| Scoreboard |  |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rating/Share: Adults 18-49 | 5.4/15 | 2.7/7 | 2.6/7 | 1.8/5 | 1.5/4 | 1.1/3 |
| Rating/Share: Adults 18-34 | 4.1/12 | 2.4/7 | 1.8/5 | 2.0/6 | 1.0/3 | 1.3/4 |
| Total Viewers (million) | 16.34 | 6.70 | 10.09 | 4.44 | 5.65 | 2.59 |
Powered by the one hour American Idol results show, FOX won the night across the board. FOX’s 5.4/14 adults 18-49 rating/share led its closest competition (ABC) by 100%.
At 8pm, CBS got pretty decent results from I Get That a Lot (3.4/10, 10.3M viewers) and aired reruns of Criminal Minds and CSI: NY the rest of the night. NBC led off with a rerun of Law & Order: CI (which did much better than the canceled Chopping Block last week), the penultimate episode of the season (and likely series) of Life (1.5/4, 5.57M) and a rerun of Law & Order.
Over on ABC, Scrubs (1.9/6) outperformed Better Off Ted (1.8/5) and Lost (4.2/10) came in second to American Idol (8.1/20) at 9pm. Although Lost went head-to-head with American Idol, it was the second most-watched program with adults 18-49 for the night.
The series finale of Life on Mars seems to have rubbed a few viewers the wrong way (I was OK with how they wrapped it up) and came in second at 10pm (2.1/6) but keep in mind that it was up against repeats and these numbers also have a couple of minutes of Lost in them that will be pulled out in the finals.
Over on the CW America’s Next Top Model ranked number one in its time period among women 18-34 (3.0/10) and tied for second in adults 18-34 (1.9/6). ANTM improved over last week by 25% with women 18-34. I continue to wonder if reruns of 90210 are the best use of the ANTM lead-in. I know they want to build viewers for 90210, but it strikes me as a wasted opportunity.
Previous Wednesday overnight reports are available for comparison.
Full details:
| Time | Net | Show | 18-49 Rating/Share | 18-34 Rating/Share | Viewers (Millons) |
| 8:00 | CBS | I Get That a Lot | 3.4/11 | 2.3/8 | 10.34 |
| FOX | Lie to Me | 2.6/8 | 1.9/7 | 8.98 | |
| ABC | Scrubs | 1.9/6 | 1.6/6 | 5.04 | |
| CW | America’s Next Top Model | 1.7/5 | 1.9/6 | 3.94 | |
| NBC | Law & Order: CI (R) | 1.3/4 | .9/3 | 5.06 | |
| 8:30 | ABC | Better of Ted | 1.8/5 | 1.7/5 | 4.71 |
| 9:00 | FOX | American Idol | 8.1/20 | 6.3/18 | 23.71 |
| ABC | Lost | 4.2/10 | 4.0/11 | 9.35 | |
| CBS | Criminal Minds (R) | 2.4/6 | 1.5/4 | 9.95 | |
| NBC | Life | 1.5/4 | 1.1/3 | 5.57 | |
| CW | 90210 (R) | 0.6/2 | 0.7/2 | 1.23 | |
| 10:00 | CBS | CSI: NY (R) | 2.3/6 | 1.6/5 | 9.98 |
| ABC | Life on Mars | 2.1/6 | 1.6/5 | 5.86 | |
| NBC | Law & Order (R) | 1.7/5 | 1.2/4 | 6.32 |
Shows are sorted by Adults 18-49 rating in each time slot.
Nielsen TV Ratings: ©2009 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.
Poor Life. Why dont u americans watch Good Shows?
Ted is definitely dead and ABC really did try with Life on Mars. They aired it after Grey’s Anatomy and Lost, not much else they could have done.
I can’t wait to see the numbers for ER tomorrow. Any predictions for how it will do?
That Lie To Me drop is pretty big.
3.1 to a 2.6 – that’s not good.
