| Scoreboard |  |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Viewers (million) | 9.91 | 9.20 | 7.37 | 6.14 | 4.30 | 1.37 |
| Rating/Share: Adults 18-49 | 2.5/7 | 3.4/9 | 2.6/7 | 1.9/5 | 1.6/4 | 0.5/1 |
| Rating/Share: Adults 18-34 | 1.8/5 | 3.1/9 | 2.3/7 | 1.7/5 | 1.7/5 | 0.6/2 |
Updated to include 18-34 demographic data below.
A little bit of an early Christmas for NBC, as Christmas in Rockefeller Center averaged over 10 million viewers. That served to be a better lead-in for Life than Knight Rider usually is and Life climbed to a season high 8.1 million viewers. Still, even with the bump in viewers, the best it could do among 18-49 year olds was fourth place. Not a good sign.
In the 18-49 demo, the lighting of the Christmas trees in Rockefeller Center was about the same as last year with a 2.2/6 (rating/share). The annual airing of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer easily took the most viewers and both age demographics at 8pm, though Rudolph’s 4.2/12 among 18-49 year olds was down 18% from last year’s 5.1/14 on Tuesday, December 4, 2007.
Meanwhile, this year’s Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show was up among 18-49 year olds by ~38% with a 3.6/10 this year versus last year’s 2.6/7.
Fox’s Secret Millionaire premiered for two hours and performed much better than I thought it would. It built every half hour and it won the 18-49 and 18-34 demos between 9pm-10pm.
With two out of three shows for the night (Pushing Daisies and Dirty Sexy Money) in the “cancel” pile, ABC didn’t have it’s best night. Sandwiched in-between was the soon to be relocating to Thursdays Private Practice which came in second in the age demos to Secret Millionaire in the 9pm hour.
For those who love doing comparisons to the prior week: since last Wednesday was not typical due to special holiday eve programming (though last night wasn’t necessarily typical either) I recommend using the overnight report for Wednesday 11/19.
I’ll try to update the show data table with the 18-34 data later on today.
Full details:
| Time | Net | Show | Viewers (Millons) | 18-49 Rating/Share | 18-34 Rating/Share |
| 8:00 | CBS | Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer | 11.74 | 4.2/12 | 3.0/9 |
| NBC | Christmas in Rockefeller Center | 10.35 | 2.2/6 | 1.8/5 | |
| FOX | Secret Millionaire | 6.69 | 2.3/7 | 2.1/6 | |
| ABC | Pushing Daisies | 4.91 | 1.5/4 | 1.4/4 | |
| CW | Stylista (R) | 1.32 | 0.5/1 | 0.5/1 | |
| 9:00 | NBC | Life | 8.10 | 2.3/6 | 1.7/5 |
| FOX | Secret Millionaire | 8.05 | 3.0/8 | 2.6/7 | |
| ABC | Private Practice | 7.84 | 2.6/7 | 2.4/7 | |
| CBS | Grammy Nominations Concert Live! | 7.15 | 2.4/5 | 2.0/6 | |
| CW | Stylista | 1.41 | 0.6/1 | 0.7/2 | |
| 10:00 | NBC | Law & Order | 11.26 | 2.9/8 | 2.2/6 |
| CBS | Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show | 8.73 | 3.6/10 | 4.4/12 | |
| ABC | Dirty Sexy Money | 5.67 | 1.7/5 | 1.4/4 |
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.
Wow. Life did VERY well last night. So did Law and Order. Both went to season highs. All this proves is that Life needs a better lead-in to succeed better than it does now.
I hope ABC will air all 13 episodes of Pushing Daisies because it’s a fantastic show. I think they will air the 3 episodes in january because it’s only 3 more episodes. Does anyone have an insider scoop whether or not they will?
when is the next episode of knight rider?
