| Scoreboard |  |
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 |
 |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rating/Share: Adults 18-49 | 2.4/8 | 1.9/6 | 1.6/5 | 1.4/5 | 0.8/3 |
| Total Viewers (million) | 7.54 | 8.01 | 5.72 | 6.09 | 1.97 |
Updated with full details at 10/17 at 10:45a PDT.
Due to the nature of live sports programming the ratings for FOX are approximate and subject to significant revisions in the final numbers. See below for more information on these Fast Affiliate Ratings.
FOX won the night with the first game of the MLB American League Championship series featuring the Angels vs. Yankees. The numbers below are significantly subject to revision so I wouldn’t pay any attention to them.
Ugly Betty premiered to 5.1 million and somewhere between and a 1.4 adults 18-49 rating. It’s not Dollhouse ugly, but it’s not very pretty either. Of course it was going against stiff competition but so were Ghost Whisperer (2.0) and Medium (1.9) from 8pm-10pm when Betty aired.
The MLB playoffs were watched by at least twice as many 18-49 year olds as Dollhouse, but this overnight post will likely be one-fourth as read as last weeks! But what the hell. Happy birthday, George Wendt (NORM!) who turns 61 today. And to keep with the Friday night TV theme happy birthday to Numb3rs Alimi Ballard who celebrates his 32nd birthday today.
I’m sure baseball won the 10pm hour, but after that came 20/20 with a 2.0, which bested Numb3rs (1.8) and The Jay Leno Show (1.2). The 1.2 for Leno was a series low, but it’s lead in “Secrets of the Lost Symbol” (Matt Lauer interviewing Dan Brown about his book, and of course, the Freemasons) only pulled a 1.3. Between that and baseball it was not a berry berry good night for Jay.
Smallville was up a tick vs. last week to a 1.1 adults 18-49 rating. Smallville fans who don’t think CW has any love for Smallville, someone from CW sent us some info about last night’s results on his weekend:
SMALLVILLE delivered its largest audience (2.62mil) and best adults 18-49 (1.1/4) of the season.
In fact, this was our best performance in the time period in these categories since our last Smackdown on 9/26/08.
Adults 18-34 remains steady at a 1.1/4.
SMALLVILLE ranked second in the hour among men 18-34 (1.3/6) and men 18-49 (1.3/5), beating the big 3.
Versus comedies a year ago, SMALLVILLE is up by 38% in adults 18-34, 117% in men 18-34, 38% in adults 18-49, 117% in men 18-49 and 46% in viewers.
Full details:
| Time | Net | Show | 18-49 Rating/Share | Viewers (Millons) |
| 8:00 | FOX | MLB ALCS: Angels vs. Yankees | 2.2/8 | 7.21 |
| CBS | Ghost Whisperer | 2.0/7 | 8.21 | |
| NBC | Law & Order | 1.6/4 | 7.60 | |
| ABC | Ugly Betty (season premiere) | 1.3/5 | 5.01 | |
| CW | Smallville | 1.1/4 | 2.62 | |
| 9:00 | FOX | MLB ALCS: Angels vs. Yankees | 2.4/8 | 7.62 |
| CBS | Medium | 1.9/6 | 8.04 | |
| NBC | Secrets of the Lost Symbol | 1.3/4 | 5.69 | |
| ABC | Ugly Betty (season premiere) | 1.4/4 | 5.18 | |
| CW | America’s Next Top Model (R) | 0.6/2 | 1.33 | |
| 10:00 | FOX | MLB ALCS: Angels vs. Yankees | 2.6/8 | 7.79 |
| ABC | 20/20 | 2.0/6 | 6.97 | |
| CBS | Numb3rs | 1.8/6 | 7.77 | |
| NBC | The Jay Leno Show | 1.2/4 | 4.97 |
You can see TV ratings from other recent Overnight ratings reports here.
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 and Numbers 102.
20/20 beat Numb3rs! Woah
And poor Ugly Betty, I guessed that it will get 5 million viewers but I was expecting at least 1.8 demo. Oh no, the show is really done
Any early numbers for Stargate Universe. These first 4 episodes have been very, very weak. The weakest of all the Stargate shows.
I still think the Ghost Whisperer vs. Medium battle for top show of the night is going to be an interesting one as the season progresses.
And whilst the Ugly Betty numbers are indeed ugly you have to wonder just what was ABC expecting from the show on Friday’s? Especially given that it was on the slide last year anyway…
GW and Medium holding on, Good. Not so good for Ugly Betty though. Goes to show that Fridays pretty much kill shows.
Good to see Smallville up. Very impressive!
too bad about betty. neighbor of mine loves the show and was surprised it was on last night. her dvr picked it up. outside of the diehard tv schedule/ratings whores out there… i think most people fall into that category. did abc promote? my friend watches abc shows… and still had no idea
Oh Smallville was up that’s great to see maybe as the season progresses the show’s ratings will go up, i hope it could go back to 3 million viewers and 1.4 demo at least
ABC must have expected low numbers for Betty on a Friday, it can hardly come as a shock
Forget about Ugly Betty, what about Ugly Jay?
Mike, Leno got 5 mil viewers and 1.2 demo
Well, after a low start L&O’s numbers have gotten down right respectable for a Friday. Not great, of course, but not horrible either.
The bump for Numb3rs is good, losing to 20/20 is not… but if it can stay close to GW and Medium, it could be OK.
Ugly Betty’s numbers are predictably bad.
Ouch, for Betty but to be honest I think ABC put UB on Fridays just to burn it out, anyway it is supposed to be its last season
I saw a lot of commercials for Ugly Betty on ABC, but the show’s premiere getting pushed back a week definitely confused some people. Friends on a message board were looking for it last week and didn’t know why it wasn’t on or if it would air at all until I posted about the date change. Not that it ever seemed like it would do well on a Friday anyway. Not much does.
