CBS - Business remains slow for television in general now that spring has sprung. You’ll see a lot of low numbers as evidence in this week’s post. Some shows, like the Monday comedy block of How I Met Your Mother (7.24m/3.1), 2 Broke Girls (8.52m/3.4), Two And A Half Men (11.22m/3.8), and Mike & Molly (9.54m/3.1) have the wherewithal to soak up the body blows of the changing seasons. Others, are not so lucky.
Which brings us to the latest offering from CBS, NYC 22 (8.86m/1.5). Not only is that well below what Horatio has been knocking down in that spot, it also gave the NYC 22 premiere the lowest demo on the network. That’s a really bad thing for the premiere episode. The rookies followed Amazing Race (9.12m/2.6) and Good Wife (10.16m/1.8). The other new offerings for the week were NCIS (18.08m/3), Survivor (9.96m/2.8), and Rules Of Engagement (7.57m/2.2).
NBC - The peacock had a big premiere (of sorts) as well, with the return of Parks & Rec (3.46m/1.7). On the bright side, that is an improvement over Up All Night. On the really frickin’ dim side, that was part of another disastrous Thursday that included Community (2.77m/1.3), 30 Rock (3.06m/1.5), The Office (4.35m/2.2), and Awake (2.8m/.9). That’s an average of 3.3m/1.5 for an all new NBC Thursday. That leaves NBC looking up at Swamp People (4.46m/1.5).
The better news for the week came from the reality slate. The Voice (10.03m/3.7 – 8.86m/3.3) continues to do well, while Biggest Loser (6.96m/2.3) and Celebrity Apprentice (6.66m/2.2) were both up. Nothing else managed to crack the 2s in the demo. The rest of the week included Harry’s Law (8.27m/.9), Smash (5.95m/1.9), Fashion Star (4.46m/1.5), Off Their Rockers (5.98m/1.6), Best Friends Forever (2.83m/.8), and Grimm (4.56m/1.4).
ABC - The big winner this week was probably the Body Of Proof fanbase, even though the show didn’t air. Private Practice (6.53m/1.7) took over the Tuesday spot, and didn’t measure up. At the other end of those particular scheduling shenanigans, Scandal (7.21m/2) is bringing very PPesque numbers on Thursday. Earlier in the week, the waters got quite a bit murkier for GCB (4.43m/1.5), Last Man Standing (6.51m/1.6), and Cougar Town (4.45m/1.4).
The news was better for Dancing With The Stars (16.65m/2.9 – 14.17m/2.5) and Castle (11.23m/2.1), but both of them join the rest of television in the spring decline. The same could be said of Modern Family (10.21m/4.1). Still a solid number, but well off what the show was bringing in earlier in the season. It was joined by Suburgatory (5.69m/2) and Don’t Trust The B In Apartment 23 (6.43m/2.3). That’s about the usual second episode drop for Don’t Trust The B, but still a little disappointing considering the competition. Thursday brought a slight drop for Missing (7.23m/1.4) while Grey’s Anatomy (9.82m/3.3) bounced back from the lows of last week.
FOX - It was a slow start to the week with The Simpsons (4.96m/2.3), Bob’s Burgers (3.9m/1.9), Cleveland (4.34m/2.1), Bones (7.15m/2.2), House (5.61m/2), Glee (6.23m/2.4), New Girl (5.22m/2.7), and Raising Hope (3.79m/1.8). I’m really surprised to see House going out like this, spring or not.
Of course, business picked up Wednesday with American Idol (16.89m/4.8 – 14.99m/4). Touch (7.32m/2.1) remains questionable, having now lost 4.5 million viewers and a full point in the demo in five weeks. If you would like your glass half-full, The Finder (4.31m/1.2) and Fringe (3.03m/1) were both up week-to-week.
CW - It was very nearly a full week of programming from the CW, including Gossip Girl (1.06m/.6), Hart Of Dixie (1.37m/.5), Ringer (1.2m/.5), Next Top Model (1.31m/.6), Vampire Diaries (2.21m/1), Secret Circle (1.14m/.5), Nikita (1.39m/.4), and Supernatural (1.57m/.7).
CABLE - HBO premiered their latest, Girls (.87m/.4) to less than stellar results. Fortunately, they also have Game Of Thrones (3.76m/1.8), which remains steady, and looks likely to dodge the untimely cancellation fate that has plagued so many others. Over on basic, we also find premieres for Eureka (1.81m/.6) and Deadliest Catch (2.58m/1.2).
| Basic | |
|
|
| Premium | |
|
|
Clacked by Brett Love 
on Apr 23, 2012 @ 08:00 EST5EDT
. . . . .
Hokay … I’m lost.
Game Of Thrones got picked up for a 3rd season. So … what do you mean by “… and looks likely to dodge the untimely cancellation fate that has plagued so many others” … ???
HBO series in particular tend to be expensive and have smaller viewership numbers, even those with critical acclaim and awards. Also, all shows become more expensive to produce as they rack up the seasons, particularly when contracts expire and must be renegotiated. Most shows lose ratings as the seasons pass as well, which means even the best shows will eventually become economically unviable. It’s my understanding that this happened on Deadwood, Rome, and Eureka.
*POST AUTHOR*
Ryan got to it before I could. Mostly because I was riding my motorcycle through a frickin’ monsoon. On the plus side, I did get to see a really cool alternate-history play about Einstein meeting Truman to try to talk him out of dropping the bomb. So there’s that… But regarding your question, Ryan has hit on it. As much as HBO has garnered a reputation for making great television, they have also become known for taking good shows out at the knees when the numbers don’t add up. I would add Carnivàle to the list he already started, but not John From Cincinnati…