New CBS reality show draws 38.6 million viewers
By Toni Fitzgerald Feb 10, 2010
Media people had low expectations for the premiere of "Undercover Boss," CBS's new show airing after the Super Bowl.
After all, no postgame show since "Grey's Anatomy" in 2006 had drawn more than 30 million viewers, despite record viewership for the last two games.
In a pregame poll of media buyers and planners, just 6 percent of Media Life readers thought "Boss" would top 30 million.
Boy were they wrong.
Buoyed by the biggest lead-in in television history, "Boss" became the third-most-watched post-Super Bowl program ever and the most-watched reality series debut in TV history.
"Boss" drew 38.6 million total viewers, behind only the 53 million who watched "Friends" in 1996 and the 45.4 million who stayed put for "Survivor II: The Australian Outback" in 2001.
It's tempting to credit "Boss's" big number solely to the huge Super Bowl audience. But that's not exactly true.
The show retained a greater percentage of its lead-in than the Super Bowl lead-outs the past three years, suggesting that many viewers liked what they saw.
"Boss" hung on to 36 percent of its 106.5 million lead-in. Last year's Super Bowl lead-out, "The Office," held a mere 23.2 percent.
The 2008 show, "House," held 29 percent of its 97.5 million lead-in. And 2007's "Criminal Minds" held onto 28 percent.
"Boss" may have performed better than those veteran shows because it was more accessible. Each of the past three post-Super Bowl programs had been on the air at least two seasons, which may have discouraged new viewers from watching because they did not want to be lost in an already-established storyline.
Whether "Boss" retains even half of that audience this Sunday, when the show moves to its regular 9 p.m. timeslot, remains to be seen. Following Sunday's big debut, CBS is suddenly pushing the show by rerunning the pilot Friday night at 9 p.m., where its drama "Medium" is often the top-rated program of the night.
Though few new shows have been launched to hit status behind the Super Bowl, there is a recent precedent for the Super Bowl boosting a veteran show. "Grey's," the last show to hold more than 30 percent of its Super Bowl audience, went from a solid hit to a monster one after the game.
***
In broadcast ratings for the week ended Feb. 7:
Among adults 18-49, CBS was first with an 8.5 average rating and a 22 share, followed by Fox at 3.2/8, ABC at 2.5/7, NBC at 1.5/4, Univision at 1.4/4, CW at 0.9/2, Telemundo at 0.5/1, Telefutura at 0.4/1, Ion at 0.3/1 and Azteca at 0.1/0.
Top five English-language Big Five shows (18-49s): 1. CBS’s “Super Bowl XLIV” 38.6; 2. CBS’s “Super Bowl XLIV Postgame” 29.1; 3. CBS’s “Undercover Boss” 16.2; 4. Fox’s “American Idol - Tuesday” 9.0; 5. Fox’s “American Idol – Wednesday” 7.8.
Top five time-shifted English-language Big Five shows (18-49s, by Live+7 playback, week ended Jan. 17): 1. Fox’s “American Idol - Tuesday” 2.9 increase (up 23 percent); 2. Fox’s “American Idol - Wednesday” 2.9 increase (up 26 percent); 3. Fox’s “House” 2.4 increase (up 41 percent); 4. ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” 2.2 increase (up 35 percent); 5. CBS’s “The Big Bang Theory” 1.9 increase (up 28 percent).
Show on the rise: “Super Bowl XLIV” CBS, Sunday 6:30 p.m. The big game averaged 106.5 million total viewers, making it the most-watched TV program in U.S. history.
Show on the decline: “Fringe” Fox, Thursday 9 p.m. “Fringed” slipped 13 percent week-to-week versus original competition on the other broadcast networks, going from a 3.0 18-49 rating to a 2.6.
