medialifemagazine.com
'Let's all return to high school, again'
By Toni Fitzgerald
Mar 19, 2008 - 1:05:56 AM
In the lives of American teenagers, high school is certainly a pivotal experience, and for many it's their happiest years. But even for those who lived through it in utter pain, the experience is remembered, lingering on for years after and often shaping how they cope in college and their careers. The fear: once a dud, always a dud.
No surprise then that high school, or its memories, have been a consistent theme of television, dating back to "Our Miss Brooks" in the '50s.
Just last week two new high school reality shows launched on cable, and last night ABC debuted “Miss Guided,” a sitcom set at a high school.
Both cable shows did very well in their premieres. WE tv’s “High School Confidential,” a documentary about a group of teenage girlfriends in Overland Park, Kan., averaged 1.3 million total viewers in its premiere, the best-ever launch for a new show on the network.
It also set new highs among WE’s target women 18-49 and women 25-54, averaging 389,000 and 357,000, respectively.
Two nights later on TV Land, the debut of 10 p.m. reality show “High School Reunion” drew 735,000 total viewers, 62 percent better than the same night last year, and 426,000 adults 25-54, more than doubling last year’s average.
It did especially well among adults 50-54, drawing 260,000 of them, up 69 percent over the same night last year.
“Reunion” reunites more than a dozen members of the Class of 1987 from J.J. Pearce High School in Texas, plunking them at a Maui estate with the ostensible objective of seeing if they have outgrown their high school personalities, such as the jock, the geek, the popular girl and so on. It’s a revival of a show that ran for several seasons on the WB.
ABC’s “Miss Guided” brings a geeky girl and a popular one back together years after graduation to see what chemistry will bubble up. It debuted to favorable reviews.
Just why high school-themed shows are suddenly back in fashion is anyone's guess--TV does tend to run in cycles--but one factor could be the internet as a force for bringing back together people who haven't seen each other since their high school days, through sites like Classmates.com or Facebook.com.
One thing is for sure. If these three shows do well, yet more will begin popping up shortly.
***
Meanwhile, in other cable ratings for the week ended March 16:
Top five networks in primetime (18-49s): TBS, USA, TNT, Comedy Central, FX
Top five networks in primetime (total viewers): USA, TNT, TBS, Fox News Channel, Nick at Nite
Top movie (18-49s): USA’s “National Treasure” (Sunday, 8 p.m.) 1.76 million
Top sporting event (total viewers): ESPN’s “College Basketball: Big 12 Conference Tournament” (Sunday, 3:17 p.m.) 2.67 million
Shows making the top 10 among 18-34s, 18-49s and 25-54s: USA’s “WWE Entertainment” (Monday, 9 p.m.); Comedy Central’s “South Park” (Wednesday, 10 p.m.).
Show on the rise: Comedy Central’s “South Park,” Wednesday 10 p.m. The season 12 premiere averaged 3.07 million total viewers, up 11 percent versus the previous season’s premiere.
Show on the decline: History Channel’s “Ax Men,” Sunday 10 p.m. “Ax Men” attracted 2.48 million total viewers, off about 16 percent from 2.95 million the previous week.
|
TOP 25 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORKS
Ranked on Household Rating
Week Ending March 16 |
|
Rank |
Primetime |
Total Day |
|
Net |
(000) |
Net |
(000) |
|
1
|
USA
|
2092
|
NICK
|
1742
|
|
2
|
TNT
|
1561
|
NAN
*
|
1259
|
|
3
|
FOXN
|
1526
|
USA
|
1011
|
|
4
|
TBSC
|
1476
|
TNT
|
1002
|
|
5
|
NAN
|
1366
|
FOXN
|
837
|
|
6
|
LIF
|
1216
|
ADSM*
|
800
|
|
7
|
HIST
|
1121
|
TBSC
|
800
|
|
8
|
AEN
|
1092
|
TOON
|
754
|
|
9
|
SPK
|
1078
|
LIF
|
725
|
|
10
|
ESPN
|
1062
|
ESPN
|
711
|
|
11
|
FX
|
973
|
AEN
|
666
|
|
12
|
FAM
|
945
|
TRU
|
625
|
|
13
|
HGTV
|
925
|
HIST
|
624
|
|
14
|
TRU
|
915
|
FX
|
568
|
|
15
|
TOON
|
909
|
SPK
|
560
|
|
16
|
SCIF
|
900
|
CNN
|
547
|
|
17
|
CNN
|
895
|
FAM
|
545
|
|
18
|
CMDY
|
892
|
HALL
|
542
|
|
19
|
HALL
|
849
|
HGTV
|
538
|
|
20
|
MTV
|
847
|
DISC
|
501
|
|
21
|
DISC
|
827
|
TVLD
|
496
|
|
22
|
AMC
|
815
|
CMDY
|
472
|
|
23
|
TLC
|
724
|
MTV
|
464
|
|
24
|
TVLD
|
701
|
AMC
|
456
|
|
25
|
VH1
|
673
|
FOOD
|
456
|
|
* Network broadcasts less than 51% of minutes in a 24-hour day.
Source: Turner Entertainment Research based on data from Nielsen Media Research.
|
|
TOP 25 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE PROGRAMS
Ranked on Households
Week Ending March 16 |
|
Rank
|
Program |
Net
|
(000) |
|
1
|
WWE Entertainment
|
USA
|
3873
|
|
2
|
WWE Entertainment
|
USA
|
3778
|
|
3
|
iCarly
|
NICK
|
3079
|
|
4
|
Spongebob
|
NICK
|
3065
|
|
5
|
Spongebob
|
NICK
|
3019
|
|
6
|
Fairly Odd Parents
|
NICK
|
2958
|
|
7
|
Back At The Barnyard
|
NICK
|
2890
|
|
8
|
Fairly Odd Parents
|
NICK
|
2843
|
|
9
|
Spongebob
|
NICK
|
2827
|
|
10
|
Fairly Odd Parents
|
NICK
|
2750
|
|
11
|
FOP Movie Fairly Odd Baby
|
NICK
|
2702
|
|
12
|
Fairly Odd Parents
|
NICK
|
2698
|
|
13
|
WWE Entertainment
|
USA
|
2678
|
|
14
|
Wisegal
|
LIF
|
2677
|
|
15
|
Spongebob
|
NICK
|
2635
|
|
16
|
Fairly Odd Parents
|
NICK
|
2594
|
|
17
|
Spongebob
|
NICK
|
2582
|
|
18
|
Spongebob
|
NICK
|
2564
|
|
19
|
Spongebob
|
NICK
|
2545
|
|
20
|
iCarly
|
NICK
|
2509
|
|
21
|
Law & Order
|
TNT
|
2497
|
|
22
|
Spongebob
|
|
