Glad to see that Gary Unmarried and Old Christine are keeping most of what little audience they have. Interesting that after twenty years the Simpsons are still going strong.

CSI 4.3? how u count this?
(4.1+4.1+3.5+3.6)/4=3.8
also, NCIS 4.6, Family Guy 5.0 and more more more…

Andrei, you’re right! not sure how that happened. Fixing.

Is Gary Unmarried supposed to be even or down 2%?

Error Update: I copied and pasted some wrong numbers in the table earlier, and several shows initially had incorrect average ratings. Although there were no big changes in the order, after correction, Desperate Housewives’ ratings fall turns out to be greater than Ghost Whisperer’s.

Julia, bah, the two years numbers had two different rounding conventions that caused that discrepancy. I will round everything to a single digit.

Now fixed.

I don’t understant why CBS keeps bringing back Old Christine. Is someone getting blackmailed?

CSI’s writers have run out of ideas. It’s the same old, same old. It was my favorite in its first few seasons. I watched it again recently and can’t believe how much has not changed.

Perhaps Medium is having a negative effect on Ghost Whisperer, which is a copycat version of Medium to begin with. Medium began in January as a mid-season show on NBC. The following September, Paramount knocked off a similar version for CBS. NBC must have been overjoyed.

Huh, I didn’t even notice Ghost being down. Is it maybe because people who don’t want to watch 2 shows on the same night about a woman who talks to ghosts to solve crimes choose either Medium or Whisperer? It does help the look of Numbers’ #’s though. And Desperate’s plunge helps Grey’s look better. It’ll be interesting indeed if more people come to Lost thanks to its being in its last season and edges ahead of Housewives…not that that would be all that helpful as it’ll be over in May, but something to watch all the same.

The CSI up/NCIS down trend is quite interesting.

Oh, I just saw the part about “same timeslot” since I know SVU & Heroes are both down.

Thanks for putting this together, interesting to look at this way.

90210 and CSI leading doesn’t shock me, 90210 started strong due to curiosity and original cast members starring and then quickly faded last season. CSI hadn’t lost Grissom yet so their ratings plunge hadn’t started yet at this time last year.

Was a bit surprised at OTH and GG being down that much, especially since Hill seems to always manage to stick around on the CW season after season. I thought that was more stable.

NCIS is absolutely defying all normal laws of tv physics! I knew it was up, but not by 24% and in season 7. CBS must be ecstatic!

I also think it’s interesting that all 5 of the shows down >20% are (right now anyway) solidly likely to return next season, so good thing they either had a high starting point and/or are on a network that overall is down significantly year over year.

u count family guy’ repeat in the table =)

Andrei, you’re correct, but I meant to do that! There *may* have been repeats in the averages from last season as well. I’m not going to go back and check all 4 weeks worth

I will add a note above.

this is great. Shows I dislike are down and shows I like are up! the only exeption being the office.

Kozy writes, “NBC must have been overjoyed.”

Kelsey Grammer certainly was. CBS turned “Medium” down cold the first time around.

90210 started strong last season then dropped like crazy. Now the show is pretty stable. One Tree Hill got rid of Chad Michael Murray, which is why the ratings for One Tree Hill are down, which brought Gossip Girl down with it.

CBS’ CSIs are getting old now but NCIS is getting stronger. Im sure there will be another NCIS spinoff next year or 2.

WOW CSI has really gone down a lot.

I’m interested in how the returning shows that moved are doing too. It would seem that Fox made an overall good decision moving Fringe and what all since their average is up — but Fringe itself is down just as much (or more) as some of these.
And the CW – I just don’t get what they do or why they do it.

hows medium doing compared to last year

The photographer is Chris Jordan.

http://matadorchange.com/intolerable-beauty-chris-jordan-photographs-american-mass-consumption/comment-page-1/

Where’s Smallville or is this just compared to same day and night from previous season.

I’m also interested in the new year when 24, LOST, IDOL come back.
But i’m guessing it won’t change much, but these shows are as close to much see tv as it gets. Instead of the procedural stuff.