Kenny, I’d say ABC kept it and put it on Fridays to get it to more or less of a respectable number of episodes for syndication. It will be around 88 episodes after this season. My guess is that’s close enough to 100 for ABC’s syndication purposes
The Leno show was marginally interesting when he was mainly interviewing celebrities but in the last two weeks he’s increasingly farmed out chunks of his show to 3rd rate comedians doing extended bits that just don’t work. If he’d drop that and just make the celebrity interview stuff the center it might rebound a little.
Anyway, that’s a surprising low. If it keeps going down, will they reduce the number of days he’s on or just live with it?
I just hope ABC won’t pull Betty off the air maybe next week it could gain next week as it settles to its 9pm slot.
But well looks like this is really is the final season for Betty, I just hope ABC will let it end on a good note, story wise. Just let the show have a closure.
Since it’s Ugly Betty’s ratings and not Ugly Betty herself the headline should be muy feo
The commenting is slow today eh? Due to lack of Dollhouse? hehe
What was the topic of 20/20, I’m curious with its ratings rise
do you have the hour-by-hour split ratings for betty?
I wouldn’t surprise if Ugly Betty goes up next week.
Law & Order down from last week. Still, better than the season premeire. Horrible episodes this seaon though as they are trying to increse ratings so they approach the show in an odd way this seaon.
But at leat it is above the 6.5 million mark. i hope it will go another season but an actual good seaon. Not these ratings boost episodes. And I hope they drop all this left wing stuff they’ve been presenting this season. not that I want it to be a right wing show either. Just how it used to be. Anyway, as I’ve heard some people say NBC will probably just give it another season just to boast about how they have the longest running primetime drama in history. I hope CSI never surpasses it.
Ron, I only saw any detail on the first hour (1.3, 5.01 million) but not the second. Given the average of 5.1 (rounded) million and a 1.4 for both hours, you can figure the second hour was pretty close to the first.
@forg, according to my program guide, something about a girl who survived her father’s murderous rampage 20 years ago.
Yes!!! Smallville up!!!
NBC 9pm – I think that was an NBC News Special instead of Dateline (not that there’s much difference).
Pushing Betty back a week at the last minute probably confused a lot of people, but even then, Ugly Betty’s ratings were… ugly. I wonder how much lower it’ll go.
Jon K, thanks for the info. I thought they featured the Bubble Boy issue
Leave it to the Always Being Cancelled network. Hopefully UB will find more and an audience next week.
Jon K, it wasn’t a “news” special it was “Secrets of the Lost Symbol” Matt Lauer interviewing Dan Brown about his book. I’ve updated the post. It was a lousy lead-in for Leno! But retentionistas can bask in how good Jay’s retention was!
Kind of bummed by “Ugly Betty’s” numbers, I thought it was good last night.
Logically, I knew the show was on death’s door and the move to Friday night wasn’t really going to help it but, the recent media push got me interested again.
Ah well, guess I’ll watch it until the cancel it.
I dont think Ugly Betty was that bad considering its a friday night… its only 1million viewers down from last season’s finale which aired on a thursday night… i was expecting worse.. could be the last season though
… ABC make it last at least for 5 seasons
Hmm so they won’t take off Dateline to air Southland, but they will to air some special that gets a 1.3…
ABC is trying to kill “Ugly Betty” off. It’s not the shows fault at all, because the writing and acting is better then ever! It has to do with the fact that they switched the premier date three times. That’s correct… three times! They decided to postpone the final episodes of Ugly Betty last season. They also decided to move it to Friday, which is a very difficult day to get solid ratings. ABC decided they wanted to kill this show before season four even aired people. I just hope the ratings go up next episode, because if not things are looking bad for this show. God, I hate ABC. They did the exact same thing to ‘Samantha Who’!
Secrets of the Lost Symbol was a Dateline NBC special.
Its a shame that Ugly Betty Got such low ratings. Both Episodes were really good. Hopefully they have prepared a Season/Series finale that provides closure.
I’m glad Smallville’s ratings improved even if only by a little.
Jon K, could be they didn’t want to waste a Dateline against baseball.
Friday night ratings sucks without Dollhouse , and for the web site Admin.’s you just can’t let dollhouse go lol
, even without a new episode it’s mentioned twice in your last night preview , yopu really can’t wait for it to be cancelled !!!!!!!!!! 
Ron, it didn’t show up in my listings as Dateline, but “Special Dateline” makes sense, too.
Realme2008, what would ABC’s motivation be to “kill” “Ugly Betty”?
Chicc_o, I almost put it in the headline!
But you’re wrong, though I expect Dollhouse won’t see a 14th episode in season two, I can’t wait for it to be renewed!
As you note yourself, the Friday ratings aren’t the same without Dollhouse, and we miss Joss’s Biggest Fan.
I’ve accepted that this will be UB’s last season, but I think that ratings will improve a bit as they fall goes on. Remember – it’s regular timeslot is 9pm, not 8pm, where it got a 1.5 demo. Not great, but not terrible either. There’s room for growth there.
I love the way people put in their own versions of what the network names stand for:
ABC = Always Being Cancelled network
The CW = The Can’t Win network
I just wonder what FOX, CBS and NBC are….hm…
Hey Law and order aint doing to bad now. Im impressed it got a 1.6 considering its on the air for 20 yrs.
JonK, there is no guarantee that Southland would have pulled higher then a 1.3 demo and the cost is so high NBC is smart to keep Dateline over Southland.
Robert, you should do a article on the best bloggers you miss from their shows
Dirtysexyj
Joss’s Biggest Fan
The Terminator Fans (I can’t really remember whether it was all of them or if there was like a leader one).
P.S. Have you ever seen the TSCC blogs? They are violent fans, and just as crazy (they wanted the BBC to pick up TSCC :0 )
I’m sure I’ll regret answering this but what the hell was their rationale behind the BBC picking up TSCC?
I don’t think those people are rational Alex
Post/table updated with full primetime data now, including 1 hour breakouts for Ugly Betty
Fin, two out of three of those you listed are serious. Serious fans are not fun. They are annoying. JBF is wonderful because s/he is a parody.
True Tommy but I’d still love to know what weird logic path they travelled to get to the BBC picking up TSCC.
