| Scoreboard |  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Viewers (million) | 24.25 | 10.86 | 6.78 | 6.43 | 3.80 | .74 |
| Rating/Share: Adults 18-49 | 8.9/23 | 2.7/7 | 2.7/7 | 2.2/6 | 1.5/4 | 0.3/1 |
| Rating/Share: Adults 18-34 | 7.2/21 | 1.6/5 | 2.4/7 | 1.7/5 | 1.7/5 | 0.4/1 |
Two hours of American Idol fueled FOX to a dominant victory on Wednesday night. CBS was a distant second in total viewers, and ABC was second in adults 18-49. Sadly, neither Life or Life on Mars reversed the trend towards inevitable doom.
American Idol dominated the 8pm hour, but the second hour of Tuesday's The Biggest Loser was pushed to Wednesday due to the presidential address fared well in the demos against repeats on CBS and ABC (and the CW, too).
American Idol dominated the 9pm hour too, though it was a more competitive hour against new episodes of Lost and Criminal Minds (and Life). Lost which had risen nicely in the demos last week (to a 5.1 among 18-49s) dropped back down to the two weeks ago level when it drew a 4.4. But last week it wasn't up against American Idol and two weeks ago it was. So it looks pretty consistent. Lost was remarkable consistent numerically for both half hours.
NBC's Life was low, perhaps series low (at least on a Wednesday airing) dropping to 4.87 million average viewers. It's 18-49 demo numbers were actually up over last week, but not enough to provoke any hope among the rational. But I liked last night's episode and Crews' long distance relationship with tech support in India.
ABC's Life on Mars was also low. Don't let the numbers fool you as there was six minutes of Lost in the 10pm hour that will be removed in the finals. Unlike Lost, Life on Mars' half hourly numbers weren't consistent at all. In the first half hour (including the six minutes of Lost) it averaged 6.57 million and a 2.5 rating with 18-49s, but in the second half hour it averaged a mere 4.53 million and a 1.5/4 among 18-49s. It lost to a repeat of Law & Order on NBC, and of course CSI: NY which dominated the hour.
Last Wednesday's overnight numbers.
Full details:
| Time | Net | Show | Viewers (Millons) | 18-49 Rating/Share | 18-34 Rating/Share |
| 8:00 | FOX | American Idol | 23.68 | 8.5/23 | 6.7/21 |
| NBC | Biggest Loser | 8.73 | 3.3/9 | 2.8/9 | |
| CBS | New Adventures of Old Christine (R) | 5.83 | 1.5/4 | 0.9/3 | |
| ABC | LOST (R) | 4.97 | 1.7/5 | 1.4/5 | |
| CW | Privileged (R) | 0.90 | 0.4/1 | 0.5/2 | |
| 8:30 | CBS | Gary Unmarried (R) | 5.99 | 1.7/4 | 1.0/3 |
| 9:00 | FOX | American Idol | 24.82 | 9.4/23 | 7.7/21 |
| CBS | Criminal Minds | 13.98 | 3.4/8 | 2.0/5 | |
| ABC | LOST | 9.82 | 4.4/11 | 4.1/11 | |
| NBC | Life | 4.87 | 1.7/4 | 1.3/4 | |
| CW | 90210 (R) | 0.57 | 0.2/1 | 0.4/1 | |
| 10:00 | CBS | CSI: NY | 12.69 | 3.2/9 | 2.0/6 |
| NBC | Law & Order (R) | 5.71 | 1.7/5 | 1.3/4 | |
| ABC | Life on Mars | 5.55 | 2.0/6 | 1.7/5 |
Shows are sorted by viewers in each time slot.
Nielsen TV Ratings: ©2009 The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved.
Definitions:
Fast Affiliate Ratings: These first national ratings, including demographics, are available at approximately 11 AM (ET) the day after telecast, and are released to subscribing customers daily. These data, from the National People Meter sample, are strictly time-period information, based on the normal broadcast network feed, and include all programming on the affiliated stations, sometimes including network programming, sometimes not. The figures may include stations that did not air the entire network feed, as well as local news breaks or cutaways for local coverage or other programming. Fast Affiliate ratings are not as useful for live programs and are likely to differ significantly from the final results, because the data reflect normal broadcast feed patterns. For example, with a World Series game, Fast Affiliate Ratings would include whatever aired from 8-11PM on affiliates in the Pacific Time Zone, following the live football game, but not game coverage that begins at 5PM PT. The same would be true of Presidential debates as well as live award shows and breaking news reports.
