, not lower. because the way these overnight reports work is whatever is on gets counted, even if it’s not actually the show (so the football viewing in New York got counted).
Cool, yes UB narrowly defeated Survivor among 18-34 year olds (2.5 vs. 2.4)
Cool, I actually liked Izzie before Denny showed up. His character ruined her character, and then made it even worse what with the whole totally unethical stuff she did. She was probably my favorite of the females before that. After that I hated her and thought she should be written off the show. But then I just stopped watching and was much happier.
Great, That’s awesome, 4.38 Million viewers, On Sunday, could you get the viewers for Smallville? Since the people in New York get it on Saturday 6pm for them.
You are correct, football was on ABC here is Boston. Good for me as I got to watch Supernatural. So glad I didn’t stay up to see my beloved Pats lose. Ugly Betty will air on Saturday.
how come 4.38 million for smallvile and the CW is good and 5 million for TSCC is bad? sorry it might be a stupid question im from the uk and dont understand lol.
Steve, it has to do with the networks they are aired on. CW shows almost never reach 5 million, and anything in the 4 million range is great. FOX shows are expected to do much better. For them, a huge success would be about 11 or 12 million, though much better in the demo. I’m sure in the UK you have networks that have higher expectations than others?
Ladiesman, as already pointed out, the Smallville numbers are inflated, and will drop, possibly significantly, in the final numbers. And Bill or Robert can confirm, but I don’t think it would be possible to get the NY numbers for Smallville on Sunday, unless someone has a local contact who works in the NY market.
Ladiesman, as Robert said, that 4.38 is almost certainly going to revised downward in the final results we will post on Tuesday. I’m not sure what happens to those Smallville results in NYC on Saturday night. I don’t think they’d be added into any results from Thursday and they definitely won’t be in any Overnight results from Saturday night since there is no CW network on Saturday night. We might see something online from the NYC market locally, but that’s completely hit or miss.
SteveC — the short version is because CW has not historically been considered a major broadcast network. The reason 4.38 million would be good for the CW (if the number were actually any good) is that compared to its other shows that makes it the most viewed show of the week. The expectations for Fox are greater.
After 8 years and 16 seasons, Survivor is holding on better than any other reality show (well Amerian Idol, I suppose but they are only seven seasons in so far.). They’ve thrown a lot of stuff at it over the years, and while it continues to decline I’m guessing it’s good for at least one more year.
While it shouldn’t be labled a hit, “Life on Mars” has been consistent in the ratings. I think this bodes well for the show when it moves after “Lost” in January. I’m tired of Berman labeling it a “loser” every week. There are just too many other options these days, and retention isn’t as meaningful as it was even 10 years ago. I don’t think a new show that has remained consistent as such should be labled a loser. That’s just my humble opinion.
Eleventh Hour was up. It’s settling in the 11-12 million range and won every week in total viewers so far. It’s also settling in the demos so that it beats Life on Mars. CBS must be satisified with it, if not thrilled.
JT, you need to learn not to read Berman. Here we get the numbers with little bias. Berman is all about bias.
JT, we all have our blind spots. One of mine is relying on averages vs. trends. Berman’s fixation on lead in retention is one of his. I’m not saying retention is meaningless, but it’s nowhere near as important as Berman thinks it is.
As a The Office fan, NBC could retool the order of his [or her] comedies in order to boost Thursday audience. Personally, I think they would drop K&K and make more SNL ‘Thursday Edition’.
And Robert, Bill, NBC will really finish one of his [or her, again] anchors while everything else seems to fall apart.
Well, sorry for the awful grammar.
P.S.: The anchor is E.R.
ugly betty hit 9 million viewers. Im sure that helps. And with so many sophmore shows bombing on ABC, i cant imagine them not renewing ugly betty. Its not a hit, but right now, its a solid performer everyweek for ABC.
i think it likely the ABC numbers get adjusted somewhat downward too since the Boston market got the football game on the local ABC outlet.
