TV ratings: World Series puts FOX on top Thursday

I'm not sure if the headline is accurate, as it looks like all the non-FOX networks had the same number of viewers as normal. It's just that FOX brought in a lot of new viewers for the night.

Oops. It looks like the headline already changed from "Fox Takes Big Bite Out of ABC, CBS" to the new, more accurate one.

Last night's ratings prove why NBC put such faith in Jay Leno. He is rolling over the competition. I think The Mentalist on CBS has run its course, despite what the street teamers may want to tell you. It's time to dump that dead weight and move on to something more substantial that may win the timeslot, such as "Joanie Loves Chachi 2", or the like.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. Fox's ratings will slump back to earth once the World Series is over, and there will be nothing to look forward to until the dying American Idol begins again in January.

What I notice about last night's numbers is that the 8 pm hour shows were barely affected by baseball, suggesting that the World Series draws in an entirely different audience, one that normally wouldn't watch what's on in that hour anyway, and 17 million viewers is a lot of people who don't watch what's on Thursdays at 8 pm. Oh, okay, maybe an additional 10 million if you allow for the 7 million or so who tune in to Bones, which wasn't on. But the 9 pm hour shows look like a bit of a ratings bite was taken out of them, yet there was no increase in the game's numbers but a decrease of 200,000. Finally, the 10 pm shows performed about the same too, maybe a tad on the under side, but then the game itself was off by another 100,000 viewers as well. So, it seems that for last night at least, baseball had no real impact on the regular fare on the other networks as it tends to draw in viewers that normally wouldn't watch the network shows anyway.

Rena,

I disagree with what you said about NBC...Their comedies fare well, but Jay Leno is suffering in the 10pm slot. 4.4 million is embarrasing for NBC.

The Mentalist is highly popular and only in its second season, I think it has yet to peak.

Your comments lead me to believe that you advocate NBC and dismiss all other programming.

I do agree that American Idol is on the decline, but with the introduction of Ellen DeGeneris, we'll have to wait and see if her presence affects the ratings as such. They are contracted I believe through 2011. Furthermore, that show is just a money-making tool so Fox will keep it going as long as it can.

Other notes:
8pm numbers were solid.

is it my opinion, or has the CW seldom seen ratings above 4 million (Vampire Diaries)...it's almost like the new generation Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

9pm: CSI and Grays remained strong as well against the World Series

Once gain, I didn't write the previous post (which this time sadly wasn't a re-run, but complete and utter nonsense :( )

@EDell:

You are right. It looks like baseball really just drew from viewers that usually avoid the networks on Thursday.

I have been pointing out a few times that at this point, the pool of people not watching the networks at all at any given time is so huge that network competition is a secondary consideration in attracting viewers.

The Mentalist actually beat CSI in ratings and equaled it in viewers and does look like it will be Thursday's #1 show when all is said and done.

NBC's comedy lineup did as poorly as ever. Apparently, there is a limit to how many shows NBC can sustain by pure PR hype on Thursday.

Now someone explain to me again why NBC canceled Trauma but is keeping Parks and Recreations, Community and 30Rock in production...

NBC needs a complete overhaul but Jeff Zucker's team still play to pretend everything's OK and not to win. :(

At ABC, FlashForward keeps disappointing.

I don't know why so many keep posting under my name. None of the previous posts under my name were actually mine.

That being said, Jay Leno is ready to take off. His ratings are actually on a slow climb. I wouldn't be surprised to see NBC give him 9:00 to 11:00, not just 10:00 to 11:00. Look for this no later than fall of 2010. Expect a similar move out of CBS. With the struggling dramas, I can see them ceding that timeslot to Craig Ferguson. Dave Letterman's ship has sunk with all of his dalliances.

The previous posts were not mine. Sadly zap2it will do nothing to stop this spoofing (and thus encourages it albeit passively) :(

Now for my analysis:

-Ratings Breakdown:
Game two of The Baseball World Series lifted Fox to a solid (and rare) Thursday victory, with a 4.4 metered market rating point advantage over second-place CBS. But still respectable results for CBS and third-place ABC exhibit the true power of broadcast television. With the right programming options there is plenty of audience to go around. In the distant No. 4 spot was NBC, followed by The CW.

