Overnights
Without 'Stars,' 'Samantha' slips badly
By Toni Fitzgerald
Dec 5, 2007 - 12:03:25 PM

Without a “Dancing with the Stars” lead-in, “Samantha Who?” lost a step.

The new ABC comedy, the season’s top-rated new show, fell to a series low Monday night in its first outing without “Stars,” which aired its season finale last week.

“Samantha” averaged a 2.9 adults 18-49 rating at 9 p.m. Monday, according to Nielsen overnights, off 33 percent from its previous 4.3 average.

The Monday overnights were released this morning after a 24-hour Nielsen processing delay. Another delay has pushed off the release of last night’s fast national ratings indefinitely.

“Samantha” seemed a perfect companion for the equally female-skewing “Stars,” and it had the best performance for any of the three sitcoms ABC has premiered behind the hit reality show.

But apparently many of those viewers did not bother to return this week, and that did not help the rest of ABC’s revamped Monday lineup. Both 9:30 p.m. “Samantha” lead-out “Notes From the Underbelly” and 10 p.m. drama “October Road” posted low ratings in their second weeks.

Certainly sampling could have been hurt by NBC’s competing “Heroes” at 9 p.m. The network had billed Monday’s episode as a first-half finale and promised two character deaths, and it dominated the hour among 18-49s.

Meanwhile, CBS was in reruns, and Fox’s low-rated original episode of “K-Ville” certainly didn’t pull away any potential viewers. Univision did air the season finale of “Destilando Amor,” which drew huge numbers from 8 to 10:20 p.m.

In fact, "Destilando" did even better than the two-hour signoff for "La Fea Mas Bella" earlier this year, which averaged a 2.9 to the former's astounding 3.5.

NBC was first on Monday night among viewers 18-49 with a 3.6 average overnight rating and an 8 share. Univision was second at 3.4/8, CBS third at 3.0/7, ABC fourth at 2.6/6, Fox fifth at 2.1/5 and CW sixth at 0.7/2.
 
NBC and Univision started the night tied for the lead, each with a 3.2 rating during the 8 p.m. hour, NBC for “Chuck” and Univision for the first hour of its two-and-a-half-hour “Destilando” finale. ABC was third with a 3.1 for a repeat of “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” Fox fourth with a 2.8 for a repeat of “House,” CBS fifth with a 2.5 average for repeats of “How I Met Your Mother” and “Big Bang Theory” and CW sixth with a 0.7 for repeats of “Everybody Hates Chris” and “Aliens in America.”
 
At 9 p.m. NBC led with a 5.0 for “Heroes,” while CBS and Univision tied for second at 3.7, CBS for repeats of “Two and a Half Men” and “Rules of Engagement” and Univision for the second hour of “Destilando.” ABC was fourth with a 2.6 average for “Samantha” (2.9) and “Underbelly” (2.3), Fox fifth with a 1.5 for “Bones” and CW sixth with a 0.8 for repeats of “Girlfriends” and “The Game.”
 
Univision took the lead at 10 p.m. with a 3.3 average for the last half hour of “Destilando Amor” and 30 minutes of a special “Cristina.” CBS was second with a 2.9 for a repeat of “CSI: Miami,” NBC third with a 2.5 for “Life” and ABC fourth with a 2.2 for “October Road.”
 
Among households, CBS led the night with a 6.3 average overnight rating and a 9 share. NBC was second at 5.4/8, Fox and ABC tied for third at 4.6/7, Univision fifth at 3.5/5 and CW sixth at 1.3/2.