Life is such a good show..and still no one is watching it…
I Get That a Lot did better than expected and even beat Lie to Me, I wonder if this proves that the current lineup of Old Christine and Gary Unmarried isn’t working and they should consider changing the lineup or putting a drama or a unscripted show.
Better Off Ted looks more likely for the axe and ANTM rebounded but why another 90210 repeat? The CW needs to find a show for that slot as repeats aren’t good enough.
The repeats of Criminal Minds and CSI:NY were very close with only 0.03m seperating them.
Question, is the mistake with I Get That A Lot in the write-up or table? 3.1 or 3.4?
isnt ER now the highest rated show on NBC? I know its the final season but they should renew it as they have nothing else good in the ratings.
What is “I Get That A Lot”? I don’t think I’ve heard of it…
I Get That A Lot completely embarrased the CBS wednesday sitcoms. And what is up with Lie To Me? It is starting to get the numbers some speculated it would immediately after it left Idol’s shadow. And i have to say, there really isn’t a lot of competition in this spot.
Alex, write-up (and fixed). it had a 3.4.
Can someone explain to me why Direct Tv saved FNL? Life has about the same ratings would they consider saving that?
Wow look at Lost goo!! Woooo!!! =D
Jack, I think is is best for ER to end on a high after so many years and it will missed.
does anyone think CBS may do a limitrd run of I Get That A Lot sometime? not only did it do very well, it got vey good 18-34 numbers for CBS. they have very few shows that skew that young.
Jenna it was a hidden camera special for April Fools where celebrities posed as things like waiters and other service-oriented jobs
Ouch, Lie to me really got a kick in the nuts this week. Must be because of the 1 week pause.
yes i know Jon but im just thiknking ratings wise they should renew it. The quality of the show has gone down alot over the years so its best to end it know.
Lie to Me: Probably the off-again, on-again, schedule has been hurting the show. Kevin Reilly must be pulling his hair out. He can’t be too happy with the Reality team that keeps him from building his shows.
Also, I think that I Get That A lot may have taken some of its audience.
DirectTV needs to pick up Life.
LOL Jack. You’re probably right about ER, but then again it’s ratings are probably so high BECAUSE it’s the last season, so keeping it around might not really be THAT beneficial. It really was a great show though am I am sad to see it go, although I definitely think it’s time. I will be watching the finale tonight with the rest of them! I hope they give it a good ending.
Ack. Lie to Me took a big hit. Hope it rebounds.
There wasn’t much difference between CM and CSI:NY numbers but CM had to face AI and Lost unlike CSI:NY who had a rerun of L&O and the ending of the very low rated LOM.
Lie to Me continue to lose viewers. Will see next week with the comedies back on CBS if LTM will get some viewers back.
Jessica Simpson was hilarious on I get that a lot. It was shocking. “But you pressed agree.”
Count me in as one of the viewers who couldn’t stand the Life on Mars ending. It basically made the entire season pointless.
Thanks Robert. Ok…I know what you’re talking about now. I remember seeing ad advertisment for it where Jessica Simpson posed as an Electronic’s store clerk who just LOOKS a lot like Jessica Simpson. It sounded somewhat entertaining.
I agree that Lie to Me has suffered from scheduling but FOX can’t really be blamed for that since Obama has interrupted the schedules twice but I think they could have put either Bones or Lie to Me before or after the speech rather than repeats. I suspect it will be picked up for a second season though.
Scrubs & Better Off Ted are DEAD. Although they beat ANTM in the 18-49 demo. The cancellation clock is ticking…. LOST hold up well against American Idol. Life on Mars should have had an uptick in ratings since it was the finale!!
Good numbers for I Get That A Lot; was very entertaining!! Crime drama can really repeat well for CBS. Criminal Minds beat LOST by just 0.60m viewers. CSI:NY beat Life on Mars by 0.2 points.
America’s Next Top Model isn’t what it used to be in the past. Ratings are down. CW should make a miniseries in the 9pm timeslot because 90210 isn’t doing anything to help.
