Ratings News - 21st October 2011 *Full Tables Added*

Thursday 10/20/11 Overnights

Household
Rating/Share
Fox 9.7/16
CBS 8.5/14
ABC 5.3/ 9
NBC 2.0/ 3
CW 2.0/ 3

-Percent Change from the Year-Ago Evening (Thursday 10/21/10):
Fox: +18, CBS: - 6, ABC: - 7, CW: -13, NBC: -41

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-Winners:
The Big Bang Theory (CBS), The World Series, Game 2 (Fox), The Mentalist (CBS)

-Losers (excluding repeats):
Charlie’s Angels (ABC), The Secret Circle (CW)

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-Ratings Breakdown:
Game two of The World Series (Texas Rangers 2, St. Louis Cardinals 1) led Fox to overnight victory on this third Thursday in October, with an estimated 9.7 rating/16 share in primetime. Comparatively, this was on par with the second game of The World Series on Fox in 2010 (San Francisco vs. Texas: 9.4/15 on 10/28/10). The year-ago evening on Fox featured game five of the National League Championship Series (Philadelphia vs. San Francisco: 8.2/13). Here is the half-hour breakdown:

World Series, Game 2 (Fox)
8:00 p.m.: 6.8/12 (#2)
8:30 p.m.: 8.6/15 (#1)
9:00 p.m.: 9.6/16 (#1)
9:30 p.m.: 10.0/16 (#1)
10:00 p.m.: 11.0/18 (#1)
10:30 p.m.: 12.2/20 (#1)

Keep in mind, as always, that results for any live sporting event are always estimated.

In season-premiere news, CBS sitcom Rules of Engagement returned with a second-place 7.1/11 in the overnights at 8:30 p.m., which built from the two-episode run of former failed occupant How to Be a Gentleman (5.1/ 9) by 39 percent. Retention for Rules of Engagement out of The Big Bang Theory (#1: 9.7/16 at 8 p.m.) was a marked improvement at 73 percent. One year earlier, failed sitcom $#*! My Dad Says averaged a 7.0/11 out of an 8.9/14 for The Big Bang Theory on 10/21/10. When the Emmy nominations come out next spring, don’t be too surprised if Jim Parsons’ TV Mama, Laurie Metcalf, snags a nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series. She earned it last night.

Next on CBS was recently introduced drama Person of Interest (#2: 8.3/13 at 9 p.m.), which dipped by 13 percent from year-ago time period occupant CSI (9.5/14 on 10/21/10), followed by The Mentalist (#2: 8.9/15), which decreased by seven percent year-to-year. Regardless of the loss, chances are strong CBS will be granting Person of Interest a full season episode order.

Over at ABC, the revival of Charlie’s Angels earned its cancellation stripes with a third-place 4.0/ 7 in the overnights at 8 p.m. Long in the tooth Grey’s Anatomy perked up to a 7.2/11 at 9 p.m. (#3), but year-to-year that was down by 14 percent (vs. 8.3/13 on 10/21/10). With weaker lead-in support, spin-off Private Practice dipped to a 4.8/ 8 at 10 p.m. (#3) -- off by 16 percent from the year-ago evening (5.7/ 9 on 10/21/10). Retention for Private Practice out of the 9:30 p.m. portion of Grey’s Anatomy (7.3/11) was a typically unimpressive 66 percent.

Elsewhere, NBC ducked the competition by airing encore telecasts of Community (#5: 1.8/ 3), Parks & Recreation (#5: 1.8/ 3), The Office (#4: 2.1/ 3), Whitney (#5: 1.8/ 3) and Prime Suspect (#4: 2.2/ 4). That average 2.0 in the overnights for NBC could, in fact, be one of it’s lowest historically for a Thursday evening. In an effort to boost viewership, NBC will air repeats of Prime Suspect in the Monday to Wednesday 10 p.m. next week, with an original installment on Thursday.

The CW, which tied NBC for fourth overall in the overnights, opened with a fourth-place 2.4/ 4 for its most-watched program, The Vampire Diaries, followed by recent entry The Secret Circle at a last-place 1.6/ 3 at 8 p.m. Although The Secret Circle built by one-tenth of a rating point (or seven percent) from one week earlier, year-ago occupant Nikita was still stronger at a 2.0/ 3 on 10/21/10.

Source: Nielsen Media Research data

Source: Marc Berman@TVMediaInsights