Ratings News - 8th March 2011

Prime-Time Metered Market Monday Ratings:
Fox Wins; Lackluster Return for The Event on NBC

Monday 3/07/11
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
Fox 6.3/10
ABC 5.9/ 9
CBS 5.4/ 8
NBC 4.8/ 7
CW 0.6/ 1

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-Percent Change from the Year-Ago Evening (Monday, 3/08/10):
NBC: +20, ABC: - 9, Fox: -16, CBS: -36, CW: -60

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-Yesterday’s Winners:
The Bachelor (ABC), House (Fox), Harry’s Law (NBC)

-Honorable Mention:
Two and a Half Men R (CBS), Mike & Molly R (CBS)

-Yesterday’s Losers (excluding repeats):
The Event (NBC)

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Note: The fast affiliate results for Monday will be posted at PIFeedback by 12 p.m. ET. Go to the website, click on Ratings Box (the first category), then Last Night’s Results, and Monday, March 7, 2011.

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-Ratings Breakdown:
Fox took center stage in the Monday overnights, with a 0.4 rating point advantage over second-place ABC, which was marred by a repeat of Castle at 10 p.m. Excluding recent entry Mad Love, CBS was in all repeats and it was costly with a third-place finish. Next was NBC, which did not benefit by the return of action/adventure The Event, followed by a night of encore telecasts on The CW. Overall, 42 percent of last night’s schedule was in repeats.

Fox’s House opened the evening on a winning note, with a 7.4 rating/11 share in the overnights at 8 p.m. That led into recent crime solver The Chicago Code, which remains an adequate (albeit non-spectacular) occupant at 9 p.m. at a third-place 5.1/ 8. Comparably, retention for The Chicago Code out of the 8:30 p.m. portion of House (7.5/11) was a decent 68 percent. That said, chances of The Chicago Code returning next season are 50/50.

Over at ABC, consistent remains the observation for female magnet The Bachelor, with a very respectable 7.0/11 in the overnights from 8-10 p.m. and the half-hour breakdown as follows:

The Bachelor (ABC)
8:00 p.m.: 7.0/11 (#2)
8:30 p.m.: 6.8/10 (#2)
9:00 p.m.: 6.9/10 (#1)
9:30 p.m.: 7.1/11 (#1)

As a reminder, Dancing with the Stars returns to the Monday 8-10 p.m. block on March 21. At 10 p.m. the aforementioned repeat of ABC’s Castle finished third with a 4.0/ 7.

In series-return news, NBC’s The Event was a definite disappointment at a 3.9/ 6 in the overnights from 8-10 p.m. Most alarming was a decline in each of the four half-hours as follows:

The Event (NBC)
8:00 p.m.: 4.4/ 7 (#4)
8:30 p.m.: 3.8/ 6 (#4)
9:00 p.m.: 3.6/ 5 (#4)
9:30 p.m.: 3.5/ 5 (#4)

Comparably, The Event’s most recent original telecast was slightly stronger at a 4.2/ 6 on Monday, Nov. 29. As I always say, absence does not make the audience grow fonder of a series already on the bubble. Despite the lackluster lead-in support, recent NBC entry Harry’s Law won the 10 p.m. hour with a 6.7/12 in the overnights. Comparably, that was a whopping 91 percent above the 9:30 p.m. portion of The Event. Although the variation between the two will be much smaller among adults 18-49 (and the younger demos), older-skewing Harry’s Law is worthy of accolades for the overnight gains.

Over at CBS, leading out of a repeat of already renewed How I Met Your Mother (#3: 4.6/ 7) was not beneficial to recent entry Mad Love, which slipped to a series-low 4.9/ 7 (#3) at 8:30 p.m. Four-week overnight track for Mad Love: 5.8/ 9 -- 5.3/ 8 -- 5.1/ 8 – 4.9/ 7. The rest of the evening for CBS -- Two and a Half Men (#2: 6.8/10), Mike & Molly (#2: 6.1/ 9) and Hawaii Five-O (#2: 5.0/ 8) -- were also encore telecasts.

Last, and very least, were repeats of 90210 (#5: 0.7/ 1) and Gossip Girl (#5: 0.5/ 1) on The CW.

Source: Nielsen Media Research data

Source: pifeedback