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.)
Time Shifted Viewing – Program ratings for national sources are produced in three streams of data – Live, Live+Same Day (Live+SD) and Live+7 Day. Time shifted figures account for incremental viewing that takes place with DVRs which are currently in approximately 24.4% of all U.S. TV households. Live+Same Day (Live+SD) include viewing during the same broadcast day as the original telecast, with a cut-off of 3:00AM local time when meters transmit daily viewing to Nielsen for processing. Live+7 Day ratings include incremental viewing that takes place during the 7 days following a telecast.
For more information see Numbers 101.
Pretty strong ratings for Lost considering it was up against AI.(#2 in 18-49) I wonder if ABC will move it away though from 9pm.
ABC will not move Lost, is still the #1 scripted show.
Fuck, i don’t know how so many people see that crap called ‘American Idol’. That’s shit TV…
Yeah Lost is staying where it is.
It’s holding up incredibly well against AI and I’m not sure anything else ABC has would do anything even close to that. Plus I don’t think Lost would, at this point, do massively better in another timeslot to warrant ABC moving it.
lifes ratings are so bad. it makes me so depressed. u guys go on about heroes and chuck but life is soooooooooooo much better.
well, abc has a bad habit of moving lost around, thats why i thought that.
and if you look at the younger demos. Lost beats “Criminal Minds” hands down.
I really like Life but there’s just no way to spin those numbers into a positive. To hit what looks like a series low (in this timeslot at least) with a Biggest Loser lead-in, and Biggest Loser is pretty much NBC’s biggest show at this point is bad. Really bad. American Idol or no American Idol.
Lost ratings are steady unlike Heroes
Another strong showing for “Lost”, which has remained remarkably consistant in viewers this season (aside from the 1+ million they lose when head to head with AI). But we all know that “Lost” gains these viewers back on DVR. Does that make a difference when it comes to ad revenue? If so, perhaps they should move “Lost” to 8pm. It is where it started after all. It’s also where they should have kept it. I firmly beleive that the current viewer base for “Lost” will remain with the show until the end.
I still can’t believe how so many people tune into AI after eight seasons. It’s just so stale now in my opinion, yet viewers keep coming back. I just don’t get it.
Hoping for a decent wrap-up for LoM, but showrunners these days seem unable to not end on a cliffhanger, no matter how certain the axe-swinging may be.
I think Lost did great considering it went up against American Idol. I for one can’t wait to watch it on DVR when I get off from work.
I think LOST did fine too, considering it was up against Idol, as it will be going forward starting March 11 anyway.
Cool, how exactly is Lost the #1 rated show?
Jimmy, it is the #1 scripted show in the demos for the 9pm hour. That’s like throwing it 60 miles per hour straight down the middle to Alex Rodriguez on a steroids regimen for the PR flacks at ABC
As I have been saying ever since January 13 when it was announced that ‘American Idol’ and ‘Lie to Me’ would be switching, ABC should move ‘Lost’ to 8:00. It is somewhat randomly playing a repeat the week after next. When it comes back, it should be at 8:00.
^ The #1 scripted show last night was Lost.
wednesdays remain the prime spot for a fall 2009 attack by any of the nets. cbs is the only one that has a real foothold here, and even they have that weak first hour with christine/gary. it just seems there is the most to be gained on this night with the least competition. over the last few seasons wednesday has seemed to be the most challenging night for most of the nets to get anything to strongly take hold. the threat of idol returning hasnt kept tuesday from being agressively scheduled and competitive, so i dont think thats an explanation.
Life is SO good! I don’t understand. People generally like procedurals and when appears one that’s a bit different and that actually has quality they don’t see it. I just hope NBC finds a way to renew life or move it to another network. I know what people are gonna say: it’s a long shot. It is, but the show deserves it.
Ricardo, had it been crafted as a cable show from the outset, Life fits extremely nicely with the whole USA network “characters welcome” theme. Sadly, quirky characters on broadcast don’t always (ever?) go over as well, and I suspect for monetary reasons it will be very difficult to move the show off broadcast to cable.