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for ABC's primetime
Trailing at fourth in sweeps and the TV season
By Kevin Downey
ABC just can’t catch a break.
It seems every effort ABC makes to reinvent itself as a network for younger viewers falls flat.
And so it is this season and especially this sweeps period, in which it is in a distant fourth place with no hopes of pulling out, with tonight being the final night.
ABC is in last place through the first two months of the season, trailing CBS and Fox last week by six-tenths of a rating point for its fifth consecutive last-place finish.
The network’s troubles, of course, can largely be traced back to its once-dominant “Who Wants to be a Millionaire.”
"Millionaire" is now the oldest-skewing show on television, outside of "60 Minutes," and it remains among the lowest-ranked shows in the 18-49 demo, even after the network trimmed back the show to two episodes from four per week and began loading up half of the shows with celebrity guests.
Last week's Monday episode of “Millionaire” ranked No. 73, and its Thursday episode tied for No. 92 and was the third-lowest-ranked show of any on the major networks.
Moreover, beyond the game show, ABC’s attempts at reclaiming its once youthful dominance have failed miserably this season.
You have to give ABC credit for trying with shows like “Thieves,” “Alias,” and “According to Jim,” but all attempts so far have resulted in mediocre ratings at best.
Most analysts agree that ABC will come back, but just when is the question. While "Millionaire" was the envy of every network when it was at its peak, there was the sense even then that the show's success stood to cripple the network's efforts to create the next generation of scripted shows. It was just too easy to rely on "Millionaire."
The worry was that ABC would move too late to have a strong roster of scripted shows in place for the time when "Millionaire" began its descent.
That appears to have happened.
The network only had four shows among the top-30 last week and just one, “Monday Night Football,” in the top-10.
Its most successful sweeps programming stunt was "The Santa Clause" movie on "The Wonderful World of Disney." That ranked No. 18 with a 5.3 and was ABC’s third-highest-rated show behind football and its long-running hit, "The Practice," which ranked No. 13.
But ABC’s "Being Mick" special, which profiled Mick Jagger, was among the lowest-rated, with a 1.5. It tied at No. 92 out of 106 shows on primetime last week.
With only one more night of sweeps programming to go, ABC has a 3.9, adult 18-49, rating to Fox’s 5.1, NBC’s 5.0, and CBS’s 4.6.
ABC wasn’t the only network hurting last week, though.
Ratings on each of the Big Four networks, in fact, were down last week from the week before. That may simply be the result of the networks’ biggest stunts being behind them as the sweeps come to an end.
Some sweeps programs did top the ratings, though.
The biggest draw was "Star Wars: Episode I–The Phantom Menace" on Fox. The movie ranked No. 6, with a 7.9 rating, and was watched by nearly 17.8 million people.
"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" on CBS ranked No. 25 with a 4.7 rating. And NBC’s "Jennifer Lopez in Concert" ranked No. 28 with a 4.5 rating.
Other specials fared considerably worse.
The second Garth Brooks special on CBS was up two-tenths of a rating point from the first special but only managed to tie at No. 43, while CBS’s "*NSync Live" tied for No. 70.
CBS’s most-watched shows, like "Everybody Loves Raymond" and "CSI," boosted the network to a win in household ratings.
It had an 8.4 rating and 14 share to NBC’s 8.1/14, ABC’s 6.5/11, and Fox’s 5.7/9. UPN and the WB tied at 2.6/4.
