CABLE - We’ll get to the Grammy numbers in a moment. They were rather spectacular, but a big number from an awards show isn’t really surprising. And when those do come up, the expected result is shows everywhere else dropping in the ratings. The Walking Dead (8.1m/4.2) bucked that trend. Not only did it hold up against the Grammys, it beat 55 of the 57 new scripted network shows last week in the demo. Dude. 55 of 57. Only Big Bang and Modern Family managed to top Rick and the gang. AMC paired the biggest premiere of the year with the launch of Comic Book Men (1.96m/1).
| Basic | |
|
|
| Premium | |
|
|
CBS - The Grammys (39.9m/14.1) started the week in a huge way. That was up some 40% over last year’s broadcast. Even more impressive, that is the most viewers the show has seen since 1984. Obviously, the surprise death of Whitney Houston brought a lot of viewer interest. Things cooled off considerably the next night, with oddly low numbers for How I Met Your Mother (9.01m/3.4), 2 Broke Girls (10.48m/3.8), Two And A Half Men (12.45m/3.9), Mike & Molly (10.91m/3.4), and Hawaii Five-O (9.7m/2.7). Oddly low because the night was down from 11.07m/3.74 the previous week to 10.51m/3.44, despite big second week drops for The Voice and Smash.
Tuesday was much more stable with NCIS (19.59m/3.9), NCIS LA (16.15m/3.2), and Unforgettable (11.03m/2.3). Wednesday saw the premiere of Survivor (10.79m/3.1). That 3.1 is a series low for a premiere, but the show remains a solid anchor for the night which also included Criminal Minds (12.19m/3.1) and CSI (11.09m/2.6). Big Bang Theory (15.65m/5.1) was down for the week, but still looked very good leading in to Rob (10.65m/3.2), Person Of Interest (13.16m/2.8), and The Mentalist (13.55m/2.7). There was good news Friday, with the time-slot premiere of Undercover Boss (10.73m/2.4). That’s well ahead of what A Gifted Man has been delivering at 8:00, and led to better results for A Gifted Man (9.51m/1.5) at 9:00. Blue Bloods (10.63m/1.6) finished the week.
NBC - Fear Factor (3.73m/1.5) took the Grammy bullet on Sunday before the week really got started with The Voice (16.28m/6) and Smash (8.06m/2.8) on Monday. Both were down, but it certainly looks like The Voice remains a solid hit. The jury is still out on Smash. Just for kicks and giggles, let’s track Smash alongside The Event for the next few weeks and see what happens.
| Smash | The Event | |
| 1 | 11.44m/3.8 | 10.88m/3.6 |
| 2 | 8.06m/2.8 | 9.06m/2.9 |
It was all pretty bad after that. The Biggest Loser (5.86m/2.1) and Parenthood (4.48m/1.6) did manage to sneak into third place in the demo on Tuesday, which is something. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday all brought last place finishes. Wednesday also brought the crazy number of the week. Think about the show Whitney (4.48m/1.7), and what you think NBC should be doing with the show when it comes time to hand out renewals. Should it be canceled? I think so. Here’s the crazy bit. Whitney was the most watched of the six NBC comedies last week, beating out Chelsea (3.42m/1.4), 30 Rock (3.59m/1.5), Parks & Rec (3.45m/1.7), Up All Night (2.98m/1.5), and even The Office (4.38m/2.3). Granted, The Office still leads in the demo, but dang … Whitney … #1 comedy on NBC … Elsewhere, SVU (5.9m/1.7) continued to struggle.
FOX - The Simpsons (4.26m/2), Napoleon Dynamite (3.81m/1.8), Family Guy (5.03m/2.5), and American Dad (3.59m/1.8) were all well off the pace, but that’s understandable given the huge Grammy results. More troubling is the Monday of House (7.16m/2.4) and Alcatraz (6.24m/1.9). That puts Alcatraz behind the sixth episode pace of Terra Nova (6.59m/2.1). Glee (6.99m/2.8) and New Girl (6.47m/3.1) were down as well, but still look good. Raising Hope (4.58m/2.1) continues to struggle, and that doesn’t bode well for when it moves to 8:00 next month to lead off the night. Barring a breakout contestant, it looks like American Idol (18.89m/6.1 – 16.71m/5.1) is settling in to what the numbers will be for this season. Kitchen Nightmares (3.11m/1.3) and Fringe (2.99m/1.1) ended the week.
ABC - The week actually started well, with Once Upon A Time (8.65m/3) holding up very well versus the Grammys. That didn’t last long. Desperate Housewives (6.4m/1.8) and Pan Am (2.57m/.7) both crumbled under the pressure. Things were somewhat better Monday, with The Bachelor (8.09m/2.5) and Castle (8.86m/2) were fairly steady. The same couldn’t be said for Tuesday. Last Man Standing (7.64m/2.2) was down, but the premiere of Cougar Town (4.88m/1.8) was more troubling. It was Valentines Day, but still … that’s lower than the premiere for Work It. A big week two drop for The River (4.96m/1.7) didn’t offer any help, and Body Of Proof (6.26m/1.2) isn’t long for this schedule.
The ABC Wednesday was much like the CBS Monday, with The Middle (8.04m/2.4), Suburgatory (6.92m/2.4), Modern Family (11.23m/4.7), Happy Endings (5.44m/2.4), and Revenge (7.69m/2.4) combining for a down night. There was more trouble on Thursday, with Wipeout (5.12m/1.5) and Grey’s Anatomy (8.31m/3.2) down. Private Practice (7.08m/2.6) did manage to reverse the slide, finishing up week-to-week.
CW - The thing that continues to surprise me about the CW schedule is how viewers have abandoned Gossip Girl (1.13m/.5) and Ringer (1.1m/.4). When the network only averages 1.5 million viewers, coming in 400,000 below that is troubling. The rest of the lineup was Hart Of Dixie (1.64m/.6), One Tree Hill (1.4m/.8), Remodeled (.46m/.2), Vampire Diaries (2.9m/1.4), Secret Circle (1.71m/.7), Nikita (1.6m/.6), and Supernatural (1.68m/.7).
Clacked by Brett Love 
on Feb 20, 2012 @ 09:00 EST5EDT
