Ratings News - 9th December 2010

Prime-Time Metered Market Wednesday Ratings:
Clean Sweep for CBS; Respectable The Sing-Off on NBC

Wednesday 12/08/10
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 7.8/12
NBC 5.0/ 8
ABC 4.9/ 8
Fox 3.8/ 6
CW 1.3/ 2

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-Percent Change From the Year-Ago Evening (Wednesday, December 9, 2009):
CW: +30, NBC: +19, CBS: + 8, Fox: -14, ABC: -16

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

-Should Be Stronger:
Better with You (ABC), The Defenders (CBS)

-Yesterday’s Losers (excluding repeats):
Fashion Forward: Making It (CW), Cougar Town (ABC)

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-Ratings Breakdown:
It was a clean overnight sweep for CBS, which bested second-place NBC by a hefty 56 percent. But freshman The Defenders (#1: 6.8 rating/11 share at 10 p.m.) remains the weak link, with retention out of the 9:30 p.m. portion of lead-in Criminal Minds (9.7/15) of only 70 percent. One year earlier, former occupant CSI: NY averaged an 8.3/14 in the overnights on Dec. 9, 2009.

Earlier in the evening on CBS was successfully relocated Survivor: Nicaragua at a dominant 7.2/11 at 8 p.m., leading into aforementioned Criminal Minds at a 9.4/15 in the 9 p.m. hour -- the top-rated show of the evening. Survivor remains a double-digit improvement over year-ago occupants The New Adventures of Old Christine and Gary Unmarried. SPOILER ALERT: Stop reading if you have not seen last night’s episode. But wasn’t the departure of Benry completely out of left field? Didn’t the editors set it up for a potential Fabio exit? And isn’t Sash one of the most unappealing contestants in the history of this reality/competition?

On NBC, another two-hour edition of holiday reality/competition The Sing-Off scored a respectable 5.1/ 8 from 8-10 p.m., with the half-hour breakdown as follows:

The Sing-Off (NBC)
8:00 p.m.: 4.7/ 8 (#3)
8:30 p.m.: 5.2/ 8 (#2)
9:00 p.m.: 5.1/ 8 (#3)
9:30 p.m.: 5.3/ 8 (#2)

Monday’s season-opener averaged a stronger 5.8/ 9, but The Sing-Off in the 8 p.m. hour was a double-digit improvement over regularly scheduled Undercovers. NBC capped off the evening with a repeat of Law & Order: SVU at a second-place 4.8/ 8 in the overnights at 10 p.m., which will be its new midseason time period.

Over at ABC, sophomore The Middle is the real deal, with a second-place 6.0/10 at 8 p.m. (and growth of 25 percent from a repeat of Shrek the Halls on the year-ago evening). But freshman Better With You continues to lose steam, with a third-place 4.7/ 7 at 8:30 p.m. Modern Family was ABC’s Wednesday standout, of course, with a second-place 7.8/12 at 9 p.m. (and a guaranteed first-place finish among adults 18-49, but the 38 percent loss for Cougar Town (#3: 4.8/ 7 at 9:30 p.m.) is not positive.

As a reminder, upcoming sitcom Mr. Sunshine, with former Friends star Matthew Perry, will open on Wednesday, Feb. 9 at 9:30 p.m. ET in place of Cougar Town, which takes a temporary break. Happy Endings, the ensemble tale of a group of close knit friends, kicks-off on Wednesday, April 13 at 10 p.m. ET out of returning Cougar Town and into encore telecasts of Modern Family themed “Fan Favorites.”

ABC filled the 10 p.m. hour last night with repeats of Modern Family (#3: 3.4/ 6), which I am personally worried is being overused, and Cougar Town (#3: 2.5/ 4).

Over at Fox, there was nothing unusual to report with its combination of Human Target (#4: 4.0/ 6), which will certainly benefit out of American Idol in midseason, and demo-friendly Hell’s Kitchen (#4: 3.8/ 6), which never scores in the overnights. And The CW populated the evening with a repeat of CBS special Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show (#5: 1.9/ 3) and original special Fashion Forward: Making It, which did not “make it” at a very last-place 0.7/ 1 at 9 p.m. It does not get much lower than that!

Source: Nielsen Media Research data (R = repeat)

Source: pifeedback