|
NOVEMBER SWEEPS |
||||||||
|
ABC |
CBS |
NBC |
FOX |
|||||
| Adults 18-49 |
Rtg% |
Shr |
Rtg% |
Shr |
Rtg% |
Shr |
Rtg% |
Shr |
|
2000 (11/2-11/27) |
5.0 |
12.9 |
3.7 |
9.6 |
5.7 |
14.5 |
4.6 |
11.7 |
|
2001 (11/1-11/26) |
3.9 |
10.3 |
4.6 |
11.9 |
5.0 |
13.0 |
5.1 |
13.2 |
|
% Chg |
-22 |
-20 |
+24 |
+25 |
-12 |
-10 |
+11 |
+13 |
|
Viewers 2+ |
Rtg% |
(000) |
Rtg% |
(000) |
Rtg% |
(000) |
Rtg% |
(000) |
|
2000 (11/2-11/27) |
5.3 |
13,862 |
4.6 |
12,080 |
5.3 |
13,852 |
3.7 |
9,815 |
|
2001 (11/1-11/26) |
3.9 |
10,659 |
5.1 |
13,836 |
4.7 |
12,654 |
4.5 |
12,063 |
|
% Chg |
-26 |
-23 |
+11 |
+15 |
-11 |
-9 |
+22 |
+23 |
|
Households |
Rtg% |
Shr |
Rtg% |
Shr |
Rtg% |
Shr |
Rtg% |
Shr |
|
2000 (11/2-11/27) |
9.1 |
14.5 |
8.4 |
13.4 |
9.2 |
14.7 |
6.2 |
9.7 |
|
2001 (11/1-11/26) |
7.1 |
11.5 |
9.0 |
14.6 |
8.3 |
13.5 |
7.5 |
12.1 |
|
% Chg |
-22 |
-21 |
+7 |
+8 |
-10 |
-8 |
+21 |
+24 |
|
Source: Nielsen Media Research |
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|
PRIMETIME AVERAGES BY NETWORK |
|||||||||
|
|
HOUSEHOLDS |
PERSONS 2+ |
ADULTS 18-49 |
||||||
|
Net |
Rtg |
(000) |
SHR |
Rtg |
(000) |
SHR |
Rtg |
(000) |
SHR |
|
CBS |
8.4 |
8850 |
14 |
4.9 |
13220 |
13 |
4.2 |
5380 |
11 |
|
NBC |
8.1 |
8580 |
14 |
4.7 |
12780 |
12 |
4.8 |
6160 |
13 |
|
ABC |
6.5 |
6830 |
11 |
3.7 |
9950 |
10 |
3.6 |
4570 |
10 |
|
FOX |
5.7 |
6030 |
9 |
3.5 |
9520 |
9 |
4.2 |
5370 |
11 |
|
UPN |
2.6 |
2740 |
4 |
1.6 |
4200 |
4 |
1.9 |
2360 |
5 |
|
WB |
2.6 |
2690 |
4 |
1.5 |
4010 |
4 |
1.7 |
2160 |
4 |
|
PAX |
0.9 |
940 |
1 |
0.5 |
1310 |
1 |
0.3 |
410 |
1 |
|
Source: Nielsen Media Research |
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|
SEASON-TO-DATE |
|||||||||
|
|
HOUSEHOLDS |
PERSONS 2+ |
ADULTS 18-49 |
||||||
|
Net |
Rtg |
(000) |
SHR |
Rtg |
(000) |
SHR |
Rtg |
(000) |
SHR |
|
NBC |
8.6 |
9030 |
14 |
4.8 |
12830 |
12 |
5.1 |
6480 |
13 |
|
CBS |
8.5 |
8960 |
14 |
4.7 |
12780 |
12 |
4.1 |
5270 |
11 |
|
FOX |
6.9 |
7290 |
11 |
4.0 |
10690 |
10 |
4.3 |
5490 |
11 |
|
ABC |
6.9 |
7270 |
11 |
3.9 |
10420 |
10 |
4.0 |
5050 |
10 |
|
UPN |
3.1 |
3230 |
5 |
1.8 |
4910 |
5 |
2.2 |
2760 |
6 |
|
WB |
2.8 |
2900 |
4 |
1.5 |
4180 |
4 |
1.8 |
2250 |
5 |
|
PAX |
0.9 |
970 |
1 |
0.5 |
1290 |
1 |
0.3 |
430 |
1 |
|
