Ratings News - 31st March 2011

Prime-Time Metered Market Wednesday Ratings:
Another Mammoth Idol-Ignited Win for Fox

Wednesday 3/30/11
Note: New Orleans is not included in the following averages.

HH
Rtg/Shr
Fox 15.6/24
CBS 6.9/11
NBC 3.6/ 6
ABC 3.2/ 5
CW 1.3/ 2

----------

-Percent Change from the Year-Ago Evening (Wednesday 3/31/10):
Fox: +66, CBS: +50, ABC: -24, NBC: -28, CW: -32

----------

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

-Honorable Mention:
Survivor: Redemption Island (CBS)

-Yesterday’s Losers (excluding repeats):
Minute to Win It (NBC), America’s Next Top Model (CW), Shedding for the Wedding (CW), Mr. Sunshine (ABC), Off the Map (ABC)

----------

-Ratings Breakdown:
One look at the overnight results and it is obvious what aired on Fox last night, American Idol. The still blockbuster singing competition, which featured the music of Elton John last night, beat the four competing networks combined with a 15.6 rating/24 share from 8-10 p.m. Here is the half-hour breakdown:

American Idol (Fox)
8:00 p.m.: 14.2/23 (#1)
8:30 p.m.: 15.7/24 (#1)
9:00 p.m.: 16.0/24 (#1)
9:30 p.m.: 16.4/25 (#1)

Since Casey Abrams was saved by the judges last week, two contestants depart tonight. My picks are Naima Adedapo and Thia Megia.

Distant second-place CBS opened with still must see Survivor: Redemption Island (#2: 6.6/10 at 8 p.m.), followed by underrated Criminal Minds (#2: 8.1/12 at 9 p.m.) and spin-off Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior (#1: 6.1/10 at 10 p.m.). While Suspect Behavior did outdeliver NBC’s competing Law & Order: SVU (#2: 5.9/10) by three percent in the overnights, SVU is likely to win the hour among adults 18-49. And CBS can do better in this time period next season. Comparably, retention for Suspect Behavior out of the 9:30 p.m. portion of Criminal Minds (8.1/12) was 75 percent.

Earlier in the evening on NBC was flop game show Minute to Win It (#4: 2.3/ 4), which is absolutely lost opposite both American Idol and Survivor, and a repeat of Law & Order: SVU (#4: 2.7/ 4) from 8-10 p.m.

ABC populated the 8-9:30 p.m. block with two repeat episodes of The Middle (#3: avg. 3.2/ 5 from 8-9 p.m.) and Modern Family (#3: 3.9/ 6). Minus the lead-in support, original installments of Mr. Sunshine (#3: 3.1/ 5 at 9:30 p.m.) and Off the Map (#3: 3.0/ 5 at 10 p.m.) dipped to series lows.

The CW capped off the evening with deteriorating America’s Next Top Model (#5: 1.9/ 5), which dropped by a hefty 39 percent from the comparable year-ago evening (3.1/ 5 on March 31, 2010), and colossal non-scripted flop Shedding for the Wedding: #5: 0.7/ 1). To shake up the mix next season, maybe Top Model should consider doing an all male edition.

Source: Nielsen Media Research data (R = repeat)


Source: pifeedback