CBS
(Ratings Clack 11/9 – 11/15)
That post title really sums up the season so far where NBC and CBS are concerned. It’s looking more and more like NBC just can’t get anything right. The successes they do manage to find are either short lived, or modest at best. And over at CBS, they continue to just chug right along with their collection of procedurals, knocking down viewer wins like clockwork.
Unfortunately, for NBC, there isn’t really anything on the horizon that looks to change its fortunes. Halfway through November, we can probably call this season as a bust. They are the Washington Huskies of network television, which would make Ben Silverman the Tyrone Willingham. That comparison should offer TPTB at peacock HQ a clue as to what their next best move is.
CBS - Let’s start with the good news this week. How about a round of applause for NCIS (18.78m/3.9). That is a series high for viewers, coming in season six! And it just narrowly missed topping CSI (18.93m/5.1) for the most watched CBS show this week. That, more than anything, is the best explanation for why we see so many procedurals on CBS. Where something like Lost had dropped to half it’s series high in viewer numbers by season four, NCIS is as strong as ever. It will, no doubt, take a bit of a hit when Idol reappears, but it will hold up better than most. It’s also worth noting that The Mentalist ( 16.46m/3.9) continues to be the perfect companion.
The good news continued with the Monday comedies. Big Bang Theory (10.01m/3.9), How I Met Your Mother (9.71m/4.1), and 2 ½ Men (14.57m/4.9) teamed up to knock off DWTS in the demo. On Friday, those controversial changes for Ghost Whisperer (11.67m/2.9) are working so far. Numb3rs (9.27m/2.1) did take a bit of a hit with the Price Is Right (7.31m/1.7)special filling in at 9. It’s no NCIS repeat.
NBC – And that brings us to the bad news. We’ve talked before about the struggles on Monday, but it just keeps getting worse. Chuck (6.23m/2.4) is down, and the continued decline of My Own Worst Enemy (4.25m/1.8) has prompted the network to cancel the show. Perhaps I’m not the only one that realized you can get your Madchen Amick fix over on Showtime’s Californication, and they have the good sense to put her in a bikini.
Most troubling though, is Heroes (7.82m/3.6). That’s a series low. And if you really want some perspective, the 9:00 hour of Tuesday’s Biggest Loser came in at (8.53m/3.6). The biggest jewel in the NBC scripted crown has now fallen behind the likes of The Biggest Loser. Ouch. Tim Kring has cried “Wolf!” again, saying that changes are coming, but we’ve heard that before. Whatever he has planned, he better do it quick. 24 replacing Prison Break on Fox is only going to make it harder.
It was pretty obvious when Lipstick Jungle (3.58m/1.4) was shuffled off to Friday that it wasn’t long for this world, and falling below 4 million viewers makes cancellation entirely reasonable. The bright spot for NBC? The return of Anthony Edwards gave ER (9.8m/3.7) a boost, once again winning the demo. It really isn’t a good sign when the bright spot for the week is a show that is ending its run.
ABC - If we can compare and contrast NBC and CBS, we can do a similar thing with ABC and FOX. While FOX is content to take their lumps in the first part of the season, knowing that the Idol juggernaut will provide ample ratings to smooth it all over in the end, ABC is on the opposite path. Dancing With The Stars (18.62m/4.1 – 16.39m/3.5) is a genuine hit on two nights, but there are only two more weeks left. Then things really go in the dumper. The Bachelor and According To Jim (Really, it’s coming back, again) would be lucky to do half those numbers.
It’s not as bleak as what we see over at NBC, as the Sunday lineup continues to be solid: Extreme Makeover (10.85m/3.5), Desperate Housewives (15.71m/5.9), Brothers and Sisters (10.23m/3.7). And Grey’s Anatomy (15.59m/5.9) continues to prop up Thursdays. It will be interesting to see what happens for Private Practice when it moves to the post-Grey’s slot. I’m guessing we’ll see an increase over the Life On Mars (8.92m/2.9) numbers, just because the shows are more compatible. As to Private Practice‘s partners in crime on Wednesday, Pushing Daisies and Dirty Sexy Money don’t appear on the recently announced mid-season schedule. That’s not an official cancellation, but the writing is on the wall. They were off this week, as the CMAs (15.87m/5.0) took the stage and delivered in a big way for the network.
