Chuck returns to NBC with a special two hour  airing on Sunday January 10, 2010 from 9p-11p before returning to its regular time slot, Mondays at 8pm on the following night.

As expected Heroes will shift back to 9pm following a two hour block between 8p-10p on January 4.

Chuck Returns (Video Message from Zach + A Clip from Season 3)

Maureen Ryan has more details on what to expect for Chuck in season 3.

Here’s the press release from NBC:

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Update 3:25p: a big fat TOLDJA! coming soon from Nikki Finke!  James Hibberd reports NBC has ordered 3 more episodes of Trauma.

Update 3:50p: Thanks to E! Online/Watch With Kristen’s Jennifer Godwin  for alerting me that it’s 3 additional hours, not four.

original post:

We’ll probably have to wait for the mid-season schedule announcements or some official word from NBC, but Nikki Finke is reporting that NBC will order additional episodes of Trauma (and that all the reports on blogs that it wouldn’t order more episodes were wrong!).

Finke cites improving ratings as the reason more episodes will be ordered, but if the rumor is true, it seems way more likely that NBC would order additional episodes only due to lack of bench strength and desperation.   The show reportedly costs a lot to make, and the recent ratings improvements have been small, rather than “wow, where did THOSE ratings come from?” 

In fact, the only ratings improvements we have seen have been in preliminary numbers which, when finalized showed no ratings improvements.  Monday night’s Trauma scored a 1.8 adults 18-49 rating in the preliminary numbers, and a 1.8 in the finals.  It’s better than a 1.7, but…

Stay tuned…

Update: on the point of lack of bench strength the commenters are speculating that any additional episode order for Trauma can only mean bad things for Parenthood (though with only 3 extra hours being ordered it doesn’t seem likely it has much to do with Parenthood).

Season To Date Ratings

While ABC’s adults 18-49 ratings win for the week chipped away at Fox’s season to date lead, if Fox continues to place a close second it will easily hang onto the seasonal lead until American Idol and 24 arrive and its annual spring ratings beatdowns resume.

Fox continued to stretch its season lead in adults 18-34. This season is shaping up to be a huge margin of victory for them in that demo. CBS increased its 25-54 lead over Fox, but ABC closed the gap between them and CBS ever so slightly. In average viewership, CBS increased its lead over ABC by the tiniest of margins. No reason to believe they will not win that category again this season.

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Last week’s ninety minute episosde of Sons of Anarchy was again the #1 scripted show on cable with adults 18-49, and came in third overall with 18-49 year olds  (behind the Steelers-Broncos on Monday Night Football and the Sportscenter on ESPN that followed the game).

SOA bested the Thursday night NFL game with adults 18-49: 2.503 million vs. 2.234.

With adults 18-34 (1.31 million), SOA came in sixth for the week on cable behind Steelers-Broncos (4.028M), South Park (1.470M),  The Hills (1.407M), the aforementioned Sportscenter (1.39M) and UFC: 105 (1.364M).

Last May’s multi-day Nielsen ratings delay motivated a haiku contest. Not sure if this delay will last that long (no more information till Wednesday AM at the earliest), but composing haiku can be quite calming.

Three Rivers still on,
despite terrible ratings,
It’s the accountants.

Go for it.

After finishing fourth among the four cable news networks for October,  in the LA Times CNN chief Jon Klein says he’s in a completely different business than Fox News and MSNBC and shouldn’t be compared to them:

“No one expected us to deliver the same numbers this year as we did during the election,” Klein said this week.

Still, after crowing about its ratings victories last year, CNN is now in the awkward position of trying to explain why its declining audience is not an issue.

“We are not going to try to boost numbers during fallow news periods by running cartoons, as our competitors do,” Klein said. “We’re going to cover the news and we’ll attract an ever more loyal audience as the result of it.”

“They are in a completely different business than we are,” he added. “We are not putting out the same product as they are. And we shouldn’t be compared to them on that account.”

Rival executives scoff at that assertion. Newscasts dominate the daytime lineup of MSNBC and Fox News, whose Bret Baier and Shepard Smith anchor news programs that ranked among the top five most-watched cable shows in October.

“Jon’s correct: It’s unfair to compare CNN to Fox News,” said Fox News spokeswoman Dana Klinghoffer. “Based on his network’s dismal ratings, it’s more accurate to compare CNN to the G4 channel.”

So, if CNN’s not to be compared to the cable news networks that are beating it in the ratings, who are its current ratings peers?

During Primetime in October (Live+SD):

Average Viewership (000s)

-
Adults 25-54 (000s)

-
During Total Day  in October (Live+SD):

Average Viewership (000s)

Adults 25-54 (000s)

-
While it continues to not be clear who Jon Klein wants to be compared to, the networks above were CNN’s ratings peers in October.

via Showtime release:

MEDIA ALERT

NURSE JACKIE RETURNS EARLY TO SHOWTIME MARCH 22

PAIRED WITH EMMY®-WINNING UNITED STATES OF TARA

TWILIGHT TO PREMIERE JANUARY 23; FINAL SEASON OF THE TUDORS

AND OTHER SERIES PREMIERE DATES ANNOUNCED

SHOWTIME has announced the air dates for some its highly-anticipated programming for first and second quarter 2010.  Highlighting the new schedule will be a Monday comedy block pairing of the second season of SHOWTIME’s acclaimed Nurse Jackie starring Emmy® award-winner Edie Falco leading into the second season of United States of Tara showcasing Toni Collette in her Emmy® award-winning title role. Nurse Jackie will premiere on Monday, March 22 at 10:00 PM ET/PT followed by United States of Tara at 10:30 PM ET/PT.

Read the full story

The Washington Post reports that so far this season NFL TV ratings are up:

TV ratings for NFL games this season are up 15 percent from last season and are at a 20-year high for this point in a season; average television viewership is 17.2 million per game, according to the league.

[...]

Ratings for NFL games this season are up 20 percent on NBC, 19 percent on Fox, 4 percent on CBS and 18 percent on ESPN, according to the league.

But following a trend we see too often in the TV media (maybe in other media that I don’t read too); they try an make a cause and effect connection to the recession, with no supporting data.

“I think there’s only one answer and that is the NFL and television are actually getting the so-called ‘benefit’ of the recession,” said Neal Pilson, the former president of CBS Sports who now runs a television consulting firm, Pilson Communications. “I think people are making conscious decisions that their entertainment dollars are best spent watching NFL games free on their television sets on Sunday afternoon and Sunday night and Monday night.”

But there is no data to back that up. The Post even presents alternative, and to me more compelling reasons:

“These numbers would not be where they are if big-market teams were not doing what they’re doing, if there were not compelling story lines, if the broadcast elements weren’t what they are,” Carter said by telephone. “People aren’t just sitting down and watching anything and everything on TV. The NFL is doing something right to keep these viewers engaged.”

I don’t think the NFL is uniquely “doing something right” this season more than they ever do (unless you subscribe to Michael Wilbon’s theory that shackling defenses has made them impotent), but they’ve got some compelling stories this season like Favre to Minnesota and multiple unbeaten teams late into the season. But saying, “Interesting matchups and another Favre comeback drive NFL ratings” wasn’t the story WaPo wanted to write!