Ratings Clack – The Voice has a great debut

by Brett Love

NBC had the big news for the week, with the premiere of 'The Voice'. Over on cable, week two of 'Game of Thrones' was right on pace with the premiere, while 'Sanctuary' gave 'SGU' fans a little more ammo.

NBC - In a year with little to get excited about, the suits at NBC must be doing backflips after seeing the premiere numbers for The Voice (11.78m/5.1). We’ve seen so many different attempts at an Idolesque show come and go, and I didn’t think this one would be any different. Following Biggest Loser (7.45m/2.6), I would have guessed the premiere would be ok, but somewhere just above or below the Biggest Loser number. To nearly double the Biggest Loser demo is an incredible start. So incredible, in fact, that the only show to beat The Voice in the demo this week was Idol. Perhaps most surprising of all, Glee only managed 67% of the Voice demo. It will be very interesting to see how things shake out in week two.

Of course, this is NBC, so not all the news was good. Next Great Restaurant (3.73m/1.2) continued to flounder on Sunday, but Celebrity Apprentice (8.26m/3) bounced back from a bad week. Monday brought more disappointing results for The Event (4.62m/1.3) and L&O LA (5.79m/1.3). And Thursday was a mixed bag. The exit of Michael Scott on The Office (8.42m/4.2) brought a nice number that actually found the network at #1 in the demo at 9, ahead of new episodes of Grey’s, CSI, and Bones. Those gains didn’t do anything for the rest of ‘Maybe See At Some Point TV’. Community (3.35m/1.4) continued to struggle at 8, while Parks & Rec (4.71m/2.3) dropped despite the Office gains. Most surprising was the drop for 30 Rock (3.95m/1.9) at 10:30. The week finished up with Friday Night Lights (2.99m/.6).

ABC - While still not great, Sunday’s lineup of Extreme Makeover (7.81m/2.2), Desperate Housewives (10.15m/3.1), and Brothers & Sisters (6.55m/1.9) did look much better than last week. Monday looked better as well, with Dancing With The Stars (22.38m/4.7) and Better With You (11.23m/2.6). Somewhat curious that Better With You managed 3.5 million more viewers than Cougar Town in that Monday slot. There were more solid numbers Tuesday, from DWTS Recap (13.08m/2.5), DWTS Results (18.28m/3.6), and Body of Proof (11.86m/2.2).

The momentum was lost with a limited night on Wednesday that included Better With You (4.65m/1.5), Cougar Town (5.62m/2.1), and Happy Endings (5.17m/2.1). Thursday looked better by comparison, but was still not a great night for Grey’s Anatomy (10.67m/3.7) or Private Practice (6.68m/2.2).

FOX - A limited week started slowly with Glee (8.62m/3.4) and Raising Hope (4.53m/1.8) both off the season pace on Tuesday. That’s not a bad number for Glee, but it is something to take note of. Perhaps it is just the normal course of the end of the season. Perhaps not. American Idol took over on Wednesday (22.32m/7.1) and Thursday (19.6m/5.7), handing off that huge audience to Breaking In (7.01m/2.4) and Bones (9.7m/2.8). Friday wrapped the week with Kitchen Nightmares (3.29m/1.3) and Fringe (3.49m/1.3).

CBS - The week started slowly with Amazing Race (9.37m/2.6) handing off to Beyond The Blackboard (8.58m/1.3) on Sunday. A limited Monday didn’t help with Mad Love (5.53m/2) as the only new entry. Survivor, also going solo, looked much better than that on Wednesday (11.32m/3.2). Programming got back up to speed with the opening of sweeps on Thursday, featuring Big Bang Theory (10.71m/3.3), Rules Of Engagement (7.86m/2.3), CSI (10.84m/2.4), and The Mentalist (13.53m/2.6). That CSI number is fascinatingly low. Friday brought new episodes of CSI NY (9.2m/1.7) and Blue Bloods (9.77m/1.6).

CW - The network is back up to speed with programming, but not with ratings. The numbers continue to be below par across the board. That makes it somewhat curious, to me at least, that the network has already renewed five of the eight eligible shows (Smallville (1.94m/.8) is ending.) That’s good news for fans of 90210 (1.74m/.9), Gossip Girl (1.55m/.8), Next Top Model (2.39m/1.1), Vampire Diaries (2.68m/1.2), and Supernatural (1.94m/.9). Likewise, it’s probably cause for concern for fans of One Tree Hill (1.44m/.7), Hellcats (.98m/.4), and Nikita (1.72m/.6).

CABLE - HBO had the Treme (.61m/.2) premiere last week, and another season didn’t solve the veiwer problems. In better news for the network, round two for Game Of Thrones (2.2m/1) was nearly identical in viewers to the premiere and saw a small gain in the demo. Also good news for HBO, it’s not Showtime. None of the network’s shows could crack a million viewers, and almost nobody saw Secret Diary of a Call Girl (.08m/0).

Basic