Amid the sloppy kisses being given by the media to CBS for saving Medium from cancellation at the hands of NBC I noticed (in the process of working on another post), that Medium's 2.0 adults 18-49 ratings average after 4 episodes this season, is the same as The Ex-List's was last season after 3 episodes (but through the comparable week of the season).
While the fact that CBS produces Medium (vs. Fox for The Ex-List) means it financially benefits from more than just the advertising revenue for the show's continuation, let's dismiss the idea that picking up Medium has been some sort of ratings coup for CBS.
Edit/Update: While it is 100% true that Medium has done no better than The Ex-List up to this point last season, the fact that Ghost Whisperer is down 19% vs. last season puts this in a very different light.
Ratings coup, no. Moneymaker, yes. Show’s in its 5th season, right? That’s going to make a nice syndication package for CBS. Probably the real reason they saved the show in the first place.
Wonder how it would be doing on NBC these days. Might be the network’s top performer.
That last bit is sarcastic…
Bill,
That’s assuming that The EX-List would be pulling those numbers a full-year later with an even weaker lead-in (it was dipping considerably from Ghost Whisperer’s lead-in). It was the weak link and CBS was smart to dump it. Medium isn’t necessarily a ratings coup for CBS, it’s because of the cushy syndication package it had in place that CBS snapped it up.
What’s fortunate is that even though Numb3rs and GW are both down, Medium isn’t dipping lower. Some nights it ends up being the #1 show in the demo, which is sad — but such is the state of Friday on network television now.
The-GodfatherSJP,
I believe Lifetime already had a deal for any new episodes of Medium at something like 1.3 million — and that was in 2005 when the show had under 40 episodes produced. I’m sure they can get a much better deal now that they have north of 100.
No need to worry how it would be performing on NBC. It would be shelved until midseason, as usual while NBC let their other shows flop and then used Medium to plug in another hole in their schedule.
I agree with mayorofsmpleton. It might be informative to see a ratio of Medium’s ratings vs. the average of all of broadcast Friday primetime compared to the same for the Ex-List last year. With the continuing decline of Friday night viewing, I’m not sure the straight-up demo numbers give an apples-to-apples comparison.
Doesn’t Medium usually win it’s timeslot and rank 2nd on the night only a tenth or two off of GW? If that was also true of Ex-List why did they cancel it?
Medium is an awesome show. Glad to see it moved to CBS.
I know that you guys derride the retenionistas, but that’s the real story here. Its ratings are constant with GW, which makes CBS happy. What makes CBS unhappy is that the entire night is down over last year.
Oh my gosh Networks making money oh the horror.
Medium is such a strong show
I hope it sticks around for a couple more seaons
I believe it’s in its 6th season actually
Don’t forget that last season GW a Numbers were well above this season ratings.
Now Medium is in line with this 2 cbs shows.
don’t forget that this is the 6th season, and they change network, and broadcast day.
i think we can’t ask for more!
I’m not so sure how healthy the syndication prospects are for Medium today. Lifetime moved it out of the 2x prime-time nightly lineup recently and replaced it with extra airings of Grey’s Anatomy. After being shuffled off to a brief, yet unsuccessful trial during the weekday noon hour, it has been announced this week that an extra hour (3 in all)of Wife Swap is moving into this time slot. This will be followed by 3 hours of Desperate Housewives, and 3 hours of Grey’s Anatomy.
Medium has now been scheduled for weeknights at 12:30 and 1:30 AM.
What do people expect? The ratings to go up? That’s not going to happen now that other broadcast channels are finally putting scripted shows that are NOT repeats on Friday nights. The past few years it only seemed like CBS and FOX were trying for Friday nights. Of course their ratings are going to go down. Let’s get real they may have been the best Friday performing shows for forever but they are not the BEST scripted shows. They just happened to be the most entertaining shows on a Friday night for a very long time. However now there is Smallville, Ugly Betty, Dollhouse, etc. All of which are better in my opinion that what is on CBS (they may not be great, which most Friday night shows are not). That’s not to say I don’t like the Friday night shows on CBS I just don’t think they are great.
I love Medium and have been following it closely in the Nielson ratings. I was surprised that it does not follow GW in the numbers and ratings by much, I thought GW was really, really high in their numbers. I hope CBS does NOT pull Medium, I simply love a show where a family is intact, no cheating husbands, no drugged kids, etc. Yes, sometimes the content can have killing etc but it’s more of a puzzle and mystery. As I said, I hope Medium is around for a long time to come.
well its averaging 8 mil viewers every friday night, killing every other network that night, so there doing something right….
Medium for sure is benefitting CBS currently.
I think if they were to get rid of any show on Friday it would be “Numbers” and all shows seem to be aging.
My only wonder is why in the world CBS hasn’t tried moving one of it’s Friday night shows to Wednesday and moving Christine/Gary Unmarried to Friday.
Err, Gunsmoke rule anyone?
Gusar, don’t argue rules with me!
The Gunsmoke rule only applies to seasons *before* the previous one.
“The Gunsmoke Rule”: No comparing the ratings of any individual show this season to a show in any season except the previous one. “How could CBS have canceled Gunsmoke, for some dreck like CSI? Gunsmoke pulled a 40 rating in 1960!“
Bill, though the Gunsmoke rule does NOT apply, and I won’t argue those rules with you. But the Y/Y Ghost Whisperer declines were worthy of noting (and you didn’t note them) in the context of Medium’s numbers. The night in general is worse for CBS and not just at 9pm.
Isn’t it a bit strange to compare a 6 year old show with a following to a brand new show like The Ex-List? Most new shows (especially the ones that go on to be canceled) have a ratings peak in their first few episodes. That’s why networks usually wait a few weeks to see what the ratings “settle at” before they decide anything.
I think this article would be more valid later on in the season when can compare Medium’s baseline rating with The Ex-List’s baseline rating. It’s the whole season’s worth of viewers that matter, not just the first three weeks. What did The Ex-List’s ratings drop to anyway? That’s the number that Medium needs to beat IMO.
@Robert: Exactly. The entire Friday is down. Last year Ex-List stood out quite heavily as the worst performer. Medium though, is getting ratings almost as good as Ghost Whisperer and higher than Numb3rs.