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Showing posts with label up all night. Show all posts
Showing posts with label up all night. Show all posts

THE SKED THURSDAY NETWORK SCORECARD

11:32 AM | Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , ,





AWAKE is getting sleepy.

NBC:  A 20% drop from a series premiere isn't ordinarily anything shocking or particularly worrisome.  But when you start with a 2.0 the way AWAKE did, that leaves you with a 1.6 in Week 2, and that makes Week 3, when the show will be facing fresh competition on both CBS and ABC for the first time, look like an oncoming train.  (The show continues to be problematic creatively, too:  see our Pilot + 1 Review.)  Earlier in the evening, 30 ROCK had its last 8PM airing of the season (COMMUNITY arrives next week) and remained 0.1 above its season low with 1.4, while PARKS & RECREATION was comparatively robust at 1.9.  THE OFFICE and UP ALL NIGHT (with what may have been its most insufferable episode yet--if the show would just own up to the contempt it feels for almost all human beings, it might be a lot better) were up 0.1 from last week.


CBS:  BIG BANG THEORY continued to dominate Idol at 8PM, and a repeat Big Bang provided strong competition for FOX at 8:30PM, holding on impressively to almost 80% of the new episode's audience.  That (along with the weak competition on ABC and FOX) pushed PERSON OF INTEREST to a new series high of 3.4, which in turn gave THE MENTALIST its best number in a month.

FOX:  AMERICAN IDOL came awfully close to losing the full 8-9PM hour (4.8 vs 4.6), continuing its diminished ways.  THE FINDER aired its last Thursday episode before being burned off on moving to Fridays, with a 2.3 that was last place among the original shows in its hour.

ABC:  Repeats for the evening, putting it in last place (other than CW) in every hour.

CW:  Also in repeat mode, with a rerun SUPERNATURAL substituted for THE SECRET CIRCLE to little effect.

Tonight's interesting move is CBS experimenting with a new Mentalist episode at 9PM.  Apart from the CBS shows and GRIMM, everything is unscripted or a repeat.

 

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THE SKED'S THURSDAY NETWORK SCORECARD

10:28 AM | Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , ,





AWAKE didn't keep anyone from a full night's sleep.

NBC:  In the universe of NBC these days, you take your glass-half-full where you can get it, and here it is:  AWAKE won its time slot, it was up from its lead-in, it had the network's highest Thursday 10PM rating of the season, and despite its unusually convoluted premise, it lost relatively few viewers during the course of the hour.  So there's that.  Back on earth, though, Awake was for all intents and purposes NBC's last chance for a scripted break-out hit this season (whatever Smash is, it's not that), and marked yet another failure.  It could only reach a 1.9 rating against repeats on the other networks, and fell considerably below even the season lows for new episodes of The Mentalist and Private Practice.  (Even against a Mentalist repeat, its margin of victory was a mere 0.2.)  So:  on to next year!  Meanwhile, the rest of the evening was dismal as well:  none of the sitcoms were more than 0.2 above season lows, despite airing against repeats on 2 other networks.  Creatively, it was also a down night:  THE OFFICE neared the end of its Tallahassee arc with its weakest recent episode (the big gag was that Ed Helms' character was beaten up by a little girl), 30 ROCK was unable to match the conceptual brilliance of its last couple of entries and resorted to network television's one millionth Law & Order parody, and PARKS & RECREATION was unusually scattered.  (Let's not even speak of UP ALL NIGHT.)


FOX:  It's been the same story all week, as AMERICAN IDOL, with another 2-hour episode, was up from last Thursday (since this week aired against ABC and CBS reruns), but horribly down (more than 40%) from the parallel episode last season.  

ABC:  For an explanation of the network's schedule shenanigans last night, see Mitch Metcalf's rating report.  In any case, nothing on the night scored higher than a 1.3.

CBS:  With THE BIG BANG THEORY in repeats, the season finale of ROB hit a series low 2.6, which on the bright side was down only 0.6 from its depressed lead-in.  Repeats of PERSON OF INTEREST and THE MENTALIST were both under a 2.

CW:  Reruns of VAMPIRE DIARIES and SECRET CIRCLE were at 0.4 and 0.3, respectively.

Tonight is all new (except CW), with the notable event--such as it is--being the season (at least) finale of CBS' A GIFTED MAN.


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THE SKED'S THURSDAY NETWORK SCORECARD

11:24 AM | Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,




Ow, says FOX.  See FOX say Ow.

FOX:  AMERICAN IDOL's 4.4 rating was its lowest since the show began as a summer series 10 years ago.  That was down 14% from last week, 38% from the first hour of last year's parallel episode, and 43% from last season's Thursday average.  The combined Wednesday/Thursday average for this week was more than 20% lower than NBC's rating for Monday's The Voice.  Oh, I could go on.  The question is what--if anything--can FOX do to reverse the trend?  The show is locked into its format and judges, so look for some high-profile theme nights and other stunting.  The network may also have to give Idol some of the valuable promo time that would otherwise have gone to launching shows like Touch.  Meanwhile, THE FINDER was down to the rating it was getting before it had Idol as a lead-in, although considering that  Idol was down 1.4 rating points from the lead-in it provided 2 weeks ago, Finder's 0.2 decline wasn't at all alarming.


