There’s really nothing exciting happening with the television ratings at the moment. But I’m okay with that, because we are smack-dab in the middle of the three weeks of the year where Seattle is the most glorious place on the planet. When you can ride your motorcycle home from a play (The Yellow Wood, which is very good) at 11PM, in a t-shirt, not much gets under your skin. Anyway, to the numbers.
ABC - The week once again started with Scoundrels (3.15m/.7) and The Gates (3m/.9) merely treading water. That was quickly followed by the highlight of the week for the network, The Bachelorette (10.07m/3.4). The show just keeps picking up steam, even besting America’s Got Talent in the demo this week. True Beauty (5.24m/1.8) remained fairly steady. The return of Wipeout (8.34m/2.9) to Tuesday didn’t offer any help for the struggling Downfall (3.17m/1.1). Another Wipeout (7.9m/2.6) was also solid on Thursday, leading in to Rookie Blue (6.54m/1.5) and Boston Med (4.56m/1.1).
NBC - Much like ABC, we again see a couple of rough spots — Last Comic Standing (3.98m/1.6) and Losing It With Jillian (3.67m/1.1) — lead up to the big star, America’s Got Talent (10.48m/3 – 10.02m/2.6). Minute To Win It (6.16m/1.8) is holding steady as well. To end the week, Friday Night Lights (3.58m/1) and Persons Unknown (2.09m/.5) were at the expected levels.
FOX - It looks like Sons Of Tuscon (1.53m/.6) may escape falling below a million viewers after all. That’s probably the most exciting result for the network this week. Elsewhere, Lie To Me (5.66m/1.8), The Good Guys (3.48m/1.1), and Hell’s Kitchen (6.07m/2.7 – 6.98m/3.2) were all at usual levels. So You Think You Can Dance (5.76m/2.1 – 5.81m/2) remains down year-to-year.
CBS - Another week where the new programming came down to Big Brother on Sunday (6.92m/2.3), Wednesday (6.5m/2.2), and Thursday (6.73m/2.2), with Flashpoint (6.06m/1.2) closing things down on Friday.
CABLE – There’s some good girl-power news at USA, where Covert Affairs (5.21m/1.6) didn’t suffer the dreaded post-premiere drop. In fact, the numbers went up in week two. That puts it well ahead of White Collar (3.96m/1.2). Over on TNT, Rizzoli & Isles (7.27m/1.5) did have a small second week drop, but also finds itself ahead of The Closer (6.97m/1.3) in both measures. That’s a great start for both. If you’re wondering about the new Syfy Friday, here are the July 16th numbers for Eureka (2.21m/.6) and Haven (2.09m/.6). Still above SGU and Caprica.
Basic
Premium
Clacked by Brett Love 
on Jul 26, 2010 @ 09:00 EST5EDT
I guess we’ll see more “Hung” in the future judging by those numbers.
To be honest “Deadliest Catch” is getting morbid. I understand the high numbers but seriously they dragged out the events of two weeks over six episodes now. That’s just milking it and I’m getting close to hating the show for it.
*POST AUTHOR*
I totally agree about Deadliest Catch. There’s a line between celebrating the life of Phil Harris and exploiting it for a short ratings gain, and I think they crossed that line a while ago.
Hey Brett — How are Leverage and Burn Notice looking ratings-wise?
*POST AUTHOR*
Burn Notice is doing great. The class of the field over at USA. Leverage is ok. It’s no match for the numbers TNT sees from The Closer or Rizzoli & Isles (about half the ratings actually), but holding its own against Memphis Beat and Hawthorne.
It is plain to see that I am not in the NETWORK demo. My wife would not miss America’s Got Talent; for me, Lie To Me continues to be interesting, and Rookie Blue is the only new show that seems to be improving. I have given up on Scoundrels (painful, since I am a big fan of David James Elliot), have also dropped Good Guys as a waste of time, even skipping thru on TIVO, and Flashpoint is getting close to same.
CABLE on the other hand, is where it is at for me–Covert Affairs is my favorite of the new shows. Closer continues to be outstanding, with White Collar pushing to be in the same category. Leverage is getting back to first season form. Burn Notice and Psych have dropped a bit, but still top anything on Network. It appears I am less impressed with Rizzoli & Isles than most; while The Glades is starting to become a favorite.