It was another week of low ratings as many shows continued the late season slide. Monday was the most pronounced, with Dancing With The Stars, Chuck, How I Met Your Mother, House, One Tree Hill, Big Bang Theory, Gossip Girl, and CSI: Miami all suffering losses. The other nights didn’t offer a lot of success either, including some very surprising numbers for Idol and the NCIS duo.
FOX – The week started off normally, with The Simpsons (6.03m/2.7) and Cleveland (5.78m/2.6) on Sunday. They were followed by the one-hour Family Guy special (7.4m/3.5), which provided a bit of a boost. Things took a bit of a hit on Monday, where House (9.98m/3.9) was solid, but at a season low. 24 (9m/2.8) was as expected.
The curious bit came Tuesday though, with American Idol (17.5m/6.2). Clearly, those are still numbers that every other network would love to have, but when we compare them to the first week of May last year (23.41m/8.3), that’s a pretty big drop of 5.91 million viewers and 2.1 in the demo. It’s like they lost a whole Chuck. Normally, I would just chalk that up to the weirdness of seasons and casting. However, you also have to add the exit of Simon into the equation. Could this drop in viewership, combined with a new judge next year, mean that Idol will be a normal show? With normal ratings? Probably not time to worry, but let’s say there should be some concern with choosing that new judge.
The Idol results show (19.58m/6.5) did look a little better, but it is also off nearly two demo points year-to-year. Those Idol losses didn’t do a lot of damage to the kids from Glee (11.62m/4.9). I’m left wondering if it’s going to get the Fringe treatment next year and be sent out to fend for itself. The week wrapped up with another solid 2nd place for Bones (9.05m/2.5) and a small gain for Fringe (5.82m/2.2).
CBS – With Idol on the ropes, you might have expected some big things from the NCIS duo. That wasn’t the case, as NCIS (15.1m/3.1) and NCIS:LA (14.34m/2.8) were both off the pace. The Good Wife (12.88m/2.3) followed suit. Earlier in the week, The Amazing Race (10.29m/3) started things off with a solid outing, followed by two episodes of Cold Case (9.64m/2 – 10.02m/2.2).
There was a bit of curiosity in the Monday lineup. With the 2 ½ Men season being shortened (and Charlie Sheen in contract negotiations) CBS took the opportunity to try out Big Bang Theory (11.63m/4.6) at 9. That was a season low for the show, but still the #1 demo on the night. I would expect that number to go up if the show stayed there. How I Met Your Mother (7.37m/3.1) and Rules Of Engagement (7.21m/2.8) were also off a bit earlier in the night. As was CSI: Miami (9.61m/2.7) later.
Wednesday was more of the same as Old Christine (6.29m/1.8) struggled while Criminal Minds (12.39m/3.3) continued to return solid numbers against Idol and Modern Family. CSI: NY (10.3m/2.3) was down, and fell below SVU in the demo. Thursday, the big story remains Survivor (13.06m/4.1), which was once again the #1 demo show for the night. Along with CSI (14.15m/3.1) and The Mentalist (14.85m/3.3) the network also had the three most watched shows of the evening. Fridays continue to slip with Ghost Whisperer (6.51m/1.6), Medium (7.14m/1.8), and Miami Medical (6.27m/1.4).
NBC - A drop for Celebrity Apprentice (6.93m/2.6) on Sunday started things out on a low note. That carried through to Monday where Chuck (5.35m/1.9) hit series low levels. Nothing exciting to report from Law & Order (6.18m/1.7) either. There was some improvement Tuesday, with The Biggest Loser (8.44m/3.2) and Parenthood (5.88m/2.5). That viewer number is low, but Parenthood did have the #1 demo against V and The Good Wife.
The news was good on Wednesday at 10 as well, with SVU (8.43m/2.6) also claiming the #1 demo for its hour. Unfortunately, that came on the heels of Mercy (3.92m/1) absolutely imploding. Thursday was much as we’ve come to expect with Community (4.36m/2), Parks & Recreation (4.03m/1.9), The Office (6.84m/3.5), 30 Rock (5.42m/2.6), and Marriage Ref (4.88m/2.2). Notable in that is The Office topping CSI in the demo.
Finally, Friday brought the return of Friday Night Lights (3.9m/1.2). That is an awfully low number, but you have to keep in mind that these episodes have already aired on DirecTV, so NBC can’t be expecting much. Dateline (6.02m/1.5) finished things out.
ABC – There was good news on Sunday as Desperate Housewives (12.12m/3.8) and Brothers & Sisters (8.44m/2.4) started to rebound. Still well off the early season pace, but a turn in the right direction. Monday, Dancing With The Stars (19.64m/4.1) was down, but strong, while Romantically Challenged (9.64m/2.4) continues to fall just short of those Surviving Suburbia (9.87m/2.4) numbers from a year ago. Good news for Castle (10.69m/2.5) though. Not only did it build on its lead-in, it was one of the few shows on the night that wasn’t down.
The DWTS results (12.04m/2.4) continue to be just okay on Tuesday, but a new Lost (9.59m/4) brought a bump for V (5.37m/2.1). The Wednesday comedies were all off a bit with The Middle (6.75m/2.3), Modern Family (9.48m/3.9), and Cougar Town (5.94m/2.5). Those numbers looked very good on Thursday though, when FlashForward (4.77m/1.3) found another new series low. At this point, it might be time to start considering the value of unaired episodes on the DVD. Despite that, Grey’s Anatomy (11.03m/3.8) and Private Practice (8.15m/2.8) both has small gains in viewers for the week. Friday closed out with Wife Swap (4.5m/1.4), What Would You Do? (5.98m/1.9), and 20/20 (5.49m/1.6).
CW - One Tree Hill (1.94m/1) and Gossip Girl (1.74m/.9) got caught up in the Monday carnage to start the week. 90210 (1.43m/.7) didn’t offer much help either. Fortunately, Next Top Model (3.41m/1.5) and Vampire Diaries (3.31m/1.6) were there to pick up some of the slack. That was another 4th place finish in the demo for Vampire Diaries. Supernatural (2.53m/1.2) bounced back from last week’s lows, and Smallville (1.92m/.8) finished things off.
CABLE Really, nothing big in the cable numbers this week. So, allow me to take this moment to point out to you that the Washington Huskies just clinched the Pac-10 softball championship. And, in case you didn’t already know, Danielle Lawrie is crafted from 100% Canadian awesome.
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Clacked by Brett Love 
on May 10, 2010 @ 09:00 EST5EDT
wow, didnt know you went to UW aswell
*POST AUTHOR*
I didn’t go to UW fritz, but I live right across the lake from the school, and I am a ridiculous softball fan. Seriously, I watch games on UWTV, ESPN, ESPNU, Big 10 Network, FSN, CBS College Sports… even the BYU channel. I don’t even know why I get the BYU channel on my cable box, but if it means I can see BYU and Utah play, I’m in.
Add to that my long-standing fascination with all things Canadian and there’s nothing better than riding the motorcycle across the lake to watch Danielle Lawrie do her thing. If you get the chance, you have to watch her play. She is amazing. With any luck, in the playoffs we’ll get to see Lawrie, the best pitcher in the game, face off against the best hitter, Jen Yee, from Georgia Tech. Who, by the way, is also totally Canadian. But I should stop now, because I don’t have a softball column…