NBC:  The lower Idol numbers on FOX didn't do anything for 30 ROCK or PARKS & RECREATION, both of which were even with last week's season lows (if you exclude 30 Rock's oopsie DVR listing episode).  This is too bad, as both featured first-rate episodes this week, especially 30 Rock with its inspired Leap Day William concoction.  THE OFFICE is also on a creative upswing, although the Tallahassee gambit that's perking the show up is by definition a temporary one.  Office, facing The Finder instead of Idol, was up a decent 0.3 from last week, still far from its numbers earlier this season.  UP ALL NIGHT also had a 0.3 boost with the higher lead-in.  The last rerun GRIMM before Awake arrives next week received little interest with a 0.9.

ABC:  GREY'S ANATOMY tied its season low, and PRIVATE PRACTICE took a big 0.4 hit from last week's crossover episode.  

CBS:  THE BIG BANG THEORY is now the unquestioned king of the 8PM slot, although ROB slipped a bit to a new low (at 3.0, it's still in pretty good shape).  PERSON OF INTEREST benefited from the reduced FOX competition at 9PM and rebounded 0.3, but THE MENTALIST tied its season low.  (The 10PM ratings in general support the idea that in the absence of strong programming, this is when people are catching up on their DVR playlists, since Mentalist and Private Practice were both down, and no one was watching NBC.)

CW:  Already in repeat mode for the night (new shows won't return till mid-March), with a SUPERNATURAL thrown in instead of the usual SECRET CIRCLE at 9PM and garnering an unremarkable 0.3. 

No special events for the evening tonight, just fresh sweeps episodes of all the regular shows (except at CW).

 


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THE SKED'S THURSDAY NETWORK SCORECARD

10:38 AM | Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,




Unfortunately for NBC, there are other nights in the week besides Monday.

NBC:  The gradual season-long collapse of THE OFFICE continued last night, as the show's 2.5 hit not just a season low, but its lowest rating since Season 1 in 2005--i.e., the season that almost got it canceled.  That was still by far the s network's highest number of the night.  30 ROCK was misleadingly up from last week, which was an aberration caused by a program description that resulted in DVRs not picking up the episode; last night's 1.6 was in line with the other episodes this season (and slightly below recent episodes of Parks & Recreation, which it replaced for the night).  UP ALL NIGHT tied its Thursday low.  Perhaps the most pathetic news of the evening was that the meager 1.5 earned by a repeat of the post-Super Bowl VOICE at 10PM still marked almost double the rating Prime Suspect and The Firm had been doing in that slot.


FOX:  AMERICAN IDOL was up 0.2 to a 5.7 (losing again in its first half-hour to Big Bang Theory), still down more than 20% from the parallel night last year.  THE FINDER was down slightly, mired in 4th place for its hour.

CBS:  BIG BANG THEORY continued to win its half hour, dead even with the past 2 weeks.  ROB, too, has spent the past 4 weeks within a tiny range of 0.2 up or down.  This stability has been great for PERSON OF INTEREST and THE MENTALIST, which both tied their season highs--Mentalist won its hour, and Person was a strong 2d at 9PM.

ABC:  WIPEOUT hit a new season low, but after that the news improved.  GREY'S ANATOMY, back on track after the previous week's "alternate universe" episode, had its highest rating in more than a month, while PRIVATE PRACTICE was on the lower end of its numbers, but very stable.

CW:  VAMPIRE DIARIES' steady 1.2 put it in hailing distance of both NBC and ABC for the hour.  SECRET CIRCLE was up slightly to (for CW) a very strong 0.8.

No sweeps events tonight, just an evening of all-new episodes.  On Saturday, NBC repeats its entire Monday night line-up all over again, while ABC prepares for the return of Cougar Town with a mini-marathon after a Valentine's Day-themed Charlie Brown special.  And FOX gets into the holiday spirit, too, with America's Most Wanted:  Crimes of Passion Special Edition. 

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THE SKED'S THURSDAY NETWORK SCORECARD

10:00 AM | Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,



Sweeps!

FOX:  AMERICAN IDOL was steady with last Thursday at 5.4, which meant it was again down around 30% from last year and again saw its first half-hour lose to CBS's Big Bang Theory.  THE FINDER, airing against original episodes on every network this week, lost most of last week's gains and fell to a 4th place 2.4 in its hour (which may go down further if Idol had an overrun).


NBC:  The shows on NBC (you may know them better as "the stuff that airs between Smash commercials") suffered more ignominy, as 30 ROCK hit a new all-time low of 1.3 (down 20% from last week's then-all-time low), and THE OFFICE, with a 2.7, had its lowest ever rating on a Thursday.  PARKS & RECREATION provided comparatively good news by rising 0.1 from last week to a 1.8, but UP ALL NIGHT fell 0.1 from last week, also to a 1.8.  For anyone who wondered if THE FIRM could get any lower, the answer was yes--down to a 0.8, where it was probably beaten by plenty of cable networks.

ABC:  An unimpressive start to sweeps, as WIPEOUT matched its season low 1.8, GREY'S ANATOMY got no boost from its hyped "alternate universe" episode and matched the 3.5 of its last original, and PRIVATE PRACTICE, while up 0.2 from its last original, was still near that season low.

