Due to live sports coverage and irregular running times, Fast Nationals for NBC are approximate. US Open Golf aired from 7:00-8:09p, Merlin aired from 8:09-9:09p and 9:09-10:09p and Law & Order: SVU aired from 10:09-11:09p.
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| Rating/Share: Adults 18-49 | 1.5/5 | 1.4/5 | 1.2/4 | 1.0/3 | 0.6/2 | 0.3/1 |
| Rating/Share: Adults 18-34 | 1.6/6 | 0.9/4 | 0.7/3 | 0.6/2 | 0.6/2 | 0.2/1 |
| Total Viewers (million) | 3.106 | 5.313 | 6.999 | 4.120 | 1.452 | 0.912 |
An early boost from a US Open golf overrun couldn’t get NBC ahead of Fox’s animated repeats for the night, as the premiere of Merlin showed little magic averaging only a 1.4 adults 18-49 demo.
In the other new programming for the night, ABC’s Just for Laughs was nearly unwatched with a 0.6 demo rating, and ABC’s Impact mini-series premiere did even worse than Merlin averaging just a 1.2 adults 18-49 demo from 9-11p. 60 Minutes drew just a 1.0 demo rating for the night.
You can see TV ratings from other recent Overnight ratings reports here.
Full details:
| Time | Net | Program | 18-49 Rating | 18-49 Share | 18-34 Rating | 18-34 Share | Viewers Live+SD (million) |
| 7:00 | NBC | US Open Golf | 1.7 | 7 | 1.3 | 6 | 6.420 |
| CBS | 60 Minutes | 1.0 | 4 | 0.5 | 2 | 7.941 | |
| FOX | King of the Hill (repeat) | 0.7 | 3 | 0.6 | 3 | 1.616 | |
| ABC | Just For Laughs | 0.6 | 2 | 0.4 | 2 | 2.788 | |
| CW | Reaper (repeat) | 0.3 | 1 | 0.3 | 1 | 0.779 | |
| 7:30 | NBC | US Open Golf | 1.6 | 6 | 1.2 | 5 | 6.180 |
| CBS | 60 Minutes | 1.0 | 4 | 0.5 | 2 | 8.243 | |
| FOX | American Dad (repeat) | 0.9 | 3 | 0.9 | 4 | 1.909 | |
| ABC | America’s Funniest Home Videos (repeat) | 0.9 | 3 | 0.6 | 3 | 3.464 | |
| CW | Reaper (repeat) | 0.2 | 1 | 0.2 | 1 | 0.678 | |
| 8:00 | FOX | Simpsons (repeat) | 1.8 | 6 | 2.0 | 8 | 3.861 |
| NBC | Merlin (premiere) | 1.5 | 5 | 1.0 | 4 | 5.930 | |
| ABC | Extreme Makeover: Home Ed. (repeat) | 0.9 | 3 | 0.7 | 3 | 3.452 | |
| CBS | Million Dollar Password (repeat) | 0.9 | 3 | 0.5 | 2 | 5.938 | |
| CW | Good Boy (movie) | 0.2 | 1 | 0.2 | 1 | 0.864 | |
| 8:30 | FOX | King of the Hill (repeat) | 1.5 | 5 | 1.5 | 6 | 3.317 |
| CBS | Million Dollar Password (repeat) | 1.3 | 4 | 0.8 | 3 | 6.943 | |
| ABC | Extreme Makeover: Home Ed. (repeat) | 1.2 | 4 | 1.0 | 4 | 4.324 | |
| NBC | Merlin (premiere) | 1.2 | 4 | 0.8 | 3 | 4.998 | |
| CW | Good Boy (movie) | 0.3 | 1 | 0.2 | 1 | 1.017 | |
| 9:00 | FOX | Family Guy (repeat) | 2.2 | 7 | 2.6 | 9 | 4.285 |
| NBC | Merlin | 1.3 | 4 | 0.8 | 3 | 5.250 | |
| CBS | Cold Case (repeat) | 1.1 | 3 | 0.6 | 2 | 6.638 | |
| ABC | Impact (mini-series) | 1.1 | 3 | 0.5 | 2 | 4.302 | |
| CW | Good Boy (movie) | 0.3 | 1 | 0.2 | 1 | 1.075 | |
| 9:30 | FOX | American Dad (repeat) | 1.8 | 5 | 2.1 | 7 | 3.649 |
| NBC | Merlin | 1.4 | 4 | 0.8 | 3 | 5.224 | |
| CBS | Cold Case (repeat) | 1.2 | 3 | 0.7 | 2 | 6.892 | |
| ABC | Impact (mini-series) | 1.1 | 3 | 0.5 | 2 | 4.711 | |
| CW | Good Boy (movie) | 0.3 | 1 | 0.2 | 1 | 1.060 | |
| 10:00 | CBS | Without A Trace (repeat) | 1.3 | 4 | 0.9 | 3 | 6.618 |
| NBC | Law & Order: SVU | 1.2 | 4 | 0.8 | 3 | 4.286 | |
| ABC | Impact (mini-series) | 1.2 | 3 | 0.5 | 2 | 4.762 | |
| 10:30 | CBS | Without A Trace (repeat) | 1.5 | 4 | 0.9 | 3 | 6.778 |
| ABC | Impact (mini-series) | 1.3 | 4 | 0.5 | 2 | 5.157 | |
