Strong return
for 'Undercover Boss'
Averages a 5.1 in 18-49s for its second airing
By Toni Fitzgerald
Feb 16, 2010
Though it lost more than half its premiere night audience, "Undercover Boss" looks like a bona fide hit for CBS.
Sunday night's second episode drew very strong numbers opposite NBC's dominating Olympic coverage, and "Boss" saw its rating spike during the second half of the episode, always a good sign for a new show.
"Boss" averaged a 5.1 adults 18-49 rating at 9 p.m., according to Nielsen, more than double what former timeslot occupant "Three Rivers" managed last fall. It averaged 15.3 million total viewers.
Among 18-49s, "Boss" bettered the combined competition of ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" and Fox's "Family Guy"/"American Dad" in the timeslot, which totaled a 4.6.
"Boss" rose 17 percent from a 4.7 in its first half hour to a 5.5 in its second, meaning people were continuing to tune in midway through.
And that was against a strong performance by the Olympics in the hour, which averaged a 7.8 rating.
"Boss" premiered to 38.7 million total viewers and a 16.0 18-49 rating behind the Super Bowl last week. CBS expected its numbers to decline in its second outing, obviously, but "Boss" performed better than many media people anticipated for episode two.
It likely helped that Sunday night was a heavily promoted episode in which the CEO of Hooters, the restaurant chain where the servers are all scantily clad women, went undercover at one of his restaurants.
***
Meanwhile, NBC easily won its third straight night with Olympics coverage, averaging a 7.0/19. Fox was a very distant second at 3.3/9, followed by CBS at 2.8/7, ABC at 1.9/5 and Univision at 0.8/2.
At 7 p.m., NBC led with a 5.4 for the Olympics, followed by Fox with a 4.5 for the finish of the Daytona 500 at 4.5. ABC was third with a 1.7 for "America's Funniest Home Videos," CBS fourth at 1.2 for "60 Minutes" and Univision fifth at 0.6.
At 8 p.m., NBC jumped to a 7.2, followed by CBS with a 2.8 for the season premiere of "The Amazing Race." Fox was third with a 2.5 for "The Simpsons" (2.6) and "The Cleveland Show" (2.3). ABC was fourth with a 2.1 for the first of three hours of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," followed by Univision fifth with a 0.7.
At 9 p.m., NBC again led with the Olympics at a 7.8, its best rating of the night, followed by CBS's "Boss" at 5.1. Fox's "Family Guy" (3.2) and "American Dad" (2.5) were third at 2.9, followed by ABC's "Makeover" at 1.7 and Univision at 1.0.
At 10 p.m. NBC again led with Olympics at 7.7, with ABC's "Extreme" and CBS's "Cold Case" tied for second at 2.1. Univision was fourth at 0.8.
NBC led among households for the night with a 14.4 rating and 23 share. CBS was second at 6.0/10, Fox third at 4.8/8, ABC fourth at 3.8/6, and Univision fifth at 1.1/2.
|
|
|
