You can click on over to read the report card from TV Week’s Josef Adalian…
And if you want to see a good way to downplay the importance of Nielsen ratings while still relying on it almost exclusively to make a judgment, see this paragraph:
To render a verdict on the performances of the Big Five this season, TelevisionWeek decided to go beyond the Nielsen numbers to examine how broadcasters are holding up. The raw data remains a key component of any judgment, but it’s also important to consider whether a network launched a new hit, how their veteran series are holding up, the depth of their new-media efforts and the general level of chaos or calm in their executive suites.
I’m posting some of the CW report card just…because. 
Long-term assets: “Gossip Girl” exploded in season two, gaining 32% in women 18-34. “One Tree Hill,” in its sixth season, managed a 15% uptick in the same demographic, while Thursday player “Supernatural” gained 8%. “Smallville” and “America’s Next Top Model” are hanging in there, but “Reaper” and “Everybody Hates Chris” were down notably in women 18-34.
Internal affairs: Dawn Ostroff still oversees the entertainment division, with input from co-owners CBS Corp. and Warner Bros.
Self-evaluation: “The real goal of the year for CW was launching franchises, and we did that with ‘90210,’” Mr. Kahl said. “We knew by getting rid of wrestling, it was going to be tough to see plus signs. But it didn’t fit the brand.”
Overall grade: B-. The CW is surviving, which, given the odds against it, is impressive.
B-????
Several points on the Adalian column that I was in the process of writing up:
In touting CBS being up over 2007-8, I can overlook that he made no direct comparisons to 2006-7, but not even mentioning that CBS being up over 2007-8 (because of the strike) still means it was well behind 2006-7 seems an oversight. Ditto with the tout that “23 CBS shows added viewers, far more than any other network” CBS got crushed during the strike worse than anyone but the CW, you’ve got to mention that in the praise about being up the most this season.
Considering that Fox is going to beat CBS across the board in the main age demos again this season, giving Fox an A- and CBS and A, seems a bit funny.
He’s very lenient with ABC on their new scripted show performance. “Freshman performance” was by all measures almost a complete failure (except, perhaps Surviving Suburbia), yet he almost spins it as a positive! And no mention of “Sophomore performance” where ABC went 0-3. By any reasonable measure ABC is in terrible shape with its scripted show process.
He mentions the Super Bowl boosts for NBC, but then disregards it in all his numerical comparisons, particularly when he compares NBC cutting the gap with Fox. Of course they did! Fox had the Super Bowl last year and NBC had it this year!
I could comment on the CW stuff, but what’s the use?
And no mention of “Sophomore performance” where ABC went 0-3
1-3-1 (You forget Private Practice and Sam Who?, whose fate has yet to be decided.) But, yes, he seems to brush off the fact that all the ABC shows that are actually performing are 5 years old. They “are showing some signs of age, but they remain remarkably vibrant, particularly given their serialized nature” but that doesn’t mention the fact that LOST is surely done next season, and Grey’s and Housewives are way down.
I get the feeling that this is a grad school grading system where anything less than a B+ is failing…
Julia, you are correct! For some reason PP and SW? were in my mind as older shows.
You have to think…
What if the PR department of the CW were used to fight poverty!
Just sayin…
Nick C., they would say poverty has been eradicated from our country lol.
What I’d be much more concerned about for all 5 broadcast networks is the fact that all top shows are all several seasons old, absolutely nothing new has really taken off for several seasons now at least for scripted shows.
ABC’s top 3 are all 5 seasons old and they lead their other shows by a sizeable amount. CBS’ top 2 shows are in their 6th and 9th seasons, and the Mentalist their big new hit is 7th at least in the demos for CBS. The CW’s top 2 are 8 and 4 seasons old. FOX’s top 2 are House in season 5 and 24 in season 7 after being off the air for 2 years. Lie to Me is 3rd but they aren’t really there based on current ratings. NBC actually is in a bizarre sense the best with the Office in season 5 and Heroes only in season 3 being #2, but I know Heroes’ average is slipping and may not be #2 right now.
So leaving out Heroes all top shows on all networks are 4 seasons or more old, meaning that all these shows are likely closer to their ends than the beginning meaning their ratings won’t be around much longer, plus ratings likely will drop with each passing season and there is virtually nothing to replace these top shows. Even the biggest reality stories seem to relate to Idol not slipping much, Biggest Loser and Bachelor showing gains, etc. but these are also older shows. So basically nothing is sticking for at least the past 3 seasons. Most shows that are 3 seasons or less are only performing moderately well or already are below average and are on the bubble.
I’m assuming this isn’t the typical trend, I would think that the goal of a network is to try to have 1 or 2 genuine hit shows every year at least relative to each network. This would mean having a show that’s in its first or second season be in the top 3 shows for the network. Right now, that’s not the case for any network (with maybe the exception of FOX with Lie to Me). I would think that would be alarming at this point with audiences shrinking, if no new shows can top or even match these older shows before they end their runs, the overall broadcast audience would likely see even more dramatic declines even worse declines than they’ve been seeing in recent years.
Craig, you seem to be forgetting The Mentalist and Fringe.
