Ratings News - 14th October 2010

Prime-Time Metered Market Wednesday Ratings:
CBS Wins; More Mixed Freshman Series Results

Wednesday 10/13/10

HH
Rtg/Shr
CBS 7.4/13
ABC 5.2/ 8
NBC 5.1/ 8
Fox 4.5/ 7
CW 2.1/ 3

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-Percent Change From the Year-Ago Evening (Wednesday, October 14, 2009):
CW: +40, ABC: +27, NBC: + 6, Fox: + 2, CBS: - 1,

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-Yesterday’s Winners:
Survivor: Nicaragua (CBS), Criminal Minds (CBS), Modern Family (ABC)

-Yesterday’s Losers (excluding repeats):
Undercovers (NBC), Better with You (ABC), Cougar Town (CW)

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-Ratings Breakdown:
CBS led this third Wednesday of the new TV season, with a first-place overnight finish in every half-hour care of Survivor: Nicaragua (6.9/11 at 8 p.m.), which remains a vast improvement over former sitcoms The New Adventures of Old Christine and Gary Unmarried, and Criminal Minds (9.1/15) and The Defenders (6.3/11) from 9-11 p.m. Despite leveling off, The Defenders pales in comparison to year-ago occupant CSI: NY, which averaged a 9.3/16 in the metered markets on Oct. 14, 2009. And retention out of the 9:30 p.m. portion of Criminal Minds (9.4/15) was only 67 percent. Take a look at the four-week overnight track for The Defenders:

The Defenders (CBS)
9/22/10: 7.9/13
9/29/10: 7.2/12
10/06/10: 6.2/10
10/13/10: 6.3/11

With spin-off Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior waiting in the wings, The Defenders is facing an uphill battle. As for Survivor last night, merging the times this early in the game only added to this viewer’s disappointment and confusion. After promoting this as the season of young versus old, what was the rush to break that up?

It looks like ABC may have sprung a leak at 8:30 p.m., with week four of sitcom Better with You dipping to a series-low (and fourth-place) 4.1/ 6 in the overnights. Considering HUT levels are higher at 8:30 p.m., a loss of 21 percent out of lead-in The Middle (#2: 5.2/ 8 at 8 p.m.) is disappointing. Four-week overnight track:

Better with You (ABC)
9/22/10: 5.2/ 8
9/29/10: 5.0/ 8
10/06/10: 4.6/ 7
10/13/10: 4.1/ 6

Fortunately for ABC, Modern Family perked up to a second-place 7.8/12 at 9 p.m. and is a shoo-in for time period victory among adults 18-49. But lead-out Cougar Town continues to squander the support with a third-place 5.0/ 8 at 9:30 p.m. (and retention of just 64 percent out of Modern Family). ABC could certainly do better here.

At 10 p.m., ABC pre-empted failing freshman legal drama The Whole Truth for a special edition of 20/20, which focused on the Chile mine rescue and finished third with a 4.6/ 8 in the overnights. One week earlier, The Whole Truth averaged a 3.5/ 6 on Oct. 6.

On NBC, J.J. Abrams spy drama Undercovers leveled off in week four, with a 4.3/ 7 at 8 p.m. But, comparably, that finished fourth in the time period and failed year-ago occupant Mercy was the same at a 4.3/ 7 on Oct. 14, 2009. Here is the four-week overnight track for Undercovers:

Undercovers (NBC)
9/22/10: 6.2/10
9/29/10: 5.1/ 8
10/06/10: 4.4/ 7
10/13/10: 4.3/ 7

Next on NBC was Law & Order: SVU at a below-average (and third-place) 5.6/ 9 at 9 p.m. With weaker lead-in support, week three of Law & Order: Los Angeles dipped to a second-place 5.6/10 at 10 p.m. -- 12 percent below one week earlier (6.4/10 on Oct. 6). But this was an improvement of 30 percent from failed year-ago occupant The Jay Leno Show (4.3/ 7 on Oct. 14, 2009), and the retention out of SVU remains solid. Take a look at the three-week overnight track:

Law & Order: Los Angeles (NBC)
9/29/10: 7.6/13
10/06/10: 6.4/10
10/13/10: 5.6/ 9

Over at Fox, two more hours of Hell’s Kitchen finished fourth overall in the overnights, with a 4.5/ 7 from 8-10 p.m. But keep in mind that the Gordon Ramsay reality/competition always resonates among adults 18-49. Here is the half-hour breakdown:

Hell’s Kitchen (Fox)
8:00 p.m.: 4.2/ 7 (#4)
8:30 p.m.: 4.5/ 7 (#2)
9:00 p.m.: 4.6/ 7 (#4)
9:30 p.m.: 4.7/ 7(#4)

Capping off the night was The CW, which had a typical overnight Tuesday with its combination of America’s Next Top Model (#5: 2.6/ 4) and episode six of drama Hellcats (#5: 1.6/ 2). While a 1.6/ 2 is nothing to boast about, this was an improvement of 129 percent over a repeat of Melrose Place on the year-ago evening (0.7/ 1 on Oct. 14, 2009) and the ratings have leveled off. In other words, I do personally think The CW will order more episodes of Hellcats past the initial 13.

Source: Nielsen Media Research data (R = repeat)

Source: pifeedback