Someone probably commented once that TSCC is a hit in the UK. That makes it fact, dontcha know?
Please smallville 1/2 hour breakdown?
Julia, DirtySexyJ was kind of fun. Certainly more annoying than JBF (who isn’t annoying at all!), but after a while it was at least kind of funny.
Sorry Gabriela, we’re data paupers on the weekend. You could try asking Marc Berman:
http://pifeedback.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/63310451/m/162108842
I wish another network would pick up Ugly Betty. One that actually cares. Put it on right after or before “Glee” they could kind of go in the same category.
I don’t even watch ABC anymore… just because they made me mad about Ugly Betty. I ONLY watch Ugly Betty on that channel.
I don’t think DirtySexyJ became really fun until it was in retrospect, and we found out that h/she was really just a janitor.
ps. UB used to do MUCH better in the adult demo 18-49. .. I fall into the category & had to catch it on DVR because everybody knows people my age (20’s) are not sitting @ home watching TV every Friday night. stupid abc. (Always Being Cancelled network, I like that)
Jay, what did ABC do to you other than move it to another night. I think ABC has been more than patient with that show, and it’s ratings justified getting moved to Friday nights.
i dont know if anybody noticed that smallville has its season high with more than 2.6 million viewers & 1.1 in demo!!and antm encore is pulling very good numbers for a cw friday night!and if im not wrong on women 18-34 antm encore tied an all new smallvile!
BTW why every week on the final ratings antm encore falling so much?
Smallvile going up against MLB, ratings and show quality still going up, Super. Fox probably did so well , because Summer Glau’s fans were tuning in to see her “rule” on Dollhouse. All the shippers are readying their keyboards and have made their photoshop pictures of Tennet. Topher and Bennet.
is it just me or has Friday become more compative
What a bummer about Ugly Betty but ABC can’t be too surprised by the numbers. I hope they let it run out.
Definitely wish Ugly Betty’s numbers were better, but with it being on Friday’s and them changing the premiere date at the last minute, what do you expect? Its clear many people didn’t realize about the change, I’ve noticed that comment on many forums (a “thanks for the reminder, I was wondering when it was coming back, I have to set my DVR” was very common yesterday). I think the show will pick up as people realize its on, not sharply but a bit.
And as much as I’ve seen promotions for Ugly Betty myself and am on these type of sites, I didn’t realize that it had the 9pm timeslot until just reading a comment above. That’s just sad. I knew it was having a 2 hr premiere, not that it would regularly be on at 9pm. ABC needs to continue to promote it for the time being to make sure people know its on, especially on Thursdays when it used to air and Wednesdays where they probably share a similar audience.
SMALLVILLE fans I’ve updated the post with some blurbs about SMALLVILLE sent directly from the CW PR ratings guru. Don’t think there’s no love for SMALLVILLE, there was enough love to at least do a little bit of work on the weekends!
Gabriela, I didn’t see half hour detail on viewers, but on 18-49 it was 1.0/4, 1.1/4 and on 18-34 it was 1.1/4 for both half hours.
shouldnt ugly betty be thrid in the second hour?
second hour*
Smallville is up!!! Wooo hoooo!!!
Thank you Robert!!! :hugs:
it should be third in the second hour, but I added all that in after the fact as originally I just had the 8p-10p averages. It’s not an evil plot to get Ugly Betty.
Wow, I’m surprised that Medium and Ghost Whisperer were able to bring in larger numbers than the Yankees in an ALCS play-off game. Then again their days are numbered. The Dodgers with Torre/Mattingly on board are taking them down in the World Series!!
And crap, I forgot Law and Order was on. I wanted to watch that. THAT should be on Wednesdays at 10 instead of Leno (which I’ve completely stopped watching). Even 10 at 10 can’t pull me in.
Hell has frozen over.
Not only is there a CW press release, it also makes reference to the long-forgotten mythical creatures known as “men”.
@Robert, LOL! I still think Smallville is CW’s unwanted guest, but hey, I think it’s doing what it needs to do to survive (for one last season, in my opinion, it needs to end next year)
Thanks Robert! Glad to see CW show Smallville some much deserved love!
And woah Dillan. I totally agree. They care about men?! Holy crap! lol
I will admit that I am pleased by the fact that Leno is actually doing poorer that expected. Instead of innovating and doing something original, NBC/Universal has thrown in the towel, as evidenced by this programming tsunami. Granted, the Web is changing everything. DVR’s are accelerating the slide. And they said that Leno was DVR-proof. Well, they were right. Leno is TV set proof as well. I think he must be the most hated man in LA right about now.
Bye Bye Betty
Those MLB playoffs are a joke.
wow..I thought the Yanks would get 10 mil min per game.
Oh the times have changed.
the demo is as low as the lowest Demo for a SCF game on NBC..and equal to any non finals nba game on abc.
so bad…
I guess Friday night killed it..
but you would think the 2 largest markets in America could get 10 mil
It seems the writers and producers never quite get the tone right for balancing telenovela and comedy. They do have a good cast and tons of clever quips. This show is endlessly quipable, but they don’t save the show.
If Fridays were where they send shows to die, then why is 20-year old Law & Order on Fridays? Clearly, given that it’s been on for 20 years, NBC supports and loves L&O. Friday doesn’t have to be the death knell for TV shows.
I like the “new” Betty. I mean, if a network knows that ratings are going to be low on Fridays, how they can send a show to Friday and then punish it for low ratings?
Alan, you’ve got it wrong. Being sent to Friday is Betty’s punishment for low ratings last season. They needed another season for syndication, but don’t want to ruin their Sun-Thurs average.
I watched Stargate Universe and Sanctuary. Stargate Universe is growing on me. I just wished that they’d get rid of Lou Diamond Phillips on it. Both shows are better IMO than Dollhouse.
I understand that, but last night she had fairly low ratings on a Friday and look how many above posts are saying “bye bye Betty” and “Betty’s going to cancelled”. I mean, it was a Friday night, how high do you expect her ratings to be? Especially when it’s up against another women-friendly show, Ghost Whisperer.
