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Ratings Clack – Daylight savings is never good for ratings

As has become the norm, when the weather gets nice and the clocks spring forward, television ratings take a hit. We saw it again this week as 'Idol' hit a surprising low, and the newly renewed NBC comedies took a ratings boot to the crotch.

NBC - The good news this week was for viewers of Community (4.15m/1.7) and Parks & Rec (4.08m/1.8). Not the numbers, because they are as awful as ever. For some reason though, NBC is giving both shows another season. The fact that Perfect Couples (2.88m/1.2) and Outsourced (3.59m/1.4) weren’t part of the renewal announcement probably seals both of their fates. 30 Rock (4.19m/1.7) had already been renewed.

Earlier in the week, Next Great Restaurant (4.06m/1.4) continued to struggle, but Celebrity Apprentice (8.13m/2.8) was solid. In fact, with The Office airing a repeat, the Apprentice 2.8 was the top demo of the week. Monday, Chuck (4.92m/1.6) remained down. Conventional wisdom would say that is something to worry about. Then again, Community and Parks and Rec were both just renewed … So, hope springs eternal for one more season of Chuck. Probably not a lot of hope for an extension for The Event (4.26m/1.2). And at this point Harry’s Law (10.16m/1.8) is looking very good for season two. The rest of the week was made up of another good Biggest Loser (8m/2.7) outing, another dreadful Minute To Win It (3.31m/1), and a couple Datelines (6.48m/1.3 – 7.59m/1.5).

FOX - It was a bit of a slow start to the week from The Simpsons (5.42m/2.5), Bob’s Burgers (4.1m/2), and Cleveland (4.64m/2.4). Things were a little better for House (10.4m/3.5). And Chicago Code (7.3m/1.9) is hanging right there on the bubble for renewal. The good news came Tuesday, where Glee (11.15m/4.2) was down, but still strong. Raising Hope (5.74m/2.2) didn’t hold up as well to the new clock settings. And the tribe has spoken where Traffic Light (3.6m/1.5) is concerned.

The really interesting bit came from American Idol. There were again huge numbers for Wednesday (22.58m/7.6). And, really, Thursday (19.57m/5.7) was pretty huge too. But that 5.7 is the lowest Idol demo since I have been doing the ratings post. Bones (11.61m/3.3) wasn’t hampered by the Idol stumble. Finally, Friday brought another weak night from Kitchen Nightmares (3.67m/1.6) and Fringe (3.8m/1.3).

CBS - The Sunday lineup of Amazing Race (9.44m/2.7), Undercover Boss (11.78m/3), and CSI Miami (11.85m/2.7) got the week off to a good start. Things slowed considerably Monday, with Mad Love (6.45m/2.1) the only new entry. Wednesday looked solid, thanks to Survivor (10.73m/3.2), Criminal Minds (13.73m/3.6), and Suspect Behavior (10.33m/2.5).

The real troubles came Thursday. The new NCAA television deal that has games airing simultaneously on CBS, TNT, TBS, and truTV is great for fans, but not so much for CBS. Last year’s opening round (8.9m/3.2 – 9.6m/3.4) looked a whole lot better than this year’s (4.49m/1.5 – 4.62m/1.5), for CBS. For the NCAA, things looked good. The combined numbers of all the outlets have the numbers up for the first round games.

ABC – Secret Millionaire (11.43m/2.8) took a bit of a second week dip, but still looked good leading off the week. Monday was nice as well, as The Bachelor (13.88m/4.5) and After The Rose (13.96m/4.7) went out on a good ratings note. The rest of the week was much less exciting. V (5.51m/1.9) stumbled to a finish, and Detroit 187 (5.64m/1.2) struggled through its last Tuesday appearance. Wednesday wasn’t any better as Mr. Sunshine (4.54m/1.8) and Off The Map (4.21m/1.3) didn’t do well on their own. Thursday started okay, with Wipeout (7.16m/2.1), but Private Practice (5.97m/1.9) didn’t look so good taking over the Grey’s slot for a week.

CW – It was another week with only the aging Next Top Model (2.03m/.9) and Shedding for the Wedding (.98m/.4) as new offerings.

CABLE - If you are a Jersey Shore (6.6m/3.4) fan, the good news is that the show was down again this week. The bad news is that it still beat every show on Thursday night except Idol in the demo. And the worse news is that earlier in the week a guest appearance by Snooki on WWE RAW (5.43m/2.1 – 5.87m/2.3) made for the best 18-49 numbers the show has seen in over a year. In renewal news, Syfy has given another season to Being Human (1.37m/.6). It looks like it was just enough better than Stargate Universe (.93m/.5). Interestingly, both fell short of Face Off (1.49m/.7).

Basic:

  • Breakout Kings (2.39m/.9)
  • Army Wives (3.36m/1)
  • Pretty Little Liars (2.94m/1.1)
  • Skins (1.11m/.4)
  • Lights Out (.69m/.3)
  • Justified (2.37m/.8)
  • Fairly Legal (4.04m/.9)
  • The Game (3.62m/1.7)
  • Hot In Cleveland (1.56m/.3)
  • Archer (.93m/.4)
  • Top Chef (2.26m/1.2)

Premium:

  • Big Love (1.37m/.6)
  • Californication (.63m/.3)
  • Shameless (1.12m/.5)
Photo Credit: NBC

3 Responses to “Ratings Clack – Daylight savings is never good for ratings”

March 24, 2011 at 1:13 AM

Daylight Saving Time (there’s no plural in “Saving”) isn’t good for a damned thing. I call it the bi-annual jet-lag program because that’s all it’s good for. The older you get the longer it takes to get used to that useless clock shifting scheme.

March 24, 2011 at 2:44 AM

. . . . .

(there’s no plural in “Saving”)

Sure there is, Tom.

You’re not just saving daylight once … but many, many times over, day to day … right into those hot, heated summer days and right on into autumn.

That’s a lot of “savings”.

March 24, 2011 at 2:54 AM

Suuuure. That’s like moving a dollar from your left pocket to your right pocket and saying you’re saving the dollar. It’s a shell game and you get the old switcheroo for no good reason except to piss everyone off.

Besides, if you want to move the clocks to get extra daylight in the evening, it should be in the Winter. The clock move is exactly backwards from the way it should be to keep a more even sunrise and sunset. It’s a commie plot I tells ya!

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