| Scoreboard for Thurs. May 1, 2008 |  |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Viewers (million) | 14.39 | 11.39 | 7.80 | 6.87 | 2.72 |
| Rating/Share: Adults 18-49 | 4.1/11 | 4.4/12 | 2.3/6 | 3.0/8 | 1.3/3 |
Ah, the first night of May but through the magic of Nielsen the second Thursday of May sweeps. And I don't know if DVR viewing picked up week over week, I just know less people were watching TV last night, and it especially showed up for ABC . But if I'm reading the number right, less people were watching TV last night than watched TV last Thursday.
Everything is down versus last year pretty much but ABC was down vs. last week. Last week via the overnight reports Ugly Betty had 8.52 million, this week 7.93m. Last week Grey's Anatomy had 16.02m via the overnights, this week 15.11, and last week LOST had 12.33m in the overnights and this week 11.14.
This trend is *not* limited to ABC. Last week CBS had 12.98m in the overnights for Survivor: Micronesia, this week 12.53m. And last week Without a Trace had 13.5m and this week had 12.85m. But some good news for the EYE. Last week in the overnights CSI had 16.74m and a 4.6/11 in the 18-49 demographic, but this week CSI had 17.78m and a 5.0/13. Grey's still trounced CSI in the demo with a 6.0/15 (but last week it had a 6.3/16).
NBC's lineup actually improved. My Name is Earl, Scrubs, The Office, 30 Rock and even ER all had slightly more viewers than last week. You can see last week's overnight numbers for yourselves if you want to do the full comparisons.
Marc Berman says the ABC bound Scrubs needs to just pack it in, but survey says Scrubs had the BEST 18-34 rating of the 8pm-9pm hour (we don't track it here but Scrubs had a 3.1 in the 18-34 demo and Ugly Betty had a 2.6 in its second half hour). Indeed among the 18-34 set, Scrubs had the fourth best performance of the night trailing only Grey's Anatomy, LOST, and The Office. I'm kind of surprised NBC let it go. Update: a comment from "Dave" below spells out why the Scrubs move is good for ABC and NBC.
Smallville remains strong for the CW. It actually picked up steam in the second half hour. Sadly, Supernatural didn't hold a lot of the lead-in to begin with and lost even more in the second half hour to wind up with Gossip Girl style total numbers. And though we don't typically track it, Univision's Al Diablo con los Guapos and Fuego en la Sangre trounced the CW shows, both in total viewers AND in the demos. Fuego averaged over 2 million more viewers than Supernatural in the 9pm hour.
Last night's details:
| Time | Network | Show | Viewers (Millons) | 18-49 Rating/Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8:00 | CBS | Survivor: Micronesia | 12.53 | 4.0/12 |
| FOX | Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader | 8.32 | 2.2/7 | |
| ABC | Ugly Betty | 7.93 | 2.4/7 | |
| NBC | My Name is Earl | 6.77 | 2.8/9 | |
| CW | Smallville | 3.64 | 1.5/5 | |
| 8:30 | NBC | Scrubs | 5.91 | 2.9/8 |
| 9:00 | CBS | CSI | 17.78 | 5.0/13 |
| FOX | Don't Forget the Lyrics | 7.28 | 2.5/6 | |
| ABC | Grey's Anatomy | 15.11 | 6.0/15 | |
| NBC | The Office | 7.67 | 3.9/10 | |
| CW | Supernatural | 2.53 | 1.0/3 | |
| 9:30 | NBC | 30 Rock | 5.41 | 2.6/7 |
| 10:00 | CBS | Without a Trace | 12.85 | 3.3/9 |
| ABC | LOST | 11.14 | 4.8/13 | |
| NBC | ER | 7.74 | 3.0/8 |
Nielsen Ratings Source: Nielsen Media Research. Full night's results available via Marc Berman/Mediaweek.
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Looks like Supernatural improved slighty over last week. Still disappointing ratings wise. Hopefully it will pick up next week the previews looked really good.
Grey’s seemed flat and boring last night. I wonder if they lost viewers at the half-hour?
I DVR’d everything last night, maybe a million other viewers did as well?
Looks like Supernatural improved slighty over last week. Still disappointing ratings wise. Hopefully it will pick up next week the previews looked really good.
Grey's seemed flat and boring last night. I wonder if they lost viewers at the half-hour?
I DVR'd everything last night, maybe a million other viewers did as well?
Wow, GA is down down down. It may rebound a little in the fall but i think next spring we’ll see GA around 13 million
Wow, GA is down down down. It may rebound a little in the fall but i think next spring we'll see GA around 13 million
Robert
Let’s be fair, fewer people were watching “network” television. I was watching Red Sox/Blue Jays on NESN in New England, then some NBA on TNT.