Lie To Me was down a bit due to increased competition; quite understandable. Lie To Me has to be one of the most successful midseason replacement for FOX since Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader?, considering they always flunk. Remember New Amsterdam & Canterbury’s Law? Idol, although down from last year, is a monster in those demos, WOW 8.1 for 18-49 & 6.3 for 18-34, no show right now can touch that. Remember the days when Grey’s, Desperate & Lost hit those numbers. Now its a thing of the past.
L&O:CI did way better than The Chopping Block & the repeat on Saturday. L&O:CI almost beat Life!! Poor Life; it needs a better lead in although L&O:CI wasnt a bad lead in for a repeat. Law & Order, my favorite crime drama along with Law & Order:SVU, CSI & CSI:Miami, is down from last season numbers.
It’ll be interesting to see what effect I Get That A Lot has on the Wednesday comedy block and its future. CBS has pretty much been pushing that on the general Wednesday improvement but clearly the potential audience for them at 8 is better than the comedy block suggests. And you never know maybe some of the I Get That A Lot viewers will stick around for the comedy block next week.
Meanwhile I wonder if Fox will consider switching Lie To Me and Idol again if those numbers don’t rebound next week.
If a show loses that much of its audience after being off the air for one week, there’s a problem. If it can regain what it’s lost, good, it deserves to continue. If it can’t, FOX should probably think twice about renewing it. But it’ll be renewed regardless, because the average is going to remain high, since there’s not much season left. But maybe FOX will be smart enough to only give it a 13 episode order to start. See if it can help out their fall schedule or not.
This is pretty irrelevant, but the letter “L” is all over the titles of Wednesday night TV? Life, Life on Mars, Lost, Lie To Me, American Idol, Americas Next Top Model, Law And Order: CI, Law And Order, I Get That A Lot, Criminal Minds…. seriously, this post is really dumb, but its kind of interesting!
How many episodes are left of Lie to Me, with the interruption I wouldn’t be suprised if the last two or three episodes are tacked onto the second season like what ABC did with Grey’s Anatomy and Boston Legal in their first seasons.
FOX should defiently renew it as it is compatible with their other procedurals like Bones and House.
if Fox was to NOT renew Lie To Me, which im sure they will, they are gonna have a lot of holes to fill.
I tend to agree with Julia on this one – if Lie To Me lost that many viewers because it was off for a week then its not something Fox should be bringing back because that’s a big drop. It will however be back unless the numbers really bomb over the remaining episodes.
And Jon I’d guess 4 or 5 episodes of Lie To Me are left.
“if Fox was to NOT renew Lie To Me, which im sure they will, they are gonna have a lot of holes to fill.”
I’m not seeing a lot of holes in the Fox schedule minus Lie To Me next year.
They’d have what – an hour Monday (24 won’t be back until midseason), an hour Tuesday (Idol won’t be back until midseason), and two hours Wednesday (again Idol back midseason) from the current schedule if they ditched Lie To Me.
King of the Hill is already replaced on Sunday’s (The Cleveland Show) and the Friday schedule won’t take much work if the pull both Terminator and Dollhouse.
I am about to give up on TV, seems like every new show that I like gets canceled.
Terminator,Dirty Sexy Money, Life, Life on Mars etc, etc whereas all these stupid scripted reality shows seem to go on for ever.
I am spending more and more time getting my entertainment from the computer.
It is getting where I no longer even want to start watching any new shows!
Ouch for LTM, as already noted. This is just about the worst it’s done in 18-49 demos, isn’t it? I do hope this week was a one-time anomaly.
Alex, it’s not a lot of hours, but it’s a huge percentage of their sched, since they only broadcast 2 hrs a night. i guess that more what i meant. also, we dont know what will become of fridays. they might need no new shows there, but they may need two. we’ll see.
Jack, ER is currently NBC’s highest rated show BECAUSE it’s the final season. Old stars coming back, people tuning in to see how it ends ect. If they hadn’t anounced the finale, no doubt it wouldn’t be doing this well.
