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The Super and the Stupor
February 7
This past week, we have had
2 versions of the word 'Super'. The first event was truly Super - the
Super Bowl, which featured my Giants knocking off the heavily vaunted
New England Patriots for their first Lombardi Trophy in 18 years. The
second event - 'Super Tuesday', which featured around the clock
reporting from 21 states to see which presidential candidates picked up
the most primary supporters.
Does this mean that the
networks have now grown a political conscience? Hardly. It was a great
excuse for all of the networks to pad their schedule due to the writer's
strike and either push back original episodes for another week or cover
up what would have been repeat programming. The last time we had Super
Tuesday in 2004, you want to know how many prime time network shows were
pre-empted for Super Tuesday coverage? Zero. That's right, Zero. The
best any station did was to give quick 2 minute news blurbs on brief
updates before the shows aired. So did the new strategy work this week?
Or would the networks have been wishing that they kept the repeat
programming on? Let's look at the numbers...
Wednesday, January 23,
2008
American Idol
1/16/08 - 30.28 Million Viewers (12.6 Mil for 18-49)
1/23/08 - 27.75 Million Viewers (11.1 Mil for 18-49)
1/30/08 - 25.3 Million Viewers (9.9 Mil for 18-49)
Based on Tuesday's episodes, It seems like the 25 is going to be the
hovering number for the show. That is down around 12% from last year,
but that's still an amazing number. We'll see if it goes up when we get
to the Round of 24.
The Moment of Truth
1/23/08 - 23.2 Million Viewers (10.2 Mil for 18-49)
1/30/08 - 17.9 Million Viewers (7.9 Mil for 18-49)
The show dropped around 25%, which is around what was predicted. 18
million viewers is a huge number - huge enough for FOX to add 13
episodes and to anchor it on Wednesdays at 8pm once Idol migrates into
the Round of 12. Can the show do well without American Idol? We'll see
in the upcoming months…
Deal Or No Deal
1/2/08 - 12.2 Million Viewers
1/9/08 - 13.2 Million Viewers (3.5 Mil for 18-49)
1/16/08 - 11.83 Million Viewers (3.1 Mil for 18-49) (IDOL Week #1)
1/23/08 - 13.76 Million Viewers (3.7 Mil for 18-49) (IDOL Week #2)
1/30/08 - 9.8 Million Viewers (2.4 Mil for 18-49) (Repeat)
For a repeat, the 9.8 million viewers is a nice number to see. So far,
its more than holding it's own against American Idol. This is a
no-brainer to renew the show in this time-slot.
Power of 10 / New Adventures of Old Christine Repeats
1/2/08 - 6.71 Million Viewers
1/9/08 - 6.12 Million Viewers (1.8 Mil for 18-49)
1/16/08 - 4.92 Million Viewers (1.1 Mil for 18-49) (IDOL Week #1)
1/23/08 - 3.88 Million Viewers (0.9 Mil for 18-49) (IDOL Week #2)
1/30/08 - 4.9 Million Viewers (1.4 Mil for 18-49) (New Adventures of Old
Christine Repeats)
So it really doesn't matter what CBS puts on Wednesdays. It's going to
be trashed by Idol and DOND. What a ridiculously bad move by CBS to ruin
a very good Drew Carey vehicle in the Wednesday slot when it could have
found a life of it's own on Fridays.
Crowned
1/9/08 - 1.8 Million Viewers (0.8 Mil for 18-49)
1/16/08 - 1.6 Million Viewers (0.7 Mil for 18-49) (IDOL Week #1)
1/23/08 - 1.46 Million Viewers (0.7 Mil for 18-49) (IDOL Week #2)
1/23/08 - 1.4 Million Viewers (0.6 Mil for 18-49) (IDOL Week #3)
The steady decline of viewers should spell the end of the series…yet…I
have seen advertisements for auditions the second season of Crowned. I
can only guess that either 1. The production company has to do it just
in case the CW greenlights this, 2. The CW is still very concerned about
the writer's strike and wants some insurance, or 3. The CW executives
have had one too many hits on the head with a tiara.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Are You Smarter than a 5th
Grader?
