Ratings News - 31st January 2014

Today's Early Overnight Ratings

This table shows the early overnight ratings. These ratings are normally adjusted later in the day when all the ratings have been consolidated to take into account any local preemptions and/or overruns. You can find all the final adjusted numbers in our Ratings Database. (See the About section below for details about ratings)

If you are new to ratings or still confused, we recommend you read this excellent Ratings FAQ.

Don't forget to follow our Ratings Only Twitter Account for the latest Ratings News

Can't see the tables? Check out our Troubleshooting Guide

Early Ratings Analysis

The analysis below is based on the early household numbers and are NOT the same as the numbers that will be posted in the above table later. (See the About section below)

For more information on the Nielsen Ratings see this Wikipedia Entry.

NOTE: The opinions expressed here are NOT those of SpoilerTV but of the Author of this Article, Marc Berman.

Thursday 1/30/14 Metered Markets
“The Big Bang Theory” Leads CBS to Victory

Household
Rating/Share
CBS 7.1/11
Fox 5.5/ 9
NBC 3.0/ 5
ABC 2.8/ 4
CW 1.5/ 2

-Percent Change from Year-Ago Evening – Thursday 1/31/13:
NBC: – 3, CW: – 6, Fox: -13, CBS: -21, ABC: -48

—–

-Winners:
“The Big Bang Theory” (CBS), “American Idol” (Fox), “Elementary” (CBS)

-Losers (excluding repeats):
“Community” (NBC), “Parks and Recreation” (NBC), “Rake” (Fox)

—–

-Ratings Breakdown:
CBS topped the household overnights on this final Thursday in January, with a 1.6 rating point advantage over second-place Fox. But the network needs to seriously think about the future of freshman sitcom “The Millers” (#2: 6.8/10 at 8:30 p.m.) given the 43 percent erosion out of mega-hit “The Big Bang Theory” (#1 for the night: 12.0/19 at 8 p.m.). While no one expects “The Millers” to fully maintain the lead-in, this is too severe. As for “The Big Bang Theory,” don’t be too surprised to see James Earl Jones snag an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series. And that Carrie Fisher cameo? Outstanding!

Next on the Eye net was “The Crazy Ones” with a dominant 5.2/ 8 in the overnights at 9 p.m., followed by 11 year-old “Two and a Half Men” at a 5.7/ 9 (#1) at 9:30 p.m. Since most comedies at 9:30 p.m. tend to lose 15-30 percent of its lead-in, the growth of 10 percent for “Two and a Half Men” out of “The Crazy Ones” means a 12th season is not out of the question.

Capping off the night for CBS was “Elementary” at a 6.5/11 at 10 p.m., which outdelivered the second hour of NBC special “Saturday Night Live Presents an SNL Sports Spectacular” (#2: 3.3/ 6) and a repeat of “Shark Tank” on ABC (#3: 2.7/ 5) by eight percent combined.

Overall, the “Saturday Night Live” special on NBC averaged a 3.3/ 5 from 9-11 p.m., which earned NBC’s strongest overnight rating in that block since the Dec. 5 telecast of “The Sound of Music Live!” And it built from “Parks and Recreation” (#4: 2.3/ 4 at 8:30 p.m.) by 43 percent.

Earlier in the evening on NBC was struggling “Community” at a fourth-place 2.1/ 3 at 8 p.m. Given NBC’s ongoing sitcom woes (and the already confirmed return of “Parks and Recreation” for next season), there is no reason to believe “Community” will be back for season six. Enough is enough already.

In week two news, Fox drama “Rake” slipped to a distant second-place 3.6/ 6 in the overnights at 9 p.m., which was 20 percent below its already disappointing debut one week earlier (4.5/ 7 on Jan. 23). And retention for “Rake” out of the 8:30 p.m. portion of “American Idol” (#1: 7.9/12) was 54 percent. One year earlier, “Glee” at 9 p.m. Thursday was slightly higher with a 3.9/ 6 (on 1/31/13). Keep in mind that “Rake” has yet to face “Grey’s Anatomy” on ABC, which will certainly not be beneficial.

Overall, “American Idol” scored a 7.5/12 from 8-9 p.m., which was six percent below the 8.0/12 on the year-ago evening,

Elsewhere, two-hours of cooking competition “The Taste” was not too tasty on ABC, with a bland 2.8/ 4 in the overnights from 8-10 p.m. Comparably, that trailed competing “American Idol” by 63 percent. And The CW had a typical Thursday with its pairing of 8-10 p.m. dramas “The Vampire Diaries” (#5: 1.7/ 3) and “Reign” (#5: 1.3/ 2).

Source: Nielsen Media Research

Source:

Marc Berman@tvmediainsights

About the Daily Ratings

Each day (except Sunday) during the main TV Season we post the TV Ratings for the previous nights primetime shows for the major broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, CW, FOX, NBC). Cable Network ratings will be added to the Ratings Database.

The first item that gets posted (normally around 2pm GMT) is the early overnight analysis based on the early household numbers (these are not the same as the Total Viewers and 18-49 Demo numbers that are posted later).

Next, if available, we will post the Top 25 Market 18-49 Ratings to give you a rough idea of the ratings to following.

Later on (normally between 4pm-5pm GMT) we post the official early overnight Total Viewers and 18-49 Demo numbers in the table above.

Finally, later in the evening (10pm-11pm GMT) or the following day, the final adjusted ratings numbers are released, these are then posted in the Ratings Database. The Final Adjusted numbers are what we use for all our Renew/Cancellation Tables, Full Season Tables, Ratings Scorecards etc (see below). Friday's Final Adjusted Ratings are normally available on the following Monday.

Additional Ratings Resources

If you’re interested in Ratings/Renewals/Cancellations then we have a number of resources here at SpoilerTV that we recommend you check out.

Renew/Cancel

Our Cancellation/Renewal predictions for the current season.

Ratings Database

Historical Ratings Database for nearly all major US shows going back to their first episodes.

Full Season Tables

The current season full ratings tables for both Total Viewers and 18-49 Demos

Ratings Scorecard

See how all the shows stack up against each other in the Ratings Scorecard Table.