Ratings News - 11th May 2011

Prime-Time Metered Market Tuesday Ratings:
CBS Wins; NBC’s The Voice Still Resonates

Tuesday 5/10/11
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
CBS 9.6/15
ABC 9.3/15
NBC 5.5/ 9
Fox 4.7/ 7
CW 1.0/ 2

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-Percent Change from the Year-Ago Evening (Tuesday 5/11/10):
Note: American Idol aired on Fox on the year-ago evening.
ABC: +35, CW: +11, NBC: +10, CBS: - 3, Fox: -55

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-Yesterday’s Winners:
NCIS (CBS), Glee (Fox), Dancing with the Stars (ABC), NCIS: Los Angeles (CBS), The Good Wife (CBS), The Voice (NBC)

-Yesterday’s Losers (excluding repeats):
One Tree Hill (CW), Raising Hope (Fox), Traffic Light (Fox), Hellcats (CW)

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-Ratings Breakdown:
CBS led the Tuesday overnights, inching past No. 2 ABC by three percent. But third and fourth-place occupants NBC and Fox will be on the adult 18-49 map thanks to The Voice and Glee. In the distant No. 5 spot, of course, was The CW as a result of one-the-fence One Tree Hill (#5: 1.2 rating/ 2 share), which should have concluded a few seasons earlier, and expected-to-be canceled freshman drama Hellcats (#5: 0.9/ 1), which collapsed right at the time it really needed audience support.

CBS opened with underrated hit drama NCIS at a dominant 10.9/17 in the overnights at 8 p.m., followed by compatible spin-off NCIS: Los Angeles (#2: 9.3/14 at 9 p.m.) and critically acclaimed The Good With (#1: 8.5/14 at 10 p.m.), which is expected to generate a truckload of more Emmy nominations.

The standout on ABC, of course, was Dancing with the Stars, with the live results show (so long, Little Romeo) at a winning 12.5/19 in the overnights at 9 p.m. Comparably, that was the highest rated show of the evening. At 8 p.m. on ABC was the Dancing with the Stars recap show (#2: 8.4/13), which is a double-digit improvement from recent occupants Jaime Oliver’s Food Revolution and No Ordinary Family. And capping off the evening was expected-to-be renewed recent entry Body of Proof at a second-place 7.2/12 at 10 p.m. Comparably, retention for Body of Proof out of the 9:30 p.m. portion of Dancing with the Stars (12.6/19) was a modest 57 percent.

Over at NBC, The Biggest Loser returned to two-hours, with an uneventful 4.6/ 7 in the overnights from 8-10 p.m. One week earlier, the second half of breakout hit The Voice was considerably stronger at an 8.1/12 in the 9 p.m. hour. The Biggest Loser led into a one-hour edition of relocated The Voice, which finished last at 10 p.m. with a 7.1/12. But that was 31 percent above the 9:30 p.m. portion of The Biggest Loser (5.4/ 8). And The Voice is a lock for solid dominance among adults 18-49. If I were programming NBC, I would find a way to expand The Voice back to two-hours (while decreasing The Biggest Loser to one).

Next was Fox with the prom themed edition of Glee (#3: 6.7/11 at 8 p.m.), which is the show to beat in the time period among adults 18-49, followed by Mr. TV favorite Raising Hope (#4: 3.3/ 5 at 9 p.m.), which deserves a larger audience, and just canceled Traffic Light (#4: 2.0/ 3 at 9:30 p.m.). As good a show as Raising Hope is, retention this week of only 49 percent out of the 8:30 p.m. portion of Glee (6.8/11) keeps it, unfortunately, on the listing of “losers.”

For more on the Fox cancellations, see TV Tidbits below.

Source: Nielsen Media Research data (R = repeat)

Source: pifeedback