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Nielsen Ratings for Friday Feb 1, 2008

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February 2nd, 2008

Scoreboard for Fri, Feb. 1, 2008 NBC FOX CBS ABC CW
Total Viewers (million) 6.80 6.71 6.71 4.84 4.64
Rating/Share: Adults 18-49 2.0/6 2.0/6 1.6/5 1.4/4 1.4/4

On a very competitive night (because hardly anyone was watching broadcast TV) NBC narrowly won the most overall viewers and tied with FOX in the 18-49 demographic.

Given recent NFL Football, American Idol, Moment of Truth and Lost action, finding 150 words to write about the night isn't easy.  Though we knew ABC shows like  Grey's Anatomy and Desperate Housewives do not perform well in reruns, that they both had fewer viewers than a rerun of Moonlight might leave even Rena M. scratching her head. 

The most watched show of the evening was NBC's 1 vs. 100 and the next most-watched was a repeat of FOX's House

Critically acclaimed Friday Night Lights continues to struggle, though if NBC was the CW, the show would be a huge hit.  But NBC's not the CW and the CW is the CW so it can revel in its ratings for Friday Night Smackdown! even though they are smaller than FNL's.

See all the night's (lack of) action:

Time Network Show Viewers (Millons) 18-49 Rating/Share HH Rating
8:00 NBC 1 vs. 100 7.87 2.0/6 5.1
  CBS Ghost Whisperer (Repeat) 7.31 1.8/6 4.7
  ABC Greys Anatomy (Repeat) 4.13 1.1/4 2.7
  CW Friday Night Smackdown! (8p-10p) 4.64 1.4/4 2.8
  FOX Bones (Repeat) 5.59 1.5/5 3.7
           
9:00 ABC Desperate Housewives (Repeat) 3.64 1.0/3 2.5
  CBS Moonlight (Repeat) 5.91 1.5/4 3.9
  NBC Friday Night Lights 5.64 1.9/6 3.7
  FOX House (Repeat) 7.83 2.4/7 5.1
           
10:00 ABC 20/20 6.75 2.0/6 4.7
  CBS Numb3rs (Repeat) 6.89 1.6/5 4.6
  NBC Las Vegas 6.86 2.1/6 4.5

Nielsen Ratings Source: Nielsen Media Research. Full night's results available via Marc Berman/Mediaweek.

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(36) Comments - Add Yours!

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  1. Rob

    Well for the 18-49 crowd that NBC courts, Friday Night Lights is doing what it needs to do. It is the most DVR-d show on this night, so that gives it an edge over almost all the other shows because the extra 7 days of viewing audience pulls it up in line with the other Friday night shows. NBC makes money off FNL because it is an inexpensive show filmed in a non-union state, so hopefully that will be enough to keep it on the air. These ratings demonstrate that no other show on Friday really pulls noticeably better numbers in the demographic.

  2. Rob – Numb3rs and Ghost Whisperer both had more absolute DVR viewers than FNL for the most recent week we have live+7 data for:

    http://tvbythenumbers.com/2008/01/28/top-timesh…

  3. Jon V

    Six of the Top 10 shows from last week are “Reality' shows (not including 60 minutes which actually IS sort of a reality show). What a sad state of affairs for both Television and the American 'Culture'.

  4. Rob

    Well for the 18-49 crowd that NBC courts, Friday Night Lights is doing what it needs to do. It is the most DVR-d show on this night, so that gives it an edge over almost all the other shows because the extra 7 days of viewing audience pulls it up in line with the other Friday night shows. NBC makes money off FNL because it is an inexpensive show filmed in a non-union state, so hopefully that will be enough to keep it on the air. These ratings demonstrate that no other show on Friday really pulls noticeably better numbers in the demographic.

  5. Rob – Numb3rs and Ghost Whisperer both had more absolute DVR viewers than FNL for the most recent week we have live+7 data for:

    http://tvbythenumbers.com/2008/01/28/top-timeshifted-broadcast-shows-january-7-13/2482

  6. Jon V

    Six of the Top 10 shows from last week are “Reality’ shows (not including 60 minutes which actually IS sort of a reality show). What a sad state of affairs for both Television and the American ‘Culture’.

  7. Rena Moretti

    Friday Night Lights yet again falls under 6 million viewers and is still Number 3 against re-runs.

    It's clearly “doing what it needs to do”… to get canceled!

    It's not “in line” with anything, except bad ratings.

    Sorry if I come across as harsh, but the endless spin of NBC about FNL is really grating me.

  8. Rena Moretti

    Friday Night Lights yet again falls under 6 million viewers and is still Number 3 against re-runs.

    It’s clearly “doing what it needs to do”… to get canceled!

    It’s not “in line” with anything, except bad ratings.

    Sorry if I come across as harsh, but the endless spin of NBC about FNL is really grating me.

