Ratings News - 24th February 2011

Prime-Time Metered Market Wednesday Ratings:
Idol Rules; Shedding for the Wedding DOA on The CW

Wednesday 2/23/11
Note: The overnight data now includes DVR playback until 3 a.m. local time. One year earlier it was based on Live data only. All times are ET/PT.

HH
Rtg/Shr
Fox 14.5/22
CBS 7.0/11
ABC 4.6/ 7
NBC 3.5/ 6
CW 1.4/ 2

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-Percent Change from the Year-Ago Evening (Wednesday, 2/24/10):
Note: NBC aired The Winter Olympics on the year-ago evening.
CW: +100, ABC: +70, CBS: +63, Fox: - 2, NBC: -70

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-Yesterday’s Winners:
American Idol (Fox), Modern Family (ABC), Criminal Minds (CBS)

-Still a Solid Option:
Survivor: Redemption Island (CBS)

-Fading Fast:
America’s Next Top Model (CW), Mr. Sunshine (ABC)

-Yesterday’s Losers (excluding repeats):
Better with You (ABC), Minute to Win It (NBC), Shedding for the Wedding (CW), Off the Map (ABC)

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-Ratings Breakdown:
With still potent American Idol on board, Fox scored an easy overnight Wednesday victory, more than doubling the household rating of distant second-place CBS. In the No. 3 spot was ABC, followed by NBC and lowly The CW, which featured the series-premiere of reality competition Shedding For the Wedding.

As expected, there was no interest in The Biggest Loser clone Shedding for the Wedding, with an embarrassing 0.8 rating/1 share in the overnights from 9-10 p.m. Comparably, retention out of the season-premiere of America’s Next Top Model (#5: 2.0/ 3 at 8 p.m.) was just 40 percent. And the rapidly declining Top Model dipped from its year-ago midseason opener (3.1/ 5 on March 10, 2010) by a significant 35 percent. At this point, The CW needs to think about an eventual replacement for Tyra Banks and her band of model wannabes. It is clearly not the force it once was.

Fox’s American Idol stood well above the competition, of course, with a 14.5/22 in the overnights from 8-10 p.m. and the half-hour breakdown as follows:

American Idol (Fox)
8:00 p.m.: 13.6/21 (#1)
8:30 p.m.: 15.1/23 (#1)
9:00 p.m.: 14.5/22 (#1)
9:30 p.m.: 14.8/22 (#1)

In week two news, Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior on CBS finished first in the 10 p.m. hour, with a 6.3/11 in the overnights. But compared to it’s week-ago debut (8.2/14 on Feb. 16), that was a loss of a noticeable 23 percent. Plus, CI: Suspect Behavior dipped by 26 percent from the 9:30 p.m. portion of lead-in (and parent series) Criminal Minds (8.5/13). So, this may not be the automatic hit everyone assumed it would be.

Overall, Criminal Minds finished a very respectable second in the 9 p.m. hour behind American Idol, with an 8.3/13. Earlier in the evening on CBS was the truly addictive Survivor: Redemption Island at a second-place 6.4/10 at 8 p.m., which was identical to one week earlier. Two episodes into this season and kooky Phil is now one of the more memorable contestants in the entire history of the series. Mark Burnett…where do you find these people?

In week three news, ABC sitcom Mr. Sunshine posted more losses, with a very distant third-place 4.5/ 7 in the overnights at 9:30 p.m. In just two weeks, Mr. Sunshine has declined by 42 percent (three-week track: 7.7/11 – 5.0/ 8 – 4.5/ 7), and the retention out of demo favorite Modern Family (#3: 7.4/11 at 9 p.m.) was just 61 percent. At this point, Mr. Sunshine is no better than former (and returning) time period occupant Cougar Town.

Earlier in the evening on ABC were sitcoms The Middle (#3: 5.3/ 8) and lackluster Better with You (#3: 3.8/ 6) from 8-9 p.m. And capping off the evening was failing recent entry Off the Map, which lived up to its title with a last-place 3.4/ 6 at 10 p.m.

Over at NBC, two episodes of game show Minute to Win It cannot compete against American Idol, with a mere (and fourth-place) 2.5/ 4 in the overnights from 8-10 p.m. But veteran Law & Order: SVU moved into the No. 2 spot at 10 p.m., with a 5.5/10. SVU could ultimately win the time period among adults 18-49 given the double-digit overnight losses for competing CI: Suspect Behavior. Don’t forget to visit PIFeedback.com for the fast affiliate results at approximately 12 p.m. ET/PT.

Source: Nielsen Media Research data (R = repeat)

Source: pifeedback