CBS:  A strong 2d place to FOX for the night.  BIG BANG THEORY won its half hour, and then ROB was steady with last week, both shows down only 0.1.  PERSON OF INTEREST hit a series high 3.3 that left it only 0.2 out of 1st place for its hour, and THE MENTALIST, while down 0.2 from last week, easily won its hour.

CW:  VAMPIRE DIARIES rose slightly to a 1.2, which left it only 0.1 behind 30 Rock at 8PM.  SECRET CIRCLE was even with last week's 0.7.  

Tonight everything is new again, and with CHUCK resting in peace, NBC brings back WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? at 8PM. 

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THE SKED'S THURSDAY NETWORK SCORECARD

12:14 PM | Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,



Lots of news, but it's only good for one network.

CBS:  Keeping in mind that the Thursday 8-9PM landscape will change drastically next week with the return of American Idol, CBS got everything it could have wished from the debut of ROB at 8:30PM.  The show's 4.1 blew past the numbers that Rules of Engagement was doing in that slot (let alone How To Be A Gentleman), retained 80% of its BIG BANG THEORY lead-in, and boosted PERSON OF INTEREST at 9PM to its own season high of 3.2.  THE MENTALIST was at a standard 2.7 at 10PM, good enough to win the hour.  Last year, the CBS 8:30PM sitcom (S#![ My Dad Says) did a 2.8 against the debut of Idol, after a 4.2 for Big Bang Theory, so even if Rob takes a hit from last night, it's in a good position to improve CBS's numbers overall.


NBC:  Ugh.  30 ROCK only made it to a 1.8 in its season debut.  That's a little better than what Community had been doing at 8PM, but a whopping 30% behind last year's season average.  On any other network, it would be in line for cancellation.  PARKS & RECREATION didn't benefit from the new lead-in, rising only 0.1 from its last original outing after a Community episode.  (In what now look like the halcyon days of 2011, NBC's 8-9PM sitcoms averaged a 2.2 against the debut of Idol.  That's not gonna happen next week.)  Despite all the marketing dollars spent to promote the new 9PM hour, THE OFFICE tied its season low, and UP ALL NIGHT, in its new timeslot, was up only 0.1 from Whitney's lowest rating in the slot.  But the worst was yet to come:  THE FIRM had its timeslot premiere with a catastrophic 1.0, 45% lower than the number Outsourced did last season at 10:30PM.  That would be a decent (and not exceptional) number for USA; it's a ridiculous rating for NBC. 

FOX:  THE FINDER had a very unimpressive 1.7 debut.  Of course its lead-in beginning next week will be probably triple the 2.4 it had from BONES last night, which should certainly leave it looking healthier--but still, a 4th place finish doesn't suggest much audience enthusiasm.

ABC:  The network took a hit from the higher level of competition on the night, not to mention the marketing dollars spent by the other networks in promoting their changes, as GREY'S ANATOMY and PRIVATE PRACTICE fell to the mid-levels of their season numbers.

CW:  VAMPIRE DIARIES was down a significant 0.3 (by CW terms), but still huge (by CW terms) with a 1.2.  Even with the diminished lead-in, SECRET CIRCLE held steady at a strong 0.8.

Tonight:  the return of FRINGE!  (There may not be many more chances to use that phrase.)  And the final regular episodes of EXTREME MAKEOVER:  HOME EDITION.  

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THE SKED'S MIDSEASON RETURN: "Up All Night"

3:11 AM | Labels: , , , , , , , ,




This week UP ALL NIGHT was promoted to NBC's version of the big leagues, where many felt it belonged from the start.  It's switched places with Whitney and been given the benefit of The Office, NBC's one genuine lead-in, for the Thursday 9:30PM slot.   Let's take a look at whether it merits the step up.

WHERE WE LEFT OFF:  Reagan (Christina Applegate) and Chris (Will Arnett) somewhat neurotically raise Amy, their first baby, while Reagan juggles her job producing her best friend Ava (Maya Rudolph)'s afternoon talk show and Chris, a lawyer, serves as stay-at-home dad.


WHERE WE ARE:  Whether deliberately or not, Up All Night's first episode in its new time slot was either uncharacteristic or a sign of how the show is planning to change.  The slightly-outdated New Year's Eve episode barely mentioned Amy, and was almost wholly about the grown-ups.  For a show that's been so closely tied to stories about child-rearing, this felt fairly revolutionary. 

The other noticeable difference between the show now and the way it began is the continuing moderation of Ava as a character.  Originally, Rudolph was cartoonishly broad as what everyone stoutly denied was a caricature of Oprah Winfrey (who Rudolph used to play on SNL), and it caused Up All Night's tone to feel distinctly schizophrenic, since the at-home scenes with Applegate and Arnett were mostly built around more low-key observational humor.  While Ava is still by far the show's brassiest character, the writers have made an effort to draw her in more human dimensions, especially since introducing Jason Lee as Kevin, an ordinary-guy steady boyfriend for her.

