Overnights
'Women's Murder Club' takes beating
By Toni Fitzgerald
Apr 30, 2008 - 12:20:39 PM

“Women’s Murder Club” got a new timeslot and a hot lead-in, but it fared no better than it had been doing Fridays at 9 p.m. In fact, it was a little worse.

“Murder” averaged a 1.9 adults 18-49 rating last night at 10 p.m., according to Nielsen overnights, off 5 percent from its previous season average of 2.0 on Friday nights.

Perhaps more worrisome for the first-year show, which has not been renewed for next season, it lost more than half of its “Dancing with the Stars” lead-in. That show averaged a 4.0 at 9 p.m.

“Murder” finished third in its timeslot, behind NBC’s “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” and CBS’s “CSI” rerun. It was also 27 percent behind the season-to-date average for “Boston Legal,” ABC’s former timeslot occupant.

“Murder” wasn’t the only show putting up low numbers in a new timeslot. CBS’s “Shark,” which moved from Sunday to Tuesday, finished a distant third in the 9 p.m. slot, averaging a 2.2 rating, behind what usual occupant “The Unit” draws.

As usual, Fox was first for the night among 18-49s with a 7.1 average overnight rating and a 19 share. ABC and CBS tied for second at 2.4/6, with NBC fourth at 2.1/6, Univision fifth at 1.9/5 and CW sixth at 0.9/2.
 
At 8 p.m. Fox was first with an 8.7 for “American Idol,” with CBS second with a 3.0 for “NCIS.” Univision was third with a 1.8 for “Al Diablo con los Guapos,” ABC fourth with a 1.3 for an hour of “According to Jim,” NBC fifth with a 1.0 for the first hour of a “Saturday Night Live” special and CW sixth with a 0.8 for “Beauty and the Geek.”
 
Fox held onto the lead with a 5.5 at 9 p.m. for “Hell’s Kitchen,” tying a series high, while ABC moved to second with a 4.0 for “Dancing with the Stars.” CBS was third with a 2.2 for “Shark,” Univision fourth with a 2.1 for the second night of the still-hot “Fuego en la Sangre,” NBC fifth with a 1.3 for another hour of the “SNL” special and CW sixth with a 1.1 for “Reaper.”
 
At 10 p.m. NBC jumped to first place with a 4.1 for “SVU,” followed by CBS with a 2.0 for a repeat of “CSI.” ABC was third with a 1.9 for “Murder” and Univision fourth with a 1.7 for “Aqui y Ahora.”
 
Fox also finished first for the night among households with a 10.8 average overnight rating and a 17 share. CBS was second at 7.2/11, ABC third at 6.7/10, NBC fourth at 4.2/7, Univision fifth at 2.2/4 and CW sixth at 1.4/2.