1/10/08 - 10.8 Million Viewers (2.9 Mil for 18-49)
1/17/08 - 11.5 Million Viewers (3.7 Mil for 18-49)
1/24/08 - 8pm - 10.47 Million Viewers (3.2 Mil for 18-49)
1/24/08 - 9pm - 10.18 Million Viewers (3.3 Mil for 18-49)
1/31/08 - 10.5 Million Viewers (3.1Mil for 18-49)
A nice stable 10 keeps this one moving strongly. But will it be voted
out once Jeff Probst and crew invades their shores this week?
Celebrity Apprentice
1/3/08 - 11 Million Viewers (4.5 Mil for 18-49)
1/10/08 - 8.3 Million Viewers (3.9 Mil for 18-49) (Gray's Anatomy Season
Finale)
1/17/08 - 8.99 Million Viewers (3.9 Mil for 18-49) (Gray's Anatomy Goes
into Repeat mode)
1/24/08 - 8.87 Million Viewers (3.7 Mil for 18-49) (Gray's Anatomy Goes
into Repeat mode)
1/31/08 - 6.87 Million Viewers (2.7 Mil for 18-49) (LOST New Season
Debuts)
It could, if the numbers on The Apprentice are any indication.
Apparently, the numbers showed what I was worried about - it's a good
show when nothing else is on, but put in up against a powerhouse show,
and watch the numbers wilt. NBC may or may not have been a mite hasty
when it renewed Celebrity Apprentice, but one thing is for sure - it
will NOT function well in this timeslot if NBC is dumb enough to stick
it here in January of 2009.
Don't Forget the Lyrics
1/10/08 - 6.7 Million Viewers (2.3 Mil for 18-49) (Gray's Anatomy Season
Finale)
1/17/08 - 8.77 Million Viewers (3.4 Mil for 18-49) (Gray's Anatomy Goes
into Repeat mode)
1/24/08 - NO AIRING
1/31/08 - 10 Million Viewers (3.2 Mil for 18-49) (LOST New Season
Debuts)
Huh? DFTL's audiences increases? I guess people like Karaoke and little
kids - or they don't like Lost. Either way, with this show brandishing
those numbers against that sort of competition, this is a lock to be
renewed come September.
Friday, February 1, 2008
1 vs. 100
1/4/08 - 8.59 Million Viewers
1/11/08 - 7.69 Million Viewers (1.9 Mil for 18-49)
1/18/08 - 7.16 Million Viewers (1.8 Mil for 18-49)
1/25/08 - 8.44 Million Viewers (2.2 Mil for 18-49) (Unopposed)
2/1/08 - 7.87 Million Viewers (2.0 Mil for 18-49)
So the show will be hovering around the 7-8 mark, which isn't awful on a
Friday night. It did win it's time slot, so that's an argument for a
renewal, but it still has to be concerned with big bad Price is Right
and a ticked off Drew Carey coming to town in a few weeks.
'SUPER' Sunday, February 3, 2008
The Super Bowl
97.5 Million Viewers (34.8 Mil for 18-49)
Wow. This is the biggest Super Bowl airing ever and one of the biggest
shows ever in the history of network television. That is truly a SUPER
event. As for that Biggest Loser marathon…well…let's just say that The
Super Bowl had more than FORTY SIX TIMES the amount of people watching
it than The Biggest Loser. Ouch.
Monday, February 5, 2008
American Gladiators
1/7/08 - 10.73 Million Viewers
1/14/08 - 10.66 Million Viewers (4.6 Mil for 18-49)
1/21/08 - 10.08 Million Viewers (4.3 Mil for 18-49)
1/28/08 - 8.4 Million Viewers (3.5 Mil for 18-49) (NOT AIRED IN ALL OF
AMERICA)
2/5/08 - 9.5 Million Viewers (3.3 Mil for 18-49)
The good news is that the numbers did pick up. The bad news is that the
numbers are bleeding out of this one at the same rate as Dance Wars and
it may be a good thing that the show is ending in 2 episodes as to not
give NBC concern about renewing the show. Or it could be the thought
that there's no way this show should be 90 minutes long. When the strike
is over, I think keeping the show here on Monday nights could be asking
for trouble.
