'Fear Factor'

 
NBC's big sweep
with reality series

'Spy,' 'Fear' and 'Link' kick butt in 18-49 demo

By Kevin Downey

    NBC took so long to develop its own reality shows that many assumed that when it finally did so, the network would likely fail at it.
    That's proving to be anything but the case. NBC now has three reality shows, "Spy TV" being the newest, and all are successful.
    The network easily won last week in the adult 18-49 demo on the power of "Fear Factor" and "Weakest Link" and the premiere of "Spy TV." 
    All landed in the top-five 18-to-49 shows for the week.
    NBC averaged a 3.1 rating in the demo to ABC’s 2.7, and Fox’s and CBS’s 2.2. UPN had a 1.2 to the WB’s 1.0.
    NBC’s "Spy TV," an edgy update of "Candid Camera," was the highest-rated show last week in adults 18-34, 18-49, and 25-54 among both male and female viewers.
    The show,  sandwiched between repeats of "Friends" and "Will & Grace" on Thursday, won its time slot and beat the competition with an 18-49 rating that more than doubled anything on the other networks.
    And while the reality show "Fear Factor" took an 11.5 percent tumble in its second week, it still ranked No. 5. It also easily beat repeats of what is typically tough competition with CBS’s block of sitcoms and Fox’s "Boston Public."
    The "Weakest Link" followed "Fear" on Monday and improved its lead-in rating by 17 percent, ranking No. 3 for the week.
    The game show was the highest-rated program last Monday and did considerably better than CBS’s "Everybody Loves Raymond," which ranked No. 7 and was recently renewed for two more years.
    A special episode of "Weakest" on Sunday at 10 p.m., however, only managed to tie for No. 21, competing against ABC’s "The Practice."
    That's the good news for NBC. 
    The not-so-good news is that even with three hit reality shows, NBC was down 16 percent from the same week last year in the key 18-49 demo.
     It's also stumbling badly in its search for an heir to aging sitcoms like "Friends" and "Frasier." 
    The new "Kristen," for which the network had great hopes, is being met with yawns.
    Though slotted after "Frasier" repeats, "Kristen"  was beaten last week by ABC’s canceled "Geena Davis Show." It lost nearly 23 percent of "Frasier’s" rating and was down about 14 percent from a week earlier.
    A second, considerably worse strikeout for NBC is "Go Fish," which premiered last Tuesday with two episodes.
    The episodes lost 23 percent and 7 percent of "Frasier" and "Kristin’s" ratings, respectively, for the time slot from the previous week.
    "Go" finished a distant third in its time slot among the big-four networks and only beat "JAG" on CBS in the adult 18-49 demo.
    NBC is also having difficulty with repeats of old movies on low-rated nights such as Saturday.  Last week the 1983 movie "Trading Places" with Eddie Murphy had a 2.0 rating and ranked No. 64.
    The other networks are faring no better with their summer lineups of repeats, movies, and weak new summer shows.
    ABC’s game show, "You Don’t Know Jack," for example, had two episodes that managed to win their time slot but ranked a mediocre No. 21 and No. 27.
    The network’s new drama, "The Beast," lost almost 31 percent of its premiere rating and was ABC’s fourth-lowest-rated show last week.
    Fox mostly had repeats of its usual lineup and duds from last season that it’s burning off.
    Its "Teen Choice Presents: Teenapalooza" special ranked No. 7 among its intended teen audience but came in last in its time slot among the major networks and was one of the lowest-rated shows last week overall.
    CBS, meanwhile, ended the week as the top-rated network in households.
    The network had a 5.9 rating and 11 share. ABC was second with a 5.5/10 and was followed by NBC, which had a 5.3/10. Fox had a 3.3/6, UPN had a 1.9/4, and the WB had a 1.7/3.