Yes Life and Law and Order did good but only because Criminal Minds and CSI:NY were took the week off.
oups! That should have been “Yes Life and Law and Order did good but only because Criminal Minds and CSI:NY took the week off.”
pushing daisies increased in viewers and demo
too bad its been cancelled
ABC DONT KNOW WHAT THERE MISSING
GET RID OF PRIVATE PRACTICE AND KEEP PUSHING DAISIES
We can only imagine, Robert, if Life were on CBS…
Cam: and it was still the lowest-rated show of the night among the real networks.
Cam, I suggest it is you who doesn’t know what you’re missing. But it’s just a suggestion (and the suggestion is this: LOOK AT THE FREAKING NUMBERS!).
Without commenting on either show’s quality and only looking that the numbers, it’s fairly definitive. ABC shouldn’t keep Pushing Daisies. But getting rid of Private Practice to keep it would be insanity.
dirty sexy money what a great show. shame on you abc!
I am happy for Life. At least it kept/grew slightly the demo of its lead in and gained total viewers. It does show signs of being responsive to any help NBC can give it, which might not be the mark of a hit show, but is much more than can be said about any of the other NBC or ABC croakers.
dirty sexy money what a great show. shame on you abc! (2)
CAM relax…a 1.5 in the demo? oh ABC knows what it is missing and it’s not much.
Plus, Idizzle, it was the #1 show in viewers at 9pm for all networks. Its demo is not that far off from the shows on CBS and ABC, and I’m sure NBC is happy (given its dismal Fall record).
Maybe now, those oldies from CBS who crossed over to NBC and discovered what the heck Life was (a procedural!) may stick around–even a couple of million defections is good news.
Regarding FOX–God no! Not another reality show hit! Yuck.
Woo! Good on Life!!!
Hi Robert – it looks like the CBS, Fox, and NBC logos need to be switched.
I’m also a fan of Life. Given enough time and a decent lead in, I think it could find an audience. It reminds me of House before American Idol introduced it to the world.
Even with a buttload of caveats (demos, competition, etc.), who would have ever guessed Life would ever win any hour ever in total viewers? It’s at least a giant moral victory, and a sign for NBC that they might be able to turn it into a decent success if they can somehow figure out how to help it along (not that I have hope Ben Silverman could even find his butt with a funnel).
Will it ever be a monster success? Probably not, but I’m pretty certain everyone here would have said the same about NCIS six years ago. Never know what might happen, and NBC is at least a network that has nothing else going for it at the moment. That Life is showing at least some signs of life has got to be good for it.
That said, the numbers from here on out will tell the tale more so than one nice showing against marginal competition (I mean you, Private Practice). But it can’t be that expensive, and given their absolute dearth of programming (NBC running out of shows??), never know where this might lead.
God, I hope so, because come January there will be almost nothing on that I like. And Damien Lewis should always be on the air somewhere at all times.
Schmokey, next week will be more telling. Again, it won’t have Knight Rider as its lead in — but the lead-in is a kid’s special “Little Spirit: Christmas in New York,” which is still likely a better lead in than KR. Unfortunately for Life though, Criminal Minds is airing next week.
I don’t understand how NONE of the NBC Shows was lower than 8 millions and yet NBC got 7.17. Also, I think Chuck would be a better lead in for Life than Knight Rider
tooltip — i’m surprised nobody beat you to it. The numeric data is correct, but the labels aren’t. I’ll fix them, but NBC was the first column…
If only NBC could find a decent enough show to put at 8pm on Wednesdays then the rest of the line-up could do slightly better. But I do feel a reality show might be scheduled there after KR is done in February. There is no way they would put a series up against American Idol. Maybe they should try something that skews older like CBS is doing so magnificently on Tuesdays with NCIS and has almost no impact when AI invades the screens.
What did Telemundo & MyNetworkTV do last night? Reason: on Telemundo “Sin Senos No Hay Paraiso” is moving upward and MyTV ran one of the better specials on television this year, “Eyes On Kenya”.