Can someone please explain to me that on one hand the numbers for Life on Mars says it was down from a 6.0 to a 5.5 this week, but then I see it says 8.94 up from 8.92 last week. Was it up or was it down last night?
Shannon, it was down in the early metered market report, but up in terms of total viewers slightly. My guess is when the dust settles and the final numbers come out, it will be down a little. It’s one of the reasons I don’t like the early metered market numbers. By the time the fast nationals came out, the household rating changed to a 6.1 (pretty significant). But, the overnight numbers are fickle, especially when sports are involved and once viewing in Boston is factored out (people watching the football game on the local ABC afflilate are counted both in these, and the early metered market numbers), we’ll see…
I thought ER would get a nice bump with Anthony Edwards return as Dr Mark Greene. He was great. Really good episode. That show was his, NO doubt!
Chuck
Has eleventh hour gotten a full season pick up yet? If not why not? It’s surely a much better bet than Life or Knight Rider, which have gotten pick ups?
because NBC sucks and CBS has a higher bar to renew shows, just like ABC or FOX.
The dude who stars in 11th Hour is really creepy looking. Everytime I see a promo for that show I cringe.
Does anyone know how many episodes NBC has ordered for Kath and Kim? This show is disgustingly terrible. It almost makes me was to puke when I tune in to The Office a few minutes early. They need to replace that show STAT!
Thanks Robert!
Chris, they picked up K&K for its back 9, so I would assume 22, but I am doubtful that it will ever make it to 22.
Iggy,
I don’t think it has. Keep in mind that CBS has very high expectations for its shows and NBC … well … not so much. It’s almost like they’ve switched places over the last 10 years. 10 years ago NBC was huge and CBS was still kind of in a rut. Now its pretty much the exact opposite.
oh ok well thanks for explaining Julia and Bill. i was just wondering does anyone know when curb your enthuisium starts? its the only real funny show you guys have. no offence but your sitcoms are kinda terrible. they only great sitcom ever was frasier.
EH is winning its time slot and its main competition is going off the air next year, so I expect it will get picked up, though I guess you can never be sure.
As for NBC, I saw about 15 minutes of Knight Rider and thought that the show would have 2 or 3 episodes tops. When I saw it got renewed, I dusted off old teleplays in my closet, because I was convinced for the first time in years that I do have a future in television writing. If those guys have jobs…
Uh, didn’t Curb end? Or am I completely off, as I’m not yet much into comedies.
You know, not in any way am I defending KR, but I find it funny how it gets the ‘in the past, grass was greener’ treatment. Do you guys honestly believe that back in a day the original KR was well acted and written? I mean, seriously? The point of shows like that has been pure fun since the day one. KR wasn’t the only one back in a day, there was A-Team and whatever the heck else. They pretty much all had the same ‘frame’, albeit different containment.
I am so thrilled that Ugly Betty is continuing to do better!!! I hope it gets renewed!!!
curb starts shooting in january i think… and of the shows 6 seasons… all but one preemed in the fall. but i can’t see them sitting on it till fall next year so prob. spring to qualify for the 2009 emmy awards.
Ugly Betty seems to be getting higher ratings each week: 9.2 beast since premiere. K&K should be cancelled (not just because of it being terrible) but also because of its numbers: look at them!!! NBC is just screwed and is too scared to take a risk but surely it can’t get much worse than this.
Thanks for the info, tom. I was somehow under the impression that it has ended, likely because imdb.com dates the last season back to 2007. Months ago I tried to get into Curb but didn’t have enough time. Good to know that new stuff will still come out and it hasn’t completely ended.
they’ve ended the last 2 years of curb as though they were the final seasons… one was called “the end” and the other (last year) was a hysterical payoff for the seasons storyline and would have been a great ending. i think larry david is never sure.
btw: he’s starring in the next woody allen film. a comedy shot in ny.
NBC needs to fire their executives for failing to realize that remakes of once successful shows aren’t gonna cut it. They need to think outside the box, much like ABC did when they brought us “Lost” and “Housewives”, two shows that significantly helped resurrect ABC from the dead.
