Ratings News - 23rd February 2011

Prime-Time Metered Market Tuesday Ratings:
Clean Sweep for CBS; Potholes Aplenty on ABC

Tuesday 2/22/11
Note: The overnight data now includes DVR playback until 3 a.m. local time. One year earlier it was based on Live data only. All times are ET/PT.

HH
Rtg/Shr
CBS 11.0/17
Fox 5.6/ 9
NBC 4.7/ 7
ABC 3.1/ 5
CW 1.2/ 2

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-Percent Change from the Year-Ago Evening (Tuesday, 2/23/10):
Note: NBC aired The Winter Olympics on the year-ago evening, and Fox American Idol
CW: +140, CBS: +80, ABC: -31, Fox: -64, NBC: -67

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-Yesterday’s Winners:
NCIS (CBS), Glee (Fox), NCIS: Los Angeles (CBS), The Good Wife (CBS)

-Yesterday’s Losers (excluding repeats):
No Ordinary Family (ABC), One Tree Hill (CW), V (ABC), Raising Hope (Fox), Traffic Light (Fox), Hellcats (CW), Primetime: What Would You Do? (ABC), Parenthood (NBC)

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-Ratings Breakdown:
Without American Idol in the Tuesday mix, CBS owns Tuesday in the overnights and will do so until at least the end of traditional TV season in May. Fox finished a distant second, but will compete among adults 18-49 thanks to what I personally think is one of the most overrated shows in primetime, Glee. Third overall NBC, followed by ABC and The CW.

Blockbuster NCIS, probably the most underrated show currently on the air, opened with a considerable 12.7 rating/20 share at 8 p.m. Next was spin-off NCIS: Los Angeles (#1: 11.6/18 at 9 p.m.), which fits like a glove, followed by older-skewing The Good Wife at a dominant 8.8/15 at 10 p.m. While The Good Wife is also expected to also win among adults 18-49, its time period lead will be far less significant than what you see in the overnights.

Fox’s Glee finished a comfortable second at 8 p.m., with a 7.8/12. And, yes, it will clearly lead the time period among adults 18-49. But critical favorite Raising Hope at 9 p.m. continues to squander the lead-in support, with a third-place 4.2/ 6. Comparably, that held only 54 percent of the 8:30 p.m. portion of Glee (7.8/12). And week three of Traffic Light at 9:30 p.m. followed with a fourth-place 2.8/ 4 at 9:30 p.m. -- 33 percent below Raising Hope. Three-week metered market track for Traffic Light: 3.4/ 5 -- 2.6/ 4 -- 2.8/ 4.

Over at NBC, just renewed The Biggest Loser, which is not having one of its better seasons ratings-wise, scored a 5.1/ 8 in the overnights from 8-10 p.m., building by half-hour as follows:

The Biggest Loser (NBC)
8:00 p.m.: 4.6/ 7 (#3)
8:30 p.m.: 4.7/ 7 (#3)
9:00 p.m.: 5.4/ 8 (#2)
9:30 p.m.: 5.7/ 9 (#2)

As always, the strength of The Biggest Loser falls within the young adult demos.

At 10 p.m., Parenthood on NBC finished second with a 3.8/ 6 in the overnights -- 33 percent below the 9:30 p.m. portion of The Biggest Loser. Parenthood is one of the many current series on NBC that the network will need to make a decision on for next season.

Minus the support of Dancing with the Stars at 9 p.m. (which returns in the Tuesday 9 p.m. hour on March 29), ABC continues to flounder on the evening. On-the-fence No Ordinary Family opened the night with a fourth-place 3.4/ 5 in the overnights at 8 p.m., followed by sophomore V (#4: 3.4/ 5 at 9 p.m.), which should never have received a second season, and a Tuesday 10 p.m. edition of Primetime: What Would You Do? (#3: 2.6/ 4).

In the distant No. 5 spot, as usual, was The CW’s combination of One Tree Hill (1.4/ 2) and freshman Hellcats (1.1/ 2), which does fit relatively well out of the veteran serial and is expected back next season.

Source: Nielsen Media Research data (R = repeat)

Source: pifeedback