medialifemagazine.com
Bet on it: Fox wins season by a length
By Diego Vasquez
May 14, 2008 - 1:10:38 AM
“American Idol” has finally slipped and several of Fox’s new shows have already been chopped.
But Fox will easily win its fourth straight year among adults 18-49 when the regular season ends next week, as the only network to see year-to-year gains in this strike-ravaged season.
In fact, it will finish with its largest margin of victory ever.
Season to date through Sunday, the week ended May 11, Fox is averaging a 4.2 adults 18-49 rating and 11 share, up 5 percent from a 4.0/11 at this point last season. Even discounting the network’s record-setting Super Bowl in February, Fox is even to last year in the demographic. All the others are down.
ABC and CBS will tie for second for the season.
ABC is off 14 percent, to a 3.0/8 from a 3.5/9. CBS, also at 3.0/8, is down 19 percent from a 3.7/10, in part because it had the Super Bowl last season.
NBC will finish fourth for the fourth straight year, averaging a 2.8/8, down 10 percent from a 3.1/9 last season.
The CW will be fifth at 1.0/3, off 23 percent from a 1.3/3 in 18-49s last year. In the CW’s target adults 18-34, it’s down 27 percent, from to a 1.1/3 from a 1.5/4.
Fox’s margin of victory, 1.2, is four times its advantage over second-place CBS last year, and it’s the biggest gap between any first- and second-place network since NBC’s Olympic-fueled 2001-’02 win, when it averaged a 5.4 to second-place CBS’s 3.9.
The simple reason, of course, is the strike. Fox held up better than any other network during the season’s most defining months, January through March, when the lack of fresh shows really took its toll.
The network has won 18 straight weeks in 18-49s, largely due to the strength of “Idol.” Even a diluted “Idol,” which is down double-digit percentages from last season across every major demographic, is well ahead of the rest of the networks, especially their low-rated unscripted strike fodder and repeats.
“Idol” consistently bested the combined ratings of the other Big Five networks in its Tuesday and Wednesday timeslots.
The network also had the most successful unscripted shows of the strike. “The Moment of Truth” is the top-rated new show of the season on any network, averaging a 6.2 rating and ranking seventh overall.
And the network’s Thursday combination of “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?” and “Don’t Forget the Lyrics” actually propelled Fox to its first non-“Idol” regular-season Thursday victory in 15 years.
That helped the network overcome a few scripted misfires, like the already canceled “Canterbury’s Law” and “The Return of Jezebel James.”
Meanwhile, the other broadcast networks had even more strike stinkers, like ABC’s “Cashmere Mafia” and “Dance Wars: Bruno vs. Carrie Ann,” NBC’s “My Dad is Better Than Your Dad” and “Psych,” and CBS’s “Big Brother” and “Welcome to the Captain.”
***
Meanwhile, in broadcast ratings for the week ended May 11:
Among adults 18-49, Fox was first with a 3.3 rating and a 10 share, followed by ABC at 3.0/9, CBS at 2.9/8, NBC at 1.9/5, Univision at 1.6/4, CW at 1.0/3, MyNetworkTV and Telemundo at 0.4/1, TeleFutura at 0.3/1 and Ion and Azteca at 0.1/0.
Among adults 18-34, Fox was first with a 2.7 rating and a 9 share, followed by ABC at 2.3/7, Univision and CBS at 1.8/6, NBC at 1.4/5, CW at 1.1/3, Telemundo, MyNetworkTV and TeleFutura at 0.4/1, and Ion and Azteca at 0.1/0.
Among adults 25-54, Fox and CBS tied for first, each with a 3.8 rating and a 10 share, followed by ABC at 3.5/9, NBC at 2.2/6, Univision at 1.5/4, CW at 1.0/3, MyNetworkTV at 0.5/1, Telemundo at 0.4/1, TeleFutura at 0.3/1, and Ion and Azteca at 0.1/0.
Top five English-language Big Five shows (18-49s): 1. Fox’s “American Idol - Tuesday” 8.4; 2. Fox’s “American Idol - Wednesday” 8.2; 3. ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” 6.4; 4. ABC’s “Desperate Housewives” 5.6; 5. Fox’s “Hell’s Kitchen” 5.2.
Top five English-language Big Five shows (total viewers): 1. Fox’s “American Idol - Wednesday” 22.87 million; 2. Fox’s “American Idol – Tuesday” 21.76 million; 3. ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars Results” 18.38 million; 4. ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” 18.11 million; 5. CBS’s “CSI” 18.07 million.
