Ratings News - 2nd December 2010

Prime-Time Metered Market Wednesday Ratings:
Survivor-Ignited CBS Dominates

Wednesday 12/01/10
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 5.5/ 9
NBC 5.3/ 8
Fox 4.1/ 6
ABC 3.8/ 6
CW 2.2/ 3

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-Percent Change From the Year-Ago Evening (Wednesday, December 2, 2009):
CW: +175, ABC and CBS: + 6 each, NBC and Fox: no change,

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-Yesterday’s Winners:
Survivor: Nicaragua (CBS), Law & Order: SVU (NBC), Law & Order: Los Angeles (NBC)

-Honorable Mention:
America’s Next Top Model (CW), Modern Family R (ABC), Criminal Minds R (CBS)

-Yesterday’s Losers (excluding repeats):
Undercovers (NBC), Hellcats (CW), The Whole Truth (ABC), The Grammy Nominations Concert Live! – Countdown to Music’s Biggest Night (CBS)

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-Ratings Breakdown:
CBS led the overnight troops on this first Wednesday in December, beating second-place NBC by four percent. Fox finished third overall, but demo-friendly Hell’s Kitchen will be advantageous to the network among adults 18-49. Next was ABC, followed by an above-average The CW, which benefited from the season-finale of America’s Next Top Model. Keep in mind, of course, that the month of December will be loaded with holiday specials and, unfortunately, encore telecasts.

CBS favorite Survivor: Nicaragua remained just that, with a very dominant 7.2 rating/11 share in the overnights at 8 p.m. Comparably, this bested year-ago occupant Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (5.8/ 9 on Dec. 2, 2009) by 24 percent. SPOILER ALERT: Stop reading if you did not see last night’s episode yet. But from a fan’s perspective, the double departure of Naonka and Purple Kelly, who both unceremoniously quit, was one of the worst moments I have ever seen on this veteran series.

Survivor: Nicaragua led into a repeat of CBS’ Criminal Minds (#2: 5.9/ 9 at 9 p.m.), followed by annual special, The Grammy Nominations Concert Live! – Countdown to Music’s Biggest Night, at a second-place 3.4/ 6 at 10 p.m. Compared on one year earlier (4.1/ 6 on Dec. 2, 2009), this was a loss of 17 percent. How someone as bland as Purple Kelly could get on the show to begin with is a mystery.

NBC was off, but not running last night care of canceled Undercovers, which finished fourth at 8 p.m. with a 3.2/ 5 in the overnights. But lead-out Law & Order: SVU benefited opposite repeats on ABC and CBS, with a dominant 6.3/10 at 9 p.m. And freshman Law & Order: Los Angeles was up as a result, with a dominant 6.5/11 at 10 p.m. As a reminder, struggling NBC crime solver Chase, which currently airs Mondays at 10 p.m., will move to Wednesday at 9 p.m. beginning on Jan. 12 into Law & Order: SVU, which shifts back one hour. Recent Wednesday 10 p.m. entry Law & Order: Los Angeles moves to Tuesdays at 10 p.m. effective on February 8 out of The Biggest Loser: Couples from 8-10 p.m.

Over at Fox, Human Target finished an uneventful third in the overnights at 8 p.m., with a 4.1/ 6. But moving to Wednesday at 9 p.m. in January (out of returning and re-tooled American Idol) will certainly give it a boost. Hell’s Kitchen on Fox at 9 p.m. also scored a 4.1/ 6, but its performance among target adults 18-49 is expected to be notably stronger than Human Target.

ABC traveled the repeat route from 8-10 p.m., with its combination of The Middle (#3: 4.1/ 7), recent entry Better with You (#3: 3.8/ 6), standout Modern Family (#3: 5.0/ 8) and audience bleeding Cougar Town (#4: 3.3/ 5), which dipped by 34 percent out of Modern Family. At 10 p.m., ABC’s canceled The Whole Truth earned its walking papers with a last-place 2.8/ 5. Needless to say, not every series Jerry Bruckheimer attaches himself to is a hit.

Over at The CW, the aforementioned America’s Next Top Model closed the season on a high note, with a 3.0/ 5 at 8 p.m. Compared to it’s year-ago fall season-ender (2.7/ 5 on Nov. 18, 2009), this was an increase of 11 percent. Despite the improved lead-in support, freshman drama Hellcats dipped to a very last-place 1.4/ 2 at 9 p.m. -- 55 percent below the 8:30 p.m. portion of America’s Next Top Model (3.1/ 5).

Source: Nielsen Media Research data (R = repeat)

Source: pifeedback