Ratings Clack – A Dollhouse drop makes things interesting

(2/15 – 2/21)

Ya know, it would be great if I could sit down to my beloved Model M keyboard and type about the fantastic ratings that Dollhouse was getting. 10 million viewers… a demo in the 4s… already picked up for the fall… Great, but probably not as interesting as the actual numbers are turning out to be. Despite CBS being in repeat mode Friday night, Dollhouse still suffered the expected week 2 decline. And those lower numbers make the whole situation all the more dramatic. They make the coming week feel very much like the one that just passed. The numbers really need to go up, the sooner the better. Elsewhere, good news for The Bachelor and Lost, bad news for Chuck and Heroes, and some puzzling results for the OG CSI.

FOX - It is a little odd for a show which can’t manage 5 million viewers to be dominating the conversation, but that’s what we’ve seen over the last few days with Dollhouse (4.22m/1.7). It is the most interesting ratings story at the moment, because it is right on the edge of success and failure. Those numbers put it third in its timeslot for viewers, and tied for second, with a repeat Flashpoint, in the demo. Not horrible, but not exactly confidence inspiring either. On the positive side, it certainly seems that most people thought episode two was an improvement over the premiere. We’ll have to wait to see whether or not that leads to growth in week three, but another drop would be very bad.

The other half of the new FOX Friday didn’t fair any better, as Terminator:TSCC (3.71m/1.4) (3.84m/1.3) made a slight gain in viewers, but suffered a drop in the demo as well. That is horrible, and made for quite the down note at the end of what was a pretty good week for the network, with House (14.19m/5.2) and 24 (11.22m/3.6) winning Monday, Idol dominating Tuesday (25.37m/8.8) and Wednesday (24.79m/9), and Bones (9.51m/2.9) and Hell’s Kitchen (6.57m/3.2) giving Thursday a spark it hasn’t had in a long while. Lie To Me (11.09m/4.1) is cause for a bit of concern, as it’s keeping less and less of the Idol audience, and lost outright to Lost this week.

ABC - The news was mostly good for the network this week. Desperate Housewives (14.01m/4.9) is down a bit over the course of the season, but still easily wins Sundays. On Monday, The Bachelor (12.52m/4.4), yet again, improved it’s numbers.  Wednesday, Lost (11.41m/5.2) rebounded very nicely without having to face Idol. On Thursday, Grey’s Anatomy (15.57m/5.9) did land second, to CSI, in total viewers, but also widened the gap in the demo. And Private Practice (11.16m/4.4) slipped a little as the big crossover wound up, but those are still better numbers than anything else that has followed Grey’s this year. On Friday, while I usually ignore it, it’s worth mentioning that Supernanny (5.25m/1.8) topped Dollhouse in viewers and demo. The news wasn’t so good for Life On Mars (5.47m/2). The boost for Lost helped lift Mars slightly over last week, but it is still well below where it needs to be.

CBS - The Amazing Race (9.19m/2.6) kicked off the week with a decent, if not spectacular, premiere. Paired with Cold Case (10.89m/2.4) and The Unit (8.36m/2.2) the CBS Sunday is a solid performer that just doesn’t get much press. With a Monday full of repeats, the bigger news was on Tuesday, as NCIS (18.06m/3.7) and The Mentalist (18.23m/3.7) show only the smallest of drops when facing Idol. Criminal Minds (14.54m/3.5), like Lost, benefitted from not facing Idol this week. Thursday brought the usual win for Survivor (13.59m/4.5), and what looks to be an interesting number to watch from CSI (16.92m/4.4). It still managed to win the night in viewers, but that 4.4 demo is the lowest of any new episode this season. Is it an anomaly, or is this the delayed effect of no longer having Grissom?

NBC – The good news was harder to come by for the peacock. Things got off to a rough start as nobody bothered to tune in for the conclusion to XIII (4.26m/1). Monday didn’t exactly help, as Chuck (6.83m/2.3) and Heroes (7.74m/3.6) were both down. Knight Rider (5.31m/1.5) and Life (5.04m/1.5) continue to struggle on Wednesday. With no new Office or 30 Rock, My Name Is Earl (6.79m/3.6) was the most watched of the Thursday comedies, while the improved Private Practice numbers dropped ER (7.51m/2.7) to third at 10.  And Friday Night Lights (3.93m/1.4), those numbers are just sad.

There were a couple bright spots. Medium (8.97m/2.8) actually had more viewers than Heroes, and is easily the best thing in that slot this season. The Biggest Loser (8.88m/3.6) took a bit of a hit from the two hour Idol competition, but continues to make Tuesday night a success when paired with L&O:SVU (9.48m/3.4)

CW – The little network didn’t even try this week, so I’ll just use this space to point anyone that missed it to the news that Ken Griffey Jr. signed with the Mariners! I know, you can’t recapture those old glories, but it’s still a great story, and is going to add so much to what was looking to be a rather long and bland season.

Numbers to watch for the coming week include the oddball faceoff of NASCAR being up against The Oscars. Chuck and Heroes will get another shot with a night of repeats from CBS. Idol shifts performance night to Wednesday, which probably means the roller coaster ride continues for Lost. That shift also means that the results show will go head to head with Survivor, and by go head to head I mean crush. The fun bit will be seeing how Survivor holds up. And, of course, Terminator and Dollhouse will try, try, again to raise the numbers on Friday. CBS is all new, which doesn’t make the task any easier.

Clacked by Brett Love
on Feb 23, 2009 @ 15:00 EST5EDT