No second chance
for Fox's 'Past Life'
Other shorts: Radio losses not quite as bad in Q4
By Louisa Ada Seltzer
Feb 22, 2010
No second chance for Fox's 'Past Life'
Make that "No Life:" After three unimpressive outings, Fox has canceled the new reincarnation drama "Past Life" and will replace it with episodes of "Kitchen Nightmares" on Thursdays for the next three weeks before "Nightmares" moves to Fridays. Despite debuting in a primo spot on the network's schedule, "Life" looked limp from the start. It averaged a 3.1 adults 18-49 rating airing behind "American Idol" on Feb. 9, losing more than two-thirds of its lead-in's audience. It managed just a 1.4 in its usual Thursday 9 p.m. slot two nights later and sank to a 1.1 last week against the Olympics. Fox will likely run the remaining episodes later this season. Meanwhile, in other programming, ABC Family's bubble show "Greek" has been renewed for a 10-episode fourth season, which will make it the longest-running original series in the network's history.
Radio revenue losses not quite as bad in Q4
A bad 2009 had a less-bad ending for radio. The Radio Advertising Bureau reports that full-year 2009 ad revenue fell 18 percent compared to 2008, to $16 billion, with local seeing the biggest slide, down 20 percent, to $10.8 billion. But that slide was not nearly as steep during fourth quarter, when revenue was off 8 percent. Local slid 10 percent, to $2.9 billion. Digital rose 15 percent during fourth quarter, to a still-small $133 million, and was the only segment to see a year-to-year increase overall, up 13 percent in 2009. The RAB, happy to finally have something to spin, said the fourth quarter numbers present encouraging signs for 2010. Of particular note to media buyers, automotive was up during fourth quarter, rising 9 percent over 2008, to $341 million, pushing it back atop the local and national ad spending categories. Other ad categories seeing fourth-quarter gains included grocery/convenience/liquor stores, financial services and concerts/theaters/movies.
Friday overnights: Olympics draw 23.2M
Ice dancing ruled broadcast TV on Friday night.
NBC’s Friday night coverage of the Winter Olympics, which featured the first night of ice dancing, among other events, averaged 23.2 million total viewers, according to Nielsen overnights, almost double the combined 12.5 million total viewers brought in by the other three Big Four networks.
NBC was also first for the night among viewers 18-49, finishing the night with a 5.4 average overnight rating and a 17 share. ABC was second at 1.5/5, Univision third at 1.4/4, CBS fourth at 1.1/4, Fox fifth at 1.1/3 and CW sixth at 0.8/3.
As a reminder, all ratings are based on live-plus-same-day DVR playback. Seven-day DVR data won’t be available for several weeks. Thirty-four percent of Nielsen households have DVRs.
Also, ratings for NBC’s Olympics are approximate as fast nationals measure timeslot and not actual program data.
At 8 p.m. NBC led with a 4.4 for the Olympics, while ABC and Univision tied for second at 1.4, ABC for the first half of the movie “Meet the Fockers” and Univision for the first hour of “Hasta que el Dinero Nos Separe.” CBS was fourth with a 1.1 for a repeat of “Ghost Whisperer,” and Fox and CW tied for fifth at 1.0, Fox for a “House” rerun and CW for “Smallville.”
NBC was first at 9 p.m. with a 6.3 for the Olympics, followed by ABC with a 1.8 for the end of its movie. Univision was third with a 1.6 for another hour of “Dinero.” CBS and Fox tied for fourth at 1.1, CBS for a repeat of “Medium” and Fox for “Kitchen Nightmares,” and CW was sixth with a 0.7 for a “Smallville” rerun.
At 10 p.m. NBC led again with a 5.6 for more Olympics, with ABC second with a 1.3 for “20/20.” Univision was third with a 1.2 for “Lo que no vio de Premio lo Nuestro” and CBS fourth with a 1.1 for a repeat of “Numb3rs.”
Among households, NBC was first for the night with a 13.4 average overnight rating and a 23 share. ABC was second at 3.3/6, CBS third at 2.9/5, Fox fourth at 1.9/3, Univision fifth at 1.8/3 and CW sixth at 1.2/2.
Saturday overnights: Olympics draw 25.4M
On Saturday night NBC’s Olympics coverage was even more dominating than it was the previous night, averaging 25.4 million total viewers from 8-11 p.m., according to Nielsen overnights.
That more than doubled the combined average of the other Big Four networks, which brought in 11.5 million total viewers for the night.
NBC was easily first for the night among viewers 18-49, with a 6.8 average overnight rating and a 21 share. Fox was second at 1.6/5, ABC and CBS tied for third at 0.8/3 and Univision fifth at 0.7/2.
As a reminder, all ratings are based on live-plus-same-day DVR playback. Seven-day DVR data won’t be available for several weeks. Thirty-four percent of Nielsen households have DVRs.
Also, ratings for NBC’s Olympics are approximate as fast nationals measure timeslot and not actual program data.
NBC was first at 8 p.m. with a 5.6 for the Olympics, followed by Fox with a 1.7 for an hour of “Cops.” ABC was third with a 0.7 for the first hour of the movie “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban,” Univision fourth with a 0.6 for the first of three hours of “Sabado Gigante” and CBS fifth with a 0.5 for a “Numb3rs” rerun.
At 9 p.m. NBC was first with a 7.3 for the Olympics, with Fox second with a 1.5 for “America’s Most Wanted.” ABC was third with a 0.9 for “Harry Potter” and CBS and Univision tied for fourth at 0.8, CBS for “48 Hours Mystery” and Univision for more “Sabado.”
NBC was first once again at 10 p.m. with a 7.6 for the Olympics, while CBS moved to second with a 1.2 for another hour of “48 Hours Mystery.” ABC was third with a 0.9 for the final hour of “Harry Potter” and Univision fourth with a 0.8 for its last hour of “Sabado.”
NBC led the night among households with a 14.1 average overnight rating and a 25 share. Fox was second at 3.0/5, CBS third at 2.7/5, ABC fourth at 1.6/3 and Univision fifth at 1.3/2.
Univision launching new telenovela hub
Having already conquered telenovelas, Univision is now focusing on building its webnovelas. The top-rated Spanish-language network is launching a new web and mobile channel called "Novelas y Series," coming later this year on Univision.com. The new channel will include original Univision programming as well as third-party content from Azteca America, RCN Televisión, and Dori Media Group. It will also feature behind-the-scenes footage from Univision's telenovelas, celebrity gossip and messageboards. The launch comes after the success of the recent webnovela "Vidas Cruzadas," which became the second-most-watched property ever on Univision.com, generating 2.5 million video streams.
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