This has made the series easier to take, and a better fit with The Office.  The only downside is that the more even tone is leading to some awfully banal storylines, as in tonight's episode where the New Year's Eve festivities devolved into Reagan and Chris railing at each other for the little ways they annoy each other (Chris thinks his Borat voice is funnier than it is, Reagan becomes a cutthroat competitor at Trivial Pursuits), while Kevin felt resentful that Ava doesn't go out with him in public because she's ashamed of him.  These are the kinds of storylines that Modern Family finds ways to do much more deftly (coincidentally, ABC's hit had its own storyline this week about the competitiveness between Claire and her dad), partly because every character on that show is so well defined.  Despite the great charm and skill of Applegate and Arnett, Reagan and Chris are still fairly thin as characters, and turning down the volume makes that more evident.  (The show could also use some more supporting characters beyond Jennifer Hall's production assistant, although Hall got the welcome chance to show some new sides to her character in this episode.)

Up All Night is a superior half-hour (god knows it's superior to Whitney), well written and performed.  Given NBC's current state of being, it'll be a longterm player for the network, unless it somehow ruins the Office hour entirely.  The question it'll face as it moves forward is just how much substance the series has when it's not being that show about yuppies raising a baby.

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THE SKED'S WEDNESDAY NETWORK SCORECARD

9:51 AM | Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,




AKA the season's final pre-American Idol Wednesday.

NBC:   In the absence of the 600-pound gorilla that's arriving in a week, the new 8-9PM hour did respectably.  WHITNEY's 2.1 was slightly higher than where Up All Night had settled in last fall, and ARE YOU THERE, CHELSEA built a bit on that to a 2.3, which is more than anything else at 8:30PM has been able to do for the network all season.  On a night when 3 networks were in repeats, that was good enough for 2d place in the hour.  However, as Mitch Metcalf notes, that's partly because NBC spent a lot of money and effort marketing the shows.  And did we mention American Idol arrives next week?  HARRY'S LAW was up fractionally, while SVU couldn't capitalize much on the absence of CSI in its hour, up only 0.1 from its season low.  (And apart from Idol, next week features the start of Marg Helgenberger's departure from CSI, which can be expected to stunt that show's ratings.)

ABC:  An easy night-long win.  Everything was stable except MODERN FAMILY, which was down a not-insubstantial half a ratings point... but if you're Modern Family, you can afford to go down half a point.  Notably, even with presumably more female-skewing competition on CBS than usual, REVENGE still won its hour.

CBS:  The PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARDS were down 0.2 from last year, still enough for 2d place over its 2 hours.

FOX:  Basically bowed out for the night, with repeat and new episodes of MOBBED that didn't top a 1.3.

CW:  ONE TREE HILL's 0.9 season premere was excellent by CW standards.

Plenty of activity tonight, as NBC launches its midseason Thursday with the season premiere of 30 ROCK, and time-slot premieres of UP ALL NIGHT and THE FIRM.  FOX also kicks off the short run of THE FINDER to cover Emily Deschanel's pregnancy, which curtailed this season's order of BONES, and CBS debuts the Rob Schneider comedy ROB after Big Bang Theory. 

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THE SKED'S WEDNESDAY NETWORK SCORECARD

11:21 AM | Labels: , , , , , , , , ,



OK, now they're not even trying:  every single show on network TV last night was a repeat.

CBS:  Which is exactly how CBS likes it.  Not to rub salt in NBC's many wounds, but the CBS average last night with reruns (2.1, highlighted by a 2.3 for CRIMINAL MINDS) was just about what NBC does with new programming almost every non-football night of the week.


ABC:  The sitcoms did OK, all things considered (1.2-1.9, with MODERN FAMILY, of course, at the top), but that 0.6 for REVENGE was painful.

FOX:   Managed with scrape above a 1.0 for the 9PM hour with NEW GIRL.

NBC:  Ugliest of the ugly.  The highest number was a 1.0 for UP ALL NIGHT, and then HARRY'S LAW did a CW-level 0.5.

CW:  A Hilary Duff movie that barely appeared in theatres did a 0.4, which is about what their series reruns have been scoring.

No relief tonight, although ABC will air a repeat Charlie Brown special at 8PM.

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THE SKED'S WEDNESDAY NETWORK SCORECARD

10:50 AM | Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,


Last night, viewers took a stand against the hatred of teenage daughters.

FOX:  I HATE MY TEENAGE DAUGHTER, in its 2d airing (and first against new episodes on ABC) slumped to a 2.1 rating, losing more than a third of X FACTOR's lead-in 3.3.  The Teenage Daughter numbers may continue to be erratic, because for the next 2 weeks ABC will be in holiday mode, airing a Barbara Walters special and more repeats on Wednesdays against original Teenage Daughter episodes.  But eventually programming will return to normal, and there's no basis to think Teenage Daughter has what it takes to survive.  Meanwhile, that X Factor number was itself its lowest rating other than Thanksgiving Eve, and a further decline from last week.

ABC:  Taking Thanksgiving Eve out of the equation, almost all the network's shows tied or set season lows (the quasi-exception was HAPPY ENDINGS, 0.1 above its non-holiday low).  However, some of those numbers are better than they sound:  Happy Endings was facing sitcom competition for the first time all season, and even at its lowered number, REVENGE was only 0.1 out of first place in its timeslot.

CBS:  SURVIVOR did a fairly standard number for the season (which in the context of this night looked pretty good), while CRIMINAL MINDS and CSI both tied season lows.