I think this table should be a weekly (or at least monthly) addition…assuming it is not too trying to put together.

Mike, it’s interesting, but I don’t think it would be that interesting on a regular basis since it’s unlikely to change that much from week to week. Plus, the different numbers of repeats per show will begin to muddy things up a lot.

However, I will do it again at least one more time this season.

It will be interesting to see if IDOL keeps dooming or gets better with change ABDUL-DEGENERES

[...] Tree Hill and 90210 are both down more than 20 percent in the 18-49 adult demographic since last [...]

While Desperate Housewives is down, it’s hardly doing bad. Weren’t you the one saying down is the new up?

I’m loving Desperate Housewives this season but last season was TERRIBLE, so I’m not surprised they’ve dropped off this season. I think they’ll work their way up as the season progresses, though.

How come Smallville isn’t on the list? I expect it to also go up as the season goes on, but I was under the impression that it dropped substantially from last year.

I’m not too surprised with OTH and Supernatural dropping – I’m actually enjoying both atm (Even with the loss of Hilary/Chad from OTH), but wouldn’t be surprised if they continue to drop.

Desperate Housewives jumped the shark when of it’s characters died I think.

Desperate Housewives jumped the shark in its second season with the Alfre Woodard story and kept jumping (Katherine’s Russian adopted daughter, Orson’s crazy mama and ex-wife, Dave so obviously being the widower of the woman Susan killed).

I barely tuned back in last season because of the critical acclaim, mainly from Entertainment Weekly, but this year I haven’t bothered to watch it at all and from the promos I’ve seen during ABC’s good shows (Grey’s, Flashforward, Modern Family), DH doesn’t look like it’s improved.

“Although I realize the CW targets primarily women 18-34, I don’t have access to ratings averages in that demo”

I really like your site and your articles generally, but if you lack the most important information about the CW, then I don’t understand why you opinine on the subject of the CW’s ratings.

It’s like saying “I am uninformed on the subject, but I’m going to tell you what I think anyway.” It’s hurting your credibility in my book.

numbers fan, those CW shows are down in the adults 18-49 demo ratings. Whether that is the most prized demo for the CW or not doesn’t change those facts. In this case, creating a special table, and explaining why it’s different for the CW is just way too much work for the results.

So CSI: Miami is now the highest-rated of that franchise (so far this season anyway)? Yikes

On One Tree Hill they had to know it would suck in ratings this season. Getting rid of lead male and female does that to a show.

people surprise me. Desperate Housewives is great every year. Last year it had some of the BEST episodes ever (e.g mirror, mirrror, 100th ep and Edie’s farewell ep). However, some years are better than others and this year looks great (so far).

I hope the numbers increase for Desperate Housewives, it may even end next season as the contract is up. Its a far better show than flashfwd, grey’s and even house.

Not surprised CSI is down so much. I faithfully watched every episode until this year. I tried, but just couldn’t seem to make it through the episodes. Plus there is just too much on at 9 on Thursdays. Something had to go.

but yet they will be back next seaon!

what about Total Viewers instead of Adults 18-35 or 18-49.Im interested to see what shows have kept their Total Viewers Bill?

Connor, I’m interested in someone else calculating those averages, but not me!

Total viewership is useful for PR boasting only. Not worth the effort.

DH is fine, but i’m not liking the new neighbours this year, so far.

One Tree Hill is doing good in ratings this season all considering. The show lost two important main lead characters, got put into a new time slot, and is up against tough competition. Not to mention the CW as a network is down on a whole this season in general. All of the CW shows(accept new show VD) are down and are not garnering the ratings they used to. One Tree Hill has still been able to garner good and stable ratings & demos. One Tree Hill has always been a stable mainstay for the network to count on and I especially see it this year when the network is faltering. I think the CW has much more to worry about with its other new and old shows that have tanked, are tanking, and are showing corrosion.

As a fan of OTH, it was obvious it would drop, I might have actually expected a bigger drop in ratings but I’m glad OTH is so stable this season, and the season has been pretty freakin’ great so far. Smallville/Supernatural & OTH forever! CW’s newbie shows are pretty horrible.. respect to VD though, Vampires arent my thing, but it’s nice to see a new CW show get high ratings like that.

