Broadcast TV Ratings for Thursday, January 8, 2009 January 9, 2009 4:00 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Broadcast TV Ratings, News, Nielsen TV Ratings, Television.trackback
FOX’s presentation of the FedEx BCS National Championship Game between the Florida Gators and Oklahoma Sooners propelled the network to an easy win, besting last year’s presentation by 16% among viewers and adults 18-49.
Elsewhere on the evening, ABC returned dramas Ugly Betty, Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice (which debuted in its new timeslot). The network finished in second place, but it was really at the expense of its programming. Ugly Betty and Grey’s Anatomy fell by double digits among households and viewers. The only bright spot was Private Practice which made a mostly successful jump to a new night, with growth of 37% among viewers and 43% among adults 18-49. Retention levels weren’t great–66% among viewers and 65% among adults 18-49–but it’s a good start.
NBC meanwhile suffered most from the decision to air new programming against the BCS Championship. All of the network’s shows fell by double digits (20%+ in most cases) and 30 Rock, which aired out of a repeat of The Office fell the most. The show was off a depressing 29% among viewers and 39% among adults 18-49.
CBS’s lineup of repeats were good enough to keep the network in third place. The CW was fifth among the five major networks with repeats of Smallville and Supernatural.
My full analysis follows after the jump.
FOX finished in first place for the evening with a 14.1/21 household rating/share, 24.36 million viewers and a 8.4/21 rating/share among adults 18-49.
- Last Week:
- 4.2/7 HH rating [#3]
- 7.51M viewers [#3]
- 2.4/6 A18-49 rating [#1]
- Note: Due to the live sporting event the following numbers, for FOX only, are based on the final national numbers.
- 7:30 p.m.: FedEx BCS National Championship Game: Pregame (5.7/10 HH rating/share, 9.65M viewers, 3.2/11 A18-49 rating/share).
- Year-to-year numbers (MON; 1/7/2008):
- Households – 5.9/10 to 5.7/10 (-3%)
- Viewers – 9.28M to 9.65M (+4%/+370,000)
- Adults 18-49 – 3.2/10 to 3.2/11 (n/c)
- Last week’s numbers (FedEx Orange Bowl: Pregame – 7:30-8:46pm):
- Households – 1.7/3
- Viewers – 2.90M
- Adults 18-49 – 0.9/3
- 8:20 p.m.: FedEx BCS National Championship Game: Oklahoma vs. Florida (15.8/25 HH rating/share, 26.77M viewers, 9.5/25 A18-49 rating/share). FOX got a great performance out of this year’s National Championship game. The game was up an impressive 10% among households, 16%/3.70M among viewers and 16% among adults 18-49.
- Year-to-year numbers (MON; 1/7/2008 – LSU vs. Ohio State):
- Households – 14.4/22 to 15.8/25 (+10%)
- Viewers – 23.07M to 26.77M (+16%/+3.70M)
- Adults 18-49 – 8.2/21 to 9.5/25 (+16%)
- Last week’s numbers (FedEx Orange Bowl: Cincinnati vs. Virginia Tech – 8:46-12:06am):
- Households – 5.4/9
- Viewers – 9.32M
- Adults 18-49 – 3.0/8
- Year-to-year numbers (MON; 1/7/2008 – LSU vs. Ohio State):
ABC followed in second place for the evening with a 6.7/10 household rating/share, 10.08 million viewers and a 3.6/9 rating/share among adults 18-49.
- Last Week:
- 4.1/7 HH rating [#4]
- 6.54M viewers [#4]
- 2.1/6 A18-49 rating [#3]
- 8:00 p.m.: Ugly Betty (5.0/8 HH rating/share, 7.51M viewers, 2.4/6 A18-49 rating/share) began a mostly down night for ABC, with the exception of Private Practice’s time-period debut, which I’ll discuss shortly. Getting back to Ugly Betty, the show came back from its nearly 1-month hiatus and was off by double digits among households and viewers (-860,000) and 8% among adults 18-49.
