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A so-so showing
for Fox's 'Octomom'

Two-hour special averages a 1.6 in 18-49 viewers

By Toni Fitzgerald
Aug 20, 2009

The Octomom craze seems to have peaked.

A documentary featuring Nadya Suleman and her 14 kids on Fox last night drew unimpressive numbers.

The two-hour special averaged a 1.6 adults 18-49 rating, according to Nielsen overnights, tying with ABC for third during the timeslot and well behind leader NBC with a 2.0.

“Octomom: The Incredible Unseen Footage” managed just 4.2 million total viewers, peaking with 4.4 million at 9:30 p.m.

NBC was first for the night among 18-49s with a 1.8 average overnight rating and a 6 share. Univision was second at 1.8/5, Fox and ABC tied for third at 1.6/5, CBS fifth at 1.4/4 and CW sixth at 0.4/1.

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-two percent of Nielsen households have DVRs.

At 8 p.m. NBC led with a 1.6 for an “America’s Got Talent” recap show, while Fox and Univision tied for second at 1.5, Fox for the first half of “Octomom” and Univision for “El Nombre del Amor.” ABC was fourth with a 1.4 for “Who Wants to be a Millionaire,” CBS fifth with a 1.2 for repeats of “The New Adventures of Old Christine” and “Gary Unmarried” and CW sixth with a 0.4 for a repeat of “America’s Next Top Model.”

NBC was first again at 9 p.m. with a season-low 2.4 for a new “Talent,” followed by Univision with a 1.9 for “Mañana Es para Siempre.” ABC was third with a 1.8 for a “Wipeout” rerun, Fox fourth with a 1.7 for more “Octomom,” CBS fifth with a 1.6 for a repeat of “Criminal Minds” and CW sixth with a 0.4 for another “Top Model” repeat.

Univision took the lead at 10 p.m. with a 2.0 for “Don Francisco Presenta,” with ABC and CBS tied for second at 1.5, ABC for “Primetime” and CBS for a repeat of “CSI: NY.” NBC was fourth that hour with a 1.4 for a repeat of “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.”

NBC was also first for the night among households with a 4.8 average overnight rating and an 8 share. CBS was second at 3.8/7, ABC third at 3.7/6, Fox fourth at 2.7/5, Univision fifth at 2.2/4 and CW sixth at 0.8/1.

Toni Fitzgerald is a staff writer for Media Life.	© 2009 Media Life Magazine

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