Telemundo averaged 1.37 million in primetime and a .6/1 among 18-49 year olds. For whatever reason there is no preliminary overnight reporting of MNT’s numbers, though we do see show data in the weekly reports.
Life got a huge boost from the special on before it and there was no Criminal Minds on last night. It was actually the first time I even tried watching all of it and I liked it a lot. It’s a good show and deserves a chance. And last night’s Law & Order was the best ep this season so far, so I’m glad to see it also did well.
“Schmokey, next week will be more telling. Again, it won’t have Knight Rider as its lead in — but the lead-in is a kid’s special “Little Spirit: Christmas in New York,” which is still likely a better lead in than KR. Unfortunately for Life though, Criminal Minds is airing next week.”
Robert,
Stop being a Schrooge. You should be celebrating the achievement. It may be the only time it is #1 in its timeslot. Cherish it with the rest of us.
Wow, Life may survive yet…maybe.
At this point I would start over and totally reorganize the NBC schedule…seriously.
The Rudolph/Victoria’s combo is an odd night of programming. Glad CBS had the Grammy special in the middle to make the concepts less jarring
CBS don’t have CRiminal Minds and CSI: NY, this is the reason why NBC improve a little versus last week.
why are u blaming ABC for the failures of the shows? the shows dont get viewers! thats not ABC’s fault! If ABC had the choice, they would want all their shows to hit 20 million viewers with a 7.0 in the demo! These shows had afair shot on wednesdays. ABC didnt let them rot on fridays. ABC tried, and didnt work. I just dont see how it is ABC’s fault.
PUSHING DAISIES
was only the lowest rated show through ABC not promoting it and devoting more time to the crap that is Private Practice and Grey’s Anatomy
If ABC spent half the money on what it does on Patrick Dempsey’s hair on Promoting PD then it might have stood a chance.
Enough with the ABC bashing, the PD and DSM fans should be thankful that ABC bring back both shows for a second season even with horrible ratings.
Cam, ABC did promote Pushing Daisies with annoying intensity leading up to the season premiere. Not to mention this whole pie tour silliness over the summer. If you want to see a show ABC never promoted ever, look no further than at Boston Legal.
ABC has given up now, as it should. It might have tried harder on PP, yes, but that’s because it does better numbers on an albeit low level, because they see a chance of reviving it via Grey’s Anatomy and because it’s produced by their own studios and as such actually making them money from DVDs, merchandise and possible (if ever) syndication.
I am not sure these conspiracy theories are winning PD fans any cosmic brownie points with anyone not equally as smitten with the show.
I have hardly even seen advertisements on ABC for Pushing Daisies, but I see at least 5 per day for Private Practice and Grey’s Anatomy. Whenever I watch ABC, when I go to the gym, online… so I agree with Cam.
Yes ABC did promote PD. Especially during the Obama crap. And what did it give PD? 1 MILLION VIEWER INCREASE.
But than ABC just stopped promoting and now its down to 4 million. So ABC is def the one to be blamed.
Why stop promoting when it was on the rise? Freakin *** wipes!!!
THE ONLY GOOD THING ON ABC NOW IS UGLY BETTY AND LOST
yall are crazy thinking ABC didn’t promote PD, they promoted that show more than any other show they had. Heck they had commercials playing at the gas station I filled up in.
Cam says:
THE ONLY GOOD THING ON ABC NOW IS UGLY BETTY AND LOST
Well, I agree with Ugly Betty. Lost on the other hand…Dullsville. So I would have to say that the only good thing on ABC (for me) is Ugly Betty and Life on Mars.
ABC has already announced all-”Lost” Wednesdays on Jan 14 and 21 for three-hour blocks. That leaves no room for Pushing Daisies past Jan 7, unless we are to believe ABC would keep airing Pushing Daisies into February, leading into (and thus likely damaging) “Lost.” I bet the remaining episodes will air on abc.com or air for two or three weeks in the summer.