| NBC | Law & Order: SVU | 1.2 | 4 | 0.9 | 3 | 4.218 |
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Shows are sorted by 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.
I’m not at all surprised by Merlin’s performance. Its a bad show.
Merlin didn’t show to bad, it’s fared better than some of the other early summer programing.
NBC could just leave ya with Kings.
On the East Coast Merlin didn’t start until 8:08 or due to golf overrun. I don’t think Dateline aired at all.
Merlin was terrible but i was kinda surprised at the number of viewers. I guessed around 3 million. In my opinion, no matter what NBC does, majority of new shows will always suffer. And its not about quality of shows, its just no one cares to watch NBC now. If the Mentalist premiered on NBC, it would have bombed and if LIFE premiered on CBS, it would have survived. As simple as that.
I have a question for the moderators. Why was Surviving Suburbia canceled when it pulled very good numbers in terms of viewers?
Doghouse, isn’t that exactly what the post says?
Good for Merlin I was expecting something lower. ABC shame shame on you.
Mikey, Suburbia suffered a huge drop when they moved it away from Dancing With The Stars, down to numbers that weren’t even close to “very good”. Likely that ABC decided it couldn’t air every single one of their shows following DWTS, so they had to cut out some
Yes it is! In my defense, I didn’t read that part.
However, I am not sure that SVU actually aired from 10:08-11:08; I think it was joined in progress after the second episode of Merlin.
Nothing on but repeats and Merlin and Impact.
Merlin was unwatchable – moved over the Impact – ok as far as those type of miniseries goes – plodding and full of relationship melodrama. The only good thing about Impact was it was watchable while Merlin was not – it did better ratings wise but I couldnt stand it. Ratings for impact did climb throughout the 2 hours. It really doesnt mean much anyway since its a one time miniseries. Ok, so how do you put the Moon back its right orbit? Somebody call Bruce Willis.
Reaper reruns did a bit better than Jericho – not that it matters since CW is abandoning the Sunday Night Ship as of this fall.
Merlin gets much better after the first few episodes, not that I ever thought it was a bad show. But it is one of those shows where if you don’t like Sam Raimi-type fantasy shows (Hercules, Xena, Legend of the Seeker) or fantasy in general, you’re not going to like it.
And I’m sure the low ratings had something to do with 1) I saw almost no promos for this anywhere and 2) almost thought it wasn’t on because golf ran late.
I actually liked Merlin (but then I like fantasy). It was similar to the beginning of Smallville where there is a young hero trying to make his way through his youth. I actually think if the show had been on the CW and paired with Smallville, it would have been a hit in CW numbers.
During Merlin Harry Potter ads were promised and I only saw one! Merlin wasn’t that bad though. I would say it was C+ which is not that bad.
the kids just watched merlin last night because they were bribed with the new harry potter trailer thingy
SLP has a point – Merlin is not a good fit for NBC or any other broadcast network. I think it would’ve been much better off on Scifi or BBC America.