And besides the past couple weeks, the demo wasn’t great.
I’m interested to see how the finale does. I’m not expecting big things, just curious.
This will be the last time NBC will break 10 million on a scripted show… indefinately. (Except maybe if they go a Jim and Pam wedding office finale. Which they won’t.)
I’m really glad Lost improved on its ratings from last week, it really is one of the best shows on tv, and it really deserves more viewers. I know a lot of people can say that about any number of shows, but the storytelling really is fascinating and the acting is superb. Though they are up against the juggernaut that is American Idol, their numbers have been steady compared to last year (when they weren’t up against Idol). Don’t know what I’m going to do without Lost on Wednesdays when it’s gone.
P.S. Does anybody know whether during its first season, Lost was on at 8 or 9 on Wedneday nights?
canadiens05, i thought lost was on at 8 in ssn 1.
Lie to Me is still a keep for fox
anyone else find it strage how few drama pilots fox are developing this season? they’re doing less than even the cw 4 drama pilots plus the retooling of virturality (sp)
Yes, LOST was at 8 in its first season.
FOX would have holes in the fall if it cancels Lie to Me, but nothing it can’t fill in with some mindless reality show. But they won’t cancel it, and the fans (including me) can just hold out hope that it does well in the fall.
Denver: Remember New Amsterdam
Pfffffft. NA never went below 6mill and 2.0 on Monday nights, Chuck-like numbers. Although it failed, I wouldn’t call that flunking.
Really not a lot of competition in the 8pm spot to explain Lie to Me dropping like that. Either nobody knew it was on, or FOX executives are really scratching their heads today.
I would!
I don’t get some choices…
Why Idol at 9 pm? with a rookie show at 8 pm???!!
Why abc don’t move now Lost to 8 pm… last night with a CM repeat they couldn’t surpass the 10 millions barrier!!
I know they wont to premiere the unusuals after Lost but this is not a good move because Lost, lost (lol) they power to give a good lead-in…
The Unusuals should replace cupid on tuesdays night…
the unusuals on wedenesday i don’t have many doubts that will have the same destiny life on mars…
and in my opinion this is the show is more chances to sucess between castle cupid and the unusuals.
Julia,
You’d also have to wonder why Kevin Reilly is there, if he can’t find successful shows. LTM, was put on at 8pm, I suspect, because it could stand on its own.
Will Fringe always be after House and AI and continue to be touted as “a hit”? Also, 6 weeks off is doing the show no wonders.
Glee was supposed to air midseason, now only won ep is airing out of AI.
I’ve read about the friction between the Drama and Reality Depts at FOX. Looks like Reality is winning. I think Murdock likes reality. I wonder what Peter Rice thinks of this conflict.
For coming up with one of the worst series finales in recent memory, LoM deserved bad numbers. The ending rendered the entire series pointless, which is possibly the poorest thing that can be done to a show.
At least AI had good results, as the worst singer went home.
ER should get high ratings for the finale–and, incidentally, show LoM the right way to wrap up. That’s by rewarding viewers, not kicking them in the teeth. Look at all the cast members coming back for the ending!
Andrea, FOX, while it may not have found a big hit (in either reality or scripted) in a few years, is still either tied for the best position or in the very best position. Execs usually don’t get fired until there’s real trouble, unless the new boss doesn’t like them (and the new Pete seems to.)
I’m hoping that Rice’s background in movies means he’ll be more likely to side with drama, but who really knows. Word is that Murdoch is going to take a more active role in NewsCorp, which may mean he’ll get final say at FOX.
Is It Just Me or American Idol is skewing very old this season!? considering the viewers numbers.
btw Virtuality is dead.
The numbers for Life on Mars were bad, but at least we saw an ending! And what a great ending it was…I was totally satisfied.