I feel that Life is going to be like NCIS (NOT a fan btw). A slow starter, but one that will continue to grow if NBC sticks to their guns and nurtures it.
ABC promoted the hell out of PD. The show is just too bizarre for a mainstream audience. I enjoyed the first few episodes but then my interest began to wane.
I think Ugly Betty, LOST, and Life On Mars are great ABC shows as well but I think Grey’s Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, and Exteme Home Makeovers are much better.
Tan, I hope you are right, although I’d like you better if you were a fan.
I remember when JAG was cancelled by NBC. And when every tv critic passed NCIS third season rise of as a passing peak in the wake of pretty awesome season 2 finale. CBS really stuck it out with this franchise and it paid of so beautifully. No doubt, if they do that NCIS spin off it will just keep on making money for another decade.
Dude, do I want that to happen for Life, but if this slight uptrend doesn’t stick, I promise not to send NBC any zen audiotapes or papayas.
idizzle, but have you ruled out sending NBC DEER STEW?
Rob, where’d you hear about the all-”Lost” Wednesdays?
Surely NBC could not fault me for sending them deer stew. It’s always better a few days later.
ABC did promote Pushing daisies? r u kidding? thats all i saw before the fall season started! it had a solid timeslot on wednsdays, and was never moved around. im sorry, ABC did nothing wrong.
I love when people say a show gets cancelled because it isnt “promoted” enough, that is such a trivial argument.
I honestly don’t think ABC can be blamed for the failure of Pushing Daisies they tried to make it work but for various reasons it just hasn’t caught on. Ultimately I think the problem is that you can’t effectively sell Daisies in a ten second sound bite and therefore its very hard for the network to market it to the audience, as ABC found out when they tried. In contrast to that the rest of the ABC line-up is relatively easy to sell and there’s an obvious audience for it with PD its hard to see where the built in audience is or who to market it to. It was always going to be a show that caught on almost immediately or died had there been no writers strike last year then I don’t imagine we’d have seen a second season of the show.
Alex, but PD had what 13 million viewers for its series premier? That wasn’t 10 seconds. That was 42 minutes. 42 minutes that 3million or so wanted back according to the ratings the next week. The show has lost more viewers than it can currently get.
ABC promoted PD more than any other new show last season and more than any sophomore show this season.
PD just didn’t “work,” or what ever you want to call it with the network. I know more than a few people who loved it, but I knew even more who gave it a shot and couldn’t stand certain aspects. I was in that boat. I liked the idea, but the more the show went on the more I hated the “Chuck,” character and the more I couldn’t understand the relationship. I think part of it was dressing her in such hideous clothing. At least Olive was usually wearing something that showed her um talent (it’s not a surprise to me that when she covered up to be a nun the ratings dropped). Ok that last bit was tongue in cheek…
LIFE has a lot going for it — intriguing storylines, superb writing, superb acting — besides Damian Lewis. But it’s a wonder the show’s been able to keep the many fans it has. NBC moved it around to different time slots, the writers’ strike pushed it and every other series into hibernation, some weeks it was on twice (YAY!), other weeks it wasn’t on at all. And now it won’t be on at all in January 2009, returning in February. If NBC were serious about taking on CBS, I would think they would promote and nurture the shows that show promise rather than allow these shows die of neglect.
GRD, ABC announced awhile ago that on January 21st, they would show a one hour recap of the first four seasons and the first two episodes of season five. I had not heard that about January 14th, but they did show the season three finale a day before the start of season four last year, so what I’m betting is that they’re showing the three hour, three part season four finale in its entirety that was split up last year.
All of what I said about the 14th is pure speculation of course, but that’s my best guess.
ABC is to blame. Say whatever you want to say.
Wednesday nights at ABC is dead. I think they should leave Wed. shows alone, its a mistake to cancel shows without trying a diff. time slot.
