Comments on: TV Ratings: House tops night; The Jay Leno Show loses to reruns of CSI: Miami, Castle

By: Wendy

Wendy — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 23:23:09 +0000

Ouch…Heroes back down to a 2.3 in the finals, but still I think that’s on par with last week. I guess the New Orleans market is pretty strong if it could take a show down in the demos by 8% with MNF…although the rating for that game overall were insane. Thanks for the finals link Rob.

By: Dan

Dan — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 19:24:43 +0000

Its pretty good for Castle but airing post Dancing, the series doesnt normally repeat, in that slot. A new episode will air next week so well see how it does without Dancing. I hope the book helps the show, the series is good, and hopefully it can become a staple for 10pm mondays. With Lost ending in May and likely Ugly Betty, ABC will have 4 veteran dramas for 2010-2011 (Desperate Housewives, Grey’s Anatomy, Brothers & Sistsers, Private Practice) hopefully Castle can join the list. All fo the other new dramas are on the bubble status at best.

By: Lee

Lee — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 19:08:38 +0000

Is that good for Castle? I don’t remember how it did previously on repeats?

According to Andrew Marlowe (creator of Castle) there will be a second Richard Castle book out. We’ll start getting hints about it in the back 9 episodes. No mention of when the book would be released though.

By: Robert Seidman

Robert Seidman — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 19:04:06 +0000

Travis has now posted the full finals for Monday:

http://pifeedback.com/eve/forums?a=tpc&s=32410241&f=63310451&m=887106952&r=793100062#793100062

By: Dan

Dan — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 18:49:29 +0000

It looks like Lie to Me, may be moved to fridays around March. That will kill the show. Trauma has 6 eps left, my guess is that will move to fridays at 9 airing post Law & Order. As for Castle, this is its first regular repeat 10pm monday. I doubt when it returns early Jan, it will be repeated again in the slot.

By: TVBill

TVBill — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 18:36:39 +0000

Not sure if our friend Travis Yanan has posted the Finals over at PIF yet, but in the meantime, here are the ones I was interested in — HEROES 5.386 million, 2.3/6 A1849; TRAUMA 5.356m, 1.6/4; LENO 4.180m, 1.2/3; FIND MY FAMILY 6.945m, 2.0/5; and CASTLE (R) 6.006m, 1.6/4.

By: Big Boss

Big Boss — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 18:17:18 +0000

Thanks Bill!

By: Bill Gorman

Bill Gorman — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 18:06:18 +0000

This is all we've got so far, just in from TVBill: Monday's Nationals are in and ABC/NBC see drops from MNF pre-emps, as expected. HEROES now a 2.3 in demo; TRAUMA 1.6; LENO 1.2; CASTLE 1.6.

By: Big Boss

Big Boss — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 18:04:05 +0000

Any word on final numbers yet?

By: Robert Seidman

Robert Seidman — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 13:14:27 +0000

Pat ate at the knucklehead/chucklehead buffet. Perhaps the easiest thing for him to do at this point is ask Marc Berman whether The Biggest Loser is usually two hours on Tuesdays!

Though I can’t opine on his emotional need for Leno to fail at 10pm, if you can’t convince him to look at his TV listings to see that practically every Tuesday this season, east coast and west, The Biggest Loser has aired from 8pm-10pm…you have no hope of convincing him that at a 1.3 adults 18-49 rating, The Jay Leno Show isn’t going anywhere THIS season.

By: Alex

Alex — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 12:57:50 +0000

Pat firstly as Tommy has already pointed out The Biggest Loser airs a two-hour episode every week from 8PM NBC have not bumped Leno to air a Biggest Loser special, they’ve bumped Leno to give Obama an hour at 8PM and allow themselves to keep one of their biggest rated shows on the air this week. I’d suggest you go and look at last weeks schedule for Tuesday or even last weeks Tuesday ratings to see the error of your repeated claim that Leno is being bumped for a special two-hour Biggest Loser.

Secondly when it comes to NBC’s ratings expectations for Leno or more accurately put this idea that NBC would never agree to air anything expecting it to do less than a 2.0 you’re in a dream world. Did you miss Jeff Zucker publicly admitting that NBC would never be the number one network again and that their main priority was now managing for the bottom line, as in making the network profitable not popular? Absolutely nobody at NBC put Leno on at 10PM expecting him to be ratings success, he’s there because he’s a financial success. There have for examples been numerous stories doing the rounds since before Leno even debuted that as long as he averaged between a 1.3 and 1.5 he would be making Leno millions of dollars, which is more than the vast majority of the NBC schedule can claim.

