Comments on: Burn Notice, The Closer, NASCAR Top Week's Cable Shows

By: Paul

Paul — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 16:27:23 +0000

Are there numbers for the latest “Ruby and The Rockits” episode on ABC Family. Thank you.

By: Robert Seidman

Robert Seidman — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 23:08:04 +0000

Dena, Nielsen attempts to create its total sample (demographics — age, gender, race, income, geography) to capture the entirity of American TV viewers based on the makeup of the entire population.

You can find out more about their sampling processes by digging around at Nielsen.com, but they deliberately don’t make you aware of anyone who has been polled and Nielsen families are instructed not to divulge that fact to anyone so they won’t be unduly influenced.

By: Dena Rivera

Dena Rivera — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 23:03:48 +0000

I would be interested to find out who the people are that are polled in these ratings. I and no one like me, has ever been polled and I would not be surprised if the polls are done in a certain culture and for certain people and not others. That would complete skew the results in a way that would not fairly represent the entirety of the the American TV viewers and what we do and do not watch.

By: Scotty

Scotty — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 18:29:49 +0000

Thank you very much for posting the Top 20, and for reporting the numbers on shows outside the Top 20 that many of us enjoy. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by Warehouse 13, for example, and have never missed an episode of Burn Notice, Leverage, L&O:CI or In Plain Sight. For those of us who enjoy scripted hour-long dramas, the cable networks are now the place to be.

By: Elana

Elana — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 06:19:27 +0000

You can say that again Jeffrey lol…. awesome! I’m so proud that the show has pick up another 4 season glad things are turning around for U so proud of Your work. hope one day that U will host SNL Live I love that show, & get to meet U & the case in person one day soon I miss U last year in Chicago. 1# cable Huggs.

By: Terry

Terry — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 16:35:54 +0000

hopefully they’ll renew it sooner than that.

By: Matthew

Matthew — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 15:46:35 +0000

Law and Order CI will surely be renewed if the final 2 episodes of the season are in the 4 million range of viewers I think.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 20:15:38 +0000

@jay
I think the reason why they don’t go for the reality/game/talent format is because they know that those shows do nothing but contribute to the idiocracy of the world. They tried it with Nashville Star and it failed. While shows like Burn Notice or Psych may not be “exceptional” programing, they are a hell of a lot smarter and much more entertaining than the crap that other networks turn out.

By: James

James — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 13:04:57 +0000

I personally like Psych. I think it’s funny and the characters have great chemistry. It’s a bit formulaic–but let’s face it, every USA show is formulaic. It’s like CBS, just a little more creative with the crime genre.

And I don’t think a network like USA has much to gain from a reality or game show.

By: jay

jay — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 04:28:06 +0000

Off the wall, probably, but does anyone know why USA won’t take a risk and go for the 18-35 or 18- 49 audience bigtime, with an innovative reality/game/talent show,or anything more “characters wanted ” than dowdy old Monk or Miami Vice wannabees? ( Psych,by the way ,is my dead grandmothers’ idea of comedy. Any defenders of that painfully supid show?)

By: Bill Gorman

Bill Gorman — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 03:26:36 +0000

j, gotcha, now I understand you were writing about True Blood in particular, even though you referred to “the top cable shows this summer” which people might reasonably infer from being in this post to be shows like Burn Notice, The Closer, Royal Pains, etc.

For True Blood’s audience, since 1 rating point for adults 18-49 = 1.32 million viewers, True Blood’s 2.0 would equal 2.64 million adults and that would be > 50% of the entire viewership of 4 million.

But the biggest cable shows like Burn Notice, The Closer, Royal Pains don’t have that high a % of 18-49 year old viewers.

By: j

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 02:29:03 +0000

I was talking about True Blood. It has 4 million viewers. A 2.0 in18-49 is more than 2 million 18-49 viewers, yes? Unless the # of 18-49′ers has dropped, like, more than 25% in the last month. I would’ve edited, but we can’t. I thought people would get it and I didn’t want to triplet post.

By: jay

jay — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 01:16:55 +0000

I don’t even think Bill and Bill like me much, but i’l l still go to bat for them:they are being inundated with demands for the impossible. Everybody wants the numbers for 18-35 and even 18-49 on basic cable. Its a needle in a haystack and it is not their fault. Maybe its Dodge City on laymenwoman basic cable ratings ,but it is what it is and thats the way it is to quote the late dead Cronkite or Robin Willians.

By: James

James — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 21:25:55 +0000

You’re right. Perhaps just poor at arithmetic.

