Ratings News - 17th January 2012 *Full Tables Added*

METERED MARKET MONDAY RATINGS
Betty White Ignites NBC; Solid Sampling for Alcatraz on Fox

Monday 1/16/12
Metered Market Results

Household
Rating/Share
CBS 7.3/11
NBC 7.1/11
Fox 6.8/10
ABC 5.9/ 9
CW 0.8/ 1

-Percent Change from Year-Ago Evening – Monday 1/17/11
NBC: +42, CW: +33, Fox: +17, ABC: + 7, CBS: - 6

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-Winners:
Betty White’s 90th Birthday: A Tribute to America’s Golden Girl (NBC), How I Met Your Mother (CBS), 2 Broke Girls (CBS), Alcatraz (Fox), Two and a Half Men (CