It’s somewhat ironic for a medium obsessed with youth that all the hit reality shows on broadcast this summer are pretty old.
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 Ranked on Households
Week Ending August 23
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
SEASON-TO-DATE PRIMETIME AVERAGES BY NETWORK Ranked on Households
Week Ending August 23
Network
Households
People 2+
Adults 18-49
Rtg%
(000)
Shr
Rtg%
(000)
Shr
Rtg%
(000)
Shr
CBS
6.2
7120
11
3.4
9850
9
2.5
3290
7
FOX
4.8
5500
8
2.8
8010
7
2.9
3840
8
ABC
4.7
5370
8
2.5
7360
7
2.3
3050
7
NBC
4.2
4840
7
2.3
6750
6
2.2
2960
6
UNI
1.9
2140
3
1.3
3710
3
1.5
1940
4
CW
1.1
1240
2
0.6
1610
1
0.7
890
2
MNT
1.0
1130
2
0.5
1580
1
0.5
680
2
TEL
0.6
670
1
0.4
1150
1
0.5
670
1
ION
0.4
480
1
0.2
620
1
0.2
210
0
TF
0.4
410
1
0.2
710
1
0.3
410
1
AZA
0.1
120
0
0.1
180
0
0.1
110
0
*Each rating point is equivalent to 1. 145 million homes
Note: Season-to-date estimates are a weighted average of pre-TSV and Live+SD data.
Source: Nielsen Media Research
TOP 25 PROGRAMS – BROADCAST Ranked on Households
Week Ending August 23
#
PROGRAMS
Net
HOUSEHOLDS
PERSONS 2+
Rtg%
Shr
(000)
#
Rtg%
(000)
1
AMERICA'S GOT TALENT-TUE
NBC
7.1
12
8106
1
4.1
11880
2
AMERICAGOT TALENT-WED 9P
NBC
6.6
11
7553
2
3.7
10673
2
NCIS
CBS
6.6
12
7520
3
3.4
9851
4
TWO AND A HALF MEN
CBS
5.5
9
6352
4
2.9
8549
5
MENTALIST, THE
CBS
5.4
10
6174
7
2.7
7846
6
BIG BANG THEORY, THE
CBS
5.2
8
5920
5
2.8
8039
7
60 MINUTES
CBS
5.1
10
5894
7
2.7
7774
8
CSI
CBS
4.9
8
5649
9
2.6
7417
9
BIG BROTHER 11-TUE
CBS
4.8
8
5460
5
2.8
7979
10
DATELINE NBC-MON
NBC
4.7
8
5402
13
2.4
6853
10
MILLIONAIRE-8/23(S)
ABC
4.7
8
5378
9
2.6
7592
12
MILLIONAIRE-8/17(S)
ABC
4.6
8
5222
13
2.4
7056
13
CRIMINAL MINDS
CBS
4.5
8
5164
13
2.4
6822
13
MILLIONAIRE-8/19(S)
ABC
4.5
8
5098
13
2.4
6871
13
MILLIONAIRE-8/20(S)
ABC
4.5
8
5113
18
2.3
6781
16
CSI:
MIAMI
CBS
4.4
8
4982
22
2.2
6419
16
DATELINE FRI
NBC
4.4
8
5029
22
2.2
6311
18
BIG BROTHER 11-SUN
CBS
4.3
8
4962
9
2.6
7477
18
BIG BROTHER 11-THU
CBS
4.3
8
4925
18
2.3
6748
18
NFL ON FOX PRESEASON 2(S)
FOX
4.3
8
4888
18
2.3
6657
21
CSI: NY
CBS
4.2
8
4853
22
2.2
6292
21
HELL'S KITCHEN
FOX
4.2
7
4821
9
2.6
7489
21
NFL ON FOX PRESEASON 1(S)
FOX
4.2
8
4821
18
2.3
6559
24
MILLIONAIRE-8/18(S)
ABC
4.1
7
4713
26
2.1
6183
25
AMERICAGOT TALENT:RECAP
NBC
4.0
7
4544
22
2.2
6309
Source: Nielsen Media Research
TOP 25 PROGRAMS – BROADCAST Adults 18-49
Week Ending August 23
Rank
Program
Net
Rtg%
(000)
1
HELL'S KITCHEN
FOX
3.5
4554
2
AMERICA'S GOT TALENT-TUE
NBC
3.1
4055
3
BIG BROTHER 11-TUE
CBS
3.0
3942
4
BIG BANG THEORY, THE
CBS
2.7
3540
5
AMERICAGOT TALENT-WED 9P
NBC
2.6
3382
5
BIG BROTHER 11-SUN
CBS
2.6
3468
7
TWO AND A HALF MEN
CBS
2.5
3330
8
FAMILY GUY
FOX
2.4
3220
8
NFL ON FOX PRESEASON 1(S)
FOX
2.4
3229
10
DON FRANCISCO PRESENTA WE
UNI
2.3
3020
10
NFL ON FOX PRESEASON 2(S)
FOX
2.3
2980
12
BIG BROTHER 11-THU
CBS
2.2
2963
12
MANANA
PARA SIEMPRE TUE
UNI
2.2
2950
12
SIMPSONS-SUN 8:30P
FOX
2.2
2913
15
MANANA
PARA SIEMPRE WED
UNI
2.1
2799
15
MISS UNIVERSE PAGEANT.(S)
NBC
2.1
2721
17
MANANA
PARA SIEMPRE FRI
UNI
2.0
2631
17
MANANA
PARA SIEMPRE MON
UNI
2.0
2682
17
SIMPSONS
FOX
2.0
2695
20
AMERICAN DAD
FOX
1.9
2481
20
MANANA
PARA SIEMPRE THU
UNI
1.9
2518
22
DATELINE NBC-MON
NBC
1.8
2398
22
DATING IN THE DARK
ABC
1.8
2379
22
NCIS
CBS
1.8
2385
22
SHARK TANK
ABC
1.8
2338
22
WIPEOUT
ABC
1.8
2358
Source: Nielsen Media Research
SPANISH-LANGUAGE TELEVISION (WEEKLY COLLAPSED) Ranked on Households
Week Ending August 16