 

PRIMETIME AVERAGES BY NETWORK
 RANKED ON HOUSEHOLDS
Week Ending June 24, 2001

 

HOUSEHOLDS

PERSONS 2+

ADULTS 18-49

Net

Rtg
%

(000)

SHR

Rtg
%

(000)

SHR

Rtg
%

(000)

SHR

CBS

5.9

5980

11

3.0

7980

9

2.2

2720

7

ABC

5.5

5640

10

3.0

7750

9

2.7

3310

9

NBC

5.3

5460

10

2.9

7710

9

3.1

3890

10

FOX

3.3

3380

6

1.9

4910

6

2.2

2740

7

UPN

1.9

1970

4

1.1

2970

3

1.2

1490

4

WB

1.7

1730

3

0.9

2380

3

1.0

1270

3

PAX

0.9

960

2

0.5

1350

2

0.4

440

1

Source: Nielsen Media Research

 

SEASON-TO-DATE 
 PRIMETIME AVERAGES BY NETWORK
 RANKED ON HOUSEHOLDS
Oct. 2, 2000 through June 24, 2001
(Regular season ended May 23)

 

HOUSEHOLDS

PERSONS 2+

ADULTS 18-49

Net

Rtg
%

(000)

SHR

Rtg
%

(000)

SHR

Rtg
%

(000)

SHR

CBS

8.3

8490

14

4.6

12070

12

3.8

4770

10

ABC

8.0

8160

13

4.5

11880

12

4.2

5230

11

NBC

7.8

7940

13

4.3

11330

11

4.7

5820

13

FOX

5.8

5960

10

3.5

9120

9

4.2

5250

11

WB

2.4

2500

4

1.4

3620

4

1.6

1940

4

UPN

2.4

2460

4

1.4

3690

4

1.6

1940

4

PAX

1.0

970

2

0.5

1370

1

0.4

460

1

Source: Nielsen Media Research

 

NETWORK TV
RANKED ON HOUSEHOLDS
Week Ending June 24, 2001

 

 

 

HOUSEHOLDS

PERSONS 2+

#

PROGRAMS

Net

Rtg%

Shr

(000)

#

Rtg%

(000)

1

MILLIONAIRE- TUE

ABC

9.8

19

10058

1

5.4

14021

2

MILLIONAIRE- THU

ABC

9.5

16

9706

1

5.4

14059

3

MILLIONAIRE- SUN

ABC

8.9

15

9098

4

4.9

12933

4

20/20-FRI

ABC

8.8

17

8978

6

4.5

11669

4

48 HOURS- MONDAY

CBS

8.8

15

9044

8

4.4

11641

6

EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND

CBS

8.2

14

8391

6

4.5

11656

6

SPY TV

NBC

8.2

15

8388

3

5.0

13188

8

WEAKEST LINK

NBC

7.9

13

8107

5

4.7

12309

9

BECKER

CBS

7.7

13

7821

9

4.1

10637

10

60 MINUTES

CBS

7.4

16

7542

12

3.9

10227

10

FRIENDS

NBC

7.4

15

7609

9

4.1

10738

12

60 MINUTES II

CBS

7.3

13

7454

17

3.6

9498

12

PRIMETIME THURSDAY

ABC

7.3

13

7492

11

4.0

10346

14

LAW AND ORDER

NBC

7.2

13

7394

15

3.8

9980

15

CSI

CBS

7.1

12

7307

12

3.9

10274

16

DATELINE NBC-TUE

NBC

6.9

12

7060

17

3.6

9420

17

PRACTICE, THE

ABC

6.8

12

6923

16

3.7

9568

18

FEAR FACTOR

NBC

6.6

12

6728

12

3.9

10182

19

48 HOURS

CBS

6.5

12

6613

22

3.3

8603

19

MILLIONAIRE- FRI

ABC

6.5

13

6691

20

3.5

9060

21

TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL

CBS

6.4

12

6584

22

3.3

8530

22

20/20- DOWNTOWN

ABC

6.3

12

6429

32

3.0

7786

22

CBS SUNDAY MOVIE ("Grace & Glorie")

