Ratings News - 8th May 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)

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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.

Wednesday 5/07/14 Metered Market Ratings
Clean Sweep for CBS; Fox’s “American Idol” Dips by 25 Percent

Household
Rating/Share
CBS 6.4/10
Fox 5.6/ 9
ABC 4.0/ 7
NBC 3.5/ 6
CW 1.6/ 3

-Percent Change from Year-Ago Evening – Wednesday 5/08/13:
CBS: + 2, CW: – 6, ABC: -13, Fox: -25, NBC: -31
———-

-Winners:
“Survivor” (CBS), “Modern Family” (ABC), “Criminal Minds” (CBS), “CSI” (CBS)

-Down But Returning Next Season:
“American Idol” (Fox)

-Losers (excluding repeats):
“Revolution” (NBC), “Mixology” (ABC)

———-

-Ratings Breakdown:
It was a clean household overnight sweep for CBS with its line-up of “Survivor” (6.1 rating/10 share), “Criminal Minds” (6.7/11) and “CSI” (6.4/11). Comparably, the trio was on par from the year-ago evening and CBS would be wise to leave well enough alone next season. But speculation is pointing to the Eye net adding a new drama to the night and either “CSI” or “Criminal Minds” shifting to another evening. Stay tuned – CBS is unveiling its fall 2014 primetime schedule to the press next Wednesday morning.

“Modern Family” was the standout on ABC, of course, with a 6.1/10 in the 9 p.m. half-hour and an expected first place finish for the night in all the key demos. Comparably, “Modern Family” built from lead-in “Suburgatory” (#3: 3.6/ 6 at 8:30 p.m.) by a hefty 69 percent. But recently introduced lead-out “Mixology” slipped to fourth at 9:30 p.m. with a 2.7/ 4. Earlier in the evening on the alphabet net was reliable “The Middle” at a third-place 4.7/ 8 at 8 p.m. And sophomore “Nashville” capped off the night with a third-place 3.4/ 6 at 10 p.m.

As always, the challenge ABC faces on Wednesday is finding compatible comedies out of “The Middle” and “Modern Family.”

Over at Fox, diluted “American Idol” scored a 5.6/ 9 in the overnights from 8-10 p.m., peaking in the 9:30 p.m. half-hour with a 5.8/ 9. Despite a loss of 25 percent from the year-ago evening, Fox has just announced the contestant audition dates for season 14 in 2015. “Idol” lives on!

Elsewhere, on-the-fence NBC drama “Revolution” dipped to a 2.9/ 5 at 8 p.m. (#4), which may not bode well for a third season renewal. And both “Law & Order: SVU” (#4: 3.9/ 6), which will return for season 16, and freshman “Chicago PD” (#2: 3.8/ 7) were below average from 9-11 p.m. The CW, meanwhile, was at typical overnight levels care of dramas “Arrow” (#5: 1.9/ 3) and midseason entry “The 100” (#5: 1.4/ 2), which is expected back for season two.

Source: Nielsen Media Research data

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.

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

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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.