NBC:  UP ALL NIGHT tied its non-Thanksgiving Eve low, but that's pretty much where the show has been mired for the past month.  HARRY'S LAW lost the tiny increase it had last week when it aired against reruns on ABC.  SVU tied the season low it's had for the last few weeks (except when ABC aired reruns).  

CW:  Some good news!  AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL's cycle finale mustered a 1.0, very strong by CW standards.

A moment of silence:  tonight NBC airs what is currently the last-scheduled episode of COMMUNITY.  May it return to us soon.  Meanwhile, FOX will air what's become the Fall finale of BONES, because the episode that was supposed to air next week has been pushed to January so it can become the lead-in to the premiere of FINDER, the spin-off that's replacing it while Emily Deschanel has her real-life maternity leave (s opposed to Bones' on the show).  And ABC will fill the airwaves' holiday stocking with such lumps of coal as a Christmas edition of AMERICA'S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEOS and something called THE GREAT BIG AMERICAN AUCTION.  

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THE SKED'S WEDNESDAY NETWORK SCORECARD

12:22 PM | Labels: , , , , , , , , ,



The night before Thanksgiving has an odd balance:  viewership is down, but advertiser interest is up (anyone who watched primetime last night was buried under retailer promos for Black Friday sales)--hence, original programming on a night that often sees season-low ratings.

ABC:  The Alphabet was both the main recipient and victim of the odd night.  The network won every time-slot of the evening... and every show on its schedule hit a season low.  Presumably the economics of the night made sense once declines were measured against revenues.  No lasting damage was done to any of the sitcoms, but it's a bit troublesome for a serialized show like REVENGE, many of whose fans will have missed the last installment of the story.  (A situation not helped by the fact that next week--as much as the end-of-show promo tried to obscure it--Revenge will be airing its first repeat of the season.)


FOX:  A 1-hour X FACTOR (taking the place of what would have been Thursday's episode) was well below the series norm, followed by a MOBBED special that could only manage 3rd place for its hour.

CBS:  One of the great things about being The Eye, deeply stocked in procedurals that repeat well, is that there's no need to squander original programming on a low viewing night.  After a SURVIVOR recap show that fans were welcome to miss, reruns of CRIMINAL MINDS and CSI kept the lights on.

NBC:  A quasi-night of original programming that didn't work out too well.  Again, one assumes the revenues of burning off a new UP ALL NIGHT (and the consequent need to increase the show's order this week) made sense in terms of ad revenues.  Then a "reunion" BIGGEST LOSER episode appealed to hardly anyone on the night before America traditionally gorges itself on fattening food.

CW:  Didn't really participate in the night, with an AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL recap "special" and rerun.

Tonight CBS airs all reruns against special family programming on the other networks:  NBC will put on one of the rare theatrical movies to hit network airwaves these days with Horton Hears A Who!, while on ABC and FOX, probably for the first time ever, Charlie Brown specials will compete against each other.  The classic Charlie Brown Thanksgiving is on ABC, and the new Happiness Is A Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown follows an Ice Age special on FOX.  Also, Lady Gaga!  Possibly wearing a turkey-inspired outfit for the occasion rather than steak.

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THE SKED: NBC All-In On "Up All Night"

4:01 PM | Labels: , ,


What's better than a back order?  An extra back order.  NBC has increased its order for UP ALL NIGHT by 2 additional episodes, making for a total of 24 in the season.  Probably this indicates little more than a desire to have new episodes of Up available in its new Thursday 9:30PM timeslot in every week when The Office will air one, so a new Office never has to be coupled with a repeat Up.  Still, it's a nice boost for a show that, so far, has only mildly repaid the network's faith.

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THE SKED'S WEDNESDAY NETWORK SCORECARD

10:21 AM | Labels: , , , , , , , , , , ,



It was ABC's turn for some post-preemption malaise.

ABC:  The network's Wednesday schedule returned from its CMA Awards break to drops across the board.  The 2 new shows were hit hardest, as SUBURGATORY dipped 0.3 and REVENGE 0.4.  Neither of the declines were anything to worry about (Revenge still tied for 1st place in its hour), but as we enter the holiday season with its frequent repeats and specials, the night suggests how difficult it is for networks to fill roughly 36 in-season weeks of programming with (usually) 22 episodes of regular series, while managing not to lose the attention of viewers.


FOX:  X FACTOR didn't return to its pre-baseball level, but it's stabilized at a 3.8 that was easily good enough to win the night.

CBS:  Without the CMA Awards as competition, all the network's shows were up, especially CRIMINAL MINDS, which had a nice 0.3 bump from last week.  

NBC:  Is there an emoticon for "Oy"?  UP ALL NIGHT was up a tick but still under a 2, while SVU's 1.9 was below last year's average of Law & Order:  LA--which, as you'll recall, was cancelled.  Worst of all was HARRY'S LAW, which managed to hit a season low 1.1.  (Soon to be a star of your post-football Sunday night programming!)

CW:  AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL was steady at 0.8.

Tonight's big event will be a heavily-promoted 2-hour "intervention" episode of PRIVATE PRACTICE on ABC.  

