| Scoreboard |  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rating/Share: Adults 18-49 | 1.4/4 | 1.2/4 | 1.1/4 | 1.1/4 | 0.5/1 |
| Total Viewers (million) | 4.79 | 5.31 | 4.37 | 3.74 | 1.21 |
On a night filled with repeats and old movies, ABC ran an all original lineup and still could manage no better than a tie for third place with adults 18-49. 20/20 was the night’s top program in viewers (6.2 million) and adults 18-49 (1.6/5).
FOX actually won the night with adults 18-49 with the movie Ice Age Two: Meltdown, which won the 9pm hour outright. While it was a new episode of Ugly Betty last night, it still came in fourth place at 9pm. Sure, it did about as well as Supernanny, but it did worse than a repeat of The Jay Leno Show.
Even with a lineup of all repeats CBS had the most viewers for the night, and came in second with adults 18-49.
Full details:
| Time | Net | Show | 18-49 Rating/Share | Viewers (Millons) |
| 8:00 | CBS | Ghost Whisperer (R) | 1.3/4 | 5.63 |
| FOX | Movie: Ice Age Two: The Meltdown | 1.3/4 | 4.39 | |
| NBC | Movie: The 40 Year Old Virgin (R) | 1.2/4 | 3.90 | |
| ABC | Supernanny | 0.9/3 | 3.48 | |
| CW | Smallville (R) | 0.6/2 | 1.58 | |
| 9:00 | FOX | Movie: Ice Age Two: The Meltdown | 1.5/5 | 5.19 |
| NBC | Movie: The 40 Year Old Virgin (R) | 1.3/4 | 3.86 | |
| CBS | Medium (R) | 1.2/4 | 5.11 | |
| ABC | Ugly Betty | 0.9/3 | 3.39 | |
| CW | America’s Next Top Model (R) | 0.4/1 | 0.84 | |
| 10:00 | ABC | 20/20 | 1.6/5 | 6.25 |
| CBS | Numb3rs (R) | 1.1/3 | 5.19 | |
| NBC | The Jay Leno Show (R) | 1.0/3 | 3.48 |
=
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.
Stick a fork in Ugly Betty – she’s flatter than a foundered flounder…
…Jay beat Betty, eight to the bar
…and no one did well last night – with 20/20 doing Twilight last night, it being top was no real surprise…
…I wonder how Dollhouse would have done
I would expect a “hiatus” announcement for UB any day now.
Dollhouse would have done worse than Ice Age 2. The good news for the show’s fans is Dollhouse returns next week.
Yowtch! ABC fall down, go plop!
Ouch UB is becoming ABC’s Dollhouse. I know it was a holiday weekend but still. Those are really bad numbers.
betty hold on!!!!
…omg – I was first?!
Anyone watching the Bearcat – Illini game on ABC yesterday afternoon got a very entertaining game. I presume next week sometime for the ratings for that, Bill and Robert?
Someone said that their teenage daughter was at the theatre watching New Moon last weekend, and got bit on the neck by an older man – no wonder 20/20 did the vampire story yesterday…
…too bad John Stossel is not there any more – I would have paid $5 to see him do that story
Maybe Joss needs to incorporate Scrat into a Dollhouse episode – hint at a bit of bestiality, animal sacrifice, anything to get a 2.0 demo before JBF goes into mourning, so he can enjoy the wake
17 percent watching the broadcast nets last night – if I recall, not a terrible Friday night based on current trends…
…Bill, Robert, is there any way that you can post a tracking chart based on just that number – and do you have historical data conveniently at hand for this?
Maybe Betty was bad due to Thanksgiving…
Hopefully next week it’ll rise and ABC will air it Wednesdays at 10 in the spring.
Please!!!!
To be fair, though – I know some parts of the East Coast couldn’t even watch Ugly Betty because it was totally pre-empted. (Some people complained that they only saw an infomercial during the hour that UB was supposed to air.) So, do they factor this into the ratings at all? Because out of fairness, I think we should take that into consideration as to why UB did so poorly.
Granted, it was a Holiday weekend – but a 0.9 for a fresh episode is just BAD. I guess the chances of this show even being moved to Wednesday (let alone get a NEW season) are practically nil.
That was a really good episode of UB last night! Its a shame no one watched it.
Jason makes a good point. Do they figure in that Ugly Betty was pre-empted in some parts of the country? Because I couldn’t even see it!