CBS

6.3

11

6420

28

3.1

8140

24

DATELINE FRI

NBC

6.2

12

6308

26

3.2

8507

24

WILL & GRACE

NBC

6.2

11

6382

20

3.5

9158

26

CBS WEDNESDAY MOVIE ("Night Ride Home")

CBS

6.1

11

6208

28

3.1

8083

26

WEAKEST LINK-SUN

NBC

6.1

11

6244

17

3.6

9396

Source: Nielsen Media Research

 

CABLE TV
RANKED ON HOUSEHOLDS
Week Ending June 17

BASIC CABLE
     

House-
holds

 House- holds

Persons 2+

#

PROGRAM NAME

 Net

(000)

 Rtg %  (000)

1

NETWORK WINDOW MOVIE (WATERBOY,THE)

USA

4187

4.1

6400

2

WWF ENTERTAINMENT

TNN

3547

3.5

5690

3

WWF ENTERTAINMENT

TNN

3063

3.0

4871

4

NETWORK WINDOW MOVIE (WATERBOY,THE)

USA

2665

2.6

4169

5

NETWORK WINDOW MOVIE (WATERBOY,THE)

USA

2448

2.4

3582

6

NETWORK WINDOW MOVIE (WATERBOY,THE)

USA

2322

2.3

3439

7

WITCHBLADE THE SERIES

TNT

2185

2.1

2997

8

PRIME MOVIE (MURDER IN A COLLEGE TOWN)

Life

2094

2.0

2521

9

PRIME MOVIE (MOTHERS REVENGE, A)

Life

2064

2.0

2321

10

MOVIE, USA (BILLY MADISON)

USA

2055

2.0

3098

11

TBS MOVIE SATURDAY (MATILDA)

TBS

1977

1.9

2808

12

SATURDAY MOVIE III (CHILDHOOD SWEETHEART)

Life

1963

1.9

2359

13

SUNDAY MOVIE I (D.STEELS DADDY)

Life

1950

1.9

2263

14

MOVIE, USA (BILLY MADISON)

USA

1940

1.9

2774

15

TBS PRIME MOVIE (LETHAL WEAPON)

TBS

1908

1.9

2844

PAY CABLE 
   

House-
holds

 House- holds

Persons 2+

#

PROGRAM NAME

(000)

 Rtg %

(000)

1

SEX AND THE CITY(S)-06/17/2001

3453

3.4

5128

2

SIX FEET UNDER

2875

2.8

4159

3

CHICKEN RUN

2432

2.4

3863

4

REPLACEMENTS, THE

2338

2.3

3360

5

REAL SEX(S)-06/14/2001

2250

2.2

2943
*Total U.S. ratings and household projections are based on 102.2 million TV homes.
*For inclusion in the rankings, telecasts must be promoted as distinct programs and must be of 5 minutes minimum duration.
Source: Nielsen Media Research

 

SYNDICATION
RANKED ON HOUSEHOLDS
Week Ending June 10

 

Households

Households

#

PROGRAM NAME

Rtg %

(000)

1

WHEEL OF FORTUNE

8.5

8667

2

JEOPARDY

7.3

7430

3

OPRAH WINFREY SHOW (AT)

6.1

6275

4

ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT(AT)

5.5

5575

4

JUDGE JUDY (AT)

5.5

5574

6

FRIENDS-SYN (AT)

5.0

5145

7

FRASIER-SYN (AT)

4.7

4784

8

SEINFELD-WKND

4.6

4666

9

WHEEL OF FORTUNE WKND

4.3

4397

10

ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT WKD

3.9

4005

10

SEINFELD

3.9

3966

Source: Nielsen Media Research

 

June 27, 2001 © 2001 Media Life

-Kevin Downey is a staff writer for Media Life.


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