| Scoreboard |  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Viewers (million) | 7.34 | 7.15 | 4.63 | 4.29 | 1.63 |
| Rating/Share: Adults 18-49 | 2.0/6 | 2.3/7 | 1.7/6 | 1.3/4 | 0.6/2 |
Another night of mixed leadership where CBS was the most-watched broadcast network while FOX's combination of Don't Forget the Lyrics and So You Think You Can Dance took the 18-49 year old demographic.
I'm not as sold as some of my number crunching brethren on Flashpoint. The good news: in its second Thursday airing it increased (compared to last week's overnight report) the number of viewers from its first Thursday airing by 1.1 million or ~16%. The bad news, it didn't increase its 18-49 demo rating much. From a 1.7/5 to a 1.8/6.
Big Brother 10 had the highest demo performance of the night for CBS with a 2.3/8 (rating/share). As predicted by one of our commenters (TVaholic) the bump for Big Brother by swapping with Greatest American Dog and moving to Thursdays was good news for CBS. Brother, had averaged a 2.0 in the demo on Wednesdays so that's a nice increase (15% above average).
I'm not quite sold on Flashpoint yet ratings-wise. Sure, it won its time slot, both in total viewers and the demo, and sure it was up more than a million viewers total, but does CBS really need another show that fares well with older people and not so well in the demo?
I mean think about it, we can call NBC's Last Comic Standing tired and old -- because it is. But with 2.64 million fewer viewers between 8p-10p than Flashpoint had at 10pm, LCS had a 1.9/7 in the demo. So with about 35% fewer total viewers, LCS was better in the 18-49 demo than Flashpoint.
Full details:
| Time | Net | Show | Viewers (Millons) | 18-49 Rating/Share |
| 8:00 | CBS | Big Brother 10 | 6.45 | 2.3/8 |
| NBC | Last Comic Standing (8p-10p) | 5.00 | 1.9/7 | |
| ABC | Ugly Betty (R) | 3.75 | 1.1/4 | |
| CW | Smallville (R) | 1.71 | 0.7/2 | |
| FOX | Don't Forget the Lyrics | 5.85 | 1.7/6 | |
| 9:00 | CBS | CSI (R) | 7.94 | 1.8/5 |
| ABC | Grey's Anatomy (R) | 3.59 | 1.2/4 | |
| CW | Supernatural (R) | 1.55 | 0.6/2 | |
| FOX | So You Think You Can Dance | 8.46 | 2.8/9 | |
| 10:00 | ABC | Hopkins | 5.53 | 1.7/5 |
| CBS | Flashpoint | 7.64 | 1.8/6 | |
| NBC | Fear Itself | 3.87 | 1.3/4 |
Nielsen Ratings Source: Nielsen Media Research. Source Marc Berman/Mediaweek.
Definitions:
Overnights: Local metered-market ratings service of Nielsen Station Index (NSI) in which household ratings and shares are provided to clients the morning following the day or evening of telecast.
Rating: Estimated percentage of the universe of TV households (or other specified group) tuned to a program in the average minute. Ratings are expressed as a percent.
Share (of Audience): The percent of households (or persons) using television who are tuned to a specific program, station or network in a specific area at a specific time. (See also, Rating, which represents tuning or viewing as a percent of the entire population being measured.)
LIVE+SD: The number that watched a program either while it was broadcast OR watched via DVR on the same day [through 3AM the next day] the program was broadcast.
For more information see Numbers 101.
Flshpoint may be a “Hit With older People”, but dont over look that it was tied for the 3rd highest Demo rating for the night, and won its time period in both Viewers & Demo.
TVa, fourth highest, not third and on the broadcast networks, but the *only* first run, scripted program of the four. I don't know if I view that as a positive. I don't see it as negative either. I see it as neutral. Neither particularly good or particularly bad. From a ratings perspective I'm not high on shows like that. I'd also be very curious to see Burn Notice's demo which unfortunately, I will not likely see.
So Robert, If the Crime Procedurals attract the older crowd and CBS is trying to make inroads into the 18-49 demo why start with another CP? When I look at the top 20 shows I only see one CP. I guess I don't get what CBS is trying to do. Or are they really trying to retain the 50 + crowd and just don't want to say it?
Two million more viewers than ABC and 3.77 more total viewers and than NBC and Flashpoint is still ahead of both networks in the demos (by decimals but still ahead). What the networks have to figure out is where those demos go at ten. They keep throwing episodic shows at an invisible wall and hope something will stick and usually the numbers are still about the same. My guess, having two children in the sainted demos, is that they are happily online, either doing something non-tv related or watching something that they cannot see on the tv at that time.
Although I spend a good deal of time on the computer I would rather watch my “predictable” shows in their regular time slots or watch something I missed on my dvdr.
I'd still rather watch tv on the tv rather than on my computer and there is your age difference. The demos like the freedom of watching on the Internet or on their computers. The only exception is the live reality shows, reflected in the Big Brother numbers. (Moving it out of the way of So You Think You Can Dance, the results show, didn't hurt either. Made it easier for me to watch both in real time.)
I just think that the networks are fighting a losing battle, trying to woo viewers who think that the network tv, and television in general, is an obsolete medium.
Em РI think it's possible to both not alienate your aging audience (and CBS isn't the only one with this issue, it's just perhaps more pronounced at the Eye net) and attract younger viewers and do it with crime procedurals.. CSI, and CSI: Miami both have healthy 18-49 audiences for original airings, as does Law & Order: SVU. So I think CP just are a comfort zone. The devil you know, dance with the one who brung you, pick your clich̩.
mabirdy: agree w/you in general in terms of struggling to keep viewers in general across the broadcast nets. But if I'm at CBS, I'm *not* using ABC and NBC as my benchmarks. Aside from Wipeout, ABC seems to have mostly completely given up on the summer, and NBC overall is the last place network these days (unless you count the CW). Did Flashpoint beat Hopkins and Fear Itself? Sure. But you're not going to make any decisions based on the hardly watched Fear Itself. Hopkins with 2+ million fewer almost did as well in the demo. Flashpoint beat it marginally in the demo, but I'm not sure if that's a victory worth celebrating.
Flshpoint may be a “Hit With older People”, but dont over look that it was tied for the 3rd highest Demo rating for the night, and won its time period in both Viewers & Demo.
TVa, fourth highest, not third and on the broadcast networks, but the *only* first run, scripted program of the four. I don't know if I view that as a positive. I don't see it as negative either. I see it as neutral. Neither particularly good or particularly bad. From a ratings perspective I'm not high on shows like that. I'd also be very curious to see Burn Notice's demo which unfortunately, I will not likely see.