You guys, it doesn’t matter that Ugly Betty was preempted in parts of the country. With or without a 0.9 on Thanksgiving weekend, Betty is dead. (Sorry to whoever is upset that it constantly needs to be pointed out, but as evidenced here, a lot of fans don’t seem to realize that yet!)
Jason, other than sports I don’t see ABC preempting UB especially for an infomercial. But to answer your question, these ratings are the fast overnights taking from what the numbers were for that hour on the network no matter what each affiliate was showing. Anything that was aired that preempted UB will get stripped out of the final numbers.
Oh, I see. Thanks for the explanation, Tommy. LOL, no, I’m not a fan who’s terribly sad about Ugly Betty’s demise. But I thought I would be fair for once and mention what I found out from other places. (Believe me, some people actually saw an infomercial.)
Thanks for saying it this time Julia, you’ll get all the heat for it this week
Theoacme: there is no way for us to easily compile that data.
As for any Ugly Betty pre-emptions, I’m not sure where it was pre-empted, but the way these overnight numbers work, whatever aired instead *is* counted in the numbers below, so it’s hard to blame THESE numbers on other stuff airing. If it drops to a .7 in the finals, you can then blame some of the difference between the .9 and the .7 on the pre-emptions, but there’s absolutely no way to look at the numbers other than that they are bad, regardless of the circumstances.
I taped UB and havent watched it yet but I find it a shame that ABC has tossed this show into the trash heap. UB is one of the Most Original and Freshest Shows to come on tv in years. It just puzzles me the treatment that ABC has given it. its almost as if ABC wants the show to die.
I wish ABC would just cancel the show and another network pick it up and it flourishes from there, that would be sweet justice(and yes , I know I am dreaming)
JG – I expect hiatus announcements for NBC, the CW, FOX Fridays, CBS Sundays, and ABC Saturdays after football, to be quietly announced in positively spun press releases within the next few weeks…
…as well as the hiatus of Nikki Finke
UB isn’t quite Dollhouse – it did have decent ratings once, and is still quite entertaining (particularly the snarky fashion reporter they use as a plot moving device – can you use his pic to headline another UB disaster week, guys?)…
…but I hear Celine Dion singing “Our Love Will Go On (To Starbucks For A Grossly Overpriced And Undersized Cup Of Highly Pretentious Coffee)” now, along with a shower of freshly shaved ice and some “glug-glug’s”, for UB now.
And what did Jay repeat? Maybe he should do a “Best-of” clip show on nights when he’s off?
OMG – ANTM doing ion audience levels? Maybe ion could buy the CW – I hear that the reserve price is just $6 million
Yeah i agree Ugly Betty was preemted over here in the DC/Maryland/VA area for a movie and also other parts of the East Coast i know they are showing it on Sunday @ 3pm in maryland do they take that into account. I know that this is deff. UB’s last season i just hope they get a full ride and dont get cup ala Eastwick
Bye, Betty!
Did they order a full 22 episode season? Oh gees. They could pull the plug now and just wait for the “new” episodes to hit syndication (like ‘Til Death…).
You know Ugly Betty is a dead show walking when a Jay Leno REPEAT beats it in both the demo and total viewers. I don’t see why ABC would consider moving UB to Wednesdays @ 10 with lousy numbers like that. AFV really needs to move from Sundays @ 7 so it can anchor ABC’s pathetic Friday nights.
jaz, ABC will most likely let UB finish it’s run. The writers should know by now that the show isn’t coming back next year so it’s on them if they don’t conclude the series. I don’t know what it’s episode order is for season 4, but I think it’s something like 18 episodes not a full 22.
Jay Leno repeated the show featuring Sandra Bullock.
How sad that some ABC affiliates thought they’d make more money showing infomercials than Ugly Betty. Again, quality is ancillary. Masterpiece Theater gets canceled with a sub-1 rating.
No network goes to the expense of producing a show in hopes it will die. That thinking is pure insanity. Definitely worth at least one space on a bingo card. UB sank last year and probably should have been canceled in May. ABC wanted some more episodes for syndication purposes. ABC also thought UB’s loyal, vocal audience would follow it to Friday. ABC was wrong.
Yeah, it was pre-empted in my area and I saw some infomercial. Crazy, right? They chose to air that instead of a new episode of UB. A-mazing.
wow it’s Betty vs. Dollhouse
Jason, a local preemption perhaps?