It seems like a Smallville villain-of-the-week show for now, but it does get much more complex and interesting and they do have a couple of story arcs in there from Camelot canon. Like any other show, it needs a few episodes to set up the story and characters which is why the pilot and 2nd episode aren’t as strong as the rest of the season.
Yes, I think “Merlin” did pretty well for its first two showings. It is getting higher numbers than “I’m A Celebrity…”, but then again, that doesn’t take much. People, we have to remember that this is summer and this is the time when nets put out their “less-than-par” programming. 5.3 million viewers on a Sunday night is high for a summer showing, albeit, low, but I think “Merlin” will do just fine on Sundays, that is until NBC decides to move it to Saturdays a la “Kings”.
Truthfully Im surprised Merlin pulled in as much as it did. What I expected is what next weeks will probably turn out to be.
I’m actually a fan of Merlin after watching the first 2 episodes. I’m not sure if it was the case for anyone else, but NBC basically froze for about 10-15 minutes in my area and I missed some of the second episode. NBC just continues to make things interesting.
I didn’t watch Merlin, so I can’t comment about it – but in general, it seems like ANYTHING new that NBC has put out just bombs! How many shows this past season went down the tubes? It just seems odd that one MAJOR network in particular can’t seem to come up with good new shows.
Have studios stopped presenting their “good stuff” to NBC? Have producers shyed away from NBC because it seems like they’re in an extended rut and people are tuning them out??
Robert and Bill – any possible explanation(s) for NBC being in such miserable shape? I mean, can you blame it all on the guy(s) at the top? Or are the a number of factors that have just seemed to converge on NBC at the same time that have resulted in their present situation. I seem to recall that it wasn’t too long ago that NBC dominated (or at least led) the major networks in ratings.
If NBC’s new fall lineup has a number of shows that tank, what do they do then? Let them run their course with crappy ratings – move up midseason shows to earlier “start dates,” have Leno on 2 HOURS a night??
Thanks!
Rick, there is plenty of blame to spread around, but NBC has been unable to develop a new successful show in years. With the Leno at 10 move, they’ve admitted they’re happy to reduce their opportunities to do so in the future! Note today’s CBS vs. NBC post.
From what I hear, Merlin was aired on the BBC, so in terms of costs for NBC it probably wasn’t much. It wasn’t a great show, but it wasn’t horrible either. I was disappointed with only one Harry Potter Trailer too, should have been 1 per episode.
Dave, you are correct about the Merlin origin, and its likely cost to NBC.
merlin is awesome
I would agree that Merlin is a bitter fit for ScyFy or BBC America. It a UK show anyway.
Look how disproportianate Fox’s demos are for total viewers. First in the age groups, fourth in overall viewers! I’m used to seeing CBS run off with total viewers but lag in the demos, but that’s quite a gap for Fox.
@ Rick Holy and Bill: Need I remind the two of you that 30 Rock is a successful show
(I guess one show out of the past four years isn’t the best) but I do believe that studios do shy away from presenting their “good shows” to NBC. I also read somewhere that last year, The Mentalist was presented to NBC but they passed on it because they feared it would be too much like Medium.
yawn cable has been stuff in the summer
Interesting that the cancelled “Without a Trace” did better than the renewed “Cold Case”. I still can’t believed they cancelled WAT.
The Philanthropist NBC i have seen tones of previews for and i think i will watch it cause it looks good
Just For Laughs is another show that needs absolutely no ratings to be cost effective, and has performed miserably in the past as well. The show is nothing but a slightly repackaged (read: narrated) version of “Just For Laughs: Gags”, a show shot in Quebec that costs virtually nothing to produce (semi-unscripted, no wacky locations, often nothing but cheap actors and a few props needed per prank) and has both the Quebec government and the Canadian government giving it CanCon funding and tax-credits. Just For Laughs (the company, not the show,) probably licenses it for the price of dental floss, and I believe the customization is done in-house by ABC. Basically what I’m getting at is that unless they have a better idea, there’s no need for ABC not to continue with it.
