Ratings News - 23rd October 2011 *Full Tables Added*

SUNDAY 10/23/11
Metered Market Results

Baseball Wins; Solid Sampling for Once Upon a Time Opener on ABC

Household
Rating/Share
Fox 10.4/17
CBS 7.6/12
NBC 6.8/11
ABC 5.9/ 9

-Percent Change from Year-Ago Evening – 10/24/10:
Fox: +352, ABC: - 8, NBC: -45, CBS: -16

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-Winners:
The World Series, Game 4 (Fox), 60 Minutes (CBS), Once Upon a Time (ABC)

-Fading Fast:
Desperate Housewives (ABC)

-Losers (excluding repeats):
America’s Funniest Home Videos (ABC), Pan Am (ABC)

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-Ratings Breakdown:
In the battle of the sports, game four of The World Series (Texas vs. St. Louis) on Fox held a large advantage over Indianapolis vs. New Orleans on Sunday Night Football on NBC. The game four match-up scored an estimated 10.2 rating/16 share in primetime (from 8:30-11 p.m.), with the half-hour breakdown as follows:

The World Series – Game 4 (Fox)
8:30 p.m.: 9.8/15 (#1)
9:00 p.m.: 9.9/15 (#1)
9:30 p.m.: 10.2/15 (#1)
10:00 p.m.: 10.6/17 (#1)
10:30 p.m.: 10.4/17 (#1)

Comparably, game four of San Francisco vs. Texas on The World Series on Fox last year (on Sunday 10/31/10) averaged a very similar 10.6/16 in the overnights. The year-ago evening on Fox featured a night of animated sitcom repeats (hence the massive 352 percent growth).

Earlier in the evening on Fox was a 30-minute primetime football overrun (#1: 14.6/25 at 7 p.m.), followed by post game The OT (#2: 8.5/14 at 7:30 p.m.) and The World Series Pre-Game at a dominant 9.5/15 in the 8 p.m. half-hour. As a reminder, results for any live sporting evening are always approximate.

On NBC, Indianapolis vs. New Orleans on aforementioned Sunday Night Football sunk to a season-low 8.4/13 in the overnights from 8:30-11 p.m., dropping by half-hour as follows:

Sunday Night Football (NBC)
8:30 p.m.: 9.4/15 (#2)
9:00 p.m.: 9.3/14 (#2)
9:30 p.m.: 8.8/13 (#2)
10:00 p.m.: 7.7/12 (#2)
10:30 p.m.: 6.7/11 (#2)

Earlier in the evening on NBC was pre-game Football Night in America as follows:

Football Night in America (NBC)
7:00 p.m.: 2.0/ 4 (#4)
7:30 p.m.: 4.0/ 7 (#4)
8:00 p.m.: 6.4/10 (#4)

Once again, results for any live sporting event are always estimated.

In series-premiere news, ABC fantasy drama Once Upon a Time was amply sampled at a second-place 8.4/13 in the overnights at 8:00 p.m. Comparably, that built from year-ago time period occupant Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (5.8/ 9 on 10/24/10) by a hefty 45 percent, with growth out of veteran America’s Funniest Home Videos (#3: 3.7/ 7 at 7 p.m.) of 127 percent. One week earlier, EHME averaged a 4.6/ 7 on 10/16/11.

Despite the improved lead-in support, ABC’s tired Desperate Housewives dipped to fourth at 9 p.m. with a 6.7/10 in the overnights. Compared to one year earlier (9.0/13 on 10/24/10) that was a loss of 24 percent. And Desperate Housewives dropped from the 9:30 p.m. portion of Once Upon a Time (8.5/13) by 21 percent. Week five of struggling Pan Am followed on ABC with a very distant 4.7/ 8 at 10 p.m., which was 28 percent below year-ago occupant Brothers & Sisters (6.5/10 on 10/24/10). Tick, tock…the cancellation clock is ticking. Here is the five-week overnight track for Pan Am:

Pan Am (ABC)
9/25/11: 8.7/14
10/02/11: 5.8/10
10/09/11: 5.2/ 8
10/16/11: 4.7/ 8
10/23/11: 4.7/ 8

Over at CBS, granddaddy 60 Minutes was on the map with a second-place 9.8/16 in the overnights at 7 p.m. That led into young adult demo friendly The Amazing Race (#4: 6.6/10 at 8 p.m.), followed by older skewing The Good Wife (#3: 7.3/11 at 9 p.m.), which continues to beat ABC’s competing Desperate Housewives in the overnights, and veteran crime solver CSI: Miami (#3: 6.4/11 t 10 p.m.).

Source: Nielsen Media Research

Source: Marc Berman@TVMediaInsights