NBC – The next big thing for the network might not be so big. The Cape (8.45m/2.6), for some reason, premiered Sunday and it left something to be desired where the numbers are concerned. Sure, that doesn’t look horrible, but it was a premiere. And for a little perspective … the show will be moving into The Event‘s slot, and The Event premiered at 10.88m/3.6. A replay of the pilot in the Monday slot (3.57m/1) was not impressive either. Week two will be telling, but I’m not optimistic.
The news was better Tuesday, where Biggest Loser (8.79m/3.2) continues to rebound, while Parenthood (5.58m/2.2) dog-paddles to keep its head above water. Wednesday brought the shenanigans of a President Obama pre-emption, so consider all the numbers an aberration. Minute To Win It (4.85m/1.2) was off, and L&O SVU (8.39m/2.5) dropped a couple million from the previous week.
ABC - The timing couldn’t have been worse for Off The Map (7.57m/2.3). The jacked up schedule on Wednesday didn’t help anyone, but this was probably the biggest casualty, as it was the premiere. A repeat (5.87m/2) following Grey’s didn’t offer much help. We can’t draw any conclusions until we see what happens on a regular night, but this certainly wasn’t the premiere result the network was looking for.
Earlier in the week, Sunday was fairly standard with Extreme Makeover (9.32m/2.7), Desperate Housewives (12.83m/3.9), and Brothers & Sisters (8.25m/2.2). Monday, The Bachelor (8.46m/2.8) remains well off the pace, trailing last season by over two million viewers. And despite news of a renewal, Castle (9.05m/2.1) struggled as well. That was still good news compared to Tuesday, where No Ordinary Family (5.33m/1.5), V (5.77m/1.9), and Detroit 187 (5.05m/1) made the case for scrapping the entire night.
While the Wednesday jumbling of the schedule didn’t help Off The Map, The Middle (10.09m/3) and Modern Family (11.12m/4.2) still looked solid. The same was true on Thursday, with Wipeout (10.64m/3.7) continuing to impress and the usual Grey’s Anatomy (12.15m/4.3) performance.
CBS - Ya know what you almost never see? Shows in their eighth season hitting series highs in anything. But we saw it this week as NCIS (21.93m/4.5) showed that after all these years, it’s still growing! That’s a series high for viewers. NCIS LA (18.13m/3.7) took the ball and ran with it, hitting a viewer high of its own. The Good Wife (12.29m/2.3) finished the night at the usual levels.
Earlier, the week started off uneventfully with CSI Miami (11.99m/2.5) and Undercover Boss (11.75m/3.9). The Wednesday casualties for CBS were Live To Dance (6.71m/1.5) and The Defenders (6.81m/1.5). There was also a bit of good news for $#*! My Dad Says (10.14m/2.9) fans. That number came on the back of a Big Bang repeat, so the show does have its own audience. And the week finished up with Medium (6.64m/1.3) and CSI NY (9.54m/1.7) on Friday.
FOX - There were some unexpected highs here as well, from the Sunday comedies. The Simpsons (12.55m/5.7), Bob’s Burgers (9.38m/4.5), Family Guy (9.33m/4.7), and Cleveland (7.39m/3.6) all looked great. Unfortunately, as great as all of those numbers look, they came on the back of the NFL playoff game. So, they don’t mean a lot going forward. Although, it was a huge bonus to get Bob’s Burgers in front of that many eyeballs for its premiere. It will be interesting to see what week two looks like for that one.
The mood dropped quickly on Monday, in the form of a double shot from Lie To Me (5.48m/1.6 – 6.43m/1.5). It doesn’t bode well for Lie To Me that it was behind Million Dollar Money Drop (5.12m/1.8 – 5.64m/1.7) in the demo. I guess we can consider that the very low bar for Chicago Code. When the Wednesday craziness rolled around, FOX just packed it all in and shipped the two new Human Target (4.73m/1.3 – 4.77m/1.2) episodes off to Friday. Those numbers are not good, but better than one might have expected given the lack of promotion for the sudden move.
CABLE - I’ll get back to the regular cable posting next week. For now, let me just share with you this one soul-crushing tidbit. Last Thursday’s Jersey Shore (8.56m/4.4) beat every show on the broadcast networks in the demo for the night. Even Grey’s. In fact, the only broadcast shows that topped Jersey Shore were NCIS and the football-fueled Simpsons, Family Guy, and Bob’s Burgers. I blame the parents.
Clacked by Brett Love 
on Jan 17, 2011 @ 11:00 EST5EDT
ABC is advertising that 22 million people watched Off the Map. Hmm…that many online views? Definitely interested in seeing what the ratings show this week.
*POST AUTHOR*
That 22 million number is just the typical network spin smoke and mirrors. If I had to guess, the biggest part of that 22 million is the one minute of Grey’s that aired in the Off The Map slot on Thursday, and was removed from the final numbers. So, take the 12 million that were watching the last minute of Grey’s, add the 7.5 million that actually saw the premiere, and throw in the DVR numbers so far for both, you might get 22 million. It makes for an impressive soundbite, but isn’t going to mean much when the show airs this week.
I’m still pissed that the DVR schedules weren’t updated to reflect the Human Target scheduling on Friday, so I missed those episodes. I wonder how that will affect the DVR numbers?
*POST AUTHOR*
It’s impossible to say how it will impact DVR numbers, because I have no way of knowing which systems were updated. Mine, for example, was updated and the episodes were recorded as they should have been.
Tivo did not update Human Target. Didn’t even record Modern Family this week!
A site speciazlised in tv show ratings for years said :
“‘The Cape’ Premieres OK!
The Cape premiered to a 2.6 rating and averaged 8.4 million viewers between 9-11p. which by NBC standards seems decent enough. The bad news is ratings typically erode after heavily promoted premieres. But the good news is The Cape was very stable over the 2 hours with the first half hour getting a 2.5 rating and each of the last three half hours a 2.6.”
*POST AUTHOR*
I suppose you could spin it as ‘OK’ if you want, gregory. Where I have trouble with that statement is the bit that says it’s decent by NBC standards. Does anyone think NBC is green-lighting new shows in the hopes that they’ll do just as poorly as the shows they already have? They’re not searching for another Chuck. Instead, I think the NBC standard is finding something that will help to drag them out of last place. Based on that premiere, and what it probably means for round two, The Cape isn’t it. We’ll know soon enough.
Really, it’s surprising that every show is not a variation of The Singing Jersey Wipeouts.
*POST AUTHOR*
Don’t say that out loud! :D