USA's 'White Collar'
nabs a Friday win
Pulls a bigger audience than several broadcast series
By Toni Fitzgerald
Oct 27, 2009
The broadcast networks are still having trouble drawing audiences on Friday night, where Fox's "Dollhouse," ABC's "Ugly Betty" and NBC's "Law & Order" are all drawing low numbers.
But on cable, USA is having more success.
The series premiere of "White Collar," the network's first new show to debut during fourth quarter, posted strong numbers on Friday, outdrawing some of its broadcast competition.
"Collar" averaged 5.4 million total viewers and 1.79 million adults 18-49. It marked the network's best performance among total viewers in the Friday 10 p.m. timeslot since "Psych" premiered in July 2006, and it was up 46 percent from "Psych's" season finale the previous week.
"Collar" outdrew Friday broadcast shows including "Betty," "Dollhouse," Fox's "Brothers" and ABC's "Supernanny," all of which aired before 10 p.m. "Collar" did finish behind the Big Three's shows in its 10 p.m. timeslot.
Among 18-49s, "Collar" was up 43 percent over the season premiere of "The Starter Wife" in the timeslot last year.
Of course "Collar" benefited from a strong lead-in, "Monk," and USA's established reputation on the night.
The network usually airs original fare on Fridays during the summer, which gets viewers in the habit of looking there for new content.
That's certainly not been the case for the broadcast networks, where Fridays were a wasteland of reruns, reality shows and newsmagazines for years.
Most of the networks are only just now making a push with scripted series, with veterans such as "Betty," "L&O" and "Smallville" moving there this fall.
Audiences may still be trying to find these shows. All have posted series lows this season, though "Smallville" is seeing a notable DVR uptick.
Still, USA is the top-rated cable network, and as such its new shows tend to premiere well; there was no reason to think "Collar" would be any different. The real test will be whether the show can maintain those lofty numbers in its second outing.
"Collar," a bromance about a crime fighter and a criminal who team up, has received generally good reviews, although Media Life's Tom Conroy dismissed the series as too obvious and clichéd to offer much to attract adult viewers.
Writing of the show's two lead characters, he opined: "'Monk' fans might want to stick around to see if these characters work for them, but the best audience is probably boys in their early teens who are still trying to work out their own definition of coolness."
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