There’s ample precedent for that for some stations to preempt when something they think is objectionable is on – but it’s probably not as common for a ratings-challenged show to be preempted – or else Jay will be getting a 0.6 demo next spring, due to preemptions – look for “Ronco’s Regional Preemption Inventions” coming to an NBC affiliate near you
.
Robert – the Nielsen solution you had to submit to means that I can’t go back more than two weeks in the overnights posts, either – and one would think Nielsen would have no objection to archiving the scoreboard charts only…
…can I subscribe to just the overnights posts via email, or must I subscribe to the whole megilla? I know I can just subscribe to the overnights by RSS, but I still have to go get them that way, right?
At least I can roll my own that way, and be amazed by the decline and fall of the broadcast empire…
Ugly Betty was never going to move off of Fridays. ABC simply ordered more episodes for syndication to make more money. The ratings would have had to been over a 2.0 demo for ABC to order another season.
Black Friday
Alanis, Jason, may I ask what area you’re from?
I’m in Minneapolis (#15, if I recall) – and the ABC affiliate here, which is not an O&O, aired UB on schedule.
Wow that sucks but yeah, wasnt it black friday? ABC is just stupid. No one watches anything on a friday! And UB has been sooooooooooooooooooo good this year!
Hilary – another Bingo card space for rev 2.0
I don’t and have never watched a minute of Ugly Betty but what is going on with this show? Wasn’t it like the most loved show just a few years ago? All I saw for a while there was Betty love all over the net and in print…Did they change the show or something to make the fans not care anymore?
Wow this was not a good week for television at all. Wednesday was bad, Thursday had nothing and Fridays, well Fridays are always bad. And it must have been worse with Thanksgiving and Black Friday.
I saw UB last night and I live on the East Coast. It was a good episode. God I hate ABC. They are the dumbest network.
PeopleNeedInsectsNotPeople: In my opinion, what happened is this:
- the writers stike lost a lot of viewers when the show came back
- Season 3 didnt premiere with a good enough episode
- Half of Season 3’s writing was bland and not even funny. Thankfully it ended well in the finale
- there was a month or 2 in March/April where ABC put UB on hiatus to air Ssamantha who and in the motherhood in it’s place. That lost viewers.
- Of course, the move to fridays have really hurt Ugly Betty
Ask a silly question, Google, and pray, and sometimes the answer is yes
…RSS Popper, if you have MS Outlook, allows you to download RSS feeds by sections, or the whole megilla, automatically…
…but you have to use IE to subscribe to download for Outlook, by right-clicking the RSS feed icon in each section (if you only want a section), or at the homepage (if you want it all) – so they say…
…now, to wait until the next overnights, to see if it actually works
ABC should have aired their Shrek 3 movie this week instead of last week.
I’m not suprised everything was down, especially ABCs, because it was still the long weekend. People are out, people are with family, it was the shopping-crazy day – Black Friday. I think Ugly Betty will be back up next week. I’m confident of it. ABC really shouldnt have aired Shrek 3 last week. They should have aired a new Betty last week, put Shrek 3 here and then get back to Betty next week.
Yay! Go Ghost Whisperer! It’s a good rating for a repeat. I even think it’s better than the repeats last season!
As for Betty… there isn’t any sens of commenting her fate anymore. The show is doomed…
People, – CALM THE FRICK DOWN.
It was the long weekend and black friday. No one is going to watch TV. Everything will be back up next week.
I agree Greta. I had no clue that a new episode was coming. I looked at my DVR and saw it there. I don’t think it’s doomed just yet.
“Ugly Betty” was replaced by by infomericals in Baltimore, which is very unusual. College basketball ran in Little Rock. D.C., Tulsa, Omaha, Houston, and Tampa aired a movie.
“Supernanny” did run in Baltimore, but was replaced in Miami, Wichita, and Kingsport, TN by the “St Jude’s Research Hospital” charity show.