Dance Wars
1/7/08 - 10.97 Million Viewers
1/14/08 - 10.50 Million Viewers (2.9 Mil for 18-49)
1/21/08 - 9.86 Million Viewers (2.6 Mil for 18-49)
1/28/08 - 9.3 Million Viewers (2.4 Mil for 18-49)
2/5/08 - 9.8 Million Viewers (2.5 Mil for 18-49)
At least this episode stopped the bleeding. I have the same comments on
this show as I have for Gladiators - way too long at 90 minutes and
looking at problems if this show gets renewed and placed in the Monday
slot again. I sense deep deep trouble for this show, as the end of
their run will run right into the Top 24 of American Idol.
Deal or No Deal
1/7/08 - 10.93 Million Viewers
1/14/08 - 15.0 Million Viewers (5.0 Mil for 18-49)
1/21/08 - 14.13 Million Viewers (4.4 Mil for 18-49)
1/28/08 - NO SHOW
2/5/08 - 12.7 Million Viewers (4.4 Mil for 18-49)
Not only did extending the show 90 minutes hurt Gladiators, it hurt
Deal, as people didn't flock to it as much as they did when it was
earlier. That should have been the only reason - you had 10 cases (soon
to be 11) in the Million Dollar Mission, and teasing to a big win (which
we did get, just not the million) which has kept the ratings up to this
point. With 18-49 staying intact, you would think the only reason of the
drop is the younguns and elders not staying up to watch it. That would
be another reason on why to move American Gladiators - you can't stick 2
kiddie shows together and extend them past a kid's bedtime curfew.
'SUPER' Tuesday, February
5, 2008
Super Tuesday Coverage
NBC - 5.58 Million Viewers (2.1 Mil for 18-49)
ABC - 5.26 Million Viewers (1.4 Mil for 18-49)
CBS - 4.69 Million Viewers (1.3 Mil for 18-49)
Uh…yuck. This was more like Stupor Tuesday. These numbers would get
almost any show cancelled. In fact, this only helped out ABC, whose
ratings last night were better than what they have been putting up there
on Tuesday nights. That would explain why ABC had no problem putting up
their whole Tuesday in hiatus for the coverage. For the other networks,
last night was a mess, and the chance of them doing this again during
2012 when there's no writer's strike is around equivalent to the chance
of this years 1-15 Miami Dolphins leading the league in offense, defense
and special teams play next year. In short - zero. So how bad was this?
American Idol
1/15/08 - 33.24 Million Viewers (13.8 Mil for 18-49)
1/22/08 - 29.05 Million Viewers (11.7 Mil for 18-49)
1/29/08 - 28.0 Million Viewers (11.0 Mil for 18-49)
2/5/08 - 27.79 Million Viewers (11.2 Mil for 18-49)
More people were interested in watching the antics of 3 judges and a
world of bad singing than seeing who the main candidates would be for
the next leader of this country - combined (15.53 million). So around an
average of 27 million will be the regular number for Tuesday's broadcast
- which is very, very nice. But it doesn't stop there…
The Biggest Loser 5
1/1/08 - 8.5-12.72 Million Viewers
1/8/08 - 8.48-12.13 Million Viewers (5.2 Mil for 18-49)
1/15/08 - 7.28 Million Viewers (3.0 Mil for 18-49) (IDOL Premiere)
1/22/08 - (AGAINST IDOL (8-9)) 7.01 Million Viewers (2.9 Mil for 18-49)
1/22/08 - (NOT AGAINST IDOL (9-10)) 10.87 Million Viewers (4.5 Mil for
18-49)
1/29/08 - (AGAINST IDOL (8-9)) 6.8 Million Viewers (2.7 Mil for 18-49)
1/29/08 - (NOT AGAINST IDOL (9-10)) 9.7 Million Viewers (3.9 Mil for
18-49)
2/5/08 - 7.9 Million Viewers (3.2 Mil for 18-49)
More people watched Allison Sweeney helping
11 people lose weight than looked to see who the main candidates would
be for the next leader of our country. The 7.9 is an average, so that's
right on track with what they have been doing - plus it's still better
than what they did last season.
So one day was Super. The other day..not so super. However, the game
shows are still doing quite well for themselves.
Next Week: Will Jeff Foxworthy survive Survivor? Will Big Brother 9
survive American Idol? Will The Donald survive Lost? Will we ever find
out how Paradise Hotel did in the ratings (or does anyone even care)?
Join us in 7 days for the answers.
Gordon Pepper scored the final touchdown with 35 seconds left to play.
E-mail him at
gordon@gameshownewsnet.com. |