@shelly — Ironically, from what I understand, Legend of the Seeker did an average of a 1.2 in the 18-49 demo over its 22 episode run in original syndication. That’s only a hair less than Merlin!
I watched a few eps of Legend but thought it was pretty lame. In one episode, the old wizard claims he didn’t knock some girl up because he was “pretty sure” he used “magical protection” (i.e. magic condoms) during sex. In the next, you see the girl swordfighting against several armored dudes and just whacking all of them… The seeker guy himself also fights without armor.
Outlander, I never got into Legend either though I liked both Hercules and Xena. Anyway, my point was just that if you liked those kinds of shows, you’d probably like Merlin – otherwise, not so much.
I have seen the entire run of Merlin so far and the show really does get quite interesting IMO, but I can understand it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. This is a lighter take on Camelot and I think the creators meant it to appeal to younger audiences, not people who really delve into this stuff and expect complete historical accuracy. I thought it’s pretty well produced and entertaining, which is all I really want in my summer tv. And I find the cast appealing and think Colin Morgan’s comedic timing is great.
I’m not too suprised at Merlins performance…I wasn’t expecting much out of it. Man…summer TV is kind of depressing…
I admit, I have seen the entire series of “Merlin” and I enjoyed the hell out of it. I think it gets stronger as it goes, but the first episode is a good setup to re-imagining the story. I like the actors, it’s generally good fun, and some good moments.
Compared to the dour & hard to watch “Kings”, “Merlin” is a home-run (I could point out it had more then triple the ratings of “Kings.. but that says something about NBC)
The good news is, I don’t really have to worry about ratings that much, because it was VERY popular in the UK, and has been renewed for a second season and is currently in production. So, since Season 2 starts in the UK in August, I at least know there is that
Which by the way, goes to cheap.. the show was already “in the can” with all production and rights done, NBC just pays liscencing to Channel4 (UK) I believe.. so, compared to most of their programming, this is easy money.
not sure if this is the spot, but Bryan Fuller quit HEROES. I should have posted it somewhere on here earlier, my bad.
merlin isnt awesome .. but it is watchable, and it gets stronger as the season progresses.
Surviving Suberbia numbers look good because it had a nice timeslot behind DWTS…. In fact it didnt even pull the numbers Samantha Who did in that slot. As for Merlin, its a great show. People should really give it a chance… and in all honesty…. I dont think it did so bad… it came in second in its time slot both airings… Not too shabby I dont think. This forum kills me, its like a ” oh ftw lets bash all things NBC….except the lovely Life and Chuck… Which both sucked. lol.
Why is it that foreign shows that air in America dont seem to be a big hit, but when it airs in other countries its a hit? Merlin was a hit in Britian, and in Australia, but the premiere wasnt that bad on NBC. Its the same thing with The Listener, in Canada it does well but here its tanking. Maybe Americans are weird when it comes to tv or NBC just naturally sucks.
Why does the BBC seem to produce all these “Harry Potter type shows”? It looked like a bad ripoff of Harry Potter.
I’m actually surprised that they didn’t air it in the fall. NBC has horrible exposure, since it is the 4th place network; but even this seemed weaker than their potential. Were they expecting much out of it?
RJ, you honestly don’t know that the legends of King Arthur and the knights of the round table is based on centuries-old folklore and is far older than Harry Potter? Ever heard of Le Morte de Arthur? Once and Future King by TH White? The Sword in the Stone? The Lady in the Lake? Heck, even the Sam Neill Merlin mini-series?
i had no idea that merlin was on last night but i have no idea when anything is on over the summer except for ghost adventures (which i still haven’t seen the numbers for) and monk and most importantly Psych
Shelly, that made Merlin sound even worse. I have no idea how people find that stuff exciting.
Merlin’s actually pretty good. I watched the entire series already, going into it expecting very little, but being very surprised. And I get to see Giles (Buffy) again, as well as a new take on Merlin/Arthur. It’s been really good so far, but I agree, NBC shows have definitely been tanking… and probably would have gotten higher ratings on ABC (doesn’t it show Harry Potter/movies, etc.) or one of the cable networks.