More over I will once again repeat that I think anyone claiming Leno has been a bomb should go back to the months before the show debuted and remember that there was a huge number of people who were convinced the show wouldn’t be able to break the 1.0 mark on a regular basis. I would contend that as long as Leno is keeping its head above a 1 (and it is) it’s doing exactly what NBC (and everyone else) could have realistically expected and will undoubtedly still be making NBC a huge amount of cash.

And just to hammer this point home Leno isn’t there to produce ratings he’s there to produce profit and he’s doing that.

By: Myself

Myself — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 12:31:17 +0000

More people see Spongbob than GG and OTH together. HAHAHA, so funny!!!
Go House!!!!

By: ML_805

ML_805 — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 11:48:53 +0000

House is so darn overrated!

By: Dan

Dan — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 05:56:44 +0000

True, Sometimes things get bumped. Its not because of Leno, its just when something like that is scheduled and theres 3 hours of new programming on, 2 hours of which have to air together on that night, Leno had to be bumped. Theres no reason to look into it. Tuesdays worse because a lot of networks air reality series, and when its 2 hours like FOX and NBC, that have to air that night, you have a problem. ABC simply moved their holiday programming, to next week, which isnt a big deal and CBS just aired an NCIS and TAAHM repeat. Besides NBC, CBS really could have aired the hour and just aired NCIS at 9.

By: Dan

Dan — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 05:50:26 +0000

Yeah I know, If repeats get pushed its not a big deal, as was the case for CBS’s NCIS. ABC could have aired the whole hour which could have helped Scrubs. I dont think The address will have a long term effect.

By: Tommy

Tommy — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 05:48:53 +0000

exactly, Leno got bumped due to Obama – that doesn’t automatically mean doom for Leno like Pat is thinking.

By: Dan

Dan — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 05:45:52 +0000

Well im sure NBC would have rather have this address happen wednesday instead of Tuesday. They would have just shifted Wednesday Xmas at Rockefeller Center special to 9 and preempted an SVU repeat. However NBC couldnt have just split The Biggest Loser over two nights so they had to preempt Leno. Not that its a big deal.

By: Tommy

Tommy — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 05:41:35 +0000

Dan FOX extended their primetime to 10:30, ABC only ran the address for 30 mins and ran a repeat of Modern Family at 8:30. CBS ran NCIS at 8:30 and a repeat of 2.5 Men at 9:30, and NBC used the entire hour for the address and post coverage.

By: Tommy

Tommy — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 05:38:00 +0000

Also, all of the networks made changes, ABC bumped the holiday specials to next week, CBS bumped a repeat of NCIS LA, and FOX decided to extend primetime to 10:30. So this isn’t something against Leno, The Biggest Loser is one of NBC highest rated shows, so of course NBC would choose to show it over Leno. You’re reading too much into things, this doesn’t impact Leno at all going forward. But you can think that all you want, you’re just wrong!

By: Dan

Dan — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 05:37:27 +0000

ANC’s address may have benefitted the Scrubs premiere, but FOX had to only air the half hour becuase they only program 2 hours.

By: Tommy

Tommy — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 05:29:23 +0000

NBC: Will air the regular 2 hour version of The Biggest Loser from 9pm-11pm bumping The Jay Leno Show off the schedule.

Note it say’s NBC Will air the REGULAR 2 HOUR VERSION of The Biggest Loser, the Biggest Loser wasn’t a special 2 hr episode, it’s always been a 2hr show this season.

By: Tommy

Tommy — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 05:25:52 +0000

Pat here on the east coast The Biggest Loser normally airs a 2hr episode every week from 8-10PM followed by Leno at 10PM. This week Obama was on at 8PM and The Biggest Loser was pushed back to 9-11PM which caused Leno to be bumped off the schedule. Yes NBC picked The Biggest Loser over Leno, but the reason they have to do that was because of Obama.

By: Pat

Pat — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 05:18:30 +0000

Tommy,
OK, I read the Friday post about Obama affecting the TV schedules. I want you to go back and read it and tell me what other 10 pm shows were bumped for Obama. How many successful, highly rated programs were bumped? The answer is, none. Only Leno. Yes, the networks had to do some minimal juggling, but if NBC felt good about Leno and had him in their long term plans no way would they have bumped him. They would’ve re-scheduled a 1-hour Biggest Loser in place of the 2-hour, and then aired Leno.

By: Pat

Pat — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 05:11:22 +0000

Tommy, no, Biggest Loser is not pushed back an hour it’s airing at 9 pm same as always. It’s a two hour Biggest Loser. That’s the second and last time I’ll bring this to your attention. Maybe the schedule is diff in diff. parts of the country. On the West Coast Biggest Loser starts at 9 and ends at 11, and i promise you affiliates are happy for the better lead in.