Julia, pretty sure neither are top 3 for their networks in the demo (which is what he’s talking about). However I agree with you, THE MENTALIST is a hit. I’m not sold on FRINGE yet though.
Although isn’t BIG BANG THEORY in its 2nd season? I’d call that a hit too.
Yeah. If you restrict yourself to just the top three, Craig is right, but that seems rather limiting and doesn’t tell you the whole story. ABC and NBC are in a lot of trouble looking at the age of all their hits. (Private Practice is a modest hit at best and is the youngest from either net.) But CBS and FOX seem to be doing okay in terms of age. I’m concerned CBS will have a bit of trouble next season, particularly if they really stick to only premiering three or four new shows. They are good in comedy, but CSI looks ready to completely collapse, bringing whatever is at 10 Thursdays down with it.
This comment from the article: “A longer shot at returning: “Dollhouse,” which has posted predictably low ratings on Friday. But Fox executives are holding out a glimmer of hope for the show, noting its loyal core and its strong DVR numbers.”
Obviously he talked to the same people Nick C did with regard to Dollhouse.
Should we take it that if Dollhouse is renewed, then Fox at least is indeed paying attention to DVR and other measurements, and that if it is not renewed, that the numbers once again are proven definitive?
Poor NBC. Nobody likes them, and it’s logical to see why. That guy barely mentioned Chuck.
Thanks for the article, it was very interesting. I think they were a little too kind to ABC and its whole spring launch.
Craig is cooking the numbers by going with only the top 3, but the point remains: the vast majority of scripted hourlongs are old. And you can’t simply discount it as “2007 & 2008 are strike casualties”.
2006: Only Heroes, Brothers & Sisters, Friday Night Lights & Ugly Betty survive to today, and even that is deceptive: FNL only survives because of DirecTV, Heroes only survives because of network pride, UB survives only because of syndication/network disarray. Only Brothers & Sisters legitimately survives, and that is coasting on a post-DH Sunday slot.
2005: Ghost Whisperer is Friday, Bones is Thursday lowered expectations (& recall that it was scheduled to die on Fridays before network execs saw how Dollhouse turned out), Supernatural is CW numbers (even if it should be bigger), Medium is low expectations running into Leno. Criminal Minds is the only real hit.
2004: We have to go back this far to find a real year of hits: House, DH, GA, CSI: NY, etc.
So network TV hasn’t had a good year since 2004. That’s no way to build for the future.
Regarding Fringe, here’s a quote from the article:
“Focusing its fall promotional firepower on “Fringe” paid off for Fox. The sci-fi-tinged drama from J.J. Abrams is one of the season’s few hits, currently ranking as the No. 1 new show in adults 18-49.”
Does this mean Fringe is the #1 new broadcast show in the 18-49 across all networks? That’s how I read it. If so, it convinces me that Fringe is a hit. In the very least, it’s a freshman hit. I can understand reluctance to bestow “hit” status until we see how well Fringe holds up without Idol.
I seriously wonder how The Mentalist would perform in the Tuesday at 10 p.m. “slot-o-death” that plagued CBS until WAT was moved there. It’s the first series to break 10 million viewers in that slot in years, but WAT is might be costly due to its veteran status. WAT has on-the-bubble numbers in the R/C index. If CBS cancels WAT, will they try The Mentalist in that time slot? It just might work, particularly now that Leno is factored into the picture.
Yes I was just looking at top 3 to get a quick look at things. I guess my overall point is that even though broadcast audiences shrink in general each season, if an older show is still able to pull a 5.0 in the demo for new episodes, then the networks should be able to see (or hope to see) ratings close to that or maybe even better for at least one of their new shows otherwise they could be in bigger trouble in the next few years.
The Mentalist on CBS might do similar to CSI, I believe that wasn’t a top performer in its first season either, but other than that I just don’t see anything that looks like its going to explode in its 2nd or 3rd season and become the next big hit for any of the networks (compared to their current hits anyway). So hopefully at least one of the networks will have a good fall 2009 and have a true hit in the demos.
Dude they can be a little harder than that on the grades. These networks don’t deserve grades that good.
Here’s how I would grade them:
FOX: A-
CBS: A+
ABC: C
NBC: F
CW: F
With the exception of NBC (I’d give it a D or D-, I think), that looks about right to me, 9 Quarters.
The CW started off well but the repeats and hiatus killed any momentum they had and the lack of midseason shows which should cut down on the repeats.
I do wonder about CSI, the ratings have dropped to a point where the spin-offs are doing similar numbers with CSI:Miami skewing younger. I think moving it to 10pm would be ideal and have The Mentalist at 9pm.
CBS do have a few holes to fill with Sundays being the most obvious example but I think putting NCIS: OSP at 9pm and maybe Washington Field/Miami Trauma at 10pm would rebuild the night but at the expense of Cold Case and The Unit.
Wait, CW started off well? Didn’t they pretty much start the season with the MRC debacle? Haven’t they spent all season trying (and failing) to hide 90210 from competition?
nyccine, say what you will about the CW’s results (and I have said plenty), their PR is top shelf, baby.