Law & Order’s ratings and share wasn’t that much better last night, but I don’t hear people saying “bye bye Law & Order” or “oh dear, Law & Order’s going to get canned”.
I mean, come on, it’s Friday.
I didn’t take anyone to mean that Betty is going to be pulled. Just that this is the last season, which is very probably true of Law & Order as well.
Chris, we’ll have to see the finals, but it looks to be up over last year’s game one of the ALCS (which aired on TBS) and last year’s game two of the NLCS that aired on FOX (on a Friday night)
Alan, Betty and Law & Order are already dead. They will finish their runs this season and be off broadcast for good. As Julia wrote, the fact they’re on Friday indicates ABC and NBC are willing to put up with their ratings for other reasons (L&O: history!, Betty: syndication).
yes but what better has abc to put there!if ugly betty has a stable year and have a bit of increase like 5.50 million viewers abc might be consider renew the show.100+ episodes is surely better than 88!abc renewed scrubs which was doing awful!!!(ok this is sitcom)BTW next week ugly betty maybe increase its ratings cause the only hard competition will be medium!!
George “OK this is a sitcom” is a very important disclaimer. ABC can put wifeswap/Supernanny there; they did just fine with those in the demos. Total viewers is almost entirely meaningless aside from press releases.
Yay for Smallville! *happy dance*
OK,…. and yay for CW for giving Smallville some deserved praise!
Three things about that press release by the CW.
1. Dawn Ostroff actually knows men exist. That must have been a hard concept for her to grasp but she’s finally getting it. You can’t have a successful network by excluding half of the population. Shows like Reaper which consistently held a stable fanbase despite having a huge gap between seasons and airing opposite Idol should not be dumped because the appeal mainly to guys. Honestly a male oriented show is the perfect counter programming to something like Idol which skews more female.
2. Does anybody think she specifically referenced last years comedies to buffer herself against the fact that one of those comedies had reruns which bested her brainchild Melrose Place. Its as if she’s trying to convince people that she did the right thing by canceling the Game. Pointing out that Smallville is doing better than the Game isn’t newsworthy considering Smallville has ALWAYS done better than the Game. The fact is a rerun on Tuesday did better than her new episode of Melrose Place and no amount of improved Fridays is gonna change that.
3. Mentioning Smackdown just reminds me of how it was a stupid move to cancel that show too.
Chrisjozo, Dawn didn’t write that, and it was ratings notes, not a press release. They make whatever favorable comparisons can be made, that’s their job. but often they actually wind up being reasonable comparisons, or, the only comparisons that were available to be made.
As for Smackdown, you can’t be sure the Smallville/ANTM rerun doesn’t make more in advertising revenue. Getting rid of Smackdown was devastating to CW’s weekly viewer and 18-49 averages, but to actual revenue? Who knows?
Late to the party, but for those still interested, here are half-hour breakdowns for UGLY BETTY and SMALLVILLE
Thank you
It’s rare to hear anything about Smallville, let alone anything positive so thank you for sharing this news.
So are these numbers considered “good” for Law and Order, given the time slot and opposition from baseball?
Another reason Betty will finish the season and not be pulled is I think they have a special deal with NYC film & tv dept helping lower production costs after they moved to The Big Apple after season 2.
Ugly Betty:
8:00 – 5.064 million, 1.4/5 A1849
8:30 – 4.961 million, 1.3/5 A1849
9:00 – 5.154 million, 1.4/5 A1849
9:30 – 5.209 million, 1.4/4 A1849
Smallville:
8:00 – 2.633 million, 1.0/4 A1849
8:30 – 2.604 million, 1.1/4 A1849
The CW actually mentioned the male audience? Color me surprised!
The CW = The Can’t Win network..
omg, i haven’t laughed this hard in days! lol
So Robert you’re saying she probably still doesn’t know or care that male viewers exist. That’s too bad. I guess its back to being invisible for me.
Also, I guess you are right about needing more info on the Smackdown decision.
Bummer about Jay, he has become a Friday night TV staple at our home. We watch him then our local news which includes one of those high school football highlight shows.
Glad Smallville did pretty good. I don’t watch Medium but it looked like the show did really good. Helps not having David Caruso on the same network as you as compared to the past few years when he was your time slot rival.
Could take or leave ALCS.
Thanks for the breakdown TvBill. Looks like both UB and Smallville lost a small amount of viewers in the 8:30 slot. Did the Yankees game just get interesting then or something?
Still very pleased with these numbers!
Haha Medium is still doing better than most NBC shows. So glad it’s on CBS now.
I love it when people say that networks are *trying* to kill shows. As if networks just love low ratings and being forced to cancel things. It’s not ABC’s fault Ugly Betty’s ratings have sunk over the years. I blame the show itself for being very uneven after its first season.
As for the network’s real names:
ABC = Always Being Canceled (Why I don’t know, as they don’t cancel much.)
CW = Can’t Win network
NBC = Now Berated Constantly!
CBS = Championing Boring Spin-Offs
FOX = Fridays Ominous (since) X-Files
I’m confident this will be the last season we see original scripted programming on Fridays. Why would the networks continue? Every show that has been launched on the night since Numbers has tanked and everything else on the night are just shows that probably should have been canceled already (L&O, Ugly Betty, Til’ Death).
As is, Friday is just a dumping ground for networks to hedge their bets–they can schedule under performing, but still decent, shows there and then point to the even lower Friday ratings as justification for cancellation. Why continue the charade when they can pull comparable numbers with news magazines programs or repeats of hit shows?
For anyone that watches SGU what do you think the problem is. I dont see very many positive comments about it anywhere and don’t like it much myself. I think it doesn’t even feel like a Stargate show. The tone is completely different and comes across like its trying to be Battlestar and failing. Ill keep watching but I dont enjoy it nearly as much as I did SG-1 and Atlantis.
Mike, where else can the networks hide weak shows that are heading into syndication?
