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| Broadcast recap | |
own this summer It's the older reality series that are pulling ratings Aug 26, 2009
Returning shows like “Big Brother,” “Hell’s Kitchen,” “The Bachelorette” and “America’s Got Talent” are thriving. Not so new shows. The networks have introduced bomb after new bomb this summer, from “Defying Gravity” to “There Goes the Neighborhood” to “Mental.” The lesson seems to be that while viewers will indeed watch summer television, they’re not interested in investing time in anything new, at least on broadcast. Of the top 15 shows on broadcast last week among adults 18-49, every original show was in at least its fourth season. Fox’s “Kitchen,” in season six, and NBC’s “Talent,” in season four, ranked first and second, respectively, with a 3.5 and a 3.1 rating. “Kitchen’s” rating was a season high, and “Talent” has been pacing ahead of last season all summer. CBS’s “Big Brother,” in its 11th season, ranked third on broadcast with a season-high 3.0, the series’ best rating in nearly two years. ABC’s “The Bachelorette” aired its season finale last month, drawing ABC’s best non-sports ratings of the summer. Meanwhile, new shows have struggled to top a 2.0, much less post ratings on par with any of the most popular returning reality shows. The top new show last week was ABC’s “Dating in the Dark” with a 1.8 rating, tying for 16th. Most other new shows were further down the list, such as “Neighborhood” with a 1.1 and “Gravity” with a 0.8. So why all the love for older shows? It’s probably a combination of things. One is that it continues a trend seen during the regular season. Most of the top programs, such as “American Idol,” “Desperate Housewives” and “Two and a Half Men,” have been on for at least five seasons. Plus viewers may be reluctant to commit to new shows after seeing them yanked off the schedule quickly in the past. Though the networks have been more willing to let ratings dogs hang around this summer, in years past they were quick to yank shows that were underperforming, angering fans who had bothered to watch them. Another factor is likely cable competition. Viewers have only a certain amount of TV-watching time, and in the summer a good portion of it is dedicated to big cable hits like “The Closer” and “Burn Notice.” Thus they’re more inclined to stick with what they know on broadcast than to try to carve out new TV time. *** In broadcast ratings for the week ended Aug. 23: Among adults 18-49, Fox was first with a 2.0 average rating and a 6 share, followed by ABC and NBC at 1.5/5, Univision at 1.3/4, ABC at 1.2/4, MyNetworkTV at 0.5/2, CW, Telemundo and Telefutura at 0.4/1, Ion at 0.2/1 and Azteca at 0.1/0. Top five English-language Big Five shows (18-49s): 1. Fox’s “Hell’s Kitchen” 3.5; 2. NBC’s “America’s Got Talent-Tuesday” 3.1; 3. CBS’s “Big Brother – Tuesday” 3.0; 4. CBS’s “The Big Bang Theory” 2.7; Tie-5. NBC’s “America’s Got Talent – Wednesday” and CBS’s “Big Brother-Sunday” 2.6. Top five English-language Big Five shows (total viewers): 1. NBC’s “America’s Got Talent - Tuesday” 11.88 million; 2. NBC’s “America’s Got Talent - Wednesday” 10.67 million; 3. CBS’s “NCIS” 9.85 million; 4. CBS’s “Two and a Half Men” 8.55 million; 5. CBS’s “The Big Bang Theory” 8.04 million. Top five time-shifted English-language Big Five shows (18-49s, by Live+7 playback, week ended Aug. 2): 1. Fox’s “So You Think You Can Dance - Wednesday” 1.70 million (up 37 percent); 2. Fox’s “Hell’s Kitchen” 1.66 million (up 33 percent); 3. Fox’s “So You Think You Can Dance - Thursday” 1.43 million (up 35 percent); 4. ABC’s “The Bachelorette” 1.18 million (up 24 percent); 5. CBS’s “Big Brother – Thursday” 1.09 million (up 35 percent). Show on the rise: “Big Brother,” CBS, Tuesday 9 p.m. The Tuesday edition averaged a 3.0 rating among 18-49s, up 20 percent from the previous week’s 2.5. Show on the decline: “America’s Got Talent,” NBC, Wednesday 9 p.m. The results episode averaged a 2.6 among 18-49s, down 13 percent from a 3.0 the previous week.
WEEKLY PRIMETIME AVERAGES BY NETWORK
Network
Households
People 2+
Adults 18-49
Rtg%
(000)
Shr
Rtg%
(000)
Shr
Rtg%
(000)
Shr
CBS
3.8
4350
7
2.0
5810
6
1.5
1970
5
NBC
3.6
4130
6
1.9
5560
6
1.5
1940
5
FOX
3.2
3660
6
1.8
5140
5
2.0
2610
6
ABC
2.9
3350
5
1.6
4510
4
1.2
1640
4
UNI
1.7
1940
3
1.1
3210
3
1.3
1730
4
MNT
1.0
1090
2
0.5
1550
2
0.5
650
2
CW
0.7
840
1
0.4
1100
1
0.4
580
1
TEL
0.5
600
1
0.3
1010
1
0.4
590
1
TF
0.5
550
1
0.3
950
1
0.4
560
1
ION
0.4
450
1
0.2
570
1
0.2
250
1
AZA
0.1
130
0
0.1
210
0
0.1
120
0
*
Each rating point is equivalent to
1. 145
million homes
Source: Nielsen Media Research
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