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THE SKED: Wednesday Ratings - Network Scorecard

11:16 AM | Labels: , , , , , , , , , , ,



After 2 nights of sinking numbers, stability returned to the ratings on Wednesday.

ABC:  All in all, a good night.  The first half of the evening was down a tenth or so here and there, but the network got help where it mattered.  HAPPY ENDINGS is now hitting its stride in viewership as well as in quality:  even though its MODERN FAMILY lead-in was at the same level as 2 weeks ago, and facing fresh episodes on the other networks, Ending's number was up a very healthy 15% from that night.  Even better, the barrage of marketing for REVENGE is paying off with a return to 3 territory for the first time since the series premiere, giving it the time slot victory.  (It should help going forward that the show has moved on from its initial "revenge of the week" structure and is now mining a more compelling continuing storyline.) 



FOX:  The already-renewed-for-next-year X FACTOR will likely score (after national ratings adjustment) just about what it had been doing on Wednesdays pre-baseball, enough to win the night.

CBS:  All its numbers were within 10% of where they'd been pre-baseball.  Falling behind at 10PM hurts a bit, but CSI is still handily winning the battle of the procedurals.

NBC:  For anyone who thought the network's Wednesday ratings had surely hit their bottom--no such luck.  UP ALL NIGHT is now a "success" in the way that Community is (except without the critical raves).  HARRY'S LAW's 1.1 was at a level with last week's episode of Psych on USA, as well as the Sunday 10PM rerun of Walking Dead (the initial run practically tripled it), and Harry barely outrated Boardwalk Empire, a show that airs in only 1/3 of US households.  SVU was beaten by CSI by a factor of  25%.

CW:  AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL was on par with its usual rating.

Tonight, NBC will hope that without the World Series as competition, The Office can bounce back from its lowest Thursday rating ever.  Its competition includes FOX's return of Bones to the schedule, with its much-anticipated pregnancy storyline.

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THE SKED: Wednesday Ratings - Network Scorecard

10:41 AM | Labels: , , , , , , , ,



The arrival of the World Series meant remarkably little to the other networks last night.

FOX:  Last night's was the lowest rated non-Saturday Game 1 in history, and basically did the same rating for FOX as X Factor has been getting on Wednesdays all season.  If there's to be any upside for the network in carrying baseball, it will only kick in if the Series is a long one.


NBC:  The network pushed the birth flashback episode of UP ALL NIGHT like it was a series launch, and barely even budged its needle--up 0.1 from last week's early numbers.  (Last week the show crept up an additional 0.1 when finals came in, and that could happen today as well.)  Creatively, the episode showed the series still flailing for a consistent tone, wavering between the naturalistic comedy of Applegate/Arnett and Maya Rudolph's broad silliness. Next week Up All Night will be a repeat, so NBC will have to pray they don't lose any additional audience during the 2-week gap till a new episode airs.  Last night's ratings for HARRY'S LAW and SVU were stable, which is to say very bad.

ABC:  SUBURGATORY proved its full season order to be well-earned, with a rock-solid 3.1 that built on its lead-in.  The rest of the schedule was down a couple of ticks, but nothing to be concerned about, especially against atypical competition.  (10PM ratings are particularly out of the norm this week, as FOX doesn't usually even program in that hour.)

CBS:  World Series?  What World Series?  The network's numbers hardly moved from last week.

CW:  A RINGER repeat did just about the same number that the reviled H8R was scoring at 8PM, and AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL was likewise at the same level it's been this season.

Last year's World Series Game 2 was down about 20% from Game 1, and if that pattern holds, FOX's ratings tonight could be even lower than what it's been doing with regular programming on Thursdays this season.  Meanwhile, NBC will have the season's first full night of repeats, as they conserve fresh episodes before November sweeps begins.  CBS and ABC will hope the absence of THE OFFICE brings some extra eyeballs to PERSON OF INTEREST and GREY'S ANATOMY. 

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THE SKED: Wednesday Ratings - Network Scorecard

11:29 AM | Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , ,


A smiley face for one network and a frowny one for another, on the third night this week disrupted by postseason baseball.

ABC:  Everything came up fairly rosy last night at the Alphabet.  SUBURGATORY should be inches away from a full season pick-up after its third consecutive strong outing, and even better, REVENGE went in the opposite direction from Pan Am, and had a nice bump from last week.  That might be partly due to CSI being hurt by the unexpected baseball game at 10PM, but ABC will take it.  Combine all that with the stellar MODERN FAMILY number and an impressive increase for HAPPY ENDINGS (which also might be partly attributable to the absence of X Factor on FOX), and it was a pleasant evening at ABC.


NBC:  Here's where NBC is these days:  their good news last night was that the repeat of WHITNEY with its 1.3 decisively outrated the new episodes of Free Agents that it replaced.  (Incidentally, BBCAmerica has started airing the original British Free Agents--albeit in heavily edited form--and it's a tutorial in how a network can duplicate a show's premise, basic characters and even storylines and turn it into something completely different and far worse.)  UP ALL NIGHT, with its full season order, declined to a lousy 2.0, while the best that can be said for HARRY'S LAW and SVU is that they were consistent.

CBS:  SURVIVOR  and CRIMINAL MINDS barely moved from last week.  The CSI decline was a little steeper, but as noted, that show faced unusual competition in its timeslot.