Ugly Betty moving to Wednesdays at 10. Are you kidding me? All these other shows like Flash Foward, Castle, V, Cougar Town, etc. are hovering around 2.4 and 3.1 with 7 to 11 million viewers and there’s constant discussion and doubt on whether they’ll be back next year, and the fact that this show (UB) with a .9 and 3 million viewers is even being discussed on network levels, syndication, another timeslot is absolutely unbelievable. No one should even type a single letter in regards to any show on ABC not being renewed until Ugly Betty is taken off the air. Obviously I’m not being literal, it is all about the numbers and we all have an opinion. I’m not bashing the show for I am not a watcher, but I am questioning it’s existence in this current ratings state. I think it’s wrong for ABC to pull anything from it’s lineup before axing UB. I can’t even recall another show doing this poorly on a first run against repeats. It should end immediately.
Ugly Betty’s on the air because more episodes needed to be produced to reach a syndication threshold, and for no other reason. I see almost no chance it gets removed from the ABC schedule early. And the only reason to move from Friday would be as a sacrifice to American Idol, but I think that’s unlikely too.
Joe, as for another show being pulled before Betty, Hank’s already gone, and it’s virtually certain that Eastwick will leave the air before Betty does.
Where are all the Smallville fans?
They aired the season 9 premiere episode…
Joe: I heard that Ugly Betty is more likely to move to Wednesday nights at 10 on ion, the CW, and/or NBC, than it is to move to Wednesday nights at 10 on ABC…
…well, at least it would likely improve ion’s and the CW’s audiences
JR: I’ve bookmarked that site – thanks! I expected Leno to be preempted by infomercials before Ugly Betty, though
…and Alec Mapa is the actor’s name I was looking for – the snarky fashion reporter on Betty (my new avatar, in case you still can’t place him)
Why is everyone so suprised? It was the day after thanksgiving, black friday and the long weekend. I didnt even watch it…I DVRed Ugly Betty and it was pretty damn good lol.
It’ll all be back up next week.
I remember just a few years ago Ugly Betty was THE water cooler show, and the next morning it was all people talked about on the radio. Oh, how the mighty fall.
It’s Thanksgiving weekend! Of course Ugly Betty did worse than usual. Go look at ABC’s Wednesday lineup and you can see how badly Modern Family did. It’s an off ratings week.
UB was preempted in DC for a movie, but so was the entire ABC lineup.
The repeat of Smallville beats Melrose Place !! =)
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Dredaful numbers for UB- but, would anything else pull outstanding numbers in that timeslot? What did the show in that slot last year pull?
Thing is, UB was never a ratings SMASH. It did Ok its first season (11.3m viewers average), and then dropped some in its second (9.4m)- but, it pulled decent demo ratings (3.7 and 3.1 its first two seasons). Overall viewership thn dropped to 8m last season, with thedemo dropping to a 2.8 average (still not terrible). Moving it to Fridays definitely meant that this was its last season.
A lot of people didnt watch Smallville last night because most of them saw it already when it aired in september and they might’ve had other plans.
To all Smallville Fans put this on ur calendar ASAP
Smallville returns Jan 22, 2010 with episode Disciple: (quick summmaries) An enemy from Oliver’s past returns known as the Dark Archer! Also Speedy (AKA Mia Oliver’s new sidekick returns)more information to come!
Warrior- Jan 29: The Sexy Zatanna will return and also Chloe has a new crush! More info to come!
Absolute Justice The Movie: The Justice Society comes to show the Justice League what it means to be a hero with Hawkman (Michael Shanks), Dr. Fate, Star girl, and more! Also Martian Manhunter returns and The villianous Amanda Waller (Pam Grier) comes to Smallville in a recurring role. More episodes and info will come
UB IS DONE!
ABC needs to change its Friday lineup bigtime. ABC should install a second comedy block there and rebuild TGIF behind Accidentally on Purpose.
Ouch….a repeat of Jay Leno beating you. That’s lower than low. Not a fan of the show but I hope for the people who are fans that this move to Wednesday does it some good.
This is really sad to see for such a loyal Ugly Betty fan. Just move it to Wednesdays, what could be worse than a 0.9?
aww for Betty, they shouldn’t have air a new episode this week.
And Leno had a repeat? That’s the first time right?
OpeningDayGuy09 – That would be a neat trick for ABC to take AOP off of CBS’ hands, when CBS Productions produces the show, and will cop all of the backend money…
…if it is good enough to renew on CBS, ABC won’t get a sniff at it…
…if not, would it do better than Surviving Suburbia when placed on Friday nights on ABC…
…and where would ABC get three more comedies – Jaleel White isn’t going to do Family Matters again.
