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TV Ratings: Idol Leads Fox Win; NCIS Pair, Good Wife, Biggest Loser, Parenthood, Dancing, V Up

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May 12th, 2010


ABC's Lost was scheduled to run from 9:00-10:02pm Eastern, and V from 10:02-11:00pm. There is a greater than usual likelihood that Lost (up) and V (down) will have their ratings adjusted in the final ratings available later today.

Scoreboard FOX CBS NBC ABC Uni CW
Adults 18-49: Rating/Share 5.7/15 3.2/8 3.1/8 3.0/8 1.6/4 0.5/1
Adults 18-34: Rating/Share 4.9/14 2.2/6 2.5/7 2.3/7 1.7/5 1.7/2
Total Viewers (million) 15.194 15.264 7.591 9.543 3.776 1.145


Tuesday night saw improved ratings vs. last week nearly everywhere in broadcast primetime, as the Fox tandem of American Idol and Glee still won the ratings race easily.

American Idol's 6.7 adults 18-49 rating was up 12% vs. its fast affiliate ratings (6.0) from last week, while Glee's 4.8 rating was down a tenth of a point (2%).

Both Idol fans/non-fans can note that the show's down 9% in adults 18-49 vs. last season through the comparable date last year. That's about the same decline as 2008-9 vs. 2007-8, so no big surprise there.

CBS's line up staged a big recovery vs. last week, with NCIS up 23% from last week's season low to a 3.8 adults 18-49 rating. NCIS:LA was up 18% also from a season low last week to a 3.3 rating, and The Good Wife was up 9% to a 2.5 rating.

ABC's night was up overall as well, but not quite as much as CBS'. Dancing with the Stars increased 4% to a 2.5 adults 18-49 rating. Lost was even with last week's 4.0 rating. And V was up 14% to a 2.4 rating. Could that save the show?

NBC was caught in the updraft as well, with Biggest Loser increasing 6% to a 3.4 rating, and Parenthood up 4% to a 2.6 rating.

Even the CW's 90210 joined in the fun, increasing a tenth of a point to a 1.2 rating in the CW target women 18-34 demo.

via NBC press note:

In Late-Night Metered Markets Tuesday night:

  • "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" (3.0/8 in metered-market households) out-rated CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman" (2.8/7) and ABC's combination of "Nightline (3.0/7) and "Jimmy Kimmel Live" (1.6/5) in Nielsen's 56 metered markets.
  • In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” 1.0/5; "Late Show," 0.8/4; "Nightline," 1.1/4; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.6/3.
  • At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.4/5 in metered-market households) tied CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (1.4/5). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.5/3 in 18-49) tied "Late Late Show" (0.5/3).
  • At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.8/4 in metered-market households and a 0.4/3 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.
Time Net Show 18-49 Rating 18-49 Share Viewers Live+SD (million)
8:00 FOX American Idol 6.2 18 17.825
CBS NCIS 3.6 10 15.906
NBC The Biggest Loser 3.0 8 7.377
ABC Dancing with the Stars Results 2.4 7 12.018
CW 90210 0.7 2 1.586
8:30 FOX American Idol 7.1 19 19.575
CBS NCIS 4.0 11 17.952
NBC The Biggest Loser 3.2 8 7.711
ABC Dancing with the Stars Results 2.6 7 12.790
CW 90210 0.7 2 1.384
9:00 FOX Glee 4.9 12 12.000
ABC Lost 4.0 10 10.721
NBC The Biggest Loser 3.6 9 9.062
CBS NCIS:LA 3.3 8 16.070
CW Life Unexpected (repeat) 0.3 1 0.846
9:30 FOX Glee 4.8 12 11.376
ABC Lost 4.0 10 9.769
NBC The Biggest Loser 3.7 9 9.516
CBS NCIS:LA 3.3 8 15.777
CW Life Unexpected (repeat) 0.3 1 0.765
10:00 NBC Parenthood 2.7 7 6.232
CBS The Good Wife 2.6 7 13.178
ABC V (10:02 start) 2.6 7 6.424
10:30 CBS The Good Wife 2.4 7 12.700
NBC Parenthood 2.4 7 5.648
ABC V 2.2 6 5.538

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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 ViewingProgram 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.

Nielsen TV Ratings: ©2009 The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved.

(82) Comments - Add Yours!

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  1. richie24

    Thanks to everyone who read my Chuck piece yesterday – really appreciate all the feedback from you 'TV By The Numbers' fans! Love this site and spend too much time on here each day!

    Interesting to see Glee slipping in the ratings a little – last night was another meandering episode. Feels like the show hasn't found its feet yet since returning from its winter break.

    As for Idol – hmmm another not so great episode on American Idol's 'Season of Suck'.