Source: Nielsen Media Research |
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|
NETWORK TV |
||||||||
|
|
|
|
HOUSEHOLDS |
PERSONS 2+ |
||||
|
# |
PROGRAMS |
Net |
Rtg% |
Shr |
(000) |
# |
Rtg% |
(000) |
|
1 |
EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND |
CBS |
14.4 |
21 |
15186 |
5 |
8.1 |
21880 |
|
2 |
E.R. |
NBC |
13.9 |
26 |
14614 |
2 |
8.7 |
23579 |
|
3 |
FRIENDS |
NBC |
12.7 |
25 |
13398 |
1 |
9.0 |
24236 |
|
4 |
CSI |
CBS |
12.4 |
22 |
13060 |
3 |
8.5 |
22819 |
|
5 |
BECKER |
CBS |
11.9 |
18 |
12550 |
6 |
6.6 |
17863 |
|
6 |
LAW AND ORDER |
NBC |
11.8 |
21 |
12416 |
6 |
6.6 |
17765 |
|
6 |
NFL MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL (NY Giants vs Minnesota) |
ABC |
11.8 |
20 |
12482 |
11 |
6.4 |
17366 |
|
8 |
60 MINUTES |
CBS |
11.7 |
18 |
12364 |
12 |
6.2 |
16702 |
|
9 |
FRIENDS-S. -(S) |
NBC |
11.5 |
22 |
12169 |
4 |
8.2 |
22145 |
|
10 |
JUDGING AMY |
CBS |
10.9 |
18 |
11542 |
15 |
5.8 |
15728 |
|
11 |
WEST WING |
NBC |
10.8 |
18 |
11416 |
12 |
6.2 |
16726 |
|
12 |
JAG |
CBS |
10.5 |
17 |
11061 |
17 |
5.7 |
15496 |
|
13 |
FRASIER |
NBC |
10.3 |
16 |
10863 |
14 |
6.1 |
16383 |
|
13 |
PRACTICE, THE |
ABC |
10.3 |
16 |
10820 |
17 |
5.7 |
15264 |
|
13 |
WILL & GRACE |
NBC |
10.3 |
19 |
10818 |
6 |
6.6 |
17815 |
|
16 |
LAW AND ORDER:SVU |
NBC |
10.2 |
19 |
10764 |
20 |
5.5 |
14863 |
|
17 |
FOX MOVIE SPL-SUN(S) ("Star Wars: Episode I") |
FOX |
9.8 |
15 |
10295 |
6 |
6.6 |
17775 |
|
18 |
NFL MONDAY SHOWCASE |
ABC |
9.7 |
15 |
10209 |
20 |
5.5 |
14843 |
|
19 |
CBS NFL NATL POST GAME(S) |
CBS |
9.6 |
16 |
10179 |
24 |
5.2 |
14086 |
|
20 |
SURVIVOR: AFRICA |
CBS |
9.5 |
18 |
10038 |
6 |
6.6 |
17701 |
|
21 |
YES, DEAR |
CBS |
9.4 |
14 |
9887 |
22 |
5.4 |
14641 |
|
22 |
KING OF QUEENS |
CBS |
9.2 |
14 |
9710 |
23 |
5.3 |
14392 |
|
22 |
LAW AND ORDER:CRIM INTENT |
NBC |
9.2 |
13 |
9704 |
24 |
5.2 |
14042 |
|
24 |
CBS SUNDAY MOVIE ("You've Got Mail") |
CBS |
9.1 |
14 |
9556 |
27 |
4.9 |
13214 |
|
25 |
CSI-10PM(S) |
CBS |
9.0 |
17 |
9454 |
19 |
5.6 |
15156 |
|
Source: Nielsen Media Research |
||||||||
|
CABLE TV |
|||||
| BASIC CABLE | |||||
|
House- |
House- holds |
Persons 2+ |
|||
|
# |
PROGRAM NAME |
Net |
(000) |
Rtg % | (000) |
|
1 |
NFL REGULAR SEASON (RAMS/PATRIOTS) |
ESPN |
6538 |
6.2 |