“Scrubs” used to be must-view TV for me and I have the DVD sets of seasons 1-5 and I’ll still watch it if nothing better is on. This is one time I have to go along with NBC though and try to dump some older shows to bring in something that might last 4 or 5 years instead of 1 or 2.
Thursday night is the one shot NBC seems to have to keep the demo rating and dumping Scrubs and ER could give newer shows a fighting chance.
Robert
Let's be fair, fewer people were watching “network” television. I was watching Red Sox/Blue Jays on NESN in New England, then some NBA on TNT.
“Scrubs” used to be must-view TV for me and I have the DVD sets of seasons 1-5 and I'll still watch it if nothing better is on. This is one time I have to go along with NBC though and try to dump some older shows to bring in something that might last 4 or 5 years instead of 1 or 2.
Thursday night is the one shot NBC seems to have to keep the demo rating and dumping Scrubs and ER could give newer shows a fighting chance.
Daniel, fewer people were watching TV *period* actually if i read the hut/put #s right. I wonder if there was some Grand Theft Auto IV effect…
Polly, both Grey’s and CSI picked up viewers in the second half hour. Sadly we won’t see the full DVR effect for a while.
Daniel, fewer people were watching TV *period* actually if i read the hut/put #s right. I wonder if there was some Grand Theft Auto IV effect…
Polly, both Grey's and CSI picked up viewers in the second half hour. Sadly we won't see the full DVR effect for a while.
I love how your blog is Anti ABC.
I love how your blog is Anti ABC.
I just report the numbers. I *watched* LOST live. And I think picking up Scrubs is a good move. Yep, so anti-mouse!
I just report the numbers. I *watched* LOST live. And I think picking up Scrubs is a good move. Yep, so anti-mouse!
Robert,
Well you could show those numbers then
Less snarkily, how does Nielsen measure video games on HUT/PUT? Do the meters note if TVs are on? Do they distinguish TVs on to those tuned into a broadcast, cable or satellite signal?
Robert,
Well you could show those numbers then
Less snarkily, how does Nielsen measure video games on HUT/PUT? Do the meters note if TVs are on? Do they distinguish TVs on to those tuned into a broadcast, cable or satellite signal?
Robert – if they picked up viewers at the half-hour I guess we can go with the DST effect. I don’t think the DVR effect will make up the difference in lost viewers, but we’ll see. I think the strike may be the reason. People learned new ways of watching and discovered cable. Now if the actors strike, we may see the death of network tv as we know it.
Robert – if they picked up viewers at the half-hour I guess we can go with the DST effect. I don't think the DVR effect will make up the difference in lost viewers, but we'll see. I think the strike may be the reason. People learned new ways of watching and discovered cable. Now if the actors strike, we may see the death of network tv as we know it.
It’s not the networks to be concerned about but the shows, if a show is high concept then no matter how people watch it, the sum total should be impressive.
It's not the networks to be concerned about but the shows, if a show is high concept then no matter how people watch it, the sum total should be impressive.
The DVR effect is overrated. GA will pick up around a million and a half i suppose. That makes it a 16.5 million show. Way back of where it was a year ago. Of course most of the shows have returned with worse results after the strike, but i don’t know many with a 25% drop from last year. Creatively GA has nowhere to go, this show needs some buzz in the summer or else it will keep falling. The same goes for Ugly Betty. I mean a drop from over 11 million to under 8 million is huge.
And Lost has pretty low standards these days, but let’s not forget a couple of years ago it was pulling 20 millions.
Mix all this with the fact that ABC has renwed plenty of low rated shows i think next year will be a trouble year for this station.
It’s not an anti-ABC analysis, i’m just saying ABC need to be careful or else it may end up like NBC in a couple of years
The DVR effect is overrated. GA will pick up around a million and a half i suppose. That makes it a 16.5 million show. Way back of where it was a year ago. Of course most of the shows have returned with worse results after the strike, but i don't know many with a 25% drop from last year. Creatively GA has nowhere to go, this show needs some buzz in the summer or else it will keep falling. The same goes for Ugly Betty. I mean a drop from over 11 million to under 8 million is huge.
And Lost has pretty low standards these days, but let's not forget a couple of years ago it was pulling 20 millions.
Mix all this with the fact that ABC has renwed plenty of low rated shows i think next year will be a trouble year for this station.
It's not an anti-ABC analysis, i'm just saying ABC need to be careful or else it may end up like NBC in a couple of years