Premiere numbers are great, but week two numbers are much more interesting. There’s nothing wrong with a week two drop. Even shows that are doing great, like Big Bang Theory, can expect them. It’s a bit of a rare thing to see week two gains, like Glee enjoyed. Where those week two numbers are really telling though, is in new shows. A marketing push can get people to tune in once, but that first episode has to sell them on returning. This week, a few shows weren’t able to do that, and we’ve already seen the first two casualties of this new season in Lone Star and My Generation.
FOX - The Simpsons (7.82m/3.7), Cleveland (6.61m/3.1), and Family Guy (9.13m/4.5) all had their premieres and got the week off to a nice start. The big story though, was the big Britney/Brittany episode of Glee (13.51m/5.9). That’s up over the great premiere numbers, and good for the top demo in scripted programming for the week. Earlier in the week, there was some cause for concern. House (10.18m/3.8) is finally starting to show its age. Still good numbers, but not what it once was. Of course, that’s cause for a celebration in comparison to week two of Lone Star (3.23m/1). That left the critical darling tied with 90210 and Gossip Girl in the demo for the night, and brought a quick end to the show’s season.
In comedy, Raising Hope (7.09m/3.1) was steady, holding all of the demo from the premiere. Running Wilde (4.47m/1.9), on the other hand, took quite a tumble. Hell’s Kitchen (6.08m/2.8 – 6.59m/3) remains a nice placeholder on Wednesday, and Bones (9.75m/2.5) was solid opening Thursday. Fringe (5.24m/1.9) is still rather underwhelming. And it makes me wonder why they didn’t give Fringe the post-House slot now that the Lone Star experiment is over. Doesn’t Lie To Me seem like a better fit out of Bones anyway? The week closed with another terrible outing for The Good Guys (2.51m/.7). If you’re keeping score at home, that puts the show below where Dollhouse was in the demo last year.
ABC – Another set of Sunday premieres here as well, with Extreme Makeover (8.47m/2.5), Desperate Housewives (13.06m/4.3), and Brothers & Sisters (9.49m/2.9). Much like House, the housewives are aging, but solid. Moving to Monday, Dancing With The Stars (21.34m/4.8) shows no signs of slowing down. That boost helped Castle (11.08m/2.8) which is enjoying growth of almost two million viewers over last season.
In more premiere news, No Ordinary Family (10.69m/3.2) got off to a solid start. It will be interesting to see how those numbers hold up next week. That was followed by another good outing for the DWTS Results (17.34m/3.8) and another soft result for Detroit 187 (8.71m/2.1). Wednesday’s comedy lineup was also down, with The Middle (8.35m/2.5), Better With You (6.99m/2.2), Modern Family (11.92m/4.6), and Cougar Town (6.97m/2.8). Modern Family remains the only ‘hit’ in the quartet, but the numbers for The Middle opening the night are encouraging.
Not encouraging? Week two of The Whole Truth (4.58m/1.2). That can’t last for long. And next week, they won’t be able to say they were better than My Generation (3.82m/1.1), because those numbers warranted the second cancellation of the season. Grey’s Anatomy (12.53m/4.6) followed, still owning the demo in the slot, even if it is down. Private Practice (7.93m/2.8) is down as well, but that’s a solid demo for 10 on ABC.
CBS - It was a very nice start to the week with the very compatible premieres of Amazing Race (11.54m/3.8) and Undercover Boss (11.54m/3.8). There was more good news Monday, where How I Met Your Mother (9m/3.9) was another show that managed gains over premiere week. Rules Of Engagement (8.15m/3.2), 2 ½ Men (13.92m/4.8), and Mike & Molly (11.12m/3.7) were where one would expect. Hawaii Five-0 (12.72m/3.6) was down for week two, but remains a solid number one in both measures in the slot.
Tuesday, NCIS (19.15m/4.1) and NCIS:LA (16.51m/3.7) remain a potent combination. The Good Wife (12.84m/2.5) rejoined them this week, easily winning the 10PM hour. Survivor (12.26m/3.5) and Criminal Minds (14.57m/3.6) were both solid on Wednesday, while The Defenders (10.41m/2.5) held up okay given week two and the premiere of L&O LA. Big Bang (13.06m/4.4) and $#*! My Dad Says (10.43m/3.3) easily topped the 8PM hour on Thursday, before handing off to CSI (13.41m/3.1) and The Mentalist (14.65m/3). Friday brought another easy win for the night thanks to Medium (5.93m/1.2), CSI:NY (9.67m/1.7), and Blue Bloods (11.21m/2). Although, that Medium number has to be concerning. CBS may have finally found the one time slot the show can’t succeed in.
NBC - Of course, Sunday Night Football (18.15m/7.3) got things started on a great note. Also, of course, the note went a little flat with the appearance of Chuck (5.37m/2) on Monday. The Event (9.06m/2.9) still looks solid, but given the nature of the show, that’s one to keep a close eye on. Chase (6.33m/2.1) finished a distant third in both measures. It might be time for the network to think about adjusting what they do with The Biggest Loser (7.19m/2.7). At 2.7, it’s still one of the better performing shows they have, but it’s also way down over previous editions. I wonder what would happen if Loser was sent to the summer, and Talent came to the fall. The drop in Biggest Loser is ill-timed for Parenthood (4.83m/2), which is looking worse than Leno did last year.