The Yankees victory last night scored an estimated 12.9 rating/21 share in primetime, with the half-hour breakdown as follows:

Baseball World Series, Game 2 (Fox)
8:00 p.m.: 11.2/19 (#1)
8:30 p.m.: 13.0/21 (#1)
9:00 p.m.: 13.6/21 (#1)
9:30 p.m.: 13.9/21 (#1)
10:00 p.m.: 14.4/22 (#1)
10:30 p.m.: 10.2/16 (#1) – post-game

One night earlier, a 13.1/21 in the overnights for game one of The World Series translated into a stellar 19.51 million viewers and a 6.3/17 among adults 18-49. As always, keep in mind that results for any live sporting event are approximate.

Despite facing baseball, CBS was on the map with a second-place finish in every half-hour care of Survivor: Samoa (6.3/10), CSI (9.2/14) and The Mentalist (9.9/16), which is a vast improvement over year-ago 10 p.m. occupant Eleventh Hour. ABC was only slightly below average, meanwhile, with its third-place combination of FlashForward (5.3/ 8), Grey’s Anatomy (7.8/12) and Private Practice (5.8/ 9). Grey’s Anatomy, of course, should have no trouble outdelivering competing CSI among adults 18-49.

NBC, as always, had only one Thursday show worth positively noting, The Office, which always delivers among adults 18-49. But, personally speaking, 30 Rock was an absolute hoot last night. Community, which was just renewed for the full season, opened the evening for NBC with a distant fourth-place 3.2/ 5 at 8 p.m. Next was sophomore Parks and Recreation (#4: 3.1/ 5 at 8:30 p.m.), which also got a full season pick-up, followed by aforementioned The Office (#4: 4.3/ 6) and 30 Rock (#4: 3.7/ 6) from 9-10 p.m., and failing The Jay Leno Show at 10 p.m. (#4: 3.3/ 5). To the poster at PIFeedback complaining that I am not being fair to Jay Leno, how else can I describe his ratings?

Last was The CW with scripted duo The Vampire Diaries (#5: 2.4/ 4), which is now being repeated out of America’s Next Top Model on Wednesday, and Supernatural (1.9/ 3), which year-to-year was down by 24 percent (2.5/ 4 to 1.9/ 3). Baseball, no doubt, has something to do with that.

Source: Nielsen Media Research data (R = repeat)
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Ratings Box:

What’s Hot/What’s Not

-National Ratings in Primetime – Season to-Date Update:

Based on season to-date averages, and mirroring last season, two networks -- CBS and Fox -- share leadership. CBS is first in households, total viewers and adults 25-54 with single-digit growth from one year earlier. And Fox is No. 1 among adults 18-49 and adults 18-34, also building from the comparable year-ago period. Particularly impressive for Fox is the demographic dominance despite the absence of upcoming network saver American Idol.

Elsewhere, ABC ranks second in adults 25-54, third in adults 18-49, and tied with NBC for second among adults 18-34. Both networks are close to one year earlier. Fifth-place The CW, meanwhile, continues to trail significantly, but with minor growth demographically. Keep in mind, however, that any gains for The CW are a reflection of low-rated Sunday being factored into the year-ago averages.

As a benchmark, here are the updated ratings by network for the current season (Sept. 21 through Oct. 25, 2009):

Households:
CBS: 7.7 rating/13 share (+ 4), ABC: 6.4/10 (- 4), Fox: 5.2/ 8 (+ 2), NBC: 4.9/ 8 (+ 2), CW: 1.6/ 3 (- 6)

Total Viewers:
CBS: 12.30 million (+ 6), ABC: 9.96 (- 4), Fox: 8.70 (+ 5), NBC: 7.82 (+ 3), CW: 2.44 (- 3)

Adults 18-49:
Fox: 3.4 rating/9 share (+13), CBS: 3.3/ 9 (no change), ABC: 3.0/ 8 (- 6), NBC: 2.7/ 8 (- 7), CW: 1.2/ 3 (+ 9)

Adults 25-54:
CBS: 4.3/11 (+ 2), Fox: 3.6/ 9 (+ 6), ABC: 3.6/ 9 (- 8), NBC: 3.1/ 8 (- 3), CW: 1.1/ 3 (+10)

Adults 18-34:
Fox: 3.3/10 (+18), ABC and NBC: 2.4/ 7 (- 8 each), CBS: 2.2/ 7 (+ 5), CW: 1.4/ 4 (+ 8)

Rena: 30Rock is still in production in order to keep Tina Fey employed until 2012, in case she's needed to attack Sarah Palin again. The DNC will fund that show if NBC won't. What else is her remake of The Muppet Show good for, I ask?

Spoofers: Unite and take over. I doff my hat to you! In fact, for those of you about to spoof, I salute you!

And by the way: Could Supernatural's ratings possibly be any worse?

Yes.