I wouldn’t write off law and order yet. The ratings are very respectable for a Friday time slot. Also its got decent demos now. Last season the demo was just a bit higher I think about 1.8 and it got renewed. I think if this were the last season for Law and Order they would announce it. Also to break the record they need 21 seasons. I reckon Law and Order will be back for one more season. There’s no reason it needs to be cancelled yet.
@Gleebo said…
“I don’t enjoy it nearly as much as I did SH-1 and Atlantis”
And after watching this weeks episode, I like it even more than Atlantis (SG-1 will always have a special place in my opinion due to my love of the first few seasons…)
But, I am sorry, it just will never be the “original” Stargate, because it is not SUPPOSE to be.
I for one am very pleased that I am not watching an “Alien of the week” show and getting more of a true story that takes time to get involved in. Real characters with in depth story that has to have the story unfold.
And PS: The show is doing considerably better ratings wise than Atlantis…so let it go fanbois
That would be SG-1 not SH-1
It should say “muy feos”
Ugly Betty was really good last night, so it’s sad
YEAHH! GO SMALLVILLE!
I HATE ABC. The writing and acting on Ugly Betty is superb. I think it’s ABCs fault. They stopped promoting it after the Writer’s Strike. Last night’s episode was outstanding and deserved much more attention. They screwed Ugly Betty over. I hope it can get picked up by another network – that would be AMAZINGGGG.
I agree with some people…ABC knew that Friday’s weren’t going to increase the ratings, Its friday! I actually think 5 million is respectable for a friday…the demo is a little low though.
I think if Ugly Betty stays solid, ABC could keep it for a 5th seasons on fridays. I know thats highly unlikely but hey, they kept it after a crappy season 3 ratings!
Leno’s hit came from the weaker lead-in by the looks of it. Leno’s numbers depend a lot on the lead-in – Tuesday is its strongest night usually because of Biggest Loser.
Ugly Betty was a dying show, and this is just about the last nail in the coffin. No question this is the show’s last season.
@TempestofNews
Actually SGU is at 2.4 (so far) and SGA in it’s last season was 2.1 average. SGA first season average 2.6 so all in the same ballpark (these are with DVR +7, SGA didn’t have that count). Let’s see how the numbers are for this week, if they hold steady. I don’t know whether it’s good or bad, don’t watch it.
But back on topic, yay Smallville. I know they can’t keep Clark in twenty something limbo forever (and I’ve never been a Lois Lane fan) but this season is kind of fun so far, in a Dark Knight sort of way.
Sorry, correction, the Stargate numbers above are WTIHOUT DVR +7
I think that while they wanted to create something that had a built in fan base like the Stargate franchise does that they would have been better off making a show outside of their mythology.
This show would have been similar to Firefly except for not being “outlaws on the run”. They are all alone out in space which is a decent premise but the reason SG-1 and Atlantis worked for me is because of the villians and how they interfered with the SG teams. Without the Wraith, Gou’ld, Replicators, and Genii neither of the shows would have had much to build a long series on. Even other alien races such as the Asgard, Ancients, and ascended beings worked well for those shows.
The only race of aliens that didn’t really work for me was the Ori. I just couldn’t get into the final two seasons of SG-1 and it wasn’t because of the loss of Dick Dean Anderson. I just didn’t like the religious aspect of the Ori.
SGU needs a consistant villian, even if it comes from within the already existing crew on the ship. Cruising around a distant universe stopping to fix parts on their ship each week is gonna get old really fast.
It’s nice got a good audience on a night when they had a superior episode. The production has been on an upward path so far this season. I hope they can keep it going. There appear to be some intriguing stories ahead.
It’s nice SMALLVILLE got a good audience. I’d swear I typed that the first time, but I guess I’d be wrong. Sorry.
Yaaay for Smallville! It just keeps on ticking.
TVD, SN & SV are the only shows I watch on the CW. Unfortunately, I’m not quite in the haloed 18-34 demo anymore. LOL
I personally love this season of Smallville, I never cared all that much for it after season 2. But this season feels like a Superman show even if they call him the blur.
).
I also love Durance’s Lois Lane. Lois Lane has always been one of my favorite characters, ever since I read my first Superman’s Girlfriend: Lois Lane comic book eons ago (which is a huge hint I fall well outside the CW young woman target.
That said, I think it is time to wrap this show up. I’d like to see a final 10th season only because the creative team said they want one, and because this season has been so supermanish in nature. No teenage angst in sight. I guess we’ll see how it goes. I was happy to see the uptick in ratings.
Haloed? Ooops, sorry. I think I meant ‘hallowed’ as in the ‘holy grail’ demo . . . .
If this is Betty’s final season, fine. But I just hope that ABC lets the producers know well in advance. I just don’t want Betty to be cancelled mid way through. Give it a full 22-episode season, let them tie up all the loose ends and create an “ending” storyline.
I just hope ABC doesn’t do what NBC did to Southland. Renew it and then cancel it abruptly without warning, with episodes left unaired.
A lot of people say that Smallville needed to just end about 3 years ago and start a new show called Metropolis. While it sounds like a good idea I don’t think it would help. It basically is just Tom Welling and Allison Mack which is what Metropolis probably would have been if they started it anyway. Leaving it as the Smallville name probably grabs more viewers than a Metropolis would just on name familiarity from what Smallville had built.
I really cannot fathom them going past S10. Let the writers do whatever the hell they want this season and then tell them to finish everything with him becoming Superman in Season 10. I know they said that he would never fly in Smallville but that was said so long ago that they might as well have him learning that throughout S10 and be fully recognized as the general publics perception of Superman by the time the show finishes at the end of S10.
For S10 to really work though, they need to do the following.
-Stop hinting at Lois/Clark and either go with it or just go with Lois/Superman. Not tiptoeing the line between both.
-Finish off the Green Arrow stuff.
-Eliminate Tess Mercer
-Finish off the Zod character
-bring back Jimmy Olsen
And the most important:
- End season 9 with the return of Lex and have him murder Chloe. Sets up an explosive season 10 with the return of Michael Rosenbaum(seriously, what is he doing with his career now anyway) as Lex. Bring back the dynamic that Clark and Lex had with each other only amped up tenfold now that he has gone past the point of redemption by killing the only remaining long term friend Clark has left at this point.
