No doctor in this house

CBS's 'Big Apple' stumbles in at 47 against 'ER' 
on NBC

Archie redux?

NBC's 'Fighting Fitzgeralds' slides in at 15th for its debut.


Mostly duds crowd
crop of new shows
Noted exceptions: 'Three Sisters' and 'Fitzgeralds'

By Kevin Downey

    With spring just days away, most of the new midseason shows have debuted, and the numbers are in to tell us the networks have a new flock of mostly clunkers.
   Though CBS was No. 1 in household ratings and tied for No. 1 in adults 18-49 last week, its performance was not helped by three new entries it had hopes for.
   All three rank among the lowest-rated shows in primetime and most are losing audience with each passing week.
    "Some of My Best Friends," a knockoff of NBC’s "Will & Grace," was at No. 74 last week, with a 2.5 adults 18-49 rating.
    "Kate Brasher," also on CBS, had a 2.7 and only ranked No. 68.
    "Big Apple" is faltering at No. 47, even though it is nestled on the network's newly-empowered Thursday night schedule. 
    The show was expected to have a tough time against NBC's top-rated "ER," but even so it lost over 15 percent of the previous week’s audience. And that was against a rerun of NBC’s medical drama.
    "Big Apple" only had a 3.8 to "ER’s" 6.9.
     Similarly, Fox has a clunker in "The Lone Gunmen," which had a 4.3 and was down last week by 35 percent from its premiere.
    The XFL on NBC, meanwhile, ranked as the lowest-rated show on the four major networks last week. And on UPN, the new football league was the lowest-rated show in primetime.
    Those new shows that are doing well tend to be  surrounded by particularly high-rated shows.
    NBC’s "Three Sisters," which follows "Frasier," is the most successful, with a 6.2 adults 18-49 rating. The show ranked No. 9.
     "Fighting Fitzgeralds," also on NBC’s Tuesday night, tied at No. 15 in its debut, with a 5.5.
     Fox’s "Grounded for Life," which followed "Malcolm in the Middle" last week, did reasonably well with a 4.8 rating.
    Outside of the midseason shows, TV movies hurt the networks last week too.
    The second part of "Jackie, Ethel, Joan: Women of Camelot," was down 14 percent from Part 1 to a 3.1. And the latest Robert Halmi production, "The Lost Empire," did even worse than his disastrous "The 10th Kingdom" last year with a 2.6 adults 18-49 rating.
    Overall for the week, CBS and ABC tied in the demo at a 4.0 rating. NBC and Fox both had a 3.8 while UPN had a 1.5 and the WB had a 1.4.
    For the season, the network rankings pretty much held last week.
    NBC is still in the lead in adults 18-49 for the first 23 weeks of the season with a 4.9. ABC and Fox have a 4.6, CBS has a 4.0, the WB has a 1.7, and UPN has a 1.6.
    In household ratings, CBS had an 8.4 rating and 14 share last week. ABC was No. 2 with an 8.1/13 thanks to five episodes of "Millionaire" and its strong "The Practice."
     NBC, which had a poor showing with repeats on Thursday, followed with a 7.0/11. Fox had a 5.4/9, UPN had a 2.2/4, and the WB had a 2.1/3.
   For the season, every network except Fox is down compared to the same time last year.
    CBS and ABC are tied at an 8.6/14 while NBC has an 8.2/13. Fox has a 6.4/10, the WB has a 2.6/4, and UPN has a 2.5/4.

 

PRIMETIME AVERAGES BY NETWORK
 RANKED ON HOUSEHOLDS
Week Ending Mar. 11

 

HOUSEHOLDS

PERSONS 2+

ADULTS 18-49

 

Rtg
%

(000)

SHR

Rtg
%

(000)

SHR

Rtg
%

(000)

SHR

CBS

8.4

8610

14

4.7

12210

12

4.0

4980

11

ABC

8.1

8320

13

4.6

12060

12

4.0

5020

11

NBC

7.0

7170

11

3.8

9860

10

3.8

4690

10

FOX

5.4

5480

9

3.2

8430

8

3.8

4720

10

UPN

2.2

2260

4

1.3

3360

3

1.5

1810

4

WB

2.1

2170

3

1.2

3130

3

1.4

1730

4

PAX

1.0

1070

2

0.6

1520

1

0.4

510

1

Source: Nielsen Media Research

 

SEASON-TO-DATE 
 PRIMETIME AVERAGES BY NETWORK
 RANKED ON HOUSEHOLDS
Oct. 2, 2000 through Mar. 11, 2001

 

HOUSEHOLDS

PERSONS 2+

ADULTS 18-49

 

Rtg
%

(000)

SHR

Rtg
%

(000)

SHR

Rtg
%

(000)

SHR

CBS

8.6

8830

14

4.8

12650

12

4.0

5020

11

ABC

8.6

8810

14

5.0

12970

13

4.6

5750

12

NBC

8.2

8400

13

4.6

12040

12

4.9

6150

13

FOX

6.4

6500

10

3.8

9970

9

4.6

5710

12

WB

2.6

2670

4

1.5

3900

4

1.7

2090

4

UPN

2.5

2600

4

1.5

3880

4

1.6

2040

4

PAX

0.9

960

2

0.5

1350

1

0.4

460

1

Source: Nielsen Media Research

 