WEEKLY PRIMETIME AVERAGES BY NETWORK Ranked on Households
Week Ending February 7
Network
Households
People 2+
Adults 18-49
Rtg%
(000)
Shr
Rtg%
(000)
Shr
Rtg%
(000)
Shr
CBS
13.0
14960
21
9.0
26180
22
8.5
11220
22
FOX
5.2
5980
8
3.1
9100
7
3.2
4200
8
ABC
4.4
5020
7
2.4
7000
6
2.5
3240
7
NBC
3.1
3520
5
1.6
4740
4
1.5
2000
4
UNI
1.8
2070
3
1.2
3650
3
1.4
1890
4
CW
1.2
1440
2
0.7
1920
2
0.9
1140
2
ION
0.7
800
1
0.4
1060
1
0.3
440
1
TEL
0.5
610
1
0.4
1060
1
0.5
640
1
TF
0.5
540
1
0.3
1010
1
0.4
550
1
AZA
0.1
120
0
0.1
160
0
0.1
80
0
*Each rating point is equivalent to 1. 149 million homes
Source: Nielsen Media Research
SEASON-TO-DATE PRIMETIME AVERAGES BY NETWORK Ranked on Households
Week Ending February 7
Network
Households
People 2+
Adults 18-49
Rtg%
(000)
Shr
Rtg%
(000)
Shr
Rtg%
(000)
Shr
CBS
7.6
8730
12
4.3
12560
11
3.4
4470
9
FOX
5.8
6640
9
3.4
9870
8
3.6
4790
10
ABC
5.5
6330
9
3.0
8770
8
2.7
3570
7
NBC
4.7
5350
8
2.6
7480
7
2.6
3370
7
UNI
1.8
2060
3
1.2
3510
3
1.4
1780
4
CW
1.3
1530
2
0.7
2030
2
0.9
1250
3
ION
0.7
770
1
0.3
1020
1
0.3
400
1
TEL
0.5
610
1
0.4
1050
1
0.5
630
1
TF
0.5
530
1
0.3
960
1
0.4
560
1
AZA
0.1
140
0
0.1
210
0
0.1
120
0
*Each rating point is equivalent to 1. 149 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 February 7
#
PROGRAMS
Net
HOUSEHOLDS
PERSONS 2+
Rtg%
Shr
(000)
#
Rtg%
(000)
1
SUPER BOWL XLIV(S)
CBS
45.0
68
51728
1
36.5
106476
2
SUPER BOWL XLIV POST GAME(S)
CBS
33.0
51
37896
2
25.8
75474
3
UNDERCOVER BOSS
CBS
19.1
32
21910
3
13.2
38654
4
AMERICAN IDOL-TUESDAY
FOX
13.4
20
15410
4
8.5
24705
5
AMERICAN IDOL-WEDNESDAY
FOX
11.9
19
13668
5
7.2
20999
6
NCIS
CBS
11.5
17
13177
6
6.6
19234
7
NCIS: LOS ANGELES
CBS
10.0
15
11484
8
5.6
16422
8
TWO AND A HALF MEN
CBS
9.9
15
11366
7
5.7
16506
9
MENTALIST, THE
CBS
9.3
16
10692
10
5.0
14682
10
CRIMINAL MINDS
CBS
9.1
14
10441
10
5.0
14745
10
BIG BANG THEORY, THE
CBS
9.1
14
10477
9
5.3
15506
12
CSI
CBS
8.8
14
10136
10
5.0
14491
12
CSI: NY
CBS
8.8
16
10141
13
4.8
14158
14
CSI:
MIAMI
CBS
8.5
15
9785
14
4.6
13440
15
GOOD WIFE, THE
CBS
8.4
14
9653
16
4.4
12808
16
GREY'S ANATOMY-THU 9PM
ABC
8.1
13
9331
17
4.3
12549
17
HOUSE
FOX
7.8
12
9013
14
4.6
13378
18
BONES
FOX
7.4
12
8514
18
4.2
12372
18
BACHELOR, THE
ABC
7.4
11
8550
20
4.0
11734
20
SUPER BOWL GREAT COMMRCLS(S)
CBS
6.8
11
7824
21
3.8
10990
21
LOST
ABC
6.7
11
7692
19
4.1
12090
22
PRIVATE PRACTICE
ABC
6.2
11
7176
24
3.2
9254
23
24
FOX
5.9
9
6789
22
3.4
9957
23
20/20-FRI
ABC
5.9
11
6823
31
3.0
8663
25
LOST-8PM
ABC
5.8
9
6721
22
3.4
9965
25
HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER
CBS
5.8
9
6619
24
3.2
9281
25
BIGGEST LOSER 9
NBC
5.8
9
6611
24
3.2
9481
25
NUMB3RS
CBS
5.8
10
6685
27
3.1
9144
Source: Nielsen Media Research
TOP 25 PROGRAMS – BROADCAST Adults 18-49
Week Ending February 7
Rank
Program
Net
Rtg%
(000)
1
SUPER BOWL XLIV(S)
CBS
38.6
50820
2
SUPER BOWL XLIV POST GAME(S)
CBS
29.1
38353
3
UNDERCOVER BOSS
CBS
16.2
21318
4
AMERICAN IDOL-TUESDAY
FOX
9.0
11808
5
AMERICAN IDOL-WEDNESDAY
FOX
7.8
10199
6
LOST
ABC
5.5
7301
7
BIG BANG THEORY, THE
CBS
5.4
7165
8
TWO AND A HALF MEN
CBS
5.1
6679
9
HOUSE
FOX
4.8
6353
10
GREY'S ANATOMY-THU 9PM
ABC
4.5
5906
11
NCIS
CBS
4.3
5644
12
LOST-8PM
ABC
4.1
5445
12
BACHELOR, THE
ABC
4.1
5442
14
MODERN FAMILY
ABC
3.9
5184
15
OFFICE
NBC
3.8
5032
15
CRIMINAL MINDS
CBS
3.8
5052
15
KITCHEN NGHTMR SP-2/2 9P(S)
FOX
3.8
5011
18
HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER
CBS
3.7
4809
18
BIGGEST LOSER 9
NBC
3.7
4896
18
CSI:
MIAMI
CBS
3.7
4835
21
NCIS: LOS ANGELES
CBS
3.6
4732
22
CSI: NY
CBS
3.4
4508
23
BONES
FOX
3.3
4379
23
MENTALIST, THE
CBS
3.3
4295
23
PRIVATE PRACTICE
ABC
3.3
4402
Source: Nielsen Media Research
SPANISH-LANGUAGE TELEVISION (WEEKLY COLLAPSED) Ranked on Households
Week Ending January 31