PD isnt a failed series after all anyways. Most shows dont get a second season. At least it has 22 episodes total. It will finish without boring anyone like those shows who bores you to death for LONG LONG seasons like Greys Anatomy.
PD wont lose its magic. We’ll remember it by forever…
Yes, I do agree that PD is a great show, but its ratings are awful…I think it would do much better on a cable network. The show does not appeal to all types of people. Shows such as Desperate Housewives which is still averaging 17.4 million viewers in its 5th season appeals to a wide range of people. PD was never that popular to begin with. It was not a monster success like Grey’s, CSI, Housewives, or even Dancing With the Stars. So people should feel lucky that PD even made it to a second season.
There were other good ABC shows that were not given the chance. Cashmere Mafia was one of them. Sure it was a New York version of Desperate Housewives (I NEVER THOUGHT OF IT AS A SEX AND THE CITY REMAKE) the characters all matched Susan, Gaby, lynette and Bree, but it did not get a second chance. The show was okay at first but it was gradually getting better. The writing was better and the women were connecting. Then it got canceled. My point is it would have done well if they would have saved it and put it behind Desperate Housewives on Sunday nights. So be greatful PD at least got a second chance.
Private Practice is going to jump in the ratings when it is put behind Greys Anatomy come January. It will probably start averaging 9-11 million viewers again.
ABC has its share of guilt when it comes to Pushing Daisies, yes. They did give it a chance, advertised in the beginning but several things they did, they could have done better. The previews weren’t made to be catchy. Say what you may, this season is far superior in episode quality than the first ever was. The first season had a couple of interesting episodes, others sort of put me to sleep even though I still kept going back for more. This season started off slow but it has picked up quickly and each week, the episode aired is better than the previous one. Previews for episodes should reflect that.
Also, previews should be showed after shows with high ratings. Put a PD preview after Eli Stone ONLY? How is that going to work when Eli Stone is also a cancelled show with low viewing ratings? The rumours for canceling the show started earlier in the season. I had friends say they did not tune in to Pushing Daisies the week after the two-week break ABC put the show through, because there was virtually no advertising and they assumed the show had already been cancelled. Or was simply not being shown that week, either. If ABC truly wanted the ratings to go up, it would have done its part. It didn’t.
Yes, I agree the show isn’t made for everyone. It’s quirky and different. But the fact that it at least has consistent ratings every week even if lower than what they would want, should show the network that it has followers, and faithful ones. The writer’s strike took its toll, nine episodes is hardly enough for one to get acquainted with characters and want to follow in their footsteps. But what about summer reruns? These could have been used to gain new viewers and maintain the ones already captivated by refreshing their memories after such a long break in the series.
Pushing Daisies is a true loss for television. Whether you liked it or not, it at least provided us with variety and out of the ordinary writing. If only WB would attempt a deal with a different network.
Great to see Life’s numbers up so much! There is hope yet for one of my favorite shows.
What happens with Life should determine whether Silverman stays or goes (well, actually, Silverman should just go, but I’m giving him another chance if he can pull this off).
I just watched the latest episode, and this show has hit written all over it. I like the show, but I don’t love it. It’s good, but it’s not great. What it is, however, is a fine procedural with excellent acting and a decent amount of wit. It also has managed to be the first show I’ve seen that could mix in a serial element without it overwhelming the show.
Like I said, it’s good, not great, but if NBC could lure the eyeballs to the tube for it a few times, people will stick around. There is nothing about this show that would preclude it from attracting the same people who watch NCIS or Bones or half a dozen other procedurals, and yet it also can manage to get on with people who like a little bit of serial with their milk.
