Overnights
Hefty bow for ABC's 'Samantha Who?'
By Diego Vasquez
Oct 16, 2007 - 11:37:47 AM

ABC now has the season’s two most-watched new show debuts. Last night’s series premiere of the sitcom “Samantha Who?” became the most-watched new program of the season, drawing nearly 15 million viewers, and bettering last month’s 14.4 million for “Private Practice.”

“Samantha” also averaged a 4.5 rating among adults 18-49 at 9:30 p.m., according to Nielsen overnights, holding 92 percent of its “Dancing with the Stars” lead-in at 9 p.m. The 90-minute "Stars" averaged a 4.9 and 20 million viewers in its finale half hour.

That rating could adjust, as “Dancing” may have bled into “Samantha’s” timeslot; overnights measure timeslot data, not actual program data.

But the debut looks quite promising for ABC, which has struggled to find strong new sitcoms the past few years.

“Dancing” and “Samantha” both appeal to a female-skewing audience, with both well ahead of the competition among women 18-49, and ABC finished 36 percent ahead of No. 2 CBS for the night in that demo, with a 6.4 average.

For the night, ABC led among viewers 18-49 for the fourth straight week with a 4.2 average overnight rating and a 10 share, followed closely by CBS at 4.1/10. NBC was third at 3.7/9, Fox fourth at 2.9/7, Univision fifth at 1.4/4 and CW sixth at 1.0/2.
 
At 8 p.m. ABC led with a 4.5 for its first hour of “Stars,” with CBS and NBC tied for second at 3.2, CBS for “How I Met Your Mother” (3.1) and “Big Bang Theory” (3.2) and NBC for “Chuck,” which rose 19 percent from last week’s 2.7. Fox was fourth with a 3.1 for its coverage of the American League Championship Series game between Boston and Cleveland, Univision fifth with a 1.1 for “Amar sin Limites” and CW sixth with a 1.0 for “Everybody Hates Chris” (1.0) and “Aliens in America” (0.9).
 
NBC took the lead at 9 p.m. with a 5.1 for “Heroes,” while ABC slipped to second with a 4.7 for its last half hour of “Stars” and the premiere of “Who” (4.5). CBS was third with a 4.4 for “Two and a Half Men” (4.8) and “Rules of Engagement” (4.0), Fox fourth with a 2.8 for another hour of baseball, Univision fifth with a 1.9 for “Destilando Amor” and CW sixth with a 1.1 average for “Girlfriends” (1.0) and “The Game” (1.1).
 
At 10 p.m. CBS was first with a 4.7 for “CSI: Miami,” followed by ABC with a 3.5 for “The Bachelor.” NBC was third with a 2.9 for “Journeyman,” Fox fourth with a 2.7 for the end of its game and a postgame show and Univision fifth with a 1.3 for “Cristina.”
 
Among households, ABC led the night with a 10.3 average overnight rating and a 16 share. CBS was second at 7.9/12, Fox third at 6.2/9, NBC fourth at 5.4/8, Univision fifth at 2.0/3 and CW sixth at 1.8/3.