I agree with DW regarding Ugly Betty. If this show and been strong it would have never lost its original time slot….but since it lot most of its audience by the end of season one, and keep on sinking as the stories got flatter and flatter, well, what do they expect. Amazing it is back on the air at all. Stick a fork it its, its DONE.
No surprise to me on Ugly Betty’s numbers.
Perhaps some people weren’t aware of it airing and will tune in next week, but that seems surprising given the many ads that ABC aired for it this past week.
Fridays continue to be a very difficult day for the Networks and it’s always interesting to see what happens.
Here’s a few questions:
a – Is L&O: CI doing well enough on USA to be renewed for another season?
b – If a is “yes”, what are the odds that L&O: SVU will be renewed (either on NBC or USA (with some moderate cost reductions), if the current ratings hold (I’d say 50-50 on that), and given that the costs of production in NY can be split between the two flavours, and that NYC is likely giving NBCU some financial incentives?
c – If b is at least 50-50, what is the likelihood that the original L&O would also be renewed, either on NBC or USA, at its current ratings level, also presuming some moderate cost reductions, and noting the production cost and NYC financial incentive factors that apply to L&O also make things look better for the financial calculations for all L&O flavours?
My guesses:
a – just barely.
b – if SVU can stabilise at its current ratings level, there’s an even chance; if the ratings improve at all from its current level, SVU’s renewal chances will also improve.
c – less than even chance if the ratings stay where they are now, unless there is significant production cost cuts, or significant increases in financial incentives from NYC; if the ratings manage to increase from here, the odds get better, but won’t get as good as SVU’s odds.
“Ugly Betty” is one of ABC’s best shows- so of course it treats it terribly. lol Not that UB did itself any favors with last year’s ratings dip, either, though. ABC couldn’t have expected UB to snare decent viewers on Friday nights.
JR – my wife loves Betty very much, and I like it…
…but, by the numbers, Betty is definitely not one of ABC’s best shows…
…possibly yes, in terms of other strategic considerations at Disney, and probably yes, in terms of quality – but neither are measurable in Robert and Bill’s renew/cancel model.
We’ll see next week, after a new, and moderately heavily promoted Supernanny, what the numbers are, and go from there
I’m curious to know what the “real” viewership for the baseball game was. Maybe things are different today, but when I was 18-34 most of my Friday (actually weekend) sports viewing took place in a sports bar or neighborhood tavern. They don’t have Nielsen boxes in bars do they?
Ugly Betty was really good last night, sucks it didnt do better…screw ABC, they know how bad Friday’s are.
Ugly Betty on FOX would be amazing…I know FOX is impatient with their shows when it comes to ratings, but this would be a great show for them.
Also, Ugly Betty is produced by ABC studios right? I think if the current ratings hold the show will be fine.
ljo, see here: http://preview.tinyurl.com/yjl67ld
Thanks, Boris. I would have suspected the percentage increase would have been much higher than 27 (especially for the younger 18-34).
Although, I do suspect that not many people watching in sports bars are paying much attention to the advertisements.
Gleebo -
-Stop hinting at Lois/Clark and either go with it or just go with Lois/Superman. Not tiptoeing the line between both.
They aren’t hinting at or tiptoeing with Lois and Clark this season. It’s just about in full bloom.
-Finish off the Green Arrow stuff.
Yeah, I could actually do with less GA and Ollie. Nothing against Justin Hartley. He’s just kind of becoming superfluous and mainly just there to write a B or C story for to cut to something outside of the A story.
-Eliminate Tess Mercer
Not sure about that yet.
-Finish off the Zod character
Callum Blue is signed to the standard two season contract. Not sure what they’d need to do to stretch Zod over two seasons.
-bring back Jimmy Olsen
Eh. Best to just leave the whole Olsen debacle alone for the rest of the series.
And the most important:
- End season 9 with the return of Lex and have him murder Chloe. Sets up an explosive season 10 with the return of Michael Rosenbaum(seriously, what is he doing with his career now anyway) as Lex. Bring back the dynamic that Clark and Lex had with each other only amped up tenfold now that he has gone past the point of redemption by killing the only remaining long term friend Clark has left at this point.
The absolute last thing the show needs right now is Lex. There’s nowhere to go with Lex’s storyline at this point without Clark fulling being Superman. They proved that with the ridiculously clowny version of Lex that set the K-bomb trap for Clark and Lana last season. Bring Lex back – and Rosenbaum – on the last episode or two. That’s all they need to do.
Chloe shouldn’t be killed. Why is it that the standard way to write someone out of a show is to kill them off? If the blight that is Lana can become walking K-rock and just leave the show, Chloe should be able to walk off into the sunset too.
Anyway, this isn’t really the forum to discuss the creative points of the show. This is about the numbers.
I find it surprising the ‘Smallville’’s numbers climbed this week, especially against the baseball playoffs. Not that I don’t think people should be watching. I’m just to trying to think what brought more people into this episode.
ljo says:
“Although, I do suspect that not many people watching in sports bars are paying much attention to the advertisements.”
The PPM is a more or less passive device. In its radio role, my understanding is that the quantity of interest is simple exposure. Whether ads are broken out from programs I don’t know, although I do know that such “steganography” has been around quite a bit longer than the PPM per se, as a tool for advertisers to ensure that their spots were indeed being played.
I have to wonder about the uncertainties in this application to OOH TV, especially compliance. Do you really want the stylistic equivalent of a garage-door opener hanging around your neck when you go out to a bar?
ABC should really think about dumping eastwick at this point and moving betty to Wednesday, it would pair better with their comedy block which may help the show. Given that eastwick is new and so weak in ratings vs betty which has always had a weaker demo but is near a nice syndication level and has already been cost gutted/re-framed.
The upside would be betty feeding a bit off the comedy block given it is a dramedy.
“Do you really want the stylistic equivalent of a garage-door opener hanging around your neck when you go out to a bar?”