My guess next week is “The Unusuals” will perform even worse than Life on Mars. It looks pretty lame if you ask me.
cool, based on how young Idol skews if you llok at the 18-49 and 18-34 demo in relation to each other, i’m guessing that their are also a lot of teenagers and tweens that watch Idol. So while the large numbers that a CBS procedural may get are most likely from 50+ viewers being added to the demo, i’m betting it’s the sub 18 year olds that arwe boosting idol’s overall numbers. not that 50+ don’t watch Idol, but it’s not their main audience.
Does it really matter if Idol “skews” older? It’s got numbers that no other show will touch.
lost didnt lose its power as lead in. in the key demos its still stronger than basically 90% of whats on tv. even against ai.
I agree with Julia that FOX is in the fortunate position of not having to worry too much about making major changes with one juggernaut show and a few solid shows and they are the number 1 broadcaster in the key demos and second only to CBS in the ratings and households.
Their only real major problem is live action comedies which they haven’t able to come up with a successful one since Malcolm and also filling the timeslots when 24 and American Idol aren’t on.
I find it strange that ABC doesn’t air Lost on at 8:00 on Wednesday nights then, if that was where Lost enjoyed its greatest ratings (during its first season). Not only is that where they enjoyed their greatest ratings, but they also wouldn’t have to face American Idol. During season 1, I believe they were even facing American Idol in their timeslot, and they were still able to generate over 15 million viewers a night. I know they probably wouldn’t be to reach that amount of viewers again, but would it hurt to try. And they would also be able to reach a greater amount of viewers, as I believe, and I may be wrong, there are more viewers watching television at 8 pm than 9pm.
Canadien, you are wrong. 9pm has a higher HUT than 8pm. And are you sure about first season’s ratings being the best for LOST? Season 2 had pretty impressive ratings, and it wouldn’t surprise me if they were about the same.
I’m only saying that given the millions that AI has, the 18-49 should be higher. But is and will be the #1 show on TV in many years.
i actually would move lost to 10pm IF it had to be moved. in season 4, moving it from 9 to 10 didnt affect the ratings at all, and lets be honest..lost is more of a 10pm show nowadays. It’s darker, and absolutely inaccessable for the causal audience.
i can see, ‘i get that a lot’ being an annual thingy. i didn’t see it but did anybody think it was any good?
tonight is the big ER finale, and NBC has done a decent job making it event television. devoting the whole night to it, having a lot of the original cast on, and getting the news media to promote it for them. But is ER still big enough to have an event finale? I wonder what the expectations are for the telecast? Whatever it is, I bet it falls short. I don’t think it’ll do any better than a 4.0 and they must be expecting a lot more.
“I Get That A Lot” was unique and clever – so i think that’s why it worked – plus April Fools day – although if CBS makes it a weekly thing – I think it will become just another “Candid Camera” and will get tired real fast…and receive small numbers in the future…
Julia: Andrea, FOX, while it may not have found a big hit (in either reality or scripted) in a few years, is still either tied for the best position or in the very best position. Execs usually don’t get fired until there’s real trouble.
FOX’s previous president was fired for not delivering a hit.
Question for Robert or Bill, the large amount of repeats last night got me thinking, when you say the Renewal/Cancel Index number for shows includes repeats, does that also include factoring repeat numbers into the average 18-49yr demo viewership for the network?
For example, the 18-49yr demo for NBC last night was horrible. A 1.3/1.5/1.7 for the night. That is going to pull the entire NBC average down, not just the numbers for each show. Correct?
FrankJ, yes, everything aired factors into the networks overall averages. If you look back at the past archives of NBC’s renew/cancel index, you can see the 18-49 average falling steadily. Note that though the super bowl is factored out of the averages used there but the purpose is to calculate renewal prospects, not give an exact accounting of NBC’s 18-49 season-to-date average – we do have that accurately reflected in the network comparisons.
Only in-slot repeats factor into the individual show averages.
Loved the twist ending to “Life On Mars”. Nice to see some are willing to take a risk in plotlines. The curtain falls on another well-acted show that couldn’t find an audience.
