I’m not sure when the “official” start to the new television season is supposed to be. The schedules really get crazy next week, but personally, I consider it last week. We finally have some premiere numbers to start talking about. Not a lot of them, but the ones we did see were rather interesting. And interesting on both sides of the coin. Some shows had reason to celebrate (Glee, Vampire Diaries), while others have cause for concern (90210, Melrose Place). Others (SYTYCD, Next Top Model, Supernatural) fell somewhere in the middle. Over on cable, the week was very good for FX and the crew down at Sons Of Anarchy HQ.
CW – How about that? CW leading off the ratings post. The good news came, as was so often the case last season, with the CW Thursday. It’s going to take a couple weeks to know how this pairing is going to shake out. So far though, things look very good. Vampire Diaries (4.91m/2.1) had great numbers in its first go in Smallville‘s old slot. Supernatural (3.4m/1.4) was down slightly year to year, but still looked strong. This one will be very interesting to watch as all the crazy Thursday competition comes online.
The news wasn’t as good for 90210 (2.56m/1.3) and Melrose Place (2.27m/1.3). The CW was quick to respond with how pleased they were with performance in various demos, but those numbers still have to be disappointing for premieres on a night with very little competition. Next Top Model (3.24m/1.5) rounds out the week’s CW numbers. That’s down, but still not bad. The more interesting bit will be seeing how many of those viewers stick around for The Beautiful Life.
FOX - After months of anticipation, Glee (7.5m/3.5) finally arrived. There have been a lot of questions about what kind of numbers all of the hype would translate to. So far, so good. If the show can remain anywhere near those levels, FOX will be very pleased. So You Think You Can Dance (6.55m/2.7) was off a bit from the summer numbers, but not bad. As with the CW Thursday, now we wait and see what happens when the other networks are at full steam. Finishing up the week, Hell’s Kitchen (7.61m/3.6) remains a summer hit, and More To Love (4.36m/1.9) stayed steady, if not impressive.
NBC - It was a different night, but still counts as a premiere. NBC’s Sunday Night Football (20.1m/8.6) had a go on Thursday, and the results were as expected. Look for football to power the Sunday night lineup for the next few months. Elsewhere, America’s Got Talent continued to roll on Tuesday (11.7m/2.9) and Wednesday (10.06m/2.1).
ABC - The summer of hit and miss (mostly miss) is winding down. This week there were new installments of Defying Gravity (2.16m/.6), Shaq Vs (3.85m/1.6), and Shark Tank (3.55m/1.1). Apparently, the Defying Gravity numbers are low enough that the network is ending it with 5 episodes unaired. Shark Tank is interesting. Those are not good fall numbers, especially when it will be parked in front of Dancing With The Stars. To put it in perspective, it’s below Opportunity Knocks levels at the moment, and we all know how that ended.
CBS - With no big premieres, there wasn’t a lot of news from CBS this week. Big Brother had the usual Sunday (5.97m/1.9), Tuesday (8.13m/2.7), and Thursday (7.44m/2.6) showings. It is worth noting that the network announced that there will be another season next summer. The only other new bit of programming was There Goes The Neighborhood (3.39m/.9). That one, obviously, didn’t come with a renewal announcement.
CABLE - A slow week for cable news, but there was one really big premiere. FX brought back Sons Of Anarchy (4.3m/2.8), and it did better than anyone could have expected. That’s up more than 90% in both viewers and demo compared to the first season premiere. Syfy continued the recent run of good numbers. The season three premiere of Destination Truth (2.1m) set a series high.
Next week we’ll have even more premiere numbers to play with. One Tree Hill, Gossip Girl, Biggest Loser, The Beautiful Life, Bones, Fringe, Survivor, The Office, Community, Parks & Recreation, and It’s Always Sunny all kick things off.
Clacked by Brett Love 
on Sep 14, 2009 @ 08:57 EST5EDT
I actually thought Glee would get 1-2 million more viewers, not that viewers matter, once you hit 35 you are dead to TV people.
Plus It’s still summerish, so people might not be watching a lot of TV yet, so I think SYTYCD? numbers will go up. If not no big lose because it’s not like they will cancel the summer show that got 7.5-8 million viewers.
I knew ABC would never finish out Defying Gravity. Lasted longer than I predicted though, but it’s no surprise that we’ll never get to see the end on the network. If I had a genre show, I think ABC would be the last place I’d pitch it.
So how long must we wait to purchase Defying Gravity?
Ah the plight of a science fiction fan…
The upside is that all 13 episodes were in the can quite some time ago. They will (most likely) finish airing abroad so they’ll be “available” online if one would like to go that route.
I wonder, though, BSG, if they’ll ever be released on DVD in the States. Just doesn’t seem to me like there will be any kind of demand for them.
“Available” hmmm. I’d rather buy the dvd set and watch it on the treadmill. That’s what I did with Dollhouse, just to get Epitaph One. (The treadmill is a lonely place!)
Is it stooopid to think they’d release it on dvd in the states? 2+ million isn’t nothing.
*POST AUTHOR*
I would think it will get a US DVD release. The audience is small, but it does have unaired episodes, and that sort of series usually sells better just because of the content. Dorv makes a good point about there not being huge demand, but a trip down the TV on DVD aisle at your local mega-mart will reveal a host of shows that would seemingly not have a lot of demand.
Yay for Glee! It’s weird that a new show I like this much isn’t predestined for cancellation.
Glee has great ratings, it’s good to know but i thought it was not good : bad ratings for FOX demand. If it’s not the case i am glad !