If Robert wants to believe every P.R. release NBC puts out then he also thinks Conan is the king of late night. nbc may have said leno’s pre-emption was due to obama, but if it were true there would not be a 2-hour Biggest Loser is its place.

By: Dan

Dan — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 04:27:04 +0000

Well Heroes wasnt against Dancing and also HIMYM and AOP were in repeats so that may have helped. When Heroes returns in January it will move to 9pm and air against 24, HIMYM/AOP, and The Bachelor. Based on this competition it could do better but only slightly

By: Tre618

Tre618 — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 04:01:16 +0000

YES! heroes is rising, thank u god, i hope they arent getting canceled

By: Bill Gorman

Bill Gorman — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 03:41:01 +0000

Becki, I haven’t seen final numbers for Monday, or Tuesday yet.

By: Becki

Becki — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 03:39:35 +0000

Did I miss the final numbers somewhere?

By: Dan

Dan — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 03:37:53 +0000

I realized the typo now. While Betty is technically a drama it does have comedy aspects, but since dramas are an hour long, they can get away with having less episodes for Syndication, just look at The Unit. However the more eps of Betty ABC has, the more $$$ they make.

By: Tommy

Tommy — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 03:31:31 +0000

9PM is a typo Dan, and the difference between Betty and the shows you have listed is that sitcoms do much better in syndication then dramas do. So it makes sense to add episodes to sitcoms. I don’t see the benefit for Betty.

By: Dan

Dan — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 03:28:12 +0000

Tommy – Thats why According to Jim, Til Death, Scrubs, and Old Christine have lasted. Syndication, And if by some miracle Betty gets another year, it will be just for that reason. Sources are reporting that Betty is moving to 9pm Wednesday. Thats probably the dumbest thing ABC can do, breaking up their Modern Family/Cougar Town block.

By: Tommy

Tommy — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 03:24:03 +0000

Sorry Charolette, I know the Betty fans are touchy about it’s future. Sorry if my postings upset people. But I’m only saying what I think and I have a right to do so. And until fans get that the world isn’t made of gum drops and rainbows and keep thinking that Betty is going to be saved by moving to Wednesdays (yes it will probably be moved, but no it wont be saved) I will keep saying it. Betty won’t see a new season for any reason other then to have more episodes for syndication. Don’t like my posts….don’t read them!

By: Dan

Dan — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 03:23:58 +0000

Charolette – I actually was one of the few people that counted on the series moving to wednesdays. I thought ABC may want to do it in order to save the series and fill the void left by Eastwick. Plus Betty is compatible with the 8-10 comedies and now ABC can air Wife Swap fridays (or some other cheap reality show). As for Betty im really not sure what to think anymore. Ratings on fridays are horrible, yet its friday. People are thinking, why would ABC want to waste money on a low rated series, yet they like Betty so they can try to save it. I dont know what to think about Ugly Betty anymore, but all I knw is that moving it to wednesdays at 10 is a good move.

By: Dan

Dan — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 03:17:43 +0000

Tommy – Thats why I originally thought ABC may give Betty a last minute 11-13 episode fifth season order a la Boston Legal, but numbers are still bad at this point. It seems ABC still cares about the series by moving it from fridays to wednesdays but who knows at this point. For synidcation purposes 100 is still better than 89 but Betty’s an hour long so 89 can work fine.

Forg – I want ABC to announce their midseason sched too but I think I have a good idea of how it will turn out. For the most part Scrubs and Ted will air in their respective slots until Lost returns, and by then the combo may shift to 8pm. However in order to fill Hank’s void, its highly likely ABC extends Scrubs to 18 eps and moves it to 8pm Wed. By then Ted will have finished up, and will likely be done for good.

By: Tommy

Tommy — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 03:13:46 +0000

Pat, believe what you want, but NBC did push Biggest Loser back and hour for Obama which caused Leno to be bumped for the night. Robert posted the schedule change on Friday:

http://tvbythenumbers.com/2009/11/27/schedule-impacts-abc-cbs-fox-and-nbc-all-plan-to-air-obama-primetime-address-on-tuesday/34730

Leno was bumped for Obama, and no other reason.

By: Charolette

Charolette — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 03:11:38 +0000

Dan and Tommy, for gods sake stop talking about “its dead, theres no way itll last” because face it – you were wrong, it is moving to wednesdays and everyone said it wouldnt. mwhahaha and ya its probs dead but stop being such downers! Even if this is the last season, it’ll end right and not cancelled midway!

By: forg

forg — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 03:11:15 +0000

Good for Betty moving to 10pm, there will be no magical ratings improvement I guess but I think it could at least a 1.5 there (but hoping for at least 2.0) last Friday’s 0.9 was really embarrassing. The chances for renewal is still low but at least UB could end with at least more decent ratings.

