Yesterday was Thursday, and that's good news because there's lots of statistics for me to talk about
Of particular interest, was the competition between ABC and CBS, with both networks airing premieres throughout the evening.
On ABC, Last Resort aired its series premiere episode at 8pm, which led in the nineth season of Shonda Rhimes' Grey's Anatomy, at 9pm. At 10pm, another Shonda Rhimes drama, Scandal, began its second season
CBS brought four premieres to the table, with two heavyweight half hour comedies, The Big Bang Theory, and Two and a Half Men, taking things through from 8 - 9pm, with their sixth and tenth season premieres respectively. Then it was Person of Interest's turn for its second season premiere, providing the lead-in for the series premiere of Elementary, at 10pm
ABC's Last Resort has been one of the most anticipated series premieres this season. The episode was made available online prior to premiere night, but it certainly didn't have the same pulling power as NBC's Revolution (Mondays 10|9c) on its premiere night, instead only managing a 2.2 18/49 rating, and 9.31 million viewers
CBS had the 8pm timeslot well and truly covered, with The Big Bang Theory, which pulled in a massive 5.0 rating, it's highest rated premiere ever, and 16.66 million viewers, also a premiere high. Two and a Half Men didn't do quite as well, but it was still by far the second most watched show in its timeslot, with a 3.5 18/49 rating and 12.54 million viewers. FOX also chipped in, with The X Factor, pulling in a 3.2 rating and 9.39 million viewers
Grey's Anatomy won the timeslot at 9pm, , with a 4.4 rating, and 11.73 million viewers, both numbers up on last seasons premiere. Person of Interest, with what was a sensational premiere, I might add, came second on ratings, but first in audience with a 2.9 rating, and 14.28 million viewers. The series premiere last season rated higher (3.1) but this seasons premiere had about 1 million more viewers than last seasons series premiere. Over on FOX, Glee aired its third episode of season 4, which earned a modest 2.4 rating, and 5.79 million viewers, quite significantly down on last week. Also worth a mention was NBC's The Office, with a 2.1 rating, and 4.13 million viewers, from 9 - 9:30pm. Following The Office, Parks & Recreation earned a 1.6 rating, and 3.27 million viewers from 9:30 - 10pm
To finish off the evening, ABC's Scandal made its second season debut, with a fast paced, action packed premiere. A lot has happened since the first season finale, which asked far more questions than it answered. Despite a solid Grey's Anatomy lead-in, Scandal only managed a 2.1 rating, and 6.74 million viewers. That's a higher rating, but lower audience, on last seasons series premiere. The premiere of CBS's Elementary did far better - a full ratings point, and double the audience of Scandal, better, with a 3.1 rating, and 13.41 million viewers.
Next Thursday will be interesting, now that the premieres are out of the way. If the traditional trend of a series premiere being far more viewed and higher rated than the next episode continues, expect Last Resort and Elementary to drop somewhat. But that lost audience will have to go somewhere, most likely to the CBS comedies in Last Resort's case, and possibly to ABC's Scandal, or to bed, in Elementary's case.
The 9pm timeslot will be most interesting, with Grey's Anatomy, Person of Interest, and Glee, up against each other for a second week. All three shows have high ratings ratios for their audience numbers, and all three also happen to be completely different genres, meaning any skeptical viewers might be more inclined to stick with the show they are skeptical about, instead of switching to a completely different show.
So what do you think?? How did your favorite show(s) do?? Share your thoughts in the comments below
I'll leave you with the Grey's Anatomy All Time Ratings and All Time Audience graphs, from my website, www.seriesmonitor.com. You can see the steady decline of both ratings and audience numbers over the 8 previous seasons, along with the show's lead-ins. It will be interesting to see if the ratings and audience numbers continue to drop, or remain steady, throughout the season
Ratings numbers are available right through from Season 5, to date. The decline has been steady, but with a lot of rises and falls |
Audience numbers are available for the duration of the series. Notice the climb over the first 2 seasons, then a steady decline through the latter seasons |
Thanks for reading!! Don't forget to check out my website, www.seriesmonitor.com, for comprehensive statistics on most of the shows I've mentioned in this article
Jimmy
Thanks again Jimmy for an awesome summary of the ratings, really interesting.
ReplyDeleteAs you said, it's going to be interesting to see week 2 and week 3 ratings to see how big/small the dropoffs are, especially for the new shows. I suspect we'll have a very clear picture of which shows will be in danger and which ones are doing very well.
@darkufo:disqus Thanks for the comment!! It's a strong line-up of shows to keep an eye on
ReplyDeleteI like to read you. Grey's is a beast after 9 years, both in ratings and in quality, I am quite happy about it. Worried about Scandal though. Also, I do not agree with you that Greys and Glee appeal to different audiences, I think they have a very high crossed audience, has showed by the loss of 0.6 for Glee yesterday.
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked the article!!
ReplyDeleteI think we will find out for sure whether there's cross audience in a couple of weeks, when Glee takes a couple of weeks off.
Yeah probably you're right. Even though by then we will also have the natural post-premiere ratings decline from Greys. But we shall see
ReplyDelete2.4 rating, and 5.79 million viewers
ReplyDeleteOMG
I think I'm gonna cry
But WHY put Glee on thursday at 9. WHY!
I'm not even watching it cause I actually need the commercial to cry while watching Grey Anatomy.
*sigh*