Ah okay, thanks Robert!
Lie to Me was really good last night…probably it’s best episode so far.
I noticed that a new episode of Chopping Block went up on Hulu…so i wonder if NBC is finishing its run out there?
Also….Damages…ugh….sort of disappointed me…there were so many lose ends and they tied it up too fast and the twists were sort of too easy…
I’m Predicting 18-20 mil for E.R. finale. I hope Grey’s get crushed!
Julia, no from that standpoint it doesn’t matter if Idol skews old or not. They are a monster force to be reckoned with after all these years, and will most certainly continue to be for some time. However, identifying where that portion of it’s 23.7 million viewers that arn’t accounted for in the demos are coming from is an interesting thing to do.
Idol is in the great postition that, unlike shows such as ER, (who’s audience has not only diminished, but also AGED), Idol could be on for 15 more years, not gain any more viewers, and would STILL have great demos, because it’s currently so lopsided on sub-18-year-old viewers that whatever viewers aged OUT of the 18-49, would probably be replaced by those viewers that aged INTO the 18-49 demo.
I don’t think many shows can say that, but Idol really doesn’t have to worry about an aging audience.
Significant? Probably not. Interesting? Depends on your definition.
Shem, Grey’s is a repeat tonight. And I’m pretty sure it will get crushed.
I’m still rooting for not beating Sopranos finale.
Yes, isn’t it a little bit worrisome for Fox considering AI used to average 30 million an episode? On the other hand, it’s in it’s 8th season and it still gets 25 million viewers on average! That says something doesn’t it
I mean what shows get those kind of numbers in their 8th year!
I don’t know if this has already been mentioned, but I was at the nbcumv.com website and it would appear as though Wednesdays will become complete 3 hour L&O nights after Life finishes it’s run next week. Wow. That’s kinda sad if you are NBC.
Although it will probably actually do about as good as it’s Wednesdays have this whole season.
Was glad to see an ending for Life On Mars. I’m pretty happy with it I guess. I actually though they would just end it the same as the UK edition so it was nice to see they tried something different. Seemed a little bit rushed but I give it credit. I’ll miss the show. Maybe it does work best as a short run series so it’s not all bad. Love LOST more all the time and it’s excellent to see it jumped a bit. Wish American Idol was in hell…
Life on Mars’ ending was AWFUL! Besides that it was a predictable night.
Please post the data for the “Damages” finale! I watched it and I fully agree with jthunders13.
Daniel, I’m guessing we will not see the data before Tuesday. If I do, I will post it.
Lie To Me seems to be on a downward trend and now comes the news that the show is being preempted next week to air an extra episode of Bones.
Is FOX losing faith in LTM or simply unloading extra episodes of Bones?
Damn that American Idol.. Life (as well as anything else) doesnt stand a chance against it. It is a good show and I really love the chemistry between the lead actor and his hot partner. But having said that, to keep peace and harmony in the household, I have to watch American Idol with my wife.!
Lie to Me got dented a bit, and Lost lost (haha
) to Criminal Minds (in viewers) even though Criminal Minds was a repeat… Not really anything big. I just keep hoping every week that Lost doesn’t sink below 9 million.
“Damn that American Idol.. Life (as well as anything else) doesnt stand a chance against it.”
Someone should tell that to the people still watching Biggest Loser, NCIS, Lost and Criminal Minds – don’t they know American Idol is supposed to crush all shows?
They should just leave Lost where it is. This isn’t like every other show where new viewers can just jump in and pick up on it. The die hards will still watch it over American Idol or any other show. Seeing as how they have an end date, cancellation is not an option so leave it where it is.
Damages finale info.
Lie to Me took a major nose dive. FOX probably wishes they had kept Idol at nine now.
Is that a series low for Lost?
Holly that’s not a series low for Lost – it did worse last week against the Idol performance show – 4.0 18-49, 3.8 18-34 and 8.8 million viewers.
