You don’t see that everyday. Last week, American Idol finished #3 in viewers behind NCAA basketball and Dancing With The Stars. That’s not really bad news though, because it was also #4 in viewers, and was #2 and #3 in the demo. So, things are still just fine for the singing kids. It’s just strange to see, so I’m officially downgrading Idol from juggernaut to powerhouse. Elsewhere, it was another week of ups and downs.
CBS - I’m a huge sports fan. Just not a fan of the types of sports most people watch. That was evidenced again this week as I had to watch NCAA’s #1 and #2 softball teams play on UWTV (the local college station, in standard def), while 24 million people got to watch the NCAA Basketball Championship (23.94m/8.2) in glorious HD on a major network. That was a big win for CBS on Monday, which also included Rules Of Engagement (7.04m/2.6).
The big game came on the heels of a down, but still successful, Sunday featuring Amazing Race (9.12m/2.8), Undercover Boss (13.18m/4), and Cold Case (10.1m/2.3). Numbers were down on Tuesday as well, but NCIS (16.45m/3.5) and NCIS:LA (13.79m/3) still looked alright. The Good Wife (12.06m/2.3) did win the hour in viewers, but landed in last place with the demo. Wednesday, Old Christine (5.97m/1.6) and Accidentally On Purpose (6.04m/1.9) continued to suggest that the Wednesday comedy block has failed. In better news, Criminal Minds (12.7m/3.5) looked solid against Idol. Unfortunately, CSI:NY (10.64m/2.4) seems to be feeling the heat from SVU.
Thursday was very good news. Survivor (12.38m/3.8) was back up, and after the time slot shenanigans last week, so were CSI (14.97m/3.4) and The Mentalist (16.32m/3.5). More gains were had on Friday for Ghost Whisperer (6.58m/1.5) and Medium (7.46m/1.7), but both are still off the early season pace. Despite those gains, Miami Medical (7.13m/1.4) still suffered a second week drop.
ABC - Dancing With The Stars was down, but still looking very good on Monday (21.21m/5.1). The same could be said of Castle (11.7m/2.9). On the other hand, the Tuesday (12.44m/2.5) edition of DWTS is taking a bit of a hit from all the reality competition. That doesn’t matter to Lost (9.55m/3.9) though. The show has a built-in audience. What might be troubling though, are the numbers for V (5.79m/2.4). For comparison, last season at this time The Unusuals (6.83m/2.1) was following Lost.
Thursday, FlashForward (5.42m/1.6) had a small rebound. But it’s still a rebound that left it tied in the demo with Vampire Diaries on CW. And if a big network show can’t beat a CW show… The week finished off with Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution (4.72m/1.6) and 20/20 (4.83m/1.3).
FOX - With a Sunday of repeats and no House, a two hour 24 (7.42m/2.3) got off to a very modest start. The decision to end the show is looking like it was the right thing. American Idol got things going on Tuesday (20.84m/7.3), and looked almost as good on Wednesday (20.17m/6.7). Human Target (7.73m/2.2) remains a huge question mark on Wednesday. The news was better Thursday, with Bones (9.99m/2.8) edging right back up to that 10m viewer mark. Fringe (6.33m/2.3) was back up as well.
NBC - Minute To Win It (5.55m/1.8) and Celebrity Apprentice (7.22m/2.8) were steady to start the week. Monday, Chuck (5.79m/2.1) and Trauma (5.02m/1.5) both saw very small gains. Those are the kind of gains that should be putting a lot of five dollar foot-longs in the lunch plans of Chuck fans. Tuesday was much happier. The Biggest Loser (7.69m/3) made it back to 3 in the demo, and Parenthood (6.28m/2.6) was #1 in the demo for the hour, besting V and The Good Wife. Another #1 in the demo came on Wednesday, with SVU (8.36m/2.5) beating out Ugly Betty and CSI:NY. The Marriage Ref (4.79m/2.1) wasn’t so lucky on Thursday, and the week wrapped up with Dateline (5.38m/1.4).