NETWORK TV
RANKED ON HOUSEHOLDS
Week Ending Mar. 11

 

 

 

HOUSEHOLDS

PERSONS 2+

#

PROGRAMS

Net

Rtg%

Shr

(000)

#

Rtg%

(000)

1

SURVIVOR 2

CBS

17.1

26

17471

1

11.0

28723

2

CSI

CBS

14.4

22

14690

2

8.8

22999

3

MILLIONAIRE- WED

ABC

14.0

23

14341

3

8.1

21233

4

MILLIONAIRE- TUE

ABC

12.8

20

13039

5

7.1

18689

5

PRACTICE, THE

ABC

12.4

20

12659

4

7.3

19109

6

MILLIONAIRE- SUN

ABC

12.1

18

12398

5

7.1

18476

7

MILLIONAIRE- THU

ABC

11.8

18

12067

9

6.7

17584

8

EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND

CBS

11.7

17

11980

7

6.9

18000

8

FRASIER

NBC

11.7

18

11973

8

6.8

17717

10

60 MINUTES

CBS

10.7

18

10940

13

5.7

14987

10

BECKER

CBS

10.7

16

10975

11

6.1

15899

12

LAW AND ORDER

NBC

10.5

18

10766

13

5.7

14847

12

MILLIONAIRE- FRI

ABC

10.5

18

10771

12

5.8

15270

14

E.R.

NBC

10.0

17

10206

16

5.4

14097

15

48 HOURS MON SPCL(S)

CBS

9.6

16

9777

28

4.8

12695

16

CBS SUNDAY MOVIE ("Second Honeymoon")

CBS

9.5

15

9690

24

4.9

12862

16

NYPD BLUE

ABC

9.5

16

9696

17

5.2

13687

16

WEST WING

NBC

9.5

15

9665

19

5.1

13474

19

20/20-FRI

ABC

9.3

16

9467

29

4.7

12392

20

FIGHTING FITZGERALDS

NBC

9.2

14

9358

17

5.2

13567

20

THREE SISTERS

NBC

9.2

14

9450

19

5.1

13428

22

DISTRICT, THE

CBS

9.1

17

9258

21

5.0

13107

23

PRIMETIME THURSDAY

ABC

9.0

15

9212

24

4.9

12703

24

FRASIER-(S)

NBC

8.9

14

9048

21

5.0

12983

24

FRIENDS

NBC

8.9

14

9120

21

5.0

13042

Source: Nielsen Media Research

 

CABLE TV
RANKED ON HOUSEHOLDS
Week Ending Mar. 4

BASIC CABLE

 

 

Households

Households

Persons 2+

#

PROGRAM NAME

              (000)

US Rating %

       (000)

1

WWF ENTERTAINMENT

4253

4.2

6888

2

WWF ENTERTAINMENT

3932

3.8

6640

3

SUNDAY MOVIE II (FALSE ARREST, PART II)

3255

3.2

4029

4

SUNDAY MOVIE (ECHOES IN THE DARKNESS, 2)

2835

2.8

3232

5

STRONG MEDICINE

2705

2.6

3548

6

NETWORK WINDOW MOVIE (COP LAND)

2648

2.6

3462

7

SUNDAY MOVIE I (FALSE ARREST, PART I )

2563

2.5

3080

8

SATURDAY MOVIE I (DELIBERATE STRANGER, PT2)

2482

2.4

2692

9

RUGRATS

2451

2.4

3366

10

RUGRATS

2417

2.4

3371

11

THE FBI FILES

2380

2.3

3176

12

JAG

2374

2.3

3335

13

RUGRATS

2347

2.3

3315

14

ROCKET POWER

2329

2.3

3110

15

TBS PRIME MOVIE (SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, THE)

2312

2.3

3515

PAY CABLE

 

 

Households

Households

Persons 2+

#

PROGRAM NAME

            (000)

US Rating%

    (000)

1

SOPRANOS, THE

6773

6.6

11353

2

SOPRANOS, THE

6720

6.6

11264

3

BEACH, THE

2812

2.8

5659

4

DANCING WITH DIVAS-G-STRI

2234

2.2

5566

5

REAL SEX 22(S)-03/01/2001

2193

2.1

4296
*Coverage area ratings are within each cable network's universe.
*Total U.S. ratings and household projections are based on 100.8 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 Feb. 25

 

 

Households

Households

#

PROGRAM NAME

US Rating %

            (000)

1

WHEEL OF FORTUNE

11.0

11284

2

JEOPARDY

9.0

9199

3

ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT

7.0

7104

4

OPRAH WINFREY SHOW (AT)

6.7

6865

5

JUDGE JUDY (AT)

6.5

6619

6

FRIENDS-SYN (AT)

6.0

6156

7

WHEEL OF FORTUNE WKND

5.7

5831

8

ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT WKD

5.1

5238

9

FRASIER-SYN (AT)

5.0

5123

9

SEINFELD

5.0

5072

Source: Nielsen Media Research

 

-Kevin Downey is a staff writer for Media Life


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