- Episode-to-episode numbers (12/4/2008):
- Households – 5.7/9 to 5.0/8 (-12%)
- Viewers – 8.37M to 7.51M (-10%/-860,000)
- Adults 18-49 – 2.6/7 to 2.4/6 (-8%)
- Last week’s numbers (Rose Bowl: Penn State vs. USC – 5:00-8:40):
- Households – 11.7/21
- Viewers – 20.60M
- Adults 18-49 – 6.5/20
- Last week’s numbers (Rose Bowl: Postgame – 8:40-9:01pm):
- Households – 5.4/9
- Viewers – 8.87M
- Adults 18-49 – 2.9/8
- Episode-to-episode numbers (12/4/2008):
- 9:00 p.m.: Grey’s Anatomy (8.9/13 HH rating/share, 13.71M viewers, 5.1/12 A18-49 rating/share) continued the slide. The show performed slightly better than its lead-in (in terms of percent loss from the episode prior), but none-the-less still slid by double digits among households (-11%) and viewers (10%/1.57M) and was off by 7% among adults 18-49. Keep in mind that the show’s major competition (‘CSI’) was a repeat, so programming against the BCS game on FOX wasn’t such a good idea it seems.
- Episode-to-episode numbers (12/4/2008):
- Households – 10.0/15 to 8.9/13 (-11%)
- Viewers – 15.28M to 13.71M (-10%/-1.57M)
- Adults 18-49 – 5.5/14 to 5.1/12 (-7%)
- Episode-to-episode numbers (12/4/2008):
- 10:00 (10:01) p.m.: The one positive for ABC was the time-period debut of Private Practice (6.0/10 HH rating/share, 9.03M viewers, 3.3/8 A18-49 rating/share), which grew by very significant amounts over its last nearly aired episode (which was on Wednesday). The show was up more than 30% among both households (30%) and viewers (37%/2.42M) and an even more impressive 43% among adults 18-49. Now granted, the show had been struggling before the move to Thursday so any increase would have been welcomed, but this is still a good start, especially when considering Grey’s Anatomy under-performed. Retention levels were so-so: 67% among households, 66% among viewers and 65% adults 18-49. It’ll be interesting to see how it performs in the coming weeks.
- Episode-to-episode numbers (WED; 12/17/2008 – 9:00-10:01pm):
- Households – 4.6/7 to 6.0/10 (+30%)
- Viewers – 6.61M to 9.03M (+37%/+2.42M)
- Adults 18-49 – 2.3/6 to 3.3/8 (+43%)
- Episode-to-episode numbers (WED; 12/17/2008 – 9:00-10:01pm):
CBS finished in third place for the evening with a 6.0/9 household rating/share and 9.09 million viewers, and was tied for third among adults 18-49 with a 2.2/5 rating/share.
- Last Week:
- 4.8/8 HH rating [#1]
- 7.98M viewers [#1]
- 2.2/6 A18-49 rating [#2]
- CBS programmed an entire night of repeats and was actually very competitive (then again that’s usualy the case with CBS’s procedural-heavy programming line-up), easily beating fourth place NBC among households and viewers and tying with the network among adults 18-49.
- 8:00 p.m.: CSI: NY-REPEAT (5.7/9 HH rating/share, 8.59M viewers, 2.0/5 A18-49 rating/share).
- 9:00 p.m.: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation-REPEAT (7.3/11 HH rating/share, 10.98M viewers, 2.7/6 A18-49 rating/share).
- 10:00 (10:01) p.m.: Eleventh Hour-REPEAT (5.2/8 HH rating/share, 7.70M viewers, 1.9/5 A18-49 rating/share).
NBC followed in fourth place for the evening with a 3.7/6 household rating/share and 5.70 million viewers, and was tied for third place among adults 18-49 with a 2.2/6 rating/share.
- Last Week:
- 4.6/8 HH rating [#2]
- 7.56M viewers [#2]
- 2.0/5 A18-49 rating [#4]
- 8:00 p.m.: My Name Is Earl (3.5/6 HH rating/share, 5.50M viewers, 2.0/6 A18-49 rating/share) started off NBC’s very, very poor evening of programming. All of the networks shows were down double-digits, most times in the 20%+ range. NBC was hurt the most by programming against the BCS game, and one wonders why they decided to make that move. Repeats would have have done just fine, or perhaps even a special Deal or No Deal two-hour episode or something similar.