Top five Live+7 English-language Big Five shows (households, week ended April 27): Fox’s “American Idol – Tuesday” 14.8; 2. Fox’s “American Idol - Wednesday” 14.2; 3. ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” 12.1; 4. ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” 12.0; 5. ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars Results” 11.8.
Top five Live+7 English-language Big Five shows (18-49s, week ended April 27): 1. Fox’s “American Idol - Tuesday” 9.6; 2. Fox’s “American Idol - Wednesday” 9.1; 3. ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” 7.7; 4. ABC’s “Desperate Housewives” 6.5; 5. ABC’s “Lost” 6.3.
Show on the rise: “Without a Trace,” CBS, Thursday 10 p.m. The crime procedural jumped 15 percent week-to-week among viewers 18-49, from a 3.3 rating to a 3.8.
Show on the decline: “Deal or No Deal,” NBC, Monday 8 p.m. Has “Deal” finally hit the “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” wall? Last Monday’s episode posted a 2.3 rating among 18-49s, down 20 percent from the previous week’s 2.9.
|
WEEKLY PRIMETIME AVERAGES BY NETWORK
Ranked on Households
Week Ending May 11 |
|
Network
|
Households
|
People 2+
|
Adults 18-49
|
|
Rtg%
|
(000)
|
Shr
|
Rtg%
|
(000)
|
Shr
|
Rtg%
|
(000)
|
Shr
|
|
CBS
|
6.7
|
7590
|
11
|
3.7
|
10640
|
10
|
2.9
|
3830
|
8
|
|
ABC
|
6.2
|
7030
|
11
|
3.3
|
9530
|
9
|
3.0
|
3870
|
9
|
|
FOX
|
5.5
|
6160
|
9
|
3.1
|
8930
|
8
|
3.3
|
4310
|
10
|
|
NBC
|
4.0
|
4510
|
7
|
2.1
|
6000
|
6
|
1.9
|
2430
|
5
|
|
UNI
|
1.8
|
2090
|
3
|
1.2
|
3560
|
3
|
1.6
|
2040
|
4
|
|
CW
|
1.7
|
1880
|
3
|
0.9
|
2560
|
2
|
1.0
|
1360
|
3
|
|
MNT
|
0.8
|
880
|
1
|
0.4
|
1180
|
1
|
0.4
|
580
|
1
|
|
TEL
|
0.6
|
630
|
1
|
0.3
|
950
|
1
|
0.4
|
520
|
1
|
|
TF
|
0.3
|
390
|
1
|
0.2
|
640
|
1
|
0.3
|
420
|
1
|
|
ION
|
0.3
|
320
|
0
|
0.1
|
410
|
0
|
0.1
|
130
|
0
|
|
AZA
|
0.1
|
90
|
0
|
0.0
|
130
|
0
|
0.1
|
90
|
0
|
|
*
Each rating point is equivalent to
1. 114
million homes
Source: Nielsen Media Research
|
|
SEASON-TO-DATE PRIMETIME AVERAGES BY NETWORK
Ranked on Households
Week Ending May 11 |
|
Network
|
Households
|
People 2+
|
Adults 18-49
|
|
Rtg%
|
(000)
|
Shr
|
Rtg%
|
(000)
|
Shr
|
Rtg%
|
(000)
|
Shr
|
|
CBS
|
6.7
|
7510
|
11
|
3.7
|
10460
|
9
|
3.0
|
3910
|
8
|
|
FOX
|
6.6
|
7420
|
11
|
3.9
|
11140
|
10
|
4.2
|
5520
|
11
|
|
ABC
|
5.9
|
6700
|
10
|
3.2
|
9190
|
8
|
3.0
|
3930
|
8
|
|
NBC
|
5.2
|
5900
|
9
|
2.9
|
8190
|
7
|
2.8
|
3720
|
8
|
|
UNI
|
1.8
|
2050
|
3
|
1.2
|
3550
|
3
|
1.5
|
2000
|
4
|
|
CW
|
1.7
|
1890
|
3
|
0.9
|
2590
|
2
|
1.0
|
1370
|
3
|
|
MNT
|
0.8
|
860
|
1
|
0.4
|
1130
|
1
|
0.4
|
550
|
1
|
|
TEL
|
0.6
|
660
|
1
|
0.4
|
1050
|
1
|
0.4
|
580
|
1
|
|
ION
|
0.4
|
410
|
1
|
0.2
|
530
|
0
|
0.1
|
160
|
0
|
|
TF
|
0.4
|
390
|
1
|
0.2
|
660
|
1
|
0.3
|
420
|
1
|
|
AZA
|
0.1
|
100
|