A couple of new shows with a unique premise, smart writers and proper promotion are what they need to get themselves out of last place. I know that’s easier said than done, but it’s what they need to do.
JT, I agree NBC should fire the execs. However, remakes would be my reasoning as well but in a different take. The remakes did well in their first viewing, so obviously there was a viewing base to justify the remake. Poor handling of the remakes lead to “bad remakes,” which just matches the “bad new shows.”
It’s all bad for NBC.
Thursday broadcast finals (from Pifeeback):
08:00 P.M.
- “Survivor: Gabon” (CBS) : 12.885 million viewers (A18-49: 4.0/11)
- “Ugly Betty” (ABC) : 8.247 million viewers (A18-49: 2.5/7)
- “My Name is Earl” (NBC) : 7.045 million viewers (A18-49: 2.8/8)
- “Kath & Kim” (NBC) : 5.122 million viewers (A18-49: 2.1/5)
- “Kitchen Nightmares” -R- (FOX) : 4.585 million viewers (A18-49: 2.1/6)
- “Smallville” (CW) : 3.556 million viewers (A18-49: 1.4/4)
09:00 P.M.
- “CSI” (CBS) : 19.050 million viewers (A18-49: 5.1/12)
- “Grey’s Anatomy” (ABC) : 14.902 million viewers (A18-49: 5.7/13)
- “The Office” (NBC) : 8.296 million viewers (A18-49: 4.1/10)
- “30 Rock” (NBC) : 7.602 million viewers (A18-49: 3.6/8)
- “Kitchen Nightmares” (FOX) : 4.909 million viewers (A18-49: 2.3/6)
- “Supernatural” (CW) : 2.944 million viewers (A18-49: 1.2/3)
10:00 P.M.
- “Eleventh Hour” (CBS) : 11.627 million viewers (A18-49: 3.1/8)
- “ER” (NBC) : 9.900 million viewers (A18-49: 3.7/10)
- “Life on Mars” (ABC) : 7.968 million viewers (A18-49: 2.6/7)
Tom, I’m pretty sure two seasons ago really was supposed to be the end, but no one liked the finale, so they gave Larry another shot. It’s not that he’s not sure, he’s just really bad at endings. Look at Seinfeld. Though I thought this past season was a great series finale, and I would have been happy with it.
ugly betty, Smallville and SUpernatural seem a bit low in the finals, i know football was on, but still!
maybe this time next year NBC will have loads of new shows and be the new #1 network :p all of the networks have gone through a bad patch after all!
Kitchen Nightmares is doing horrible this seaosn. What’s going on?
julia… i don’t think hbo gave him another shot… they want more curb. they wait for him to say if he wants to do another season. “the end” was a possible finale but he changed his mind. i really don’t think he commits to do a whole season just so he can nail a good series finale. if that were the case he would have ended with the one last season. because the finale was awesome. but this past season he also wasn’t sure if there would be another season. then he decided to do another. from what i read it’s based on if he thinks he can come up with a strong enough arc for the 10 episodes. last year was the problems with the wife and the black family, the year before that was the adoption thing. either way i look forward to the new batch.
e calling LOM a ratings success yet it has done exactly what other failed shows did after GA. I will bet a large sum of Cash Private Practice will retain much better after GA and give ABC a 18-49 victory on Thursdays.
If ABC cancels ES and PD and DSM based on ratings they should also can LOM
Josh – New York is the largest viewing market in the country, I believe, and ther were zero viewers counted from there, so . . . it’s a huge chunk of CW viewership gone for the night.
Betty keeps going up week after week! And it beat Survivor in the 18-34 demo for the second week in a row! Does anyone know if this is something new for Betty to do, or has it never beaten Survivor in any demo before this season?
When exactly did the Seinfeld finale become bad? Must’ve missed the memo on that one.
Darn it!!! I really hate to see Supernatural’s numbers so low. Does anyone know if there is a football game on in the next two weeks?
Yay for Ugly Betty!!!