Who knows? Maybe it would serve as a nice ice breaker with the ladies.
@Theoacme, I believe L&O:CI has been renewed, but with 4/5ths of the main cast being replaced (everyone except Goldblum).
I kind’ve understand what they are saying but is their anyone who can really summarize this as a probably be renewed to a season 10 or not?
Gleebo and Tucker,
Ok first of all about the whole lex thing i agree with tucker on that whole thing because if michael rosenbaum was gonna become a regular in season 10 then he wouldnt have left in the first place. It is said by the producers (including Tom Welling) they will not end the series without at least a cameo appearance of Michael as Lex but I really doubt he will be the one to kill chloe. I think Chloe is better off dieing tucker because she isnt in the comics and the death of chloe my help clark become superman but if anyone is going to kill chloe it’s as of now most likely gonna be zod. It could be tess but i really doubt it.
Green Arrow stuff, I think that they should keep on doing more for green arrow but in a different direction like a few of his villains crossing over i mean i know its about clark but if they can tell the story and make green arrow a main character the least they can do is give him a few villains like Count Vertigo. I think that Green Arrow is gonna be staying tho Tucker and Gleebo because Justin Hartly states he will love to stay on the show and the producers said that think Oliver adds more super hero juice to the show and thats why they keep him.
Lois and Clark delemma, I think that the show will have them do something similar to what happend with lana and clark because in the comics it doesnt have them right away become dating for a long time right after they realize thier feelings for each other.
Jimmy, I think they shouldnt because like Kelly and Brian said jimmy is like 10 or 15 years younger then lois and clark so they couldnt re-add him they will probably give him another appearance tho like in the season 8 doomsday episode tho. Perry White is set to return as a recurring guest star if they go a S10 but not S9 because he is busy with plays right now. I also agree with Tucker that it is a bad idea to bring lex’s storyline back until the end of the series right now they are focusing on mjaor villains Zod and Tess and minor villains such as Metallo, Toyman, and Roulette.
I think the most important question to answer (If not asked already) is if Ugly Betty is doing better in the Friday timeslot this year than what was in the Friday timeslot last year.
Friday is not a good night for young demos. Numb3rs has been an older screwing show to begin with. This is CBS we are talking about.
They could have moved this show to a Tuesday night and might have done better than it could. This however might be the last season of the show, and slowly Friday will be just another Saturday at least on the Broadcast end. So far USA and SyFy have their bragging rights.
Don says:
“Numb3rs has been an older screwing show to begin with.”
Good one.
Ugly Betty is doing better than the slot last year. I feel though that with it’s comedy, it would be better placed on Wednesdays at 8 or 10. I know its going to be its final season, but I think if the numbers say in the late 4 mil or early 5, it is quite possible to be renewed to get over 100 episodes. The writing in the show is genius and we already know that TV Guide is behind the show.
1.2: Guess the Yankees took a bat to Jay’s ba…never mind.
When you got 1.5 below rating you know the show is in danger.
I’m actually glad Ugly Betty got at 4th season, I was actually thinking it would be canceled last May especially when ABC pulled it off schedule and replaced with In The Motherhood/Samantha Who. I actually thought Samantha Who had the better chance for Renewal than Betty so I’m happy it got a 4th season. Yes, the Friday timeslot sucks and I also wished they would air on Tuesday (ABC’s weakest night outside Friday) or Wednesday at 10pm since it would be a good fit to Cougar Town but honestly though if they schedule it at Wednesdays 10pm , I think it will just get the same numbers Eastwick is getting. Somehow, Friday is good due to lower expectations let’s see next week if the numbers will rise in the demo.
Anyone remembered Women’s Murder Club? I remember before the strike it delivered good numbers for ABC? If they have kept that show maybe it could deliver good Friday ratings.
I’m surprised by the way that ABC didn’t cash in with the Bubble Boy controversy and aired a rerun of Wife Swap that featured that family.
And one last thing since Disney channel is getting good ratings for their Friday lineup they should nurture those talents and maybe once those talents past the Disney age they could be relaunched at a new ABC shpw and who knows their audience could follow [I know the audience are young but they are the future 18-49 demo] just an idea haha
JR,
If Ugly Betty was still a good show it wouldn’t have lost viewers steadily for the last season, and wouldn’t have been moved to Fridays. It was a huge show, and when people stopped watching, you can’t put the blame on ABC. You have to put the blame on the writers that started churning out crap and alienated the viewers they had.
Mcpherson will manage to kill Ugly Betty just like he did with DSM and Pushing Daisies. He has no idea how to advertise a show with potential.
When a show goes from an average A18-49 demo of 3.7 in S1, 3.6 in S2, to a 2.8 in the 3rd season, with the last episodes getting 1.9, 1.7, 2.1, 2.1, 2.0, 2.1 on a Thursday, it’s not promotion it needs, it was being put out of its misery.
UB is still here because they managed to cut production costs 30%, but nothing else last season justified that ABC should even keep it. Other than being cheap, let alone through money away promoting it. They did, nevertheless.
UB’s few remaining fans should be grateful they are getting S4, and stop whining. Last season it performed bellow ABC’s average demo. It is on life support, and brain dead. By the end season they will pull the plug.
Wow S. Nice negative post. It’s obvious you’re not a fan of the show, LOL.
I think the season premier of UB was great. All the mistakes made last season have definitely been rectified. Hopefully word of mouth and some good advertisement will get this show back on track.
For those wondering if Betty did better than what was in the slot last year, it did not. On Oct. 17, 2008, Wife Swap rated 1.7 at 8 pm and Supernanny rated 1.8 at 9 pm.
The only reason Ugly Betty is back this year is because producer Silvio Horta had signed a contract with ABC. They wanted to yank the show last year. If you have noticed, half the cast has already left the show, and the “ugly” novelty has worn off. It took way too long for them to promote Betty and she is still ugly. In the original soap opera, the makeover had taken place already. Four years of the same plot tires people which is why 2/3 of the audience quit watching (UB pulled 16 million viewers back in 2006)
No offense to any of the shows fans, but after seeing Ugly Betty I’m actually surprised that it has lasted as long as it as. I was at my girlfriends house on Friday and I guess her and her sister like the show so they watched the premiere and about an hour into the show I was bored out of my mind. I know that a show like Ugly Betty is not the type of show that targets an 18-year-old male audience, but thats just my take on it.