How am I able to find 13 episodes of Merlin online already? Was it bought by NBC?
Ryan-Maybe if Merlin and The Listener were actually good shows, they’d do better in the U.S. Why do you take their lack of success here to reflect negatively on American viewers? Also, some foreign shows have performed well in this country. As just three examples, Torchwood gets good numbers for BBC America, Hustle has been successful enough to air several seasons on AMC, and Flashpoint did decently enough for CBS.
RJ, you missed my point completely, which is that BBC didn’t “rip off” anything by showing Merlin, certainly not Harry Potter, because Merlin is based on ages-old folklore. (And I find it quite interesting, but to each their own.)
I’m noticing that those of us who have seen the entire first season of Merlin so far are reacting to it positively. That’s the thing with this show – it doesn’t start out strong, but it gets good as it progresses on.
Josh, Merlin has already aired in the UK on the BBC.
BBC America is alread advertising Merlin along w/Dr. Who , The FWord, and all of their other new shows, so NBC must of got the show cheap.
The surprising thing is, Merlin has done very well over in its homeland of the UK, and even here in Australia, the series has bulit into a very solid Sunday performer, both total people & demo wise. Whilst is hasnt receieved critical acclaim, it’s beem quite appealing for many as the continued success of the series shows.
Is it a case that Americans simply prefer more crime series against anything else, or is NBC really that unappealing?
This show should be on in syndication with Legend of the Seeker, or on SciFi
Neil, I think it’s a combination of things. Scifi/fantasy TV shows rarely have wide appeal here; it’s airing during the summer; and it’s on NBC. The combination of summer and NBC means that very few people, relatively speaking, have seen the advertisements for the show because they aren’t watching NBC, especially during the summer. The summer run also seems like burn-off for a bad show, so people may be less willing to give it a chance (or come in expecting it to be bad).
Lisa, its not a question of “Why don’t Americans like good shows?” Its a question of “why don’t shows which do well everywhere else do well in the United States?” Frankly, the existence of three CSIs, Wipeout, Jon and Kate, and the Bachelor show that it’s not related to audience sophistication.
I’ve always been curious as to what factors make a show do well, and doubt that the content matters all that much, at least for scripted fare. Canada and the U.S. have similar cultures, but Arrested Development was a ratings success in Canada (which led to it getting a twice a day syndication deal on major broadcaster CBC for a while) and did poorly in the United States, why?
Rick-you may have a point. Producers may have given up on NBC. And Silverman. I’m the first to admit that there are enough Law and Order spinoffs, but Trial by Jury was in my opinion(and my boyfriend agrees, which almost never happens) the best of the lot, including the original. I understand that Bebe was having physical problems, but for crying out loud, give it a chance.
Merlin is a niche show and these shows don’t survive on major networks. Had this show been put on the SciFi channel I bet the numbers would have been decent. I saw the season of it and it was decent but once again it’s a niche show like BSG and many others. Most niche shows don’t last a full season on major networks.
I must be one of the oddball TV viewers; I enjoyed Merlin. It wasn’t the greatest thing I’ve ever seen but it was watchable. And I also like The Listener.
SLP and Shelly I felt the same way. I felt it resembled the first season of Smallville and I personally feel it would have done better on the CW.
Since the premiere I watched all of season 1 over the internet (all episodes already aired in England) I think it was witty and thoroughly enjoy fantasy plots.
Can’t wait for Season 2!
I liked the premiere of Merlin. Its ratings, though low, were a bit better than I expected. It was #2 in the demo for much of the time that it aired. That’s not bad, considering that it probably got virtually no promotion. Compare it against the numbers for Kings, or other shows being burned off on Saturdays, and it looks pretty decent so far.
Full episodes are on NBC.com now too (presumably geo-locked so that only U.S. viewers can watch). I had to go there to see the last 10 minutes of the second episode because of the golf overrun.
Merlin is a fantastic show, IMHO, as evidenced by it’s HUGE success in the UK and other countries after airing on BBC last year. It’s too bad that it probably won’t be appreciated here in the U.S.–these ratings are really disappointing.