I don’t know if this one good night will mean it can hold its own against the established hits around it going forward (I would suspect not, at least without help), but if NBC had half a brain, they would find a slot that works for this show. Again, not because I lurve it (I don’t), but because it’s exactly the type of show that is currently popular everywhere else. NBC has finally found exactly the type of show that’s working like gangbusters for CBS, and now it’s up to them to give it, ahem, life. While the first season wasn’t quite as easygoing and may have hurt the show on its own, now the show is rolling and only a completely inept network would not be able to find a way to program this sucker into at least a modest hit. It may take another year of playing in a stable timeslot with a solid lead-in, but there is no way this show can be compared to PD, Eli Stone, DSM, or any of the other oddball shows that died on the vine this past year or so. Those shows killed themselves by not being attractive to the majority. Life, however, will only die because NBC couldn’t get the majority to sample it.
And, yeah, I do have a man crush on Damien Lewis, but again this sucker is in no way my favorite show. I even liked it better last season when it was weirder and more serial flavored. But it’s still good now, and it’s definitely more a fit with the mainstream than it ever was, or than any of these other bubble shows ever could be.
So the ball is in your court, Ben. Going to hit it back, or fall on your ass flailing away?
Poor NBC. They finally win a total viewers rating (without sports or politics) and the best they can muster is 3rd in either demo. I do hope they keep airing Life. It is a quality show and just needs a home that is not against competition which gives it no chance. Plus, what are they going to replace it with? Their cupboard is not exactly filled with winners.
NBC – Nothing But Crap. The Office is about the only thing I still watch with any enthusiasm; even that is getting a bit long in the tooth. Heroes? Still watch it for reasons Im not entirely sure of because its been spinning its wheels all season long. ER – still watch it just because its FINALLY ending.
It really isn’t ABC’s fault, guys. I understood that there was a gentlemen’s agreement between McPherson and Fuller/Sonnefeld that all the episodes would air. Any chance ABC would burn one off on Christmas Eve? That and Jan. 7 (New Year’s Eve is out because of Rockin’ Eve) would leave only one unaired episode, and I can’t imagine ABC would show Barry and Bryan that much disrespect not to air it on some Friday somewhere, like NBC did with Journeyman (last episode aird on Wednesday, all others on Monday.
Blaming the ratings for the last two episodes as a justification for not airing the rest is kind of stupid. When word gets out that a show has been cancelled, fan campaigns (except for the truly delusional and obsessive) tend to wane and drives to increase viewership decrease. Not to mention the holidays.
I really think the ultimate blame for Daisies’ failure lies with the writers’ strike (and Bryan Fuller, FYI, supported that glorious idea). The ratings for Season 1 generally did drop, but they remained steadily over 7 Mil. The penultimate episode, airing an hour later, went up to over 10 Mil. The last episode, which aired deep in December, did drop significantly, to just over 6 mil., but that’s still better than any episode this season, and by that time, the rotten taste of the writers’ strike was already festering in everyone’s mouth.
I find it rather laughable that some pundits say a second season wouldn’t have happened without the strike. That’s just a ridiculous comment. You can’t use the numbers for one episode in December to make that assumption. ABC has already greenlit a full 22-episode season, which would have happened without the strike. I’m guessing the numbers would have taken a hit when American Idol premiered, but even if it is true that ABC wouldn’t have given it a second season without the strike, saying that fans should be grateful because of that is an insulting slap in the face because the end result is the same–22 episodes.
I know that this site is not about show quality, but Kristin’s solo on “Eternal Flame” was gorgeous and is already getting many YouTube hits.
I’m not into blaming ABC. Blame Disney if you must. The cancellation went higher up than Steve McPherson, who was always a fan. The writers’ strike was the number one, most significant culprit in Daisies’ demise.
And Nick C, totally disagree with you on Anna Friel. Woman is smokin’ hot.
No PD episode on Jan. 7. ABC is airing some environmental special that night.
There is chatter brewing that the three cancelled shows will end their runs on Saturdays in January, as ABC won’t have college football anymore. Sounds about right, and shows respect for the fans and creators of the shows. That’s what ABC should do, really.