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Premiere week ratings: New shows don't quite break through
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Now that the 2010-11 season is a week old, you're probably starting to see TV ads touting some "new hit show" or other. Based on the one-episode sample size, some of those claims are even justified. But the first seven days of the season didn't produce a new megahit.
Returning shows had a lock on the top 10 in both viewers and adults 18-49 last week. CBS' remake of "Hawaii Five-0" almost cracked the top 10 in viewers, finishing 11th with 14.2 million, but it was a little farther down the list in the 18-49 demographic, tying for 19th overall with a 3.9 rating.
The highest-ranking new show in the demo (which advertisers pay a premium to reach) was another CBS series, the comedy "$#*! My Dad Says." It drew a 4.0 rating among adults 18-49, good enough for a 15th-place tie with "NCIS," "Criminal Minds" and "Survivor: Nicaragua."
The biggest surprise among the new shows may be CBS' cop/family drama "Blue Bloods." Its premiere on Friday (Sept. 24) drew 13 million people -- improving on its "CSI: NY" lead-in by more than 2 million viewers.
The top of the ratings, though, look a lot like they did this time last year. The top three series in viewers for the week of Sept. 20-26 were the "Dancing With the Stars" premiere (21.3 million), "NCIS" (19.4 million) and the first "DWTS" results show (18.5 million), which beat out NBC's "Sunday Night Football" broadcast (18.15 million) for the No. 3 spot. Usual suspects like "NCIS: Los Angeles" (15.8 million for the first half of its two-hour premiere), "The Mentalist" (15.5 million) and "Grey's Anatomy" (14.3 million) made the top 10 as well.
In the adults 18-49 demographic, the "Sunday Night Football" game between the Dolphins and Jets was No. 1 for the week with a 7.3 rating. The season premiere of "Glee" (5.6) came in second with its second-best demo rating ever. "Grey's Anatomy" (5.4), was down a bunch from the 6.7 its 2009 season premiere drew, but it still ranked third.
Zap2it's TV ratings page has the top 20 shows on broadcast and cable last week, but here's how the new shows fared against each other in premiere week. The top 10 in viewers:
1. "Hawaii Five-0," 14.2 million (11th overall)
2. "Blue Bloods," 13 million (17th)
3. "$#*! My Dad Says," 12.6 million (20th)
4. "Mike & Molly," 12.23 million (22nd)
5. "The Defenders," 12.17 million (23rd)
6. "The Event," 10.9 million (27th)
7. "Detroit 1-8-7," 9.3 million (35th)
8. "Undercovers," 8.7 million (40th)
9. "Better With You," 7.9 million (45th)
10. "Outsourced," 7.5 million (47th)
And the top 10 new shows in adults 18-49:
1. "S#*! My Dad Says," 4.0 (t-15th overall)
2. "Hawaii Five-0," 3.9 (t-19th)
2t. "Mike & Molly," 3.9 (t-19th)
4. "The Event," 3.6 (t-24th)
4t. "Outsourced," 3.6 (t-24th)
6. "Raising Hope," 3.1 (t-33rd)
7. "The Defenders," 2.9 (t-39th)
8. "Better With You," 2.5 (t-49th)
9. "Running Wilde," 2.4 (t-52nd)
10. "Chase," 2.3 (t-56th)
10t. "Detroit 1-8-7," 2.3 (t-56th)
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18 to 49....so, I'm 54, my viewing doesn't count?
Hawaii Five - O deserve a huge jump in the Top 10. The returning shows just won't go away. So much for ignoring the ratings.
Diane - It's kind of upside-down, since younger people tend to have less money to spend, but the networks can get away with charging more for ads that reach a high concentration of 18-49 viewers. (Last season ads on "The Office" cost almost as much as those on "CSI" even though "CSI" has lots more total viewers.)
But your viewing does still count. And it probably will more as the country's demographics keep changing.
@Rick: I'm very sorry to be negative because your coverage is usually flawless, but here goes:
As we have talked about many times last year and the year before, advertisers don't actually pay premiums for 18-49.
It's a myth that helps spin some shows that don't get big enough ratings.
Jeff Zucker's NBC loved to do that given they almost never had a show that did well outright.
Figures from last year showed conclusively that ad revenue tracks overall audience not 18-49 numbers, so why continue repeating a falsehood?
Perhaps the adage that if you repeat a falsehood enough times even good people will think it's true has some validity.
@Diane: You're entirely right. Believe me when I say that the networks don't give away viewers for free. :)
Generally speaking, the five top rated new shows of Premiere Week were CBS shows. Talk about domination!!
That complete domination is actually why journalists love the 18-49 demo numbers as they allow them to pretend like there's a horse race happening, and journalists love nothing better than a good horse race, reality be darned.
Rena - My comment is based on the annual Ad Age survey -- of media buying firms, not networks. The 2010 one isn't out yet, but my "Office"/"CSI" comparison is based on last year's which is here: http://adage.com/article?article_id=139923
You're free to disagree with that as well, but I don't know why media buyers care about PR spin. Ad Age is a respected publication, and I believe their figures are pretty sound.
@Rick: I am wondering where you read that ads on The Office cost as much as ads on CSI.
Real ad rates are almost impossible to obtain and published rates for various shows (like those you read occasionally in Broadcast and Cable - a hotbed of disinformation) are usually PR-driven nonsense aimed at trying to raise rates based on the clients' ignorance.
@Rena
You ought to go to tvbythenumbers site and tell them why 18-49 demos don't matter.
Rena is an idiot. Advertisers dont care to pay a premium for people over 50 because they are so easy to reach. Total viewers is only good for press release posturing. Fact! Get over yourself Rena and go educate yourself!
I watched Hawaii 50 the first week but erased it from my DVR season pass. Man, was it bad! I haven't found any new shows I like very much. Event was ok, if it doesn't start dragging like Flashforward did.
Hawaii 5-O is so much fun. The cast has great chemistry and it just breezez by. Loved it!!!