Ratings News - 7th October 2011

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Thursday 10/06/11 Overnights

Household
Rating/Share
Fox 7.8/12
CBS 7.6/12
ABC 5.3/ 8
NBC 3.5/ 6
CW 1.8/ 3

-Percent Change from the Year-Ago Evening (Thursday 10/07/10):
Fox: +62, NBC: no change, CBS: - 8, ABC: -12, CW: -22

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-Winners:
The Big Bang Theory (CBS), The X Factor (Fox), The Mentalist (CBS)

-Fading Fast:
Grey’s Anatomy (ABC)

-Disappointing:
Whitney (NBC)

-Losers:
Charlie’s Angels (ABC), Community (NBC), How To Be a Gentleman (CBS), Parks and Recreation (NBC), The Secret Circle (CW), Prime Suspect (NBC)

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-Ratings Breakdown:
Fox inched past CBS for Thursday overnight dominance, with a 0.2 rating point advantage. Third overall was ABC, followed by NBC and, of course, The CW.

In week two news, CBS sitcom How To Be a Gentleman dipped to a 4.7 rating/8 share at 8:30 p.m. and could be facing the chopping this afternoon. Retention for How To Be a Gentleman out of lead-in The Big Bang Theory (#1: 9.1/15 ay 8 p.m.) was a mere 52 percent, and the sitcom dipped 15 percent from last Thursday’s already disappointing debut (5.5/ 9 on 9/29/11). One year earlier, former failed occupant $#*! My Dad Says scored a 6.3/10 on 10/08/10. With three series already canceled (NBC’s The Playboy Club and Free Agents, and H8R on The CW), patience is not in the cards this season.

In week three news, older-skewing CBS crime solver Person of Interest lost steam with a second-place 7.3/11 in the overnights at 9 p.m. Comparably, that was down by 10 percent from year-ago occupant CSI (8.1/12 on 10/08/10). Three week overnight track for Person of Interest: 8.6/13 – 8.1/13 – 7.3/11.

The Mentalist on CBS at 10 p.m. won the hour, with an 8.6/14. But compared to the year-ago evening (9.5/16 on 10/08/10), that was a loss of nine percent. If Person of Interest continues to deteriorate, maybe CBS will finally move The Mentalist up one hour.

On Fox, two-hours of The X Factor averaged a 7.8/12 in the overnights from 8-10 p.m., with the half-hour breakdown as follows:

The X Factor (Fox)
8:00 p.m.: 6.9/11 (#2)
8:30 p.m.: 8.1/13 (#1)
9:00 p.m.: 7.9/12 (#1)
9:30 p.m.: 8.2/12 (#1)

Compared to year-ago occupants Bones (#2: 6.1/10) and Fringe (#4: 3.4/ 5), The X Factor built by an average of 62 percent.

On ABC, week three of Charlie’s Angeles finished third in the 8 p.m. hour, with a 4.2/ 7 in the overnights. Comparably, that was an improvement of 35 percent from a repeat of Grey’s Anatomy in the year-ago time period (3.1/ 5 on 10/08/10). But compared to one week earlier, this was a loss of another nine percent. Three-week overnight track for Charlie’s Angels: 6.1/10 – 4.6/ 8 – 4.2/ 7.

Next on ABC was veteran Grey’s Anatomy (#3: 6.9/10 at 9 p.m.), which slipped by 23 percent year-to-year, and spin-off Private Practice (#2: 4.9/ 8 at 10 p.m. – down 19 percent), which will narrow the gap opposite The Mentalist among adults 18-49.

Fourth-place NBC kicked-off this third Thursday of the 2011-12 season on a sour note care of sitcom Community (#4: 2.6/ 4), and should consider moving recently introduced Up All Night into the time period. Minus the lead-in support, Parks and Recreation also floundered with a 2.9/ 5 at 8:30 p.m. The Office at 9 p.m. (#4: 4.1/ 6) did pick up steam, but year-to-year was down by 15 percent. At 9:30 p.m. on NBC, week three of Whitney dropped to a 3.5/ 5 (#4), which was slightly below failed year-ago occupant Outsourced (3.8/ 6 on 10/08/10). Three-week overnight track for Whitney: 5.0/ 8 – 3.8/ 6 – 3.5/ 5.

Since Whitney could benefit among adults 18-49 out of The Office, let’s wait and see what happens when the fast affiliate ratings arrive.

At 10 p.m., week three of older-skewing NBC crime drama Prime Suspect remained third with a 4.0/ 7, which was five percent below one week earlier. Three-week overnight track for Prime Suspect: 4.6/ 6 – 4.2/ 7 – 4.0/ 7. In an attempt to attract new eyeballs, encore telecasts of Prime Suspect will air in place of canceled The Playboy Club on Mondays at 10 p.m. ET for the next three weeks.

Over at The CW, The Vampire Diaries was stable at 8 p.m., with a 2.2/ 3. But week four of lead-out The Secret Circle sunk to a series-low 1.5/ 2 at 9 p.m., which was 25 percent below year-ago occupant Nikita (2.0/ 3 on 10/08/10). Four-week overnight track for The Secret Circle: 2.3/ 4 – 1.9/ 3 – 1.7/ 3 – 1.5/ 2. Not one of The CW’s new fall series is, unfortunately, working.

Source: Nielsen Media Research data

Source: Marc Berman@TVMediaInsights