I’m also wishing Scrubs will get the 8pm slot on Wednesdays so I’m hoping that the season 9 premiere gets decent ratings, a 2.0 perhaps?

I love Better Off Ted but given the anemic ratings on its first season, I’m not expecting it to last and will just enjoy the upcoming episodes
I wish ABC releases midseason schedule already.

By: Tommy

Tommy — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 03:08:39 +0000

Dan, It’s highly unlikely ABC will officially cancel Betty. We won’t know until May when ABC announced their fall schedules and Betty isn’t on it. Betty’s ratings would need to increase by 50% or more to be renewed for any other reason then syndication (And I doubt that they’ll want more then the minimum needed for syndication, but they may – just look at Scrubs. )

By: Charolette

Charolette — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 03:08:22 +0000

and by the way…YAY! I’m glad ABC is at least trying to do something because its been a GREATTTTTTTTTTTT season

By: Charolette

Charolette — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 03:07:48 +0000

Ugly Betty is returning Jan 6th…Executive Producer Jim Weis posted it on Twitter
http://twitter.com/jimkleverweis

By: Pat

Pat — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 03:04:34 +0000

Wrong, Tommy, Leno not being on the schedule has nothing to do with Obama’s speech. The schedule I’m looking at was drawn up before Obama asked for the air time. CBS and ABC have their usual programming at 10. NBC is airing a 2-hour Biggest Loser. A BIG 2-hour Biggest Loser, something they never would’ve scheduled for tonight if they knew Obama was gonna push the shows back. I’m not saying Leno is gone for good, he’s not, it’s just that pre-empting a show for a 2-hour Biggest Loser is…the handwriting’s on the wall.

ABC moving Betty to 10 is, well, crazy, no?

By: A5J4DX

A5J4DX — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 03:00:10 +0000

Glad heroes is up a bit but come on america support it live!

By: Dan

Dan — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 02:57:57 +0000

Tommy – It is false hope, but networks do that all the time. They announce that they will do everything possible to save a series when in reality a series fate can be sealed by a network way in advance. Betty being moved is conveniently done to fill a scheduling hole (since a new drama like Copper or Happy Town probably wont do great in the slot) but ABC will never announce that the show wont continue, atleast not this early. Betty will air out its episodes in the slot, do slightly better but around March when numbers still arent good people will start to get suspicious and its likely by May, ABC will cancel the show.

By: Dan

Dan — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 02:52:08 +0000

With Eastwick’s final episode scheduled for January 13, Betty could move to the 10pm slot as early as January 20. I actually did think the content may have something to do with Cougar Town airing at 9:30 so its probably better the series stays there.

By: Tommy

Tommy — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 02:51:02 +0000

Dan, while the move to Wednesdays will give Betty fans hope, I think it’s a false hope at best that the show will get another season. I don’t see how the schedule change will increase the ratings to a renewable level. Yes the show will do better on Wednesday nights, but the expectations will be higher as well. This is being done to fill a scheduling hole (and as an added bonus ABC can say they did everything they could to save the show.)

By: Tommy

Tommy — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 02:47:59 +0000

Pat, the only reason Leno isn’t on tonight is due to President Obama’s address. This won’t be a permantent change though.

By: Pat

Pat — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 02:45:45 +0000

The Jay Leno Show is not on the NBC schedule tonight. There’s a good sign.

Alex, I want the names of anyone who predicted Leno would average or even get a 1.0 before it aired. It certainly wasn’t anybody at NBC. They’d never put on that show.

Bill Gorman – you don’t respect Marc Berman? I see he’s the go-to go for TV reporters. Well, how about Tom Shales, who also predicts Leno’s demise.

By: Dan

Dan — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 02:43:35 +0000

Betty moving to 10pm could satisfy ABC’s need of not wanting it to die on fridays, as well as them wanting the series to air with their compatible comedy block, however the show is still done.

By: Dan

Dan — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 02:40:24 +0000

Tommy – The content thing is what I thought all along. Then I guess the Scrubs/The Middle/Modern Family/Cougar Town combo beginning March may work out just as well. Despite Ugly Betty likely moving to 10pm wednesdays, the series is still dead. Numbers may increase a little bit but not enough for renewal. Its just a good way of ABC saying “Well this show is pretty much done but we dont want it dying on fridays with really low numbers so we’ll move it a 10pm slot where it will get slightly better numbers.” Its better for the network that they air Betty with the compatible comedies and air some reality series on fridays, however it wont save Betty in the long run. There was a little bit inside of me earlier this season that thought ABC may order a final 5th 13 episode season of Betty, a la Boston Legal, but its looking more unlikely to happen.

By: Tommy

Tommy — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 02:28:51 +0000

Parenthood, you’re a bit late on that news