Ratings News - 19th November 2010 - How did Bones, Fringe and Grey's do?

Prime-Time Metered Market Thursday Ratings:
CBS Wins; Struggling NBC

Thursday 11/18/10
Note: The overnight data now includes DVR playback until 3 a.m. local time. One year earlier it was based on Live data only.

HH
Rtg/Shr
CBS 8.6/14
ABC 6.5/10
Fox 4.9/ 8
NBC 3.5/ 6
CW 1.3/ 2

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-Percent Change From the Year-Ago Evening (Thursday, November 19, 2009):
NBC: + 6, CBS: + 4, ABC: + 3, Fox: no change, CW: -35

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-Yesterday’s Winners:
The Big Bang Theory (CBS), Grey’s Anatomy (ABC), CSI (CBS), The Mentalist (CBS)

-Honorable Mention:
Bones (Fox)

-Yesterday’s Losers (excluding repeats):
Community (NBC), Fringe (Fox), Outsourced (NBC), The Apprentice (NBC)

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-Ratings Breakdown:
It was another easy overnight Thursday victory for CBS, which bested second-place ABC by 32 percent. But the Eye net’s probable advantage among adults 18-49 is not expected to be as large. Third overall in the metered markets was Fox, which always generates mileage thanks to underrated Bones, followed by NBC and a night of repeats on The CW.

Successfully relocated The Big Bang Theory on CBS remains a bona fide hit in the 8 p.m. half-hour, with an 8.7 rating/14 share. Lead-out $#*! My Dad Says also finished first, but the 6.5/10 was 25 percent below The Big Bang Theory and it tied the second half of Fox’s Bones for dominance. $#*! My Dad Says is, however, expected to solely dominate among adults 18-49. Here is the nine-week overnight track for $#*! My Dad Says:

$#*! My Dad Says (CBS)
9/23/10: 7.7/12
9/20/10: 6.7/11
10/07/10: 6.3/10
10/14/10: 6.6/10
10/21/10: 7.0/11
10/28/10: 6.8/11
11/04/10: 7.0/11
11/11/10: 6.4/10
11/18/10: 6.5/10

Next on CBS was veteran CSI at a dominant 8.8/14 in the overnights at 9 p.m. (just one-tenth of a rating point ahead of Grey’s Anatomy on ABC), followed by The Mentalist at a 9.5/16 at 10 p.m. The Mentalist once again finished as the top-rated show on Thursday.

ABC opened the evening with a repeat of annual holiday classic, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, which finished third with a 4.5/ 7 at 8 p.m. Aforementioned Grey’s Anatomy followed with a second-place 8.7/13 at 9 p.m., but it will have no trouble beating CBS’ competing CSI among adults 18-49. At 10 p.m., Grey’s spin-off Private Practice finished second with a 6.4/11. And that too could potentially hold an advantage in the demo over The Mentalist.

Over at Fox, Bones was on the map with a second-place 6.3/10 at 8 p.m. But Fringe continues to squander the lead-in support with a fourth-place 3.6/ 5 at 9 p.m. Comparably, that put the overnight retention for Fringe out of Bones of only 55 percent. Three-year-old Fringe, regardless, is expected to return next season because it needs another batch of original episodes for off-network syndication.

Next was NBC, which had nothing unusual to report with its line-up of Community (#4: 3.0/ 5), which should not be anchoring the evening, 30 Rock (#4: 3.8/ 6), which built by 27 percent, demo friendly The Office (#3: 4.8/ 7), freshman Outsourced (#3, 3.7/ 6) and deadly The Apprentice (#3: 3.0/ 5), which is unlikely to ever feature non -celebrities again. Here is the nine-week overnight track for Outsourced:

Outsourced (NBC)
9/23/10: 5.0/ 8
9/20/10: 4.1/ 6
10/07/10: 3.8/ 6
10/14/10: 3.8/ 6
10/21/10: 3.5/ 5
10/28/10: 3.9/ 6
11/04/10: 3.7/ 6
11/11/10: 3.5/ 5
11/18/10: 3.7/ 6

The Office, as always, was the standout due to the expected interest among adults 18-49. NBC, as a reminder, is revamping Thursday effective on Jan 20 with the new line-up as follows:

8:00 p.m.: Community
8:30 p.m.: Perfect Couples (new)
9:00 p.m.: The Office
9:30 p.m.: Parks and Recreation (season premiere)
10:00 p.m: 30 Rock (new time)
10:30 p.m.: Outsourced (new time)

The CW capped off this ninth Thursday of the current TV season with repeats of The Vampire Diaries (#5: 1.4/ 2) and Nikita (#5: 1.2/ 2).

Source: Nielsen Media Research data (R = repeat)

Source: pifeedback