Betty is safe until its run ends – and if it weren’t, all ABC needs to do is slot in Wife Swap, as they should have some episodes already in the can (especially the one following up with Balloon Boy’s crazy dad) – three other comedies plus AOP does not equal Supernanny plus either Betty or Swap.
ghost whisperer wasnt a rerun???
why the (r)?
“Betty is safe until its run ends”.
Really? With a .9 demo and over 3 million viewers? I know it was Black Friday but the 9pm competition consisted of movies and reruns. In other words, those numbers are frightening! Imagine if FOX aired a new Dollhouse last night and it got a similar demo. That would tell ABC that Betty needs to be saved for summer burnoff a la Duel.
I would make the following changes to ABC’s Friday night schedule:
8:00 – America’s Funniest Home Videos
9:00 – Supernanny (remaining episodes)/Wife Swap
karen, zap2it says: Ghost Whisperer Episode: Save Our Souls (First Aired: October 24, 2008) While on a romantic getaway with Jim, Melinda stumbles upon an angry ghost who haunts a newlywed couple.
JR, What did the show in that [UB's] slot last year pull? “Supernanny” was the show in that 9pm slot last year. Ed (spotup) has a nice site where has been putting up year-to-year demo comparisons. “UB” seems to be down 15-37% from “Supernanny.”
ABCHasProblems – Betty is on Death Row, and she’s not being taken to the gurney for the hot shot quite yet, so her organs can be properly prepped for transplant, and Cutter is spraying champagne all around the office…
…translation – since ABC has already decided that this season is the last for Betty, and it will have enough episodes for syndication after this season, and since ABC will make the back-end money from said syndication, and since AFV, if a repeat, won’t do better than Betty would in the ratings (better ROI for now, but AFV doesn’t have syndication, but Betty will have – that deal is done)…
…and if AFV’s first run gets moved from Sundays to Fridays, would it do worse on Fridays than Sundays, and what would ABC do from 7 to 8, as Extreme Makeover is a bit softer than previously, so would ABC stretch them to two hours? If not, what else do they have ready to go?
If the de facto announcement of Betty’s cancellation had not been made already, or Betty wasn’t that close to syndication territory, you may be right. But Cutter’s spraying champagne…
If you like Ugly Betty, the wake starts now on ABC – I’ll bring the mimosas, and you’ll know who my wife is, as she’ll be wearing a Betty-type shawl from season one…
…and if you don’t, she’ll be dead soon enough, then you can do the Bones chant, while dancing on her grave – “It’s worse than that, she’s dead, Jim, she’s dead, Jim!”
Since Castle proved to all of us this week that it can hold its own audience, it would do fine on Sundays at 8 after Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. They just need to move the latter show up to 7pm so it can anchor the night. I can guarantee you that another Samantha Who?-like cancellation won’t happen again if they move Castle away from Monday night.
ABC needs to slot True Beauty at 10pm after The Bachelor since it can’t hold its own like Castle. (Anyone remember the special Tuesday 10pm airing of True Beauty earlier in the year?)
Episodes of AFV from 2001-present are syndicated on local broadcast stations and WGN; ABC does make back-end money from that show. First-run episodes of AFV would do fine on Fridays at 8pm and would outrate Supernanny in the demo and total viewers, but having AFV as a lead-in wouldn’t do much for UB since it’s serialized. That’s why Supernanny and Wife Swap should share the post-AFV slot at 9pm.
I used to watch UB but I stopped, I kinda miss it sometimes but Oh well. I Cannot wait for Dollhouse to come back, OMG I freakin love it.
Also Why doesnt this site, post the Tv to dvd sales ratings anymore? I wanna see True Bloods DVD sales again, I bet there rising even more now with christmas coming up!!!
Not enough interest from readers to continue posting TV show DVD sales. You can find all the information at the-numbers.com
Betty is SO OVER…stop the bleeding and give us something good to watch….like a Shrek Christmas special!
TVMegaFan, so far TB sales are flat through early November. But recall the Numbers has a two-week delay. We’ll get post-Black Friday data a week from Tuesday I think (maybe the next week).