9254 |
|
2 |
PLANE CRASH IN QUEENS NY |
CNN |
3858 |
3.7 |
4395 |
|
3 |
PLANE CRASH IN QUEENS NY |
CNN |
3671 |
3.5 |
4154 |
|
4 |
FLEISCHER PC/PLANE CRASH |
CNN |
3596 |
3.4 |
4017 |
|
5 |
WWF ENTERTAINMENT (WWF RAW ZONE) |
TNN |
3525 |
3.3 |
5583 |
|
6 |
PLANE CRASH IN QUEENS NY |
CNN |
3366 |
3.2 |
3900 |
|
7 |
WWF ENTERTAINMENT (WWF RAW ZONE) |
TNN |
3336 |
3.2 |
5498 |
|
8 |
PLANE CRASH IN QUEENS NY |
CNN |
3238 |
3.1 |
3776 |
|
9 |
PLANE CRASH IN QUEENS NY |
CNN |
3201 |
3.0 |
3814 |
|
10 |
NFL SPORTSCENTER |
ESPN |
3102 |
2.9 |
3880 |
|
11 |
GUILIANI-PATAKI PC/CRASH |
CNN |
3070 |
2.9 |
3668 |
|
12 |
PLANE CRASH IN QUEENS NY |
CNN |
3025 |
2.9 |
3606 |
|
13 |
PLANE CRASH IN QUEENS NY |
CNN |
3004 |
2.8 |
3588 |
|
14 |
AMERICAN AIRLINE PC/CRASH |
CNN |
2995 |
2.8 |
3428 |
|
15 |
PLANE CRASH IN QUEENS NY |
CNN |
2863 |
2.7 |
3268 |
|
PAY CABLE |
|||||
|
House- |
House- holds |
Persons 2+ |
|||
|
# |
PROGRAM NAME |
Net |
(000) |
Rtg % |
(000) |
|
1 |
BRITNEY SPEARS LIVE LAS VEGAS |
HBO |
3056 |
2.9 |
4966 |
|
2 |
ME, MYSELF & IRENE |
HBO |
2775 |
2.6 |
4425 |
|
3 |
GEORGE CARLIN: COMPLAINTS |
HBO |
2716 |
2.6 |
4346 |
|
4 |
MISS CONGENIALITY |
HBO |
2191 |
2.1 |
3391 |
|
5 |
MEN OF HONOR |
HBO |
2129 |
2.0 |
3014 |
| *Coverage
area ratings are within each cable network's universe. *Total U.S. ratings and household projections are based on 105.5 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 |
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|
SYNDICATION |
||||
|
|
Households |
Households |
||
|
# |
PROGRAM NAME |
Syndicator |
Rtg % | (000) |
|
1 |
WHEEL OF FORTUNE |
KIN |
10.1 |
10688 |
|
2 |
JEOPARDY |
KIN |
8.3 |
8804 |
|
3 |
ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT(AT) |
PRM |
6.7 |
7048 |
|
3 |
SEINFELD (AT) |
CTS |
6.7 |
7040 |
|
5 |
FRIENDS-SYN (AT) |
WB |
6.1 |
6450 |
|
6 |
JUDGE JUDY (AT) |
PRM |
6.0 |
6310 |
|
7 |
OPRAH WINFREY SHOW (AT) |
KIN |
5.7 |
6037 |
|
8 |
EVRYBDY LVS RAYMOND-SYN |
KIN |
5.5 |
5838 |
|
8 |
ESPN NFL REGULAR SEASON |
ESP |
5.5 |
5812 |
|
10 |
SEINFELD-WKND (AT) |
CTS |
5.2 |
5478 |
|
Source: Nielsen Media Research |
||||
November 28, 2001 © 2001 Media Life
-Kevin Downey is a staff writer for Media Life.
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