The 2009-2010 television season came to a close last week, with Lost and Idol being bringing the notable finales. At least, as far as the numbers are concerned. Monday was actually a pretty big deal in the big scheme of TV things, with Law & Order and 24 signing off. From a numbers perspective though, they went quietly. There was much more noise to be had as the final nails were pounded into the coffins of Christian Shepherd and Simon Cowell.
FOX - The week started rather uneventfully with the final night of Animation Domination. The Simpsons (5.75m/2.5), Cleveland (4.94m/2.4), and Family Guy (6.31m/3.1) took a bit of a hit from the big Lost extravaganza, but finished up well enough. Things weren’t much different for Jack’s final hours on 24 (8.94m/2.8). Not great, but a solid end to what has been quite a run.
Much has been made of the declines of Idol this year, and finale week was again down year-to-year. That being said, the final performances (20.07m/6.7) and the final results (24.22m/8.2) are still head and shoulders above everything else on all the other networks. So, unless the loss of Simon deals some amazing damage, there should be plenty of Idol for years to come.
As Idol departed, So You Think You Can Dance (8.25m/3) made its return to kick off the summer season. That’s a good starting number, and I’m very curious to see how the new format featuring past contestants as partners for this season’s contenders plays out. The week wrapped up with nobody noticing that Past Life (2.32m/.8) was new on Friday.
ABC - While Idol won the week, you do have to hand it to Lost. The show suffered some dramatic ratings drops starting in season two, but eventually found a very loyal following. A few of those old viewers returned to see the big finale (13.57m/5.8). And the final clip show (9.93m/4.1) even managed some fairly impressive numbers.
The other big finale for the network was Dancing With The Stars. Like Idol, it was a bit off the historical pace, but still packed a punch with both the final performance (19.36m/4) and final results (18.4m/3.9). The end of DWTS also brought the start of the next round of The Bachelorette (9.08m/2.8). How this one fairs will most likely depend heavily on casting.
That’s the good news. The bad news came on Thursday as FlashForward (4.99m/1.4) finally signed off. What a crazy journey from top to bottom that show had. It was like the full run of Alias crammed into a year. The week closed with Hollywood saluting Matt Damon (3.28m/.8), and viewers ignoring him.
NBC - After taking a hit from Survivor the week before, Celebrity Apprentice (9.45m/3.4) held up very well against the big Lost finale. Monday didn’t go quite as well as Chuck (5.01m/1.8) signed off at series low levels and Law & Order (7.84m/1.9) went away quietly.
Tuesday was much better, with The Biggest Loser (9.96m/3.9) actually leapfrogging NCIS for second in the demo at 8. At 10, Parenthood (6.02m/2.6) held steady against the DWTS finale. Thursday, in case you didn’t know, brought the premiere of 100 Questions (2.48m/.8). No, it’s not a retooling of that Bob Saget game show. It’s an actual sitcom that NBC didn’t promote at all as far as I could tell. And those might be the worst premiere numbers I’ve ever seen for one of the big networks. As bad as the NBC comedies repeat, they still all topped 100 Questions. The week ended with Friday Night Lights (3.75m/1.1).
CBS - Brooks & Dunn (10.15m/1.8) kicked off the week, filling time against Lost. The real treat for the network came Monday, as How I Met Your Mother (8.06m/3.5), Rules Of Engagement (8.1m/3.2), 2 ½ Men (15.46m/5), Big Bang Theory (15.02m/5.3), and CSI: Miami (12.38m/3.3) all finished strong.
Tuesday wasn’t quite as successful, with DWTS, Biggest Loser, and Idol all working together to knock NCIS (16.3m/3.3), NCIS: LA (13.23m/2.7), and The Good Wife (10.6m/2) down a couple pegs. Despite those soft finale numbers, it was a very good year for both NCIS teams. Wednesday was a little soft as well, with Criminal Minds (12.97m/3.1) and CSI: NY (11.96m/2.7) both signing off.
CABLE - Things were mostly quiet on the cable front as well. I like to think that was because everyone was busy figuring out how they were going to find time to watch a dozen different college softball playoff games. But that could just be me. If not though … OMG … Did you see Danielle Lawrie on Friday? Or the Rainbow Wahine on Sunday? College softball remains the best sport on television. With the pickings so slim on TV this coming week, I would encourage you to take a look at the World Series, starting Thursday on the ESPN family of networks.
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Clacked by Brett Love 
on May 31, 2010 @ 09:08 EST5EDT
Football World Cup starts next friday I’ll be back then to challenge your comment about the best sport on TV ;-)
*POST AUTHOR*
Oh no! A soccer guy! :D I fear we’re probably going to have to agree to disagree on this one. Try as I might, I’ve never been able to really get into soccer. I do watch some Premiere League on occasion, and I’ll certainly look in on the World Cup, but I can already tell you that it will pale in comparison to what I’ve already seen from the softball playoffs.
My father played in the german premier league 30something years ago so yes I’m a proud fan of the most beloved sport around the world!
:-)
But I only say that to distract from the fact that I recently got pay TV again (after a three year abstinence from all regular German TV) because of Michael Schumacher and the World Cup (which will be presented in HD) but also because of the channel NASN (now ESPN America).
I’ve been watching that channel almost nonstop for three weeks now and did so back from 2002-2005.
But once the World Cup starts I most likely be watching three games a day. South-Africa has the same timezone so it’s all during the afternoon/evening. It’s perfect.
Funny thing is the Under 20 women’s world cup is going to be played in my home town as well as a couple of other towns here. The US team plays a test match against Germany on the 13th about 10 miles from where I live. I know it sounds silly but considering what garbage ESPN America puts on the air here (Highschool Football – I mean come on…) is the U20 women’s soccer world cup going to be on anywhere in the US?
I know, silly question but you are the man to ask about such things :-)