I foresee special after special on the broadcasters…
We get it ‘Ugly Betty’ is done, can we move on… but dont forget too that TVBTN pretty much got everything wrong last season regarding cancellations, so who really knows what’s going to happen?
tvmegafan – my guess is that the syndication revenues for AFV are rather small, but present, so to that extent, point well taken…
…however, WGN America’s ratings aren’t exactly in Monk territory – the only real advantage is that it can fill in anywhere at a moments’ notice…
…and a further example – Minneapolis has a MyNet, a CW, an ion (main + 3 subchannels), an independent station, as well as the usual network affiliates, with a total of two subchannels…
…KSTP (ABC) has one subchannel, KARE (NBC) has one, and WCCO (CBS) and KMSP (FOX) have none…
…and AFV is nowhere on the broadcast schedule here – in the #15 market in the country…
And also, why would the demo audience stay home to watch AFV on Fridays? I can’t think of a show recently that has improved its demos when moving to Fridays. Yes, AFV’s costs would be lower than Betty’s, but the demo loss won’t help…
IMO, if ABC cancels Betty now, it won’t likely help them at all, as they will also take a hit on Betty’s syndication.
Keith, Everything wrong? Au contraire, mon ami. I had a far better record than most. Particularly if you consider that I start making calls *one* week into the season. Most predictions come much, much later.
Betty’s done after this season. Get over it.
I say this every week. ABC was foolish to move “Ugly Betty” to Fridays instead of Wednesdays. I follow the show and had no idea that it was an original episode. I imagine others didn’t either.
The show deserves much better treatment from ABC.
Keith: You forget that the Index does not account for unexpected events, like a weather forecast does not account for a Martian death-ray evaporating the molten core of the earth – such as Jay Leno…
…and the Index is not a law, or a theory, but a hypothesis based on economically obtainable data. (Bill and Robert would likely happily accept donations of either the cash necessary to get more info from Nielsen, or the cash needed so they can improve Nielsen’s backup generator system as an in-kind quid pro quo to get the better data – but they would probably need high seven figures to fund the endowment needed.)
Since they cannot get many data categories that could help explain why FOX would renew Til Death (a huge ‘boink!’), but have noticed a relationship (however imperfect, there is a relationship) between demo ratings and cancellation/renewal prospects, why not just enjoy the ride, like I do…an “B” ticket ride, for free…
…they wouldn’t mind us clicking an ad banner once in a while, either
I think the only surprises last season were Dollhouse, Better Off Ted and Scrubs. Everything else was called correctly, if memory serves.
Theoacme, AFV is one of those shows like Bones that will find an audience on any day of the week. Last season’s unpromoted finale which aired on Friday, May 15th (and competed against the night’s #1 show–Farrah’s Story–in the 9pm hour) averaged a 1.6 demo from 8-10pm. That’s better than anything ABC has aired on Fridays since the Wife Swap/Supernanny combo from last year. With the lower ratings this season, I don’t see why ABC can’t move AFV to anchor Friday nights. EMHE would significantly improve the 7pm timeslot; and if Castle’s compatible with Find My Family, there’s no doubt it would be just as compatible with EMHE.
Keith – a simple illustration (hopefully, Bill, I get this right!):
If Betty started getting 3.0 demos from next week, the Index for Betty could:
a) improve, if all of ABC’s other shows improve less than Betty does,
b) worsen, if all of ABC’s other shows improve more than Betty does,
c) either improve or worsen, depending on the net effect of all of the changes to the demos of all of ABC’s shows, some of which may go up, some down, and some wander around like a drunken chicken in a tub of barbecue sauce (thank God I don’t have to figure that!)
Remember, the Renew/Cancel Index is based on the premise, “What if yesterday was the last day of the season, and the renewal decisions have to be made right now? Of course, now is too early for that final decision, but it indicates a trend…
…for instance, Betty is in County General, in the ER, and Gates and Rasgotra are trying to break the news to her gently – but they’ve got all the machines working, just in the (unlikely) case things get better for her…
…and if her sats (Index) gets over .80, as unlikely as that is, she may go orange, especially if someone at ABC says something positive about her…
…and if she makes .90, I hope Bill and Robert have a server load contingency plan…
…as I said before, the wake starts now on ABC – have a mimosa on me…
…and if Betty walks out like that supposedly dead, then misplaced, Luxembourgian soldier on M*A*S*H, give that girl a Blue Ribbon
It’s not proven, based on recent historical trends) that any show does reasonably well (that is, only decreases somewhat in the demo) when moved to Friday…
…just ask CBS about Medium (then again, syndication will play a part in any renewal decision there, as CBS produces the show).