Edwie, all the major players on Ugly Betty (except Ashley Jensen) are still on the show, so what do you mean half the cast has left?
NBC should just pull the plug on the Jay Leno sh&T pronto and admit they made a mistake and move Law & Order and Law & Order: SVU back to 10 p.m. where they belong before they lose more viewers.
ABC isn’t trying to kill Ugly Betty. The show has been bleeding viewers since the first episode. It’s going to make it four seasons, which is more than enough. Truth be told the series has pretty much done all it can do with the concept. It’s a fun show but 4-5 seasons is plenty.
“NBC should just pull the plug on the Jay Leno sh&T pronto and admit they made a mistake and move Law & Order and Law & Order: SVU back to 10 p.m. where they belong before they lose more viewers.”
L&O was doing terribly Wednesdays at 10 already.
SVU had the cushiest timeslot on the network and now that it actually has to find its own way it’s been exposed.
I would totaly watch a show where they whip ghosts called
“Ghost Whiperer”
(Just kidding, I can’t believe no one else caught that)
zeker, good catch. Fixed!
No worries, If a typo is your biggest problem then you are laughing.
But seriously, a show where they beat ghosts with whips would be entertaining.
Law & Order up. When I posted an earlier comment it said 6.6 (or at least i thought it did). Especially with that episode with the reality tv and Jim Gaffigan I think it could have a chance to get to 8 million soon. Hopefully it can get high enough that they put it to a better night.
Ugly Betty is just plain bad. Not even getting ratings on a night filled with lonely dateless people who you think would be fans.
and Theoacme I agree, its NOT one of ABC’s best shows, and never was. hello, LOST, Modern Family, which, FYI, did better in reruns in that same time slot the last few weeks, and many more that are wayyyy better.
I always thought the CW was the “Can’t Watch” network, but I like “Can’t Win”, too.
@Robert or Bill: do the DVD sales of a show have a big impact on deciding whether a show will get renewed or not? I don’t really know much about it and I trust you guys with stuff like this so any info would be appreciated.
I ask because quite a few shows that dropped in viewers this year had a surge in DVD sales for their last season.
Dvd sales can help but its a case by case situation. Example, if Medium sold well on DVD it likely wouldn’t have pushed NBC to keep it because CBS/Paramount produces the show, so NBC sees none of that DVD money. Good DVD sales may cause a production studio to cut a deal with a network for lower licensing fees, but it is probably rare. As it stands CBS picking up Medium had more to do with syndication $$$ than any likely DVD numbers, which are probably just average.
Don’t know if someone above mentioned this (Couldn’t be bothered to read all of it!), but why not have Leno only be four nights a week.
It works for The Daily Show/Colbert Report. In fact, I think it would help NBC a ton to have a 10pm scripted show going one night a week.
I think people are getting tired of Leno due in part to oversaturation. While that’s certainly not the only problem it has, it certainly might help to pull back, just a bit.
I love Ugly Betty, live in Brazil and always down to watch whenever they leave the subtitles … Did not want it to end this season! ‘ll Cry!
I’m glad Smallville is up – I think there wasn’t enough promotion on the move to fridays – i think people kept forgetting or didn’t know…
…I’m a little surprised on the low numbers for the ball game – especially NY & California!??
“L&O was doing terribly Wednesdays at 10 already.
SVU had the cushiest timeslot on the network and now that it actually has to find its own way it’s been exposed.”
The network has done itself in with the Jay Leno show. The show’s not funny, not only has ruined the prime time schedule, it’s had an adverse affect on network affiliates local news ratings and they aren’t liking it. NBC is too stubborn to admit they made a BIG mistake, but they need to be realistic. The Jay Leno show’s ratings have only one way to go, and it ain’t up. As ratings continually decline, they eventually pull the plug. The only question is: when? My guess is they’ll stick it out the entire season, but Jay won’t be back come next fall.
Just out of curiousity, I looked up the ratings two years ago.
This is from a Variety article dated 10-19-07, which is exactly two years ago today. This is for Friday night back then.
Ghost Whisperer 9.85 m, 2.9
Moonlight 7.90 m, 2.5
Numb3rs 9.94 m, 2.8
So, GW and Numb3rs have really fallen. Some might say they are aging, but the NCIS and CSI shows are as old as these are, too, and are hanging on. It does look like viewing is down all across the board for Friday evening in general, even worse than usual.
Wonder what CBS’ attitude is toward the current ratings on Friday. They are still on top, but, at least in the past, that didn’t figure into their decisions on shows when they compare all their shows to each other, and not how they do against the other networks, at least that is what I have gleaned from things said in discussion here.
Ugly Betty is such a wonderful show. It really is and it’s sad that the numbers have gone so low because even when the shows writing went dry, it always bounced back up just like this season 4 premiere.
But now I think, if and when ABC cancels Ugly Betty, what are they going to put there. NOTHING good will come from a Friday. They should move Betty to their “comedy wednesday” and kill off Eastwick or something.
I just hope ABC wasnt hoping for some suprise with good numbers on a Friday because that is never going to happen. Can ABC legally cancel the show midseason? Wasnt it already picked up for a full season in may? And dont they have a deal with Silvio Horta (the creator) that they have to air the show or something? I remember some article 2 years ago or so saying he signed some deal with ABC…
I think Betty will stay on the schedule even if the ratings are like that as a lot of the people said her for syndication purposes.
lainey, big drop indeed since they now struggle to even reach 2.0. I just hope the networks will not give up on Friday like Saturday.
Im incredibly happy for smallville, hopefully the viewers will rise.
My daughter adores Ugly Betty. So even if it gets cancelled, it will certainly show up in re-runs here anyway. It is a fine, decent show.