FOX – The network should just call it like it is and run a promo saying, “Whatever, Idol is coming.” Mondays continue to be horrible, with Terminator:TSCC (5.19m/2.1) and Prison Break (5.4m/2.2). And, at this point, they are not even trying on Thursday and Friday. Kitchen Nightmares (4.65m/2.1), Fifth Grader (5.45m/1.2), and Don’t Forget the Lyrics (5.12m/1.6) are more placeholders than anything else, because they have to put something on. That will improve, when the new schedule appears.
Bones (10.09m/3.3) will take a hit going to Thursdays, but it has a proven following and should make for the best numbers the network has seen on the night in a long time. Terminator on Friday? It will certainly improve on the Fifth Grader demo, but if we are taking bets, I’m putting my money on it never getting out of the Friday black hole alive. Happy thoughts, House (12.88m/5.5) has provided just the backing Fringe (8.88m/3.9) needed to get through to mid-season, where the Idol lead in should carry it to a second season.
CW – And that leaves us with the little network that could. It’s still struggling, but the CW is consistent. Gossip Girl (3.01m/1.5) and One Tree Hill (3.01m/1.6) are perfect together. 90210 (2.72m/1.4) is probably doing just enough to stay around. And Smallville (4.38m/1.7) and Supernatural (3.91m/1.6) continue to hold things together on the toughest night of the week. It’s also worth noting that both Gossip Girl and Supernatural are up from a year ago. That’s an increasingly hard thing to find on the schedules. Just as consistent as those good nights, Sunday and Friday remain a disaster.
Other numbers to keep an eye on:
The Office (8.18m/4.0) – the sucking effect of Kath & Kim
30 Rock (7.51m/3.6) – settling after the election boost
Survivor (13.02m/4.1) – still strong after all these years
Knight Rider (5.14m/1.6) – rumored retooling better be spectacular
The Simpsons (8.16m/3.9)/Family Guy (8.6m/4.3) – solid as they come
Clacked by Brett Love 
on Nov 17, 2008 @ 14:09 EST5EDT
I watch loyally, but nonetheless, find it amazing that CBS’s “Survivor” still can pull a 13 rating.
“The good news continued with the Monday comedies. Big Bang Theory (10.01m/3.9), How I Met Your Mother (9.71m/4.1), and 2 ½ Men (14.57m/4.9)”
What makes people actually change the channel between big bang theory and 2 and 1/2 men when How I Met Your Mother is the gem of the bunch?
Where do those people go for those 30 minutes?
It would probably benefit network shows if American viewers had the loyalty that British viewers have to their shows which can produce anywhere from 6 to 13 episodes a “season” (or series as they call them) and sometimes don’t run consecutively year after year. Like Fox has found with airing “24” for half a TV season (although for a full 24 hours of episodes), I think that kind of scheduling would benefit shows like “Pushing Daisies” and “Heroes.” But, as we’ve seen, viewers here seem to forget about their favorite shows if they’re off the air for too long. It will be interesting to see what kind of numbers “24” does after being off the air for a full year. Limiting the number of episodes per year may also give the writing staff some room to breathe and come up with real quality scripts instead of having to churn them out to fill out 22 – 24 episodes with maybe a third of those being outstanding.
How can that many people be watching Knight Rider?
It’s awesome to see NCIS pull in Amazing numbers.
@GL, a lot of us over at autoblog watch KR to make fun about it. They ruined an old classic into this abomination.
I just want to give a little shout out to Easy Money on the CW Sundays at 9pm. It probably has already been canceled (they average fewer than a million fewers). It’s an excellent show that never really had a chance (the CW’s lack of support or promotion kills me).
Laurie Metcalf is awesome in it. I like to compare her character (the string-pulling matriarch) to Katey Segal’s on Son’s of Anarchy. Her manipulation is more subtle, but she definitely holds all the power.
Oh, why do I bother? The show’s toast, anyway.
It’s funny to look at how things change over time. Thurs Nights used to see us glued to the TV to watch NBC’s “Must See TV.” We made fun of CBS at the “Geriatric Channel.”
Now, Heroes is the ONLY thing I watch on NBC (and even if they had anything good to watch I’ve been reluctant to try anything new on NBC since they canceled Journeyman). CBS rocks with Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother and most of all, NCIS!