There was another mixed bag on Wednesday, with Undercovers (7.24m/1.6) tanking the demo in week two. Not to put the boots to Chuck too hard, but any show that finds itself behind Chuck by four tenths is in trouble. Things looked much better for SVU (9.48m/2.8), although I still believe it would do its best at 10. For now though, that slot goes to L&O LA (10.64m/3.2), which had a solid premiere. Then, there’s Thursday. Community (4.53m/1.9) continues to struggle in the opening slot. 30 Rock (5.68m/2.6) doesn’t look great either, but at least it managed to hold all of the demo from premiere week. The Office (7.36m/3.7) remains strong at 9, but Outsourced (5.85m/2.8) looks to have all the makings of another NBC comedy that nobody bothers to watch. Things wrapped up with The Apprentice (3.61m/1.3), which should be fired.
CW - It was a mostly unremarkable week for the little network. 90210 (1.96m/1), Gossip Girl (1.78m/1), One Tree Hill (1.83m/1), Life Unexpected (1.51m/.7), Next Top Model (2.91m/1.3), Hellcats (2.22m/.9), Smallville (2.36m/1), and Supernatural (2.68m/1) were all around where you would expect. Some a little up. Some a little down. And, I suppose, Nikita (2.68m/1) was at least in the ballpark. But the fact that the show has lost viewers every week so far is cause for concern. Where exactly is the leveling off point?
CABLE - I suspect that many of you might not like to hear it, but one of the biggest stories in cable ratings last week has to be Jersey Shore (6.72m/3.4). I can’t tell you why, but people are tuning in like crazy. So crazy, in fact, that of the 63 programs on the big four networks last week, Jersey Shore beat 44 of them in the demo. 44! Elsewhere, the move to midweek didn’t do any favors for Stargate Universe (1.18m/.5). I tend to think the show would be better served on Fridays. Unfortunately, I have a feeling that once we see some results for Smackdown, the chances of that happening will be mighty slim.
Basic:
Premium:
Clacked by Brett Love 
on Oct 04, 2010 @ 11:00 EST5EDT
I noticed that all the Thursday night shows (at least on NBC) lost ratings, but 30 Rock did the same, matching the demo number. Anything to be read into that? I found it curious.
*POST AUTHOR*
It’s a good sign for 30 Rock. Not a lot of shows will match their premiere numbers. It cements it as the solid #2 comedy in the Thursday block. Outsourced did beat it this week, but it did that on the back of The Office. I wouldn’t be surprised if 30 Rock actually starts beating Outsourced on the night at some point. The interesting experiment would be to flip 30 Rock and Community and see how it holds up. Community opening the night isn’t doing anyone any favors at the moment.
It also at least hints at a possible battle in the demo with $#*! My Dad Says. That one lost even more of the Big Bang audience than in premiere week, so 30 Rock is gaining ground. A small gain for 30 Rock, and further losses for $#*! My Dad Says and things could get very interesting.
I would love to see Community get the benefit of the post-Office bump. Maybe if Outsource starts tanking, they’ll swap them. Being up against BBT is not doing Community any favors, that’s for sure, even if it is a different audience…
Given Chuck’s lack of promotion compared to some of the new shows, you’ve got to think it’ll get the back 9 order. Maybe a move to Fridays could give it a 5th season if they stay near their 2.0 monday mark
Oh wow, I thought SGU would be doing better. What might this indicate for Caprica?
*POST AUTHOR*
We will, of course, have to wait and see on Caprica, but going off of their Friday results, my guess would be that it will come in somewhere short of what SGU did. Possibly falling below 1 million viewers.
Lie to Me is a Fox show, Fringe is a WB show. So Fox will make more money from Lie to Me than Fringe.
Lie to Me also fits the post House time frame better I smarter move would be having Human Target and Fringe on Wednesday nights together and Hell’s Kitchen on Thursdays at 9.
*POST AUTHOR*
While I’m sure where the shows are produced often comes into the decision process, Fox would make more money if both of these shows had good ratings. And right now, Fringe certainly doesn’t. My guess is that the gains seen from putting Lie To Me after Bones, instead of Fringe, would be more than the losses taken by putting Fringe after House, instead of Lie To Me.
I can’t agree with the idea of pairing Fringe with Human Target either. Neither of these shows have shown themselves to be self starters. The only time Fringe was actually able to get solid ratings was when it was behind House or Idol. I can’t see Human Target providing any kind of support at 8, and Fringe at 8 certainly wouldn’t do any favors for Human Target.
Fringe can stand for itself, we just haven’t ever seen that. Fringe has only had two time slots, one great (Mondays) and one horrible one (Thursdays). If Fox took a risk I think it would pay off for them.
House would get 12-13 million viewers and Fringe got 10. Bones gets 10 million and fringe can’t get 8 million. I think the lead in isn’t as important as the time slot and Thursdays at 9 is a death slot. So stick in the cheap Kitchen Nightmares and move Fringe to Wednesdays.
Fox should have picked up The Undercovers and have a JJ night of Undercovers and Fringe. I think that would have been great.
*POST AUTHOR*
I don’t think Thursday at 9 is the death slot. In fact, right now, Thursday at 9 is about as kind as it’s ever been. Just one year ago you were looking at Grey’s (6.1), CSI (4.1), The Office (3.9) and Supernatural (1.2) all at higher levels. That’s 2.9 points in the demo that disappeared from the competition, but Fringe has made no gains.
I would also question your Undercovers/Fringe idea, given that Undercovers is one of the few shows that manages to do worse in the demo than Fringe.