Ratings News - 18th October 2011 *Full Tables Added*

Monday 10/17/11 Overnights

Household
Rating/Share
ABC 11.2/17
CBS 7.6/12
Fox 5.3/ 8
NBC 2.6/ 4
CW 1.3/ 2

-Percent Change from Year-Ago Evening – Monday 10/18/10:
CW: +62, CBS: +12, Fox: + 6, ABC: - 5, NBC: -32

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-Winners:
Dancing With the Stars (ABC), How I Met Your Mother (CBS), 2 Broke Girls (CBS), Two and a Half Men (CBS), Mike & Molly (CBS)

-Losers (excluding repeats):
The Sing-Off (NBC), Gossip Girl (CW), Hart of Dixie (CW)

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-Ratings Breakdown:
ABC danced its way to another Monday overnight victory, beating comfortable second-place CBS by a considerable 47 percent. But CBS is still the network to beat among adults 18-49. Next was mid-level Fox, followed by depressing NBC and The CW, which is up significantly because encore telecasts aired on the year-ago evening.

Dancing With the Stars on ABC took top-rated overnight honors for the evening with a 12.8 rating/19 share from 8-10 p.m., and growth (in rating) in each of the four half-hours as follows:

Dancing With the Stars (ABC)
8:00 p.m.: 12.0/18 (#1)
8:30 p.m.: 12.6/19 (#1)
9:00 p.m.: 13.2/19 (#1)
9:30 p.m.: 13.3/20 (#1)

One year earlier, Dancing with the Stars averaged a 13.7/20 on 10/19/10. Based on the performances last night, the departure tonight of Carson Kressley should be a no-brainer. But on this show anything can happen.

Castle capped off the evening for ABC with a dominant 8.2/14 at 10 p.m., which was on par from one year earlier. Retention for Castle out of the 9:30 p.m. of Dancing With the Stars was a non-impressive 62 percent.

CBS was equal to one week earlier in the overnights, which means that the network has settled into a very solid Monday, particularly from 8-10 p.m. How I Met Your Mother opened with a 6.8/10 in the overnights at 8 p.m., which built year-to-year by 26 percent (5.4/ 8 on 10/18/10). Week five of breakout hit 2 Broke Girls remained just that with a 7.5/11 at 8:30 p.m., and growth from year-ago occupant Rules of Engagement (5.1/ 7 on 10/18/10) of a hefty 47 percent. Two and a Half Men at 9 p.m. rose to a 10.1/15 (#2), which increased by 13 percent from the 8.9/13 on the year ago evening, while sophomore Mike & Molly (#2: 7.4/11) built by nine percent (6.8/10 on 10/18/10). As much as I like Mike & Molly, why is Molly still living at home? And why did Mike agree to move in? As for Two and a Half Men, the arrival of Ashton Kutcher has completely rejuvenated the veteran sitcom, don’t you think?

At 10 p.m., CBS’ sophomore Hawaii Five-O remains a modest performer at a second place 6.8/11, which dipped by seven percent from one year earlier (7.3/12 on 10/19/10). In the scheme of things, CBS could…and should…be doing better in the Monday 10 p.m. hour.

Over at Fox, Terra Nova remains a modest entry at a third-place 5.2/ 8 in the overnights at 8 p.m. Compared to year-ago occupant House (6.4/ 9 on 10/18/10), this was a loss of 24 percent in the overnights. At 9 p.m., relocated House is showing its age with a third-place 5.5/ 8. Now in season eight, it is time for the medical drama to call it quits next spring.

Elsewhere, NBC has another abysmal Monday showing with its line-up of music competition The Sing-Off (2.8/ 4 from 8-10 p.m.), which never should have aired outside of December, and a repeat of Prime Suspect (#3: 2.1/ 4). In an attempt to attract more eyeballs, NBC will air additional encore telecasts of Prime Suspect on Tuesday, Oct. 25 and Wednesday, Oct. 26 at 10 p.m. ET.

The CW capped off the evening with its low-rated combination of Gossip Girl (#5: 1.2/ 2) and Hart of Dixie (#5: 1.4/ 2), which snagged a full season episode order despite the lack of interest.

Source: Nielsen Media Research data

Source: Marc Berman@TVMediaInsights