By: Holly

Holly — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 21:12:14 +0000

James, that doesn’t resolve his second post stating “Esp since the 18-49 demo seems to be well over half the total viewers.”

By: James

James — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 19:08:05 +0000

I think what J is saying is that he likes to “double the cable numbers” to compare them to networks. So I BELIEVE he is saying that if Burn Notice getting 2.5 million 18-49 is like getting 5 million on a broadcast net.

By: Holly

Holly — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 18:25:16 +0000

Perhaps j is comparing the HH number to the 18-49 number and doesn’t realize there is not a direct 1-to-1 correlation?

By: Robert Seidman

Robert Seidman — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 18:20:14 +0000

j appears to be getting numbers from an alternate universe where 2.5 million 18-49 out of 6.8 million viewers is more than half! In that universe even I might want to be a PR person!

By: Bill Gorman

Bill Gorman — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 17:40:07 +0000

j, where are you getting your 18-49 numbers for cable shows?

By: j

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 17:34:54 +0000

Esp since the 18-49 demo seems to be well over half the total viewers.

By: j

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 17:32:01 +0000

Gosh, the top cable shows this summer’s demo #’s are much more impressive than the nets’ (I like to directly compare by doubling the cable #’s.).

By: sarah

sarah — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 16:29:47 +0000

According to TravisYanan on MediaWeek, True Blood did score 4 million viewers:

“Sunday original finals (will add network viewer numbers when I get them)

True Blood (9:03pm, 50 minutes)
- 4.0 million viewers
- 2.4/4 HH
- 2.0/6 A18-49″

http://pifeedback.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/63310451/m/387104922/p/5

By: RJ

RJ — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:13:24 +0000

Saving Grace does not deserve to go back behind The Closer. It’s time for the show to stand on its own feet. Leverage (or HawtoRNe) never got The Closer to help them, and they are doing fine. TNT just has to put another show behind it.

By: Mark

Mark — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 13:13:59 +0000

Holly hunter and the cast of Saving Grace have been doing lots of press this season. That show deserves a 4th season… I bet if it was after the Closer it would retain more of the audience than Raising the Bar does

By: forg

forg — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 13:11:14 +0000

I just wanna echo the statement of the other readers, thank you for this awesome website, a heaven for ratings geeks like me

By: James

James — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 10:31:44 +0000

Actually Tom, Raising the Bar did not do well last season. It premiered well behind the Closer, but after the Closer was off lost many millions of viewers. I believe it was averaging between 2-3 million last season.

By: Richard Steven Hack

Richard Steven Hack — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 08:50:47 +0000

Leverage will get a bump when Jeri Ryan joins the show to replace the pregnant Gina Bellman for a while.

By: tom

tom — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 07:50:24 +0000

I’m surprised that Raising the Bar is doing so poorly this season because it did so well last season, must be the Sophmore Slump. I Love the show and hope it stays on but those numbers are not good

By: RJ

RJ — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 03:36:43 +0000

ROYAL PAINS AND BURN NOTICE HAVE BEEN RENEWED!

By: Kyle

Kyle — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 03:11:08 +0000

Does TNT have a particular day that they have to decide on renewals? They are airing all of their originals this summer… do they have ANY new programs slated for fall?

By: AniMatsuri

AniMatsuri — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 02:50:20 +0000

Looks like Hawthorne has locked into consitant numbers each week. Unless the main star is asking for more money than the net is willing to shell out it should be a no brainer to renew it soon.

By: Jon

Jon — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 01:31:40 +0000

Burn Notice has become a hot hit for USA and with Monk ending, I think USA are still in prime position with their shows doing 4-6m and with upcoming shows like White Collar and possibly Covert Affairs, they will number 1 for a while.

I hear that Monk is going to run through its 16 episodes rather than split the season which makes me wonder whether White Collar is going to be given a lead in from Monk.

By: j

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 01:13:28 +0000

History’s been made? Burn Notice topped Closer last week (though both were topped by an original scripted crossover on Disney last week). And Closer I don’t think has been on long enough that a show getting better #’s is historical.

By: Allen Charles

Allen Charles — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 01:13:25 +0000

Nothing wanted by me except?

To say THANK for a GREAT site, I really enjoy and appreciate your GREAT WORK site and the work you do.

By: Hot Pocket

Hot Pocket — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 01:05:52 +0000

History has been made as The Closer was finally dethroned by another original scripted series. GO BURN NOTICE GO!

By: Syfylite

Syfylite — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 00:14:29 +0000

Thanks, Bill!

