Ratings News - 21st September 2011 - Full Ratings Tables

NETWORK

Metered Market Ratings Results – Tuesday 9/20/11
CBS Wins; Solid Sampling for New Girl and Unforgettable

Tuesday 9/20/11

Household
Rating/Share
CBS 10.7/17
ABC 8.8/14
Fox 6.3/10
NBC 4.0/ 6
CW 1.5/ 2

-Percent Change from the Year-Ago Evening (Tuesday 9/21/10):
CW: + 7, CBS: + 5, Fox: - 2, ABC: - 7, NBC: -11

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-Winners:
NCIS (CBS), NCIS: Los Angeles (CBS), Dancing With the Stars (ABC), New Girl (Fox), Unforgettable (CBS)

-Down but Not Out:
Glee (Fox), Ringer (CW)

-Disappointing:
The Biggest Loser (NBC), Raising Hope (Fox), Parenthood (NBC)

-Losers (excluding repeats):
90210 (CW)

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-Ratings Breakdown:
CBS was the dominant force in the overnights on this first Tuesday of the 2011-12 season, with a 22 percent advantage over second-place ABC. Both networks were close to overall year-ago levels. Next was Fox, followed by distant NBC and lowly The CW, which saw week two of Sarah Michelle Gellar drama Ringer dip by 28 percent week-to-week (2.5/ 4 to 1.8/ 3).

In season premiere-news, year nine of CBS’ NCIS finished as the top-rated show of the evening with a 12.2 rating/19 share in the overnights at 8 p.m. Comparably, that was right on par from one year earlier. Next was the third season-opener of spin-off NCIS: Los Angeles at a second-place 10.6/16 at 9 p.m., which increased by five percent from the 10.1/15 on Sept. 21, 2010. In series-premiere news, Unforgettable on CBS at 10 p.m. launched with a first-place 9.3/16 at 10 p.m., which was similar to overnight levels for former time period occupant The Good Wife. Comparably, retention for Unforgettable out of the 9:30 p.m. portion of NCIS: Los Angeles (10.5/16) was solid at 89 percent. Like The Good Wife, expect an older audience skew for Unforgettable.

In last night’s other series-premiere, sitcom New Girl on Fox was off and running, with a third-place 7.4/11 in the overnights at 9 p.m. One year earlier, former time period occupant Raising Hope debuted with a 4.9/ 7 (out of an 8.3/13 for Glee), which gives New Girl a 51 percent advantage. At 8 p.m., season three of Glee dipped to a 6.6/10 (#2) in the overnights, which means New Girl actually built by 12 percent. Mirroring last season, expect Glee to still win the 8 p.m. hour among adults 18-49 (and other young adult demos) with ease, but the musical dramedy is now officially on the downside. New Girl, meanwhile, is a show to definitely keep a positive eye on.

At 9:30 p.m. on Fox, season two of Raising Hope dipped to a 4.7/ 7 (#3), which put the retention out of New Girl at only 64 percent.

Over at ABC, an 8 p.m. edition of Dancing With the Stars, Meet the Cast, finished a solid second (behind NCIS) with an 8.6/14 in the overnights. That led into the live Dancing With the Stars Results Show, which won the 9 p.m. hour with an 11.2/17. One year earlier, Dancing With the Stars averaged a 12.7/19 in the time period. At 10 p.m., season two of ABC crime solver Body of Proof dipped to a second-place 6.9/12, which was 26 percent below CBS’ competing Unforgettable. Retention for Body of Proof out of the 9:30 p.m. portion of Dancing With the Stars (11.5/17) was weak at 60 percent.

On NBC, The Biggest Loser is showing its age, with the season-premiere at a 4.0/ 6 in the overnights from 8-10 p.m., and the half-hour breakdown as follows:

The Biggest Loser (NBC)
8:00 p.m.: 4.0/ 6 (#4)
8:30 p.m.: 4.0/ 6 (#4)
9:00 p.m.: 4.0/ 6 (#4)
9:30 p.m.: 4.2/ 6 (#4)

One year earlier, The Biggest Loser opened with a 4.6/ 7 in the overnights on Sept. 14, 2010. At this point, The Biggest Loser should be trimmed down to one hour.

At 10 p.m., episode two of the new season of NBC’s Parenthood finished in the distant No. 3 spot, with a 3.8/ 6 (but its position among adults 18-49, as always, will be far more competitive). One year earlier, Parenthood averaged a 4.2/ 7 in the overnights on Sept. 20, 2010.

Last, and very least, was The CW’s combination of relocated 90210 (#5: 1.3/ 2), which should have been canceled two years ago, and week two of aforementioned Ringer (#5: 1.8/ 3). The two positives to make note of for Ringer are overnight growth of 38 percent out of the 8:30 p.m. portion of 90210 (1.3/ 2) and a 50 percent increase from failed year-ago occupant Life Unexpected (1.2/ 2 on 9/20/10). But the overnight loss of 28 percent from last week’s debut (2.5/ 4 on 9/13/11) is a potential concern. Let’s see what happens next week.

Source: Nielsen Media Research data

Source: Marc Berman@TVMediaInsights