CW — Promote OTH a little more, ratings will bounce back up.

Wow, I never thought I’d see the mighty CSI this low. Even CSI: Miami is doing better than it.

SteveS writes, “I barely tuned back in last season because of the critical acclaim, mainly from Entertainment Weekly, but this year I haven’t bothered to watch it at all and from the promos I’ve seen during ABC’s good shows (Grey’s, Flashforward, Modern Family), DH doesn’t look like it’s improved.”

DH has really improved since last season. Most fans are saying that and they’re loving the new season. It feels different than last season and great different. It’s darker, the mystery is MUCH better than last year’s, it’s still really funny. Plus, the writing and acting are very sharp.

IMO, the ratings for DH will improve eventually. And the ratings for it now are not that bad, really. The show is in it’s sixth season and it’s still getting above 10 million. If the quality of the show improves even more, then the ratings will defiantly raise, hopefully.

thanks for the report. I love this website.

CW

At the start of the last season the CW was doing a lot better then it is now!!!

Smallville over 4 million
ANTM over 4 million
Supernatural around 3.8 million
Gossip girl/ OTH / 90210 all around 3.5 million

By January of this year all the CW shows were getting the same ratings they are now! i dont jnow why they droped over 3 months??

But you cant blame characters leaving in One Tree Hill on the ratings when they have been the same for months

you guys are you neagtive towards stuff just sit back and enjoy tv

A couple of my entries last Tuesday were so riddled with typoes nobody had to pay any attention to what I actually said. The numbers above TEND to bear it out: ABC and sometimes the other nets have taken the 18-49 demo for granted and in their paternalistic way have acted like women 18-49 are morons who are supposed to like nothing except endless variations of Sex in the City. ( most of them don’t even care about the male 18-49 demo and just robotically program every kind of so-called athlertic contest imaginable) Sex in the City to some extent, and and almost all of its clones to a greater extent, have always been media-generated sensations and not huge ratings successes. Writers and producers who give women credit for having difficult, interesting professional careers – women outnumber men on college campuses, and will eventually stand toe to toe with them in all the white collar professions – will be rewarded. I don’t like GA or PP – I also didn’t like ER or Marcus Welby, for that matter. But GA shows professional women ( albeit acting in often totally absurd and unprofessional ways.)

[...] 90210 might be on a ‘creative upswing’ this season, but it might be a case of too little too late as it is among many shows that are suffering from massive viewership loss this season. (TV by the Numbers) [...]

Tangentially related, EW’s Ausiello’s picks:
Most improved – Parks & Recreation, 90210
Most declined – SNL [All 3 are down, I believe?]
Best new – Modern Family & Vampire Diaries [Each a MVP for its network.]
Worst – Hank & Forgotten [Each an epic fail for its net.]

j, I assume that Ausiello list is some sort of assessment of the “quality” of the shows? It can’t have been ratings.

[...] TVbytheNumbers, the best TV blog on the Internets, has published a chart on the returning fall shows that aren’t doing so well, and the few that are (Fox is up, the [...]

oth had its timeslot changed and lost their 2 lead actors plus its in its 7th season, what can you expect

[...] watch. That whole ghosts-of-girlfriends-past thing that Clay is dealing with is weak, anyway. The ratings are down from last season (2.54 million vs. 2.8 million). The thrill is gone. And the show hasn’t even [...]

[...] watch. That whole ghosts-of-girlfriends-past thing that Clay is dealing with is weak, anyway. The ratings are down from last season (2.54 million vs. 2.8 million). The thrill is gone. And the show hasn’t even [...]

One tree hill is doing amazing considering it is in it’s 7th season, it has faced multiple time-slot changes & recently the 2 protagonists have left the show. Further to that it has been placed in the time-slot before gossip girl against harsher to protect gossip girl in the ratings because it was doing so bad. Gossip girl is in it’s 3rd season and one tree hill is protecting it? Go figure.