It’s not proven that AFV will get the 2.2 demo it got two Sundays ago, or anywhere near that, if it moves to Fridays. Yes, it’s cheaper than dirt, but don’t forget the syndication issues with Betty will make Disney more money by airing the remaining episodes.
Is the .9 for Betty an outlier, or a huge negative trend? One data point does not a trend make – let’s see what happens next week…
..and she’s in hospice, I get that, I really do – can we please let her die in peace, not in pieces, before burying her?
My guess is no
ABC should just dump the remaining episodes of Ugly Betty on Saturdays after football is done. Have a three hour marathon for a couple weeks. They could also burn them off during Christmas week or something. Just bring back Wife Swap to 8pm to get a 1.4 demo, leading into Supernanny which will pull a 1.7 demo. 20/20 can then do a 2.0+ demo. Simple as that!
Can we add the following to the Bingo cards (if they aren’t already there)
1) Holiday (in this case, Thanksgiving)
2) Preemption or overruns or some other local shenanigans
3) The Renewal/Cancel index is flawed
Heh.
Hey Bill, I am over it, and if you read my post for content, you would know that, as I wrote “We get it ‘Ugly Betty’ is done, can we move on.” Okay, I’ll admit TVBTN didn’t get everything wrong BUT…TVBTN did get a lot of it wrong (the site admitted as much in posts last May after the upfronts). That was the point of the original post in the first place. You and I can’t know what the networks are going to do until next May. Maybe you should accept and get over that!
Calm the heck down people. All these numbers will be up next week. And I agree with you Keith, I love Ugly Betty but I am tired of every single post saying “it’s dead”. I know it’s dead and I’ve accepted it. Im just so tired of hearing it, we get it people.
saying UB is “dead” over this weeks outing is a bit ridiculous, im not saying the show will go on for another season but the predictions and feedback made here over this particular Friday is pretty silly… your talking about a horrible day to run an episode, much less a show that skews female and younger… obviously many viewers would ditch.
i didn’t even think a new UB would be on this week… personally, i think it was a lame choice on abc’s part to bother with all new episodes on their wednesday and friday lineups…
May all of you Iand ABC as well) look foolish when “Ugly Betty” is wisely moved to the Wednesday anchor slot and it’s numbers tick up to warrant a fifth season renewal.
You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.
http://twitter.com/SaveUglyBetty
ugly betty and eastwick should be put together and burned off within December,and abc should better order some new drama to take the place of ub and ew.
cougarman…a sick pun, “burn off” and “Eastwick”…
…but a wickedly funny one
They could order the new drama, “TV By The Numbers”, starring all of us
everything is all new Friday
It was thanksgiving weekend. Everybody went and slept.
I hate twilight with a passion. And I hate the twilight fans. 20/20 screwed up with the crap about the sparkly vampires.
VAMPIRES DIE IN SUNLIGHT NOT SPARKLE LIKE A FRUIT CAKE.
Just heard – UB is going to air after Lost!
@t brad
omg!!! thats amazing!!!
@GEORGE 11, check your humor detector, it may need new batteries.
well Brad I guess that the news I heard about it moving to FOX and getting a post Idol slot was wrong!
And i heard ABC is canceling every single show expscept Ugly Betty so they are basicly forcing people to watch it, they are that dedicated to the show.
By the way are there numbers for Legend of the Seekr 2 episode?
tom says at November 28, 2009 at 11:07 am:
“UB is one of the Most Original and Freshest Shows to come on tv in years.”
Considering it’s just a remake of a South American telenovela, that statement is hilarious. Congrats to you for defining “most original” with “remake.”
“It just puzzles me the treatment that ABC has given it. its almost as if ABC wants the show to die.”
Yes, it’s a time-honored strategy to pursue poor ratings intentionally in attempt to cancel TV shows.
This is similar to the stock investor’s time-honored strategy of purchasing the stock of a corporation that the investor does not like in the hope that the share price will go down (preferably to a few cents and be deregistered and traded on the pink sheets) and the corporation will go bankrupt.
All of this makes perfect sense.
To morons.
Bye Bye Betty
Tv show DVD sale stats are interesting
sure as he’ll more interesting than cable news ratings
I agree that the rerun profits is why Ugly Betty is still on, but could there be other reasons?