CW – Life Unexpected (1.73m/.8) and Gossip Girl (1.74m/1) were as expected to start the week. Still close to each other, although Gossip Girl is pulling away with young women. Unfortunately, 90210 (1.34m/.7) and Melrose Place (.86m/.4) were as expected as well. That night just isn’t working. Next Top Model (3.17m/1.4) is looking solid on Wednesday, and the search will continue for a companion show judging by Fly Girls (1.02m/.4) and High Society (.69m/.3). The night of the week was again Thursday, with Vampire Diaries (3.48m/1.6) and Supernatural (2.78m/1.2) both bounding back from Black Thursday the week before. Smallville (2.13m/.8) closed things out on Friday.
CABLE - The numbers for Justified (2.1m/.9) are starting to get very curious. You always expect a drop after the premiere, but this one just keeps dropping. Where will it stop? I’ve no idea, but at this point it’s starting to look like FX hasn’t found the show to pair with Sons of Anarchy and anchor their seasons. Elsewhere, the numbers for the return of Stargate: Universe (1.49m/.6) are in, and it looks to be doing a fair bit better than Caprica. It will be interesting to track that one and see how the second half progresses. Other cable numbers:
Clacked by Brett Love 
on Apr 12, 2010 @ 09:00 EST5EDT
I have added JUSTIFIED to my don’t miss shows, and also like in PLAIN SIGHT. I am rooting for TNT to renew SOUTHLAND. One of the problems with the rating system, is my fault–I know they are now counting Tivo/DVR’s, but you have to play them fairly quickly. In my case, I delay playing the shows that I particularly like because I savior them. Guess I’ll have to hurry, save and then replay the shows. Does anyoe else think that Basic Cable just keeps getting better and better? With the exception of specials–I am not very impressed with the shows that HBO/MAX an SHOW are offering as regular series. I have some friends that like PACIFIC, but I have almost dropped it from my line-up, and I am not going to miss SPARTICUS going off.
I watched the premiere of Justified, but I just haven’t been motivated to watch again. Timothy Olyphant comes off like a poor man’s Billy Bob Thornton, and Walton Goggins, as great as he was on The Shield, just seems to be overacting his white trash part. Besides, who wants to tune in to see eastern Kentucky hate crimes every week?
They’ve been mixing things up a bit more than that on Justified, and the Alan Ruck episode was particularly strong. It’s a show much more about the personalities than the crimes, however.
Brett, I assume that LOST‘s ratings are up from last year, so that V‘s higher demo over The Unusuals doesn’t really mean anything?
Also, would you consider splitting the long cable shows list into basic and premium cable shows? I always read through all the numbers, but sometimes it’s hard to remember that a tiny program airs on Showtime rather than TNT.
*POST AUTHOR*
Ryan, that is an excellent question, and I hadn’t really looked that closely at it. Interestingly enough, when I went back to the numbers, Lost is very close year-to-year, with some weeks being slightly up, and some being slightly down. Overall though, it’s a pretty level playing field in that regard. Here’s a snapshot of Lost numbers from a year ago to give you an idea.
3/25/09 9.04m/4.1
4/01/09 9.57m/4.3
4/08/09 8.57m/3.8
4/15/09 9.23m/4
Good suggestion about the cable shows too. I’ll separate those into basic and premium starting next week.
I had just assumed that the viewers who said they had become disenchanted with LOST around season 3 would be back in full force to see the ending, and numbers would be noticeably up this year. I suppose people like that are so few as to be statistically insignificant. That and LOST‘s demo was already quite high one year ago.
I guess it doesn’t look too good for either V or FlashForward at this point. I have no idea why Syfy thinks dropping SGU, Caprica, and Sanctuary into Tuesday’s crowded schedule next fall is a good idea, even if LOST will be over.
Funny. I came here to comment on the “United States of Tara” numbers. John Corbett was on “The Late Late Show” and quipped that they got another 3 seasons and I when I saw the numbers I went “WTF?”. Did they really get three more seasons because of the Emmy and the Golden Globe with THOSE numbers?`
And then it dawned on me – it’s running on Showtime so that means that it’s paid for by these people who watch it – through ne nose – and not via advertising.
So I agree with the Tachikoma that it’s a wise choice to split those up.
I’ll also head over to WP now and do some research on pay-tv in the US to understand the numbers better… like I said, I love this category :-)