Holly, maybe in viewers, but wasn’t the demo 4.1 last week?
Alex beat me with better info.
Alex, “Someone should tell that to the people still watching Biggest Loser, NCIS, Lost and Criminal Minds – don’t they know American Idol is supposed to crush all shows?
”
Thank you for being the voice of reason.
I know some people don’t believe in comparing aggregate demo data, but I firmly believe that due in large part to the fact that for years now, networks have been worried about “moving shows out of Idol’s path”, those time slots have actually become less competitive despite Idol’s presence!
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Mondays and Thursday’s have drawn some of the net’s biggest players as of late, you can trace it to a fear of Idol’s yearly spring return. As a result Monday is now the most competitive night of the week, and Idol never airs on it!
Those that you mentioned, Alex, go to prove that there are certainly shows that can thrive against Idol, and they are from different genres and appeal to many different groups. It is most certainly not an impossiblitly to find an audience opposite Idol.
One more small note, I think that a lot of people also say “oooh Idol crushes everything in it’s path!” partially because since the nets are afraid to really program there, they end up (often, but not always) sticking weaker shows there, cheap reality fare, or not putting much effort into new shows that launch in that spot… simply because they have written it off before it starts.
Broadcast Finals…
Better Off Ted up a tenth to 1.9, Lost up a tenth to 4.3, and the finale of Life On Mars down one to 2.0.
Law & Order:CI (R) was down a tick to 1.2, Criminal Minds (R) down one to 2.3, and CSI:NY (R) down one to 2.2.
American Idol was up three ticks to 8.4.
What is “I Get That a Lot?”
Melissa didnt try to save Life on Mars! it was on thursday timeslot it was doing goood (2.6 in the 18-49) and then private practice took its timeslot just to save the show I guess and now Private Practice is doing good and Life on Mars is doing bad on its 2nd timeslot.
*ABC didnt try
julia, ‘Lost’ had a higher ratings average for ratings in its second season than its first season. Again, for comparison, the average number of American viewers for original episodes:
Season One: 18.5 million (Live)
Season Two: 18.9 million (Live + SD)
Season Three: 15.0 million (Live + 7)
Season Four: 14.6 million (Live + 7)
First eight episodes of Season Five: 12.7 million (Live + 7)
Last three episodes: 9.3 million (Live + SD)
no, lost was not series low.
5×1 – 11.7 mil – 5.2
5×2 – 11.1 mil – 5.0
5×3 – 11.2 mil – 4.9
5×4 – 11 mil – 4.7
5×5 – 9.9 mil – 4.4 (AI competition)
5×6 – 11.4 mil – 5.2
5×7 – 10 mil – 4.4 (AI competition)
5×8 – 10.6 mil – 4.9
5×9 – 9.1 mil – 4.3 (AI competition)
5×10 – 9 mil – 4.1 (AI competition)
5×11 – 9.4 mil – 4.3 (AI competition)
Life on Mars ending was ok, as everyone knew based on the general idea behind the British version, but did they really have to throw in that thing about one of Obamas daughters being President in 2035? Geesh. Enuff already!
LOST was another boring flashback episode. Though it did explain why Ben turned against the Dharma people. At least next week it looks a little more interesting.
I finally watched the LoM finale and I can say without hyperbole it was the single worst finale I have ever seen. forget shows that could not have them, this was utterly pathetic.
It rendered the series meaningless and even rendered Sam’s love interest non existent. I cannot believe they insulted the audience with this. The BBC version was balanced enough to offer us both possibilities, this version only gave us one shitty one.
I really hope LIFE sticks around.
Its one of the best shows on TV.
The characters are interesting and the stories are smart and well written.
NBC needs to see their “gem” for what it is.
Good television that invites the viewer see a great story, every week.
Really, who wants to sit around and watch a bunch of people bicker because the reality is that they can’t stand each other in the first place, when great shows like LIFE are on.
Mindless.
I liked Life on Mars series finale.