Ratings News - 11th November 2011 *Full Ratings Table*

Metered Market Thursday Ratings Update
CBS Wins Despite Drama Encores; Fox Poised for Adult 18-49 Victory

Thursday 11/10/11

Household
Rating/Share
CBS 6.9/11
Fox 6.4/10
ABC 5.8/ 9
NBC 3.2/ 5
CW 2.0/ 3

-Percent Change from the Year-Ago Evening (Thursday 11/11/10):
Fox: +42, CW: - 5, ABC: 8, NBC: -11, CBS: -18

----------

-Winners:
The Big Bang Theory (CBS), The X Factor (Fox), Grey’s Anatomy (ABC), The Mentalist R (CBS)

-Fading Fast:
The Office (NBC)

-Losers (excluding repeats):
Charlie’s Angels (ABC), Community (NBC), Parks and Recreation (NBC), Whitney (NBC), The Secret Circle (CW), Prime Suspect (NBC)

----------

-Ratings Breakdown:
Despite populating two-thirds of the line-up with repeats, CBS still topped the Thursday overnight charts with a 0.5 rating point advantage over second-place Fox. But Fox is poised for dominance among adults 18-49 thanks to The X Factor at 8 p.m. Third overall in the metered markets was ABC, followed by NBC and The CW.

The Big Bang Theory on CBS took top-rated honors of the evening, with a 9.9 rating/16 share at 8 p.m. Comparably, that built from one year earlier (8.9/14 on 11/11/10) by 11 percent. Although returnee Rules of Engagement (#2: 6.9/11 at 8:30 p.m.) remains a vast improvement over recent failed occupant How To Be a Gentleman, retention out of The Big Bang Theory was just 70 percent. And growth for Rules of Engagement compared to short-lived year-ago occupant $#*! My Dad Says (6.4/10 on 11/11/10) was only eight percent. CBS needs to put this protected time period to better use.

Next on CBS were encore telecasts of Person Of Interest (#3: 5.8/ 9) and The Mentalist (#1: 6.5/11) from 9-11 p.m.

On Fox, aforementioned The X Factor finished second overall from 8-9 p.m. with a 6.8/11 in the overnights. Comparably, this built from Bones one year earlier (5.9/ 9 on 11/11/10) by 15 percent. Relocated Bones, meanwhile, held 81 percent of the 8:30 p.m. portion of The X Factor (7.4/12), with a respectable 6.0/10 (#2) from 9-10 p.m.

On ABC, canceled Charlie’s Angels could not compete at 8 p.m., of course, with a 3.5/ 5 in the overnights. Veteran Grey’s Anatomy perked up to a dominant 8.2/13 at 9 p.m., which dipped by only eight percent from one year earlier (8.9/13 on 11/11/10). Spin-off Private Practice, which could never stand on its own, capped off the evening for ABC with a typical second-place 5.7/10 at 10 p.m. Opposite NBC’s Prime Suspect (#3: 3.6/ 6) and CBS’ aforementioned The Mentalist encore, Private Practice should have no trouble winning the hour among adults 18-49.

NBC, unfortunately, faces a growing uphill battle on Thursday. Community and Parks and Recreation were stalled at the 8-9 p.m. gate, each with a fourth-place 2.5/ 4 in the overnights. Year-to-year, Community dipped by 22 percent, while Parks and Recreation versus former 8:30 p.m. time period occupant 30 Rock (3.8/ 6 on 11/11/10) was off by 34 percent. With weaker lead-in support, The Office at 9 p.m. fell to a 3.9/ 6 (#4), which dropped by 20 percent from the 4.9/ 7 one year earlier. This will, no doubt, negatively impact The Office’s once reliable adult 18-49 performance.

Recent entry Whitney on NBC at 9:30 p.m. scored a mere 3.0/ 5 (#4), which trailed failed Outsourced on the year-ago evening (3.5/ 5 on 11/11/10) by 14 percent. And at 10 p.m., on the fence Prime Suspect (#3: 3.6/ 6) did not benefit opposite The Mentalist encore on CBS.

On The CW, freshman drama The Secret Circle at 9 p.m. scored a now typical 1.7/ 3 at 9 p.m. (#5), which dropped from the 8:30 p.m. portion of reliable lead-in The Vampire Diaries (2.3/ 4) by 26 percent. One year earlier, a repeat of former 9 p.m. time period occupant Nikita was almost equal at a 1.6/ 2 on 11/11/10. Given the ongoing demographic slippage for The Secret Circle out of The Vampire Diaries, consider this a “losing” performance.

Overall, The Vampire Diaries, The CW’s highest rated program, averaged a 2.4/ 4 from 8-9 p.m., which was off by just eight percent from one year earlier (2.6/ 4 on 11/11/10).

Source: Nielsen Media Research data

Source: Marc Berman@TVMediaInsights