Simply nothing else to put on? To keep Selma Hayek happy? Have a culturally diverse program on that appeals to Latin Americans?
Nah…It’s all about the money in reruns. Even Disney is that basic.
I’m not a UB fan whatsoever – just wanted to see what’s going on with the discussion over here.
And I have to say…Keith does make one good point: TVBTN has been good with predictions in the past, but not 100% perfect. So, no need to have delusions of grandeur over here. You guys are still human like the rest of us.
Or maybe Bill and Richard are from Pluto.
A few days old, and possibly of dubious accuracy, about Leno’s recovery: http://www.thrfeed.com/2009/11/jay-leno-show-halts-ratings-slide.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+live_feed+%28The+Hollywood+Reporter+-+The+Live+Feed%29
“For the past 11 episodes in a row, Leno’s program has either maintained or improved its adult demo rating compared to the previous week. Often, “Leno Show” has increased despite a declining lead-in as the holidays approach. And last week was Leno’s most-watched since mid-October.
The shift might represent a turning point for the industry-polarizing series, or at least signal that the show has managed to quit shedding viewers.
Leno is either finding strength amid a weakened playing field, or is discovering his groove.”
j, I think that was a good observation (by the live feed) about the 11 days of stable or increasing ratings for Leno, but like a lot of posts I make, it’s useful mainly as a discussion starter, I don’t think that 11 day “trend” is conclusive of anything really.
However, we are about to enter a new period for the Jay Leno Show. One when it will be against repeat or special (often weak) broadcast competition night in and night out for an extended period of time. The ratings in this period will perhaps be instructive as to his potential future prospects.
Those are dreadful numbers for Ugly Betty. I haven’t watched that show since its first year on the air. To me it started out great and then went downhill.
Betty is dead.
Here’s to hoping it at least gets to finish its run.
…Although to be honest, I’m surprised it got a fourth season in the first place.
aww this is so sad. I have been watching Ugly Betty since day one and honestly the writers are delivering what us UB fans like. I hated that ABC moved UB to Friday night. I remember when UB and Greys Anatomy came on Thursdays they were a powerhouse. UB has more competition on Fridays. Don’t cancel the show.
Friday is a weak night as it is and who would expect it to be any better on a holiday weekend? None of these shows did well.
This is likely how Betty would have done had ABC left it on Fridays when it premiered in the 2006-2007 season but they were lucky Betty got moved. I had originally thought that Betty may be saved but this confirms that along with Lost, Betty is doen after May. Once those two end the only definite dramas left for 2010-2011 are Desperate Housewives, Grey’s Anatomy, Brothers & Sisters, and Private Practice. Forgotten and Eastwick are gone while Flashforward, Castle and V could go either way. In terms of returning Id say in petrcent
Castle – 60%
V – 50%
FlashForward – 20%
The Forgotten – 5%
In contrast the comedies have a much better chance
Modern Family 100%
Cougar Town 75%
The Middle 50%
Chuck Tranberg – Yeah but remember all of the other series on were either repeats or movies so they already expected not to do well. A new Betty episode coming in fourth to all of these reruns is not good, even for a friday. Airing after Supernanny didnt help much but its definitely the end of the road for the 4 year series.
You can say “It was a holiday weekend, what did you expect?” all you want, but the fact remains that it was beaten by a REPEAT of JAY LENO. It was the exact same “holiday weekend” for him, too, people. Leno shouldn’t be beating reruns much less new episodes.
Personally I never quite “understood” the Betty phenomenon; Tried, but it never worked for me.
Harold, you are absolutely right. Ugly Betty is a remake of popular Colombian soap “Betty la Fea”. In Latin America, soaps are not like U.S. soups which last 60 years… nor they are series with “seasons”.
Betty La Fea was a daily show, monday to Friday, which lasted little less than a year. It was popular because of the phenomenon, ugly girl making it to the fashion biz, then the transformation, then the love for the boss, etc. It was a HIT!
I watched Ugly Betty and the 1st season was amazing, but what happened is that viewers simply got bored. 4 years and Betty is still ugly. No change, no closure, the same storylines over and over. Betty la Fea was never meant to last 1 year, let alone 4. There’s so much you can do with that storyline, and that is why most of the audience already left.
Have Betty get a complete makeover and declare her love for Daniel, that should bring 0.8 more viewers back LOL and then close this show!
hollywood reporter says Betty is moving to wednesdays