FOX:  Even though a network benefits financially from a long playoff series, at this point FOX is probably hoping Texas can just win its next game today/tonight/whenever it stops raining and put the network out of its misery.  Last night's unexpected primetime game was down at least 20% from X Factor, and that will probably get worse when final numbers are released later today.

CW:  Repeats of RINGER (back ordered yesterday) barely kept the lights on with a 0.4, which was even with last week's H8R and didn't affect AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL.  

Tonight NBC will find out if the extra reruns this week have helped Whitney and Prime Suspect at all, and CBS will hope for an uptick from Person Of Interest.  

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The Sked: WEDNESDAY RATINGS October 12

8:38 AM | Labels: , , , , , , , ,

ABC's Wednesday is humming along and won the night with a 3.4 Adult 18-49 rating in the fast nationals.  Modern Family at 9 led the way of course with a 5.7 (the same as last week).   Suburgatory seems to be stabilizing at a 3.0 (the three-week track is 3.3...3.1...3.0, and it could very possibly go up in the official nationals).  The Middle is settling in at a 2.8 (four-week track: 3.1...2.7...2.8...2.8).  Happy Endings (which was pushed in promos the past few days -- "If you like Modern Family, you'll like Happy Endings" along with guest star Megan Mullally) bounced back to a 3.3.  The three-week track for Happy Endings is 3.1...2.8...3.3.  Stunts still work.  And Revenge (the biggest promo priority) rebounded to a 2.7 (four-week track: 3.4...2.7...2.4...2.7).


CBS was a close #2 at a 3.2 for the night:  Survivor 3.2, Criminal Minds 3.7, CSI 2.6.  Survivor and Criminal Minds were each down 0.1 from last week, while CSI was down a disappointing 0.3.  CSI's four-week track: 3.2...3.1...2.9...2.6.  Pending adjustments in the official nationals, it looks like CSI will lose the 10 pm hour to Revenge.

FOX coverage of the rain-delayed Game 4 of the ALCS is a preliminary 3.0 in the fast nationals (the primetime portion from 8:00-10:30).  But the fast nationals have been wildly inaccurate with baseball recently -- expect that number to go down substantially.  

NBC was fourth with a 1.7 for the night, equalling the Wednesday rating last week.  Up All Night, fresh of its full-season order, declined to a 2.0, a series low.  In the time period, Up All Night has tracked:  2.4...2.1...2.3...2.0.  A repeat Whitney at 8:30 (1.3) over-performed the moribund 1.0 turned in by last week's Free Agents.  Harry's Law did its consistent 1.2, while SVU pulled a 2.1, third place in the 10 pm hour.  SVU track: 2.4...2.1...2.1...2.1.

The CW featured a repeat Ringer (0.4), which didn't help America's Next Top Model (0.8).

     

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THE SKED: Wednesday Ratings - Network Scorecard

11:08 AM | Labels: , , , , , , , ,


The bell tolled for another failed new series last night, which was otherwise fairly stable.

ABC:  If SUBURGATORY can hold its rating around last night's 3 for another week, it should be a strong candidate for an early back order.  (See our PILOT + 1 review.)  The night's other sitcoms slipped a bit, but nothing to be concerned about--in fact, a mere 0.2 fall for the second week of HAPPY ENDINGS isn't bad at all.  REVENGE can keep going at last night's 2.5, but it needs to hold steady around there. 

FOX:  X-FACTOR continues to hold at or around a very solid 4, and gave FOX the win again last night.  The only disquieting news for the network was that its lead-in did nothing for the new episode of RAISING HOPE that aired at 9:30PM, which may mean that the reality show won't provide the launching pad later this season for I HATE MY TEENAGE DAUGHTER that FOX was hoping for.

NBC:  Here's what you have to say about the newly back-ordered UP ALL NIGHT:  its 2.2 rating was the highest scored by any NBC show on the network's Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday night schedules this week.  Grading on a curve, that makes it a success.  FREE AGENTS, though, was too low even for the Peacock, and has bitten the dust.  HARRY'S LAW  and SVU were steady, albeit at cruddy numbers. 

CBS:  The network's Wednesday average was even with last week:  you just plug it in, and it works.

CW:  It's hard to believe that even CW can live for long with H8R's 0.4 rating.  AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL has stabilized, but 30% below last season.

Tonight there are several shows to keep an eye on:  CHARLIE'S ANGELS on ABC, HOW TO BE A GENTLEMAN on CBS (look for our Pilot + 1 Review), and WHITNEY and PRIME SUSPECT on NBC.

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The Sked: WEDNESDAY RATINGS October 4

9:14 AM | Labels: , , , , , , , ,

Wednesday ratings are settling into predictable patterns for the most part, and Suburgatory on ABC had a decent second week.  FOX's The X-Factor seems to settling around a high-3 or 4 rating.

