CABLE - With no major developments from the broadcast network numbers last week, the big story was the return of Psych (2.79m/1) and Burn Notice (4.32m/1.5) on USA. If you were wondering, those were both below the summer finale numbers (Psych 3.1m/1.1 – Burn Notice 6.29m/2). Going up against full network schedules probably had something to do with that. It will be interesting to see where both of these shows go from here. I’d suspect that they both will show some gains. Round two of The Walking Dead (4.71m/2.5) also made some noise, retaining much more of the premiere audience than most people thought it would.
Basic
Premium
NBC - After Sunday Night Football (19.37m/7.4) got the week off to the usual start, things got a little more interesting on Monday. Chuck made way for Matt Lauer’s interview with George Bush (7.04m/1.8). That was good for a gain of about 1.5 million viewers, and a two tenths drop in the demo. Those extra viewers didn’t stick around for The Event (5.54m/1.7) or Chase (4.55m/1.2). Both shows found themselves at series lows in both measures.
Things were slightly better Tuesday, with Biggest Loser (6.75m/2.4) and Parenthood (5m/2.1). That’s just enough to move the network to third in the demo at 8, and second at 10. More bad news came in the form of new series lows for Undercovers (5.13m/1.2). L&O SVU (7.18m/2) and L&O LA (6.8m/1.7) were down as well, but in the context of NBC, not horrible. Thursday was also a bit off as 30 Rock (5.09m/2.4), The Office (7.15m/3.6), Outsourced (5.48m/2.6), and The Apprentice (4m/1.4) were all down in viewers, demo, or both. The only gains on the night came from the Community (4.53m/2) demo. School Pride (2.4m/.6) put the depressing cap on a depressing week.
ABC - The week started off well, with Extreme Makeover Home Edition (9.33m/2.5), Desperate Housewives (12.72m/4.1), and Brothers & Sisters (8.7m/2.5) all bouncing back from the Halloween struggles. Dancing With The Stars (19.95m/4) was strong as well, and Castle (10.83m/2.5) continues to split the 10PM slot with 5-0. No Ordinary Family (7.89m/2.2) was up over its last original to kick off Tuesday. That led to another solid DWTS Results (16.96m/3.4) and what looks to be a fairly stable Detroit 187 (7.55m/1.7) number. Stable, but questionable, that is.
The CMA Awards (16.49m/4.7) took over the Wednesday schedule, and were down from the year ago broadcast, but still easily topped the night. Thursday brought another solid Grey’s Anatomy (11.13m/4) performance, and a very curious return to the norm for Private Practice (8.21m/2.9). That one episode spike last week was just odd. Finally, Supernanny (5.18m/1.2) showed up Friday to point and laugh at The Good Guys.
FOX - With baseball now in the rearview, the network is getting back to business as usual. That meant new episodes from The Simpsons (8.03m/3.7), Cleveland (6.68m/3), Family Guy (8m/3.8), and American Dad (6.3m/2.9) on Sunday. House (9.63m/3.7) was back as well, and again in second place. The good doctor’s return didn’t offer much help to Lie To Me (5.23m/1.8). News was, of course, better on Tuesday with the singing kids of Glee (11m/4.6). Raising Hope (5.77m/2.5) was steady, but one has to wonder why Running Wilde (2.83m/1.3) was even on the schedule.
Hell’s Kitchen (5.47m/2.5 – 5.93m/2.8) provided the usual performance on Wednesday, while Thursday found Bones finishing second in both measures, as expected. Also expected, Fringe (4.82m/1.7) was a distant fourth. The week finished with another head-scratching Fox Friday showing from The Good Guys (2.39m/.8).
CBS - A football overrun shortened the Sunday lineup to just The Amazing Race (11.01m/3.3) and Undercover Boss (11.04m/2.9). And neither really benefited from the delay. Monday looked solid, with How I Met Your Mother (8.87m/3.5), Rules Of Engagement (8.19m/3), 2 ½ Men (13.63m/4.3), Mike & Molly (10.8m/3.5), and Hawaii Five-O (10.23m/2.9). Tuesday, the combination of NCIS (19.87m/4) and NCIS: LA (15.62m/3.3) was good as well. If there was a surprise in the week, it was probably in the demo drop for The Good Wife (12.33m/2.2). I expected more out of the Michael J. Fox guest spot.
Survivor (11.29m/3.2), Criminal Minds (12.56m/3.1), and The Defenders (8.4m/1.8) were all off the pace Wednesday. That could probably be chalked up to the big numbers for the CMAs on ABC, but for Survivor and Criminal Minds it really doesn’t matter. The Defenders, on the other hand, is in the rough spot of having the lowest demo of all the Sunday to Thursday shows. Even worse, it’s now fallen below both CSI: NY and Blue Bloods in viewers.
Like the other networks, Thursday’s offering of Big Bang Theory (13.11m/4.2), $#*! My Dad Says (9.72m/2.9), CSI (12.99m/2.8), and The Mentalist (13.84m/2.8) was a bit off. Nothing to get too excited about in any of that though. Friday wrapped up with another easy win from the Medium (6.92m/1.4), CSI: NY (9.98m/1.7), and Blue Bloods (10.53m/1.6) combination.
CW - Not a great week for the little network. Every show was down in viewers, demo, or both. The regular numbers: 90210 (1.89.m/.9) – Gossip Girl (1.78m/.9) – One Tree Hill (1.7m/.8) – Life Unexpected (1.48m/.7) – America’s Next Top Model (2.69m/1.2) – Hellcats (1.92m/.9) – Vampire Diaries (3.5m/1.6) – Nikita (2.33m/.9) – Smallville (2.89m/1.3) – Supernatural (2.08m/.9)
With the network already deciding not to pick up Life Unexpected for a full season (read canceling), attentions should now turn to Nikita. The numbers have slipped quite a bit since the premiere. They still look okay where viewers and the adult demo are concerned, but a look at the CW’s coveted women 18-34 measure is rather bleak. Even with the bonus of following Vampire Diaries, it’s still behind Life Unexpected.
Clacked by Brett Love 
on Nov 15, 2010 @ 09:03 EST5EDT
It is still so sad to see Terriers doing so badly. It is a great show with great characters. Here is hoping that FX won’t cancel it for us that do enjoy it. After all, they kept Nip/Tuck for a long time after it became a really bad show.
*POST AUTHOR*
I’ll go ahead and give you the point on Terriers being better than the final run of Nip/Tuck. The unfortunate fact is that Nip/Tuck spent its final season just under 2 million viewers and a 1 in the demo. It’s probably not the best comparison on those numbers alone. The better one might be that they renewed Damages, despite horrific ratings, to give it another chance to catch on.
And I still wouldn’t rule that out as a possibility for Terriers, for the simple reason that nobody has seen it yet. It’s not like the show had a huge premiere and people didn’t come back. Nobody watched it in the first place. Given all the positive remarks from the few that have seen it, if the network could actually get it in front of an audience, there is a lot of room to grow. Best bet, I think, is to move it to the summer.
I hope CW gives Nikita a rerun spot like it did for Vampire Diaries last year in December. I think at this point it is my favorite new show of the season. It started a little slow, but has more than made up for it the last few episodes. The show has so many potential directions to go in, which makes it intriguing. And, the issues I had with Nikita and Michael in the first few eps are gone now. I love both charactes and want more.