- Episode-to-episode numbers (12/11/2008):
- Households – 4.0/7 to 3.5/6 (-12.5%)
- Viewers – 6.55M to 5.50M (-16%/-1.05M)
- Adults 18-49 – 2.7/8 to 2.0/6 (-26%)
- Last week’s numbers (Deal or No Deal – 8:00-9:00pm):
- Households – 5.7/9
- Viewers – 9.49M
- Adults 18-49 – 2.2/6
- Episode-to-episode numbers (12/11/2008):
- 8:30 p.m.: Kath & Kim (2.7/4 HH rating/share, 4.15M viewers, 1.7/4 A18-49 rating/share) lost further ground for NBC, falling off 23% among households, 25% among viewers and 15% among adults 18-49 from lead-in My Name Is Earl. The show was off by similar margins from its last newly aired episode about a month ago.
- Episode-to-episode numbers (12/11/2008):
- Households – 3.3/5 to 2.7/4 (-18%)
- Viewers – 5.38M to 4.15M (-23%/-1.23M)
- Adults 18-49 – 2.4/7 to 1.7/4 (-29%)
- Episode-to-episode numbers (12/11/2008):
- 9:00 p.m.: The Office-REPEAT (3.0/4 HH rating/share, 4.67M viewers, 2.0/5 A18-49 rating/share).
- 9:30 (9:31) p.m.: With a repeat as a lead-in, 30 Rock (3.4/5 HH rating/share, 5.24M viewers, 2.3/5 A18-49 rating/share) continued NBC’s horrible evening. This was probably NBC’s worst decision (of many) on the night. Why would you decide to repeat The Office, but not 30 Rock, a show which has been on the up recently because of star Tina Fey? That bone-headed move cost the show massive losses among households (24%), viewers (29%/2.14M) and 39% (that’s right, nearly 40 percent) among adults 18-49 from its last newly aired episode.
- Episode-to-episode numbers (12/11/2008):
- Households – 4.5/7 to 3.4/5 (-24%)
- Viewers – 7.38M to 5.24M (-29%/-2.14M)
- Adults 18-49 – 3.8/9 to 2.3/5 (-39%)
- Episode-to-episode numbers (12/11/2008):
- 10:00 p.m.: And finally, ER (4.9/8 HH rating/share, 7.32M viewers, 2.6/7 A18-49 rating/share) closed out NBC’s night, and was off by all three main categories from the prior episode: 16% among households, 19%/1.71M among viewers and 26% among adults 18-49.
- Episode-to-episode numbers (12/11/2008):
- Households – 5.8/10 to 4.9/8 (-16%)
- Viewers – 9.03M to 7.32M (-19%/-1.71M)
- Adults 18-49 – 3.5/9 to 2.6/7 (-26%)
- Episode-to-episode numbers (12/11/2008):
The CW finished in fifth place for the evening with a 1.4/2 household rating/share, 2.08 million viewers and a 0.8/2 rating/share among adults 18-49.
- Last Week:
- 1.1/2 HH rating [#5]
- 1.83M viewers [#5]
- 0.7/2 A18-49 rating [#5]
- The CW got what it usually gets for repeats of Smallville and Supernatural, two shows that actually repeat fairly well for the network.
- 8:00 p.m.: Smallville-REPEAT (1.5/2 HH rating/share, 2.30M viewers, 0.9/2 A18-49 rating/share).
- 9:00 p.m.: Supernatural-REPEAT (1.3/2 HH rating/share, 1.87M viewers, 0.8/2 A18-49 rating/share).
GO TO WEEKLY RATINGS PAGE
Note: Network average numbers from the week prior are based on fast national data. Comparison’s from the week prior (or episode-to-episode, etc.) on specific shows are based on final national data. Ratings for the current day are based on fast nationals. (Expect all three scenarios to be the case at all times, unless otherwise noted). The final rating for first-run episodes that aired this evening will be reported the following week. So for example, the final rating for tonight’s episode of “Grey’s Anatomy” will be reported in next weeks report for Thursday, January 15, 2009. Also keep in mind that because these are fast national ratings, numbers may increase or decrease when the final nationals are released.
Sources: Fast/Final National Ratings Data from Nielsen Media Research. Daily ratings figures can be found at PIFeedback, Zap2It and TVbytheNumbers.
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Wow, BCS kicked ass on thursday, ABC with all the female and gay viewers got decent numbers considering everything. NBC didn’t should air anything new that night