TV Ratings: Idol Dominates; V Returns Down A Bit

Scoreboard
Rating: Adults 18-49	7.5/21	3.3/9	2.7/7	1.8/5	1.4/4	0.7/2
Rating: Adults 18-34	5.9/19	2.7/8	2.2/7	1.2/4	1.4/4	0.8/3
Total Viewers (million)	21.333	10.478	7.000	9.636	3.556	1.289

Of course the two hour American Idol dominated Tuesday's ratings, while the return of ABC's V scored a 2.9 adults 18-49 rating, 6% below the 3.1 rating for its last episode in the fall.

American Idol rolled over the night as usual averaging a 7.5 adults 18-49 rating. That was down 11% from last week, but Idol overran 2:46 into the 10pm hour, so an upward adjustment in the final ratings is more likely than usual. Idol fans (or non-fans) keeping track at home can note the show is down 6% in adults 18-49 ratings vs. last season at this point.

Dancing with the Stars Results spring "premiere" 2.9 adults 18-49 rating was up 4% from the comparable results "premiere" last spring. Lost's 4.0 rating was even with last week's episode. I don't have any information on a Lost overrun into the 10pm hour, but there may have been one. Reports are there was a 2 minute overrun of Lost into the 10pm hour, so it's more likely than usual that the V ratings will be adjusted downward, and Lost ratings adjusted upward in the final ratings.

Perhaps because of real competition from ABC at 8pm and 10pm, NBC's Biggest Loser was down 7% from last week to a 2.8 rating, and Parenthood was also down 7% to a 2.5 rating.

For the CW, 90210's 0.7 adults 18-49 rating was flat vs. last week, and Melrose Place was up a tenth of a point to a 0.6 adults 18-49 rating. More later on the CW target demos.

In Late-Night Metered Markets Tuesday night:

• "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" (3.2/8 in metered-market households) out-rated CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman" (2.6/6) and ABC's "Nightline (3.0/7) and "Jimmy Kimmel Live" (1.4/5) in Nielsen's 56 metered markets.
• In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” (1.1/5) ranked #1 among the major networks in the time period over "Late Show" (0.7/3), "Nightline" (1.1/4) and "Jimmy Kimmel Live" (0.6/3).
• At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.3/4 in metered-market households) trailed CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (1.4/5). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.6/4 in 18-49) defeated "Late Late Show" (0.4/3).
• At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.8/3 in metered-market households and a 0.4/3 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

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You can see TV ratings from other recent Overnight ratings reports here.

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.

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