Ratings News - 4th February 2011

Prime-Time Metered Market Thursday Ratings:
Idol Ignited Fox Wins; Another Strong Showing for CBS

Thursday 2/03/11
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 10.1/15
CBS 8.6/13
ABC 6.1/ 9
NBC 3.2/ 5
CW 2.0/ 3

----------

-Percent Change From the Year-Ago Evening (Thursday, February 4, 2010):
Fox: +66, CBS: +5, ABC: -10, CW: -13, NBC: -16

----------

-Yesterday’s Winners:
American Idol (Fox), The Big Bang Theory (CBS), CSI (CBS), Grey’s Anatomy (ABC), The Office (NBC), The Mentalist (CBS)

-Yesterday’s Losers (excluding repeats):
Community (NBC), Perfect Couples (NBC), Outsourced (NBC)

----------

-Ratings Breakdown:
American Idol led Fox to more overnight Thursday victory, with a 1.5 rating point advantage over second-place CBS and growth of 66 percent from the comparable year-ago evening. Third overall was ABC, followed by NBC and The CW.

Idol scored a 13.8 rating/21 share in the 8 p.m. hour, building over year-ago occupant Bones (7.6/12 on Feb. 4, 2010) by a hefty 82 percent. But Bones in its new Thursday 9 p.m. time period was not as strong as it was as the former Thursday anchor, with a third-place 6.5/10 in the overnights at 9 p.m. Comparably, retention out of the 8:30 p.m. portion of Idol (14.5/22) was only 45 percent. Yes…that is disappointing.

Despite facing American Idol, CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory was on the map with a second-place 9.0/14 at 8 p.m. Lead-out $#*! My Dad Says, which exits for the season (or series) on February 17, followed with a 6.5/10 (#2) at 8:30 p.m. Comparably, retention out of The Big Bang Theory was a so-so 72 percent. And that’s a real shame because $#*! My Dad Says with Jean Smart as William Shatner’s love interest is a much better sitcom.

Next on CBS was veteran CSI, which won the 9 p.m. hour in the overnights with an 8.7/13, followed by The Mentalist at a dominant 9.3/15 at 10 p.m.

Elsewhere, ABC had nothing unusual to report with its combination of Wipeout (#3: 4.5/ 7), Grey’s Anatomy (#2: 8.3/12) and spin-off Private Practice (#2: 5.5/ 9). The standout on NBC, as always, was demo friendly The Office, with the Peacock net’s revamped three-hour sitcom block performing as follows in the overnights:

Thursday/NBC
8:00 p.m. – Community: 2.9/ 4 (#4)
8:30 p.m. – Perfect Couples: 2.1/ 3 (#5)
9:00 p.m. – The Office: 4.9/ 7 (#4)
9:30 p.m. – Parks and Recreation: 3.4/ 5 (#4)
10:00 p.m. – 30 Rock: 3.4/ 5 (#3)
10:30 p.m. - Outsourced: 2.7/ 5 (#3)

Keeping in mind what the demos are expected to look like, adults 18-49 in particular, half of the NBC block (Community, Perfect Couples and Outsourced) remain on the listing of losers. But solid The Office could be the show to beat among adults 18-49 at 9 p.m.

The CW capped off the evening with its strongest show, The Vampire Diaries (#5: 2.3/ 4), and freshman action/adventure Nikita (#5: 1.7/ 2).

Source: Nielsen Media Research data (R = repeat)

Source: pifeedback