Ratings News - 6th January 2011

Wednesday 1/05/11
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 6.6/10
NBC 6.2/10
ABC 5.5/ 9
Fox 4.3/ 7
CW 0.8/ 1

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-Percent Change From the Year-Ago Evening (Wednesday, January 6, 2010)
Fox: +72, CW: +33, NBC: +27, ABC: +17, CBS: - 6

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-Yesterday’s Winners:
The Middle (ABC), Modern Family (ABC), Law & Order: SVU (NBC)

-On the Map As Always:
The 37th Annual People’s Choice Awards (CBS)

-Yesterday’s Losers (excluding repeats):
Minute to Win It (NBC), Human Target (Fox), Cougar Town (ABC), Celebrity Weight Loss – What Really Happens (ABC)

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-Ratings Breakdown:
CBS led this first Wednesday of the New Year in the overnights, beating second-place NBC by six percent. But third-place ABC could be the network to beat among adults 18-49. Fourth overall was a night of Human Target on Fox, followed by repeats of Hellcats on The CW.

In time-period premiere news, CBS reality/competition Live to Dance, featuring good ol’ Paula Abdul, finished second overall behind ABC in the 8 p.m. hour, with a 5.8 rating/9 share in the overnights. Comparably, this dipped by 17 percent from its debut on Tuesday (7.0/11 on Jan. 4) and it was down by about the same percentage from recent time period occupant Survivor: Nicaragua. While certainly not a bust, the immediate older skew is not necessarily a positive for Live to Dance.

Next on CBS was The 37th Annual People’s Choice Awards at a 7.0/11 from 9-11 p.m., with the half-hour breakdown as follows:

The People’s Choice Awards (CBS)
9:00 p.m.: 7.5/11 (#2)
9:30 p.m.: 7.5/11 (#1)
10:00 p.m.: 6.8/11 (#2)
10:30 p.m.: 6.3/11 (#2)

Comparably, this was down by nine percent from the year-ago telecast (7.7/12 on Jan. 6, 2010). For a complete listing of the winner’s in television, see TV Tidbits below.

NBC had a sluggish start last night care of game show Minute to Win It at a fourth-place 4.0/ 7 at 8 p.m. But a two-hour installment of Law & Order: SVU put the network on the map with a 7.3/12 from 9-11 p.m. and growth in every half-hour as follows:

Law & Order: SVU (NBC)
9:00 p.m.: 6.4/10 (#3)
9:30 p.m.: 7.4/11 (#2)
10:00 p.m.: 7.6/12 (#1)
10:30 p.m.: 7.8/13 (#1)

Over at ABC, there were two standouts, The Middle and Modern Family. But Better with You and Cougar Town in the half-hours lost steam, with hiatus-bound Cougar Town, in particular, down by a hefty 42 percent from Modern Family. Take a look:

ABC/Wednesday
8:00 p.m. – The Middle: 6.8/11 (#1)
8:30 p.m. – Better with You: 5.3/ 8 (#2)
9:00 p.m. – Modern Family: 8.4/13 (#1)
9:30 p.m. – Cougar Town: 4.9/ 7 (#3)

A special edition of newsmagazine Primetime, themed Celebrity Weight Loss – What Really Happens capped off the evening for ABC with a last-place 3.6/ 6 at 10 p.m.

Elsewhere, a two-hour installment of Fox’s Human Target, which will benefit out of returning American Idol in midseason, scored an uneventful 4.3/ 7 in the overnights from 8-10 p.m. Here is the half-hour breakdown:

Human Target (Fox)
8:00 p.m.: 4.3/ 7 (#3)
8:30 p.m.: 4.2/ 7 (#4)
9:00 p.m.: 4.3/ 6 (#4)
9:30 p.m.: 4.3/ 6 (#4)

And The CW aired back-to-back repeats of freshman drama Hellcats, which was barely visible at a 0.8/ 1 from 8-10 p.m.

Source: Nielsen Media Research data (R = repeat)


Ratings Box:
What’s Hot/What’s Not

-Chiller 13: The Decade’s Scariest Moments Scares Up Top Ratings:
Special Chiller 13: The Decade's Scariest Movie Moments, produced by Emmy Award-winning company Associated Television International, totaled 2.7 million unduplicated viewers on cable net Chiller based on multiple runs from December 17 through January 2. The debut on Dec. 17 was seen by 421,000 viewers, which built by as much as 53 percent among adults 25-54 from the comparable year-ago time period. Across all airings, 27 percent of the Chiller 13 audience was new viewers to Chiller prime.

Source: Nielsen Media Research data (R = repeat)

Source: pifeedback