By: Bill Gorman

Bill Gorman — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 00:07:39 +0000

romo, not even close. We have weekly data for a handful of cable shows for about 2 years, and fairly comprehensive weekly lists for less than one year.

By: Robert Seidman

Robert Seidman — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 23:59:34 +0000

Doghouse, there’s really mot much more to it than what you wind up seeing here (other than there being a lot more rows!). There is an additional column that specifies duration and a lot of columns about P2+ ratings and shares that are fairly meaningless to include since we include viewer numbers. Since the P2+ ratings are not commonly used anywhere else for anything even if we didn’t have space limitations on our site, it would wind up simply confusing most people and require a ton of explanation for data that wouldn’t be of much use to fans. So, it’s not worth including them.

The one number we don’t include that I do find interesting is the P2+ PUT % (percentage of people age 2+ who are watching TV).

Keeping in mind that it’s summer, last week for Sun-Thur primetime it was still generally between 35%-40% of the population watching TV at any given time during prime time. Even in the wee hours of the morning, 7%-10% of the nation is still watching tube.

By: romo

romo — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 23:51:13 +0000

Do u have the ratings for every cable show from 2002 ?

By: Doghouse Reilly

Doghouse Reilly — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 23:39:43 +0000

You know, it would be interesting if you or Robert could take a screen shot of the spreadsheet with all the cable ratings. I assume it is a spreadsheet. It doesn’t even have to be readable; I’d just like to see what it looks like.

By: Bill Gorman

Bill Gorman — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 23:35:17 +0000

Cable announcements are not neatly grouped together into a convenient (mostly) one week period like broadcast. It could be just about any time. Absent something really wacky with the producers or the casts, I wouldn’t worry about either of those shows.

By: Katherine

Katherine — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 23:31:03 +0000

Bill/Robert,
Do you know or have you heard any word as to when USA might announce if they are renewing In Plain Sight/LO:CI? Just curious.

By: Holly

Holly — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 23:30:48 +0000

BBC America 62.6 million HHs
Syfy 94.7 million HHs

Wow, I’d say that could make a serious dent in the show’s ratings.

I’m a bit surprised Leverage isn’t doing better. It is getting more viewers than during the regular season against heavier competition, but not many. With most of it’s shows getting similar ratings, it will be interesting to see what TNT does come renewal time.

By: Tom

Tom — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 23:25:28 +0000

When I was in high school we had an assembly and where the message was…

“No One Wins When You Choose To Drink And Drive”

I’d believed that for over a decade but I think it’s been debunked at this point. In some cases, as it turns out, USA Network wins.

By: tim

tim — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 23:19:42 +0000

so are you posting another list because i would also like to see Top Chef Masters and Kathy Griffin….THANKS love the site!

By: James

James — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 23:01:28 +0000

Seriously, I agree with Huddy. This is a great site…but many there are some pushy pushy folks here…who go way too nuts for their shows! Patience is a virtue. And would it kill people to say please and thank you?

By: Twin Peaks

Twin Peaks — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 22:43:17 +0000

I apologize for doing that last week.

By: Bill Gorman

Bill Gorman — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 22:21:58 +0000

The “queue up the a la carte requests, then do them all at once” process really doesn’t cause me problems. Spammy chuckleheads asking mulitple times about non-existent ratings for the exact same shows are more annoying to me (MediaFan/Twin Peaks, and now Twin Peaks fakers!).

However, the top cable show post has historically been Robert’s domain, and today was my last one while he was off for the month of July. He returns on Friday. Be prepared for the rules to change.

By: RayJay101

RayJay101 — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 22:13:54 +0000

Seriously, am I one of the few commentators ticked off about all of this? There should be like a “1 show per person” or “only shows requested by more than 5 people”. This is really getting insane and people should not think of this as a weekly thing.

- LOOK UP THE NUMBERS YOURSELVES, SOME ARE OUT THERE.
- USE DEDUCTIVE REASONING, IF YOUR SHOW ISN’T IN THE TOP 20, IT HAS LESS THAN THE 20TH’S SHOW VIEWER NUMBERS.
- NOT ALL SHOWS ARE IMPORTANT TO EVEN REPORT NUMBERS ON
- SAY PLEASE AND THANK YOU, DON’T RUN AWAY AS SOON AS YOU GET YOUR NUMBERS.

By: Someone

Someone — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 22:13:02 +0000

I realy hope Dark Blue gets some better ratings it have kinda been falling latley its pretty much the only crime show other then criminal minds that i like