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Roll Out the New, Repeat
the Old
January 10
It's time to analyze the
first week of the new year. Did the new game and reality shows make
people forget about the strike? Or did they make people want to forget
about their television set? Let's find out together…
Tuesday, 1/1/07
The Biggest Loser starts at 8pm with 8.5 million viewers. It ends the
night with 12.72 million viewers. That's not only a nice start, but
those are their best debut numbers ever. The show finished in second,
which is going to be familiar place for them once American Idol shows
up, but with no other major competition in that slot, and with them
surviving against American Idol in the past, this has to be an
optimistic start for the new season.
Wednesday, 1/2/07
Deal Or No Deal also brings up some nice numbers with 12.2 million
viewers. Power of 10…not so much. Only 6.71 million people as they get
hammered by regular time occupant DOND. The news will get worse for them
- Idol shows up in less than 2 weeks and that show traditionally hammers
DOND. Power of 10 seriously needs to be moved, and the only good place
to put it is Fridays, where it may have a chance against 1 Vs. 100 (DOND
would hammer it on Mondays, Idol would hammer it on Tuesdays, you're
certainly not going to move Survivor on Thursdays). This could be a sign
that Power of 10 is only good for Summer fare.
Thursday, 1/3/07
Deal or No Deal once again performs with 13.31 million viewers, but the
surprise here is Celebrity Apprentice, which not only holds it's own
with 11 million viewers, but is #1 for the night on adults 18-49 (4.5).
It may take a hit next week with the finale of gray's Anatomy, but with
repeats the rest of the way out, The Apprentice could be reviving it's
flat fortunes over the past few years.
Friday, 1/4/07
1 Vs. 100 (With the million dollar win) wins it's time slot with 8.59
million viewers - not bad for a Friday. And if the repeats continue, you
can expect 1 Vs. 100 to continue winning, as long as people are still
interested in the show after seeing a million dollar win.
Saturday, 1/5/07
Remember when everyone pooh-poohed Saturday night as wasteland viewing?
Well, The NFL Wildcard game attracted a whopping 22.45 million viewers.
I've said this for a while, now - A major men's sporting event can
prosper on a Saturday night. Maybe a live Poker Tournament? I'd watch…
Sunday, 1/6/07
American Gladiators debuts to a nice 11.98 million and stays between
that and 12.5 million for the whole night. The Amazing Race also handles
itself nicely with 11.54 million eyeballs, but the story is Gladiator's
revival. Now would people stick around to watch it on Monday?
Monday, 1/7/07
The answer - Yes. Gladiators scores again with 10.91 viewers - made even
more impressive with the fact that they went up against the college
football national championship game, which is something you would expect
Gladiator's audience to go flocking to. Deal or No Deal is right behind
them with 10.73 million viewers. Leading them both is Dance War, which
kicks off at a 10.97 clip. Could all 3 shows survive on Monday? With CBS
in repeats and FOX not putting any juggernauts there, they could all
find enough of a following.
So when you look at the new shows, unless you're the Power of 10, the
results are very promising. But here's the 'million dollar question' -
will the ratings go up or down next week? We'll hit the stats again next
week to see if you actually liked what you saw.
Gordon Pepper has the light for the Idol Cannon ready in his hot little
hands. Tell him to fire at
gordon@gameshownewsnet.com. |
