Ratings News - 6th October

Prime-Time Metered Market Wednesday Ratings:
CBS Wins; Mixed Freshman Series Results

Wednesday 10/06/10
Note: The overnight data now includes DVR playback until 3 a.m. local time. One year earlier it was based on Live data only.

HH
Rtg/Shr
CBS 7.5/12
NBC 5.7/ 9
ABC 5.0/ 8
Fox 4.3/ 7
CW 2.0/ 3

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-Percent Change From the Year-Ago Evening (Wednesday, October 7, 2009):
CW: +25, ABC: +22, NBC: +21, CBS: + 3, Fox: - 2

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-Yesterday’s Winners:
Survivor: Nicaragua (CBS), Criminal Minds (CBS), Modern Family (ABC)

-Overnight Dominance in Week Two:
Law & Order: Los Angeles (NBC)

-Honorable Mention:
Law & Order: SVU (NBC)

-Nothing Extraordinary:
Better with You (ABC)

-Yesterday’s Losers (excluding repeats):
Undercovers (NBC), Cougar Town (ABC), The Whole Truth (ABC)

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-Ratings Breakdown:
CBS led this third Wednesday of the new season in the overnights, beating second-place NBC by a hefty 32 percent. Next was ABC, which needs to address the 9:30-11 p.m. block, followed by a night of Hell’s Kitchen on Fox and an improved The CW.

Survivor: Nicaragua, which content wise is not one of the better season’s to-date, opened the evening for CBS with a dominant 7.2 rating/12 share in the overnights at 8 p.m. Compared to year-ago sitcoms The New Adventures of Old Christine (4.6/ 8 on Oct. 7, 2009) and Gary Unmarried (4.4/ 7), this was an increase of a hefty 60 percent. And Survivor is out-performing it’s year-ago Thursday overnight delivery (6.1/10 on Oct. 8, 2009). Next on the Eye net was old faithful Criminal Minds (#1: 9.1/14 at 9 p.m.), followed by week three of The Defenders at a second-place (and series-low) 6.2/10 at 10 p.m. Comparably, retention for The Defenders out of the 9:30 p.m. portion of Criminal Minds (9.2/14) was a disappointing 67 percent. Take a look at the three week overnight track for The Defenders:

The Defenders (CBS)
9/22/10: 7.9/13
9/29/10: 7.2/12
10/06/10: 6.2/10

Year-ago 10 p.m. occupant CSI: NY was considerably stronger at an 8.5/14 on Oct. 7, 2009.

Week three of Undercovers on second-place NBC lost more steam, with a third-place 4.4/ 7 in the overnights at 8 p.m. Comparably, that was down by 14 percent from one week earlier. Take a look at the three-week overnight track:

Undercovers (NBC)
9/22/10: 6.2/10
9/29/10: 5.1/ 8
10/06/10: 4.4/ 7

One year earlier, failed NBC medical drama Mercy averaged a 4.7/ 8 on Oct. 7, 2009. Next on NBC was Law & Order: SVU (#3: 6.4/10), which built from the second half of lead-in Undercovers (4.5/ 7 at 8:30 p.m.) by 42 percent, followed by week two of Law & Order: Los Angeles at a first-place 6.4/10 in the overnights at 10 p.m. One year earlier, failed The Jay Leno averaged a 4.4/ 7 on Oct. 7, 2009. While dominance is certainly good, keep in mind that Law & Order: Los Angeles was down by 16 percent from it’s week-ago opener (7.6/13 on Sept. 29).

The standout on ABC Wednesday remains sophomore sitcom Modern Family at an 8.0/12 in the overnights at 9 p.m. (and an expected easy victory among adults 18-49). But lead-out Cougar Town sunk to a third-place 5.0/ 8 at 9:30 p.m., 37 percent below Modern Family, and week three of The Whole Truth remains out of the competitive loop at a last-place 3.5/ 6 at 10 p.m. Take a look at the three-week overnight track for The Whole Truth:

The Whole Truth (ABC)
9/22/10: 3.8/ 7
9/29/10: 3.6/ 6
10/06/10: 3.5/ 6

Earlier in the evening on ABC was comfortable The Middle at a second-place 5.5/ 9 at 8 p.m., followed by week three of sitcom Better with You at a modest (and series-low) 4.6/ 7 (#2) at 8:30 p.m.

Better with You (ABC)
9/22/10: 5.2/ 8
9/29/10: 5.0/ 8
10/06/10: 4.6/ 7

Given that HUT levels are higher at 8:30 p.m., Better with You should not be down by 16 percent from The Middle.

Over at Fox, two more hours of Hell’s Kitchen was compatible from one week earlier, with a 4.3/ 7 in the overnights from 8-10 p.m. While that may not sound like much, it did translate into a respectable 6.33 million viewers and a 2.9 rating among adults 18-49 last week, based on the Live Plus Same Day results. Here is the half-hour breakdown:

Hell’s Kitchen (Fox)
8:00 p.m.: 4.0/ 7 (#4)
8:30 p.m.: 4.4/ 7 (#4)
9:00 p.m.: 4.3/ 7 (#4)
9:30 p.m.: 4.6/ 7(#4)

Last, and very least, was The CW’s combination of veteran America’s Next Top Model (#5: 2.5/ 4 at 8 p.m.) and week five of Hellcats, which perked up slightly to a 1.6/ 2 at 9 p.m. One week earlier, Hellcats scored a 1.5/ 2 on Sept. 30. And one year earlier, a repeat of the failed revival of Melrose Place averaged only a 0.6/ 2 on Oct. 7, 2009.

Source: Nielsen Media Research data (R = repeat)

Source: pifeedback