ABC's Suburgatory fell to a still-good 3.0 rating in its second episode but still grew from its Middle lead-in.  Last week Suburgatory grew from a 2.7 lead-in to 3.3; this week was a 2.7 to a 3.0.  Modern Family seems to be settling in around a mid-5 rating, which is a full rating point ahead of last year at this time.  Revenge dropped another 0.2 from last week to a 2.5.  To have any life on the network longterm, the Hamptons drama really needs to stop eroding immediately and stay at this level.  For the night ABC was a very close #3 with a 3.2 (only 0.3 away from first place).  On the same night last year (10.6.2010), ABC was in third place for the night, averaging a 2.5 rating: The Middle (2.5), Better with You (2.3), Modern Family (4.6), Cougar Town (3.0), The Whole Truth (1.3).



FOX won the night narrowly with a 3.5 rating.  A 90-minute The X Factor did a 3.9 and a 9:30 episode of Raising Hope crashed down to a 2.3.  Last week's X Factor was a 4.1 in the final nationals -- we expect the show to get its usual bump in the finals this afternoon to a 4.0.  For now it seems that The X Factor is settling at a nice level.  This night last year, FOX was in second place with a 3.1 rating: Hell's Kitchen (3.0) at 8 pm and Hell's Kitchen at 9 pm (3.3).     

CBS is tied for second for the night with a 3.2 rating.  Criminal Minds bounced back to a 3.8 rating (up 0.2 from last week), while Survivor dropped 0.1 and CSI fell 0.2 from last week.  All in all, the CBS shows seemed to have found their basic levels though.  CBS won the third Wednesday last year with a modest 3.2 rating: Survivor (3.8), Criminal Minds (3.5), Defenders (2.2). 

NBC's Up All Night has stabilized at a 2.2 rating (up 0.1 from last week), and Free Agents has settled into its grave at a 1.0 rating (same as last week).  Harry's Law and Law & Order: SVU look steady at a 1.2 and 2.1 rating, respectively.  The Peacock averaged a fourth-place 1.6 for the evening.  NBC was in fourth place on this night last year with a 2.2 rating: Undercovers (1.5), Law & Order: SVU (2.6), Law & Order: Los Angeles (2.4). 

The CW's H8R dropped back down to an ignominious 0.4 rating, while America's Next Top Model has stabilized at a 0.8.  

Season to date (through 17 nights of the season), CBS leads with a 3.2 rating, followed by FOX with a 3.1.  ABC remains in third (2.6) and NBC trails (2.4).  The CW is averaging a 0.7 season to date.


WEDNESDAY FALL 2011 Estimates         Episode Rating     
                                #1   #2   #3   #4   #5   #6   Avg
ABC
 800 The Middle        2.7      3.1  2.7  2.7                 2.8
 830 Suburgatory       2.4      3.3  3.0                      3.1
 900 Modern Family     4.6      6.1  5.7  5.6                 5.8
 930 Happy Endings     2.9      3.1  2.9                      3.0
1000 Revenge           2.3      3.4  2.7  2.5                 2.9
CBS
 800 Survivor          3.6      3.4  3.2  3.2  3.1            3.2
 900 Criminal Minds    3.7      4.1  3.6  3.8                 3.8
1000 CSI               2.6      3.2  3.1  2.9                 3.1
NBC
 800 Up All Night      2.1      3.7  2.4  2.1  2.2            2.2
 830 Free Agents       1.6      2.1  1.3  1.0  1.0            1.1
 900 Harry's Law       2.2      1.2  1.2  1.2                 1.2
1000 L&O SVU           2.3      2.4  2.1  2.1                 2.2
FOX
 800 X-Factor          3.5      4.4  4.1  3.9                 4.1
 930 Hate My Teenge    2.5      11/30
CW
 800 H8R               n/a      0.6  0.4  0.6  0.4            0.5
 900 Next Top Model    n/a      0.9  0.7  0.8  0.8            0.8

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THE SKED: Week 2 + 1 - NBC Network Scorecard

4:18 PM | Labels: , , , , , , , ,


The third week of a network season is a critical one.  Ratings erosion after a series or season premiere is expected and even acceptable, because it's understood that not every viewer drawn by hype and marketing will be a satisfied customer.  But a continued fall in Week 3 can be a sign of trouble, and if that decline is from a number that wasn't great to begin with, the trouble could be serious.  That being said, let's take a look at where the networks stand as they begin this crucial week.  (Note:  since only 2 networks debuted their Monday schedules on the season's first official day, we'll include the next Monday in our review of the week.)

NBC

Thriving: 
Did we mention this was NBC?  OK, fine:  FOOTBALL.  And THE OFFICE is holding on pretty well.  And PARENTHOOD's 2.2 looks OK compared to the competition.

Struggling:
UP ALL NIGHT - Yeah, it got a back-order.  Also a 2.1 rating last week.

WHITNEY - NBC can't afford to waste its one cushioned timeslot after The Office.  Right now, Whitney is doing a barely adequate job of retaining its lead-in.

Holdovers - THE BIGGEST LOSER, COMMUNITY, PARKS & RECREATION, SVU
 

Dying:
FREE AGENTS:  With FOX threatening to cancel THE SIMPSONS over a salary dispute and this one heading for the cemetery, let's hope Hank Azaria has held on to some of his voice-over millions.

PRIME SUSPECT: The network will try a double-pump for 3 weeks, with repeats in the Playboy Club slot, but so far no one seems to care.

Holdovers - HARRY'S LAW, THE SING-OFF

Dead:
THE PLAYBOY CLUB

GRADE:  D

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