    I am such a huge Idol fan but this year has been a crushing disappointment – weak contestants, bad show themes, disappointing eliminations, checked out judges… I recently wrote a piece on the show – Fallen Idol – with 7 ways to turn the show around ahead of Season 10. Boy, does it need it!

    http://www.remotepatrolled.com/2010/04/fallen-i…

    I'm thinking the final could be way down this year… and we're going to see some major ratings slippage next year… 18.5 million is a definite sign that viewers are not happy…

  2. Centauri

    That's more like it for NCIS and The Good Wife.

  3. Tv101

    Looks like V did a pretty good job of holding on or going up in the adults!!! :) Hope it gets a season 2 !!!
    totally agree with u on idol….This is the first season i havent been 100% watching …Its showing its age for sure this year!

  4. SJ

    Yay for TGW beating Parenthood in the second half hour!

    These are really good ratings for everyone. V will probably settle at a 2.3 but it's still better than what it's been doing these past few weeks.

    And to all the Chucksters out there: you see how there's no shame in ABC being 4th with a 3.0. Well, NBC could do the same thing on Mondays if it had a stronger line-up. This just goes to show that shows people actually watch find a way to pull decent numbers on a tough night. And Tuesday is, without a doubt, the toughest night this spring.

  5. Raptor6408

    Looks like it's a lot closer this week between Parenthood and the Good Wife. Also, what is with the huge drop off between the half hours? Also, I know V will get adjusted down, but they have to be a lot closer to Parenthood than NBC would like in the 18-49.

  6. It's astonishing to see that American Idol and NCIS are only separated by 2 million viewers, but the 18-49 demo is so far apart

  7. Not astonishing, unless its the first time you've looked at the two show's ratings/viewership. That's the typical pattern.

  8. chuckfan23

    Less sports competition plus bad weather= higher ratings.

  9. Ryan47

    What's with these eleventh hour upticks for FF and V? Weird. 2.4 may indeed be enough for ABC to declare victory with one of their new dramas and renew it. You know they've got to be desperate to keep at least one. But that still puts it at a mere 2.3 average since its return in the spring. It could hold the same rating next week and still keep the same average, so it's prospects aren't so much brighter as they might initially appear to be.

    Still, ABC may be looking for any excuse to turn their PR flunkies loose and shout about V's grand renewal from the rooftops, and this just might be it.

    …of course, there's no Lost overrun factored in yet. ;-)

  10. CiCi217

    DWTS is really shedding viewers on Tuesday. Glad to see people are turning the channel to watch higher quality shows rather then that mess of reality spew.
    Idol seems to be losing viewers as the season nears its end which is a reversal of the norm. Prepare for Fox to begin promoting 'Simon's final shows' to help stem the tide.

  11. Centauri

    Idol's up from last Tuesday. Also, Glee started on time so they might be able to hold on to a 4.9.

  12. elikias

    Lost overrun probably helped V again. Not a lot of retention in the second half hour. Still, will it be renewed? Probably. ABC will want to save one of their freshman serials if they can, and a steady 2.2 is “good enough for government work” as they say.

  13. TimFan

    hmm those 90210 numbers are abysmal why the hell did CW renew it so quickly? Lost has been great the past few weeks

  14. JR35

    Wonder if “V” again led the hour in Men 18-49?

    “FlashForward” was down in overall viewers the last couple of weeks (and did it not drop to an 18-49 low last week?) I'm looking forward to next week's finale- would be nice if it reached a 2.5 in the demo. Hype it up ABC! :)

  15. JR35

    Oh- and barring a higher-rated episode of “Idol” tonight,”'Dancing with the Stars” again looks like it will top the week in overall viewers. Though last week's Idol results show rated higher than the Tuesday episode.

  16. eddom

    90210 will not last a full third season. Bet it will be cancelled by Xmas.

  17. chef91

    glad to see most shows up
    as for V, i think it'll be saved.. it's not critically despised and it'll give ABC at least 1 new drama victory for the season, and it easily beats its “competitor” flashforward.

  18. Tom

    V will likely fall to a ~2.3 in the finals. That may be enough for ABC to save the show – although ratings will easily drop below 2.0 by the middle of next year if any male-friendly shows air on the competition (and nearly all CBS pilots would fit the bill, outside of Quinntuplets), not to mention increased competition from SoA on FX.

    Otherwise, I am pretty shocked numbers were up across the board. Yes, these are sweeps, but they were also sweeps last week – was weather generally bad across the US? Less playoff games on the cable?

  19. Centauri

    was weather generally bad across the US? Less playoff games on the cable?

    Yes and yes.

  20. CarmenXVI

    “And Tuesday is, without a doubt, the toughest night this spring.”

    Probably true when you take the total numbers, but most of that is the direct or indirect impact of Idol. When Idol goes away, Tuesday night will fall below both Monday and Thursday.

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