  9. Rob

    My point about FNL is that it is right in line with the rest of the NBC line-up (1 vs. 100 and Las Vegas), all with 6 shares and averaging a 2.0 rating in 18-49. No one is talking about those other two shows being cancelled. Friday night is a night where all 3 networks accept compromised ratings, so FNL is doing what it needs to do to meet NBC's expectations and make a profit for the network. I understand how all the praise for FNL if it is not your cup of tea can be grating. I am just explaining why the show has not been cancelled and why it got a 22 episode order for this season instead of a 6 episode order or a 13 episode order. Everyone seems so mystified, because they are only looking at the total audience. The networks look at the make-up of the audience, and for FNL, the audience is younger and wealthier and advertisers will pay to reach that audience. A “Ghost Whisperer” rerun reaches a higher total audience than FNL, but FNL reaches a larger young audience than Ghost Whisperer does, so that is why NBC can justify staying with FNL. I expect NBC will renew.

  10. Rob

    My point about FNL is that it is right in line with the rest of the NBC line-up (1 vs. 100 and Las Vegas), all with 6 shares and averaging a 2.0 rating in 18-49. No one is talking about those other two shows being cancelled. Friday night is a night where all 3 networks accept compromised ratings, so FNL is doing what it needs to do to meet NBC’s expectations and make a profit for the network. I understand how all the praise for FNL if it is not your cup of tea can be grating. I am just explaining why the show has not been cancelled and why it got a 22 episode order for this season instead of a 6 episode order or a 13 episode order. Everyone seems so mystified, because they are only looking at the total audience. The networks look at the make-up of the audience, and for FNL, the audience is younger and wealthier and advertisers will pay to reach that audience. A “Ghost Whisperer” rerun reaches a higher total audience than FNL, but FNL reaches a larger young audience than Ghost Whisperer does, so that is why NBC can justify staying with FNL. I expect NBC will renew.

  11. Rena Moretti

    Vegas had one more million viewers, and I think it's the last year for that show (don't know if they announced it yet).

    1 vs. 100 had 2 more million viewers.

    They just don't have the same ratings, and if you add to that fact that FNL is the most hyped show on that night, its ratings performance is disastrous.

    I'm not sure where you get the idea that it's producing a profit for NBC.

    NBC is clearly hurting. If it was doing great with less than 6 million viewers per show, it wouldn't be hurting financially.

    As for the demographic explanation, I simply don't buy it. FNL was renewed probably because of political situations within NBC, which caused NBC to pretend like it believed more episodes of the same show would somehow get more ratings with more hype.

    It didn't work last year, and there was no reason to think it'd work this year.

    The only rationale NBC has to renew FNL is if it wants to stay 4 out 4 next year and keep on losing money.

  12. Rena Moretti

    Rob,

    I was trying to be nice, but since you felt free to insult me, I'll point out that your argument about young audiences is completely ageist.

    You're trying to spin bad ratings by saying that older people shouldn't count.

    For shame!

  13. Rena Moretti

    Vegas had one more million viewers, and I think it’s the last year for that show (don’t know if they announced it yet).

    1 vs. 100 had 2 more million viewers.

    They just don’t have the same ratings, and if you add to that fact that FNL is the most hyped show on that night, its ratings performance is disastrous.

    I’m not sure where you get the idea that it’s producing a profit for NBC.

    NBC is clearly hurting. If it was doing great with less than 6 million viewers per show, it wouldn’t be hurting financially.

    As for the demographic explanation, I simply don’t buy it. FNL was renewed probably because of political situations within NBC, which caused NBC to pretend like it believed more episodes of the same show would somehow get more ratings with more hype.

    It didn’t work last year, and there was no reason to think it’d work this year.

    The only rationale NBC has to renew FNL is if it wants to stay 4 out 4 next year and keep on losing money.

  14. Rena Moretti

    Rob,

    I was trying to be nice, but since you felt free to insult me, I’ll point out that your argument about young audiences is completely ageist.

    You’re trying to spin bad ratings by saying that older people shouldn’t count.

    For shame!

  15. Nighthawk

    Rob, I hope you are right about NBC not dropping the ball on FNL …. saw an article with a glimmer of hope regarding the show, when I find it I'll post it here….

  16. Nighthawk

    here is the glimmer …See the article entitled “NBC considers extending “Nights” ” by Rick Kissell, Variety mag, dated Feb 1, 2008………

  17. Nighthawk

    Rob, I hope you are right about NBC not dropping the ball on FNL …. saw an article with a glimmer of hope regarding the show, when I find it I’ll post it here….

  18. Nighthawk

    here is the glimmer …See the article entitled “NBC considers extending “Nights” ” by Rick Kissell, Variety mag, dated Feb 1, 2008………

  19. Bryan

    See others like Friday night lights also Rita.

  20. Bryan

    See others like Friday night lights also Rita.

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