Tyler, The overnight ratings for Ugly Betty were inflated because a football game aired on ABC in some markets. The final ratings were down to 8.35 mill and 2.5 in the demo.
Wow, Life on Mars dropped 1 million viewers in the finals?
Vader, the Seinfeld finale was loathed by the general public. They just really disliked the ending but I thought Larry put together a suitable episode that highlighted all of the series’ strengths while giving us some interesting closure. It was certainly better than four or five “treading water” episodes from the final season.
Curb Your Enthusiasm gave us four great seasons of television. I think Larry should’ve called it all off after the fifth season finale which was an absolutely PERFECT way to go out. On the other hand, the sixth season helped prove that he was still capable of delivering a decent product since the fifth was mostly unwatchable. Either way, one of those two “finales” should have been the finish line. I’m not sure what the hell they can do with the show given how it ended last season.
Survivor really knows how to earn those aged 35-49 viewers. If you just look at 18-34, it isn’t much better than the rest of the shows airing at that time slot.
Kath & Kim will surely be replaced by The Office “spinoff” (really just a new show by the same team). The new show should definitely air before The Office. It would make a good lead-in. Airing it after The Office would be a waste since 30 Rock’s rating would tumble by having My Name Is Earl as a lead-on. The surreal, quirky 30 Rock humor doesn’t gel with Earl’s broad strokes & weak writing. 30 Rock would lose a lot of people that tune in at 9 PM for The Office/30 Rock combination. NBC should try to make those people watch a 90 minute block rather than continue to go with an hour. Plus, what happens if this new show isn’t that great? Then you’ve pretty much diminished the ratings for 30 Rock for no reason whatsoever once people start tuning out after The Office at 9:30 and ignoring the spinoff.
As for Earl, despite never recovering from a creative slump early in the second season, it’s definitely worthy enough to be brought back next year. It’s a lock if the new series from The Office folks takes off as NBC could then have a stable block they can probably count on in 2009/2010.
Daisies, it was a lot better than other stuff from the last season, where stupid plots ran rampant. People looking for a happily ever after ending or an “aww” moment are unrealistic. The characters were portrayed the same way the were throughout the series. All the finale did was call the implication to people’s attention. I can’t recall one episode off the top of my head when one of the main characters cared about something happening to someone other than themselves or one of the other main characters. Anything else would’ve appeased the critics, but would’ve been absolutely cheesy and untrue to the characters.
ALL SMALLVILLE FANS!! Support your show by going to CW Smallville page and clicking the advertisements on that page once a day. This gives CW direct revenue. Also buy Smallville DVD’s and products to support the show. It might be the last season but we should still show our thanks.
Smallville fans are the best!
Any chance they add back the viewers in NY who watch on Saturday?
Kathy, my understanding is no, they won’t add those viewers back in (or for the ABC shows airing in Boston Saturday).
I agree with everything said about how the Office is a solid anchor if NBC could just find a good bridge between it and Earl. The Office sucked at an hour, and to be honest I haven’t watched it since it burned me. It is also sinking in how the 18-49 and 18-35 numbers relate to each other. The Office is a megahit with the younger group, while the 35-49 seem to mainly switch to Grey’s at nine eastern from Survivor.
The Office may have hit a season low, but it’s still doing quite well (especially for NBC). As for 30 Rock, correct me if I’m wrong but I think it’s still doing a lot better than last season. As for Kath & Kim, they need something better in that slot. Too bad about “My Name is Earl”, but isn’t it up a bit from last week?
I don’t get why people still watch Survivor/CSI. Where’s the novelty anymore? Neither show has changed much since its premiere, but they’re both still super popular!
Fox Thursdays are DOA at the moment. Oh well who cares.
As for ABC…blech! Grey’s Anatomy is awful, and I haven’t watched Life on Mars. Nor will I ever.
Did anyone see ER? That was an amazing show last night. Brings us back to the good ol’ days.
the office got less than 8 million the week of oct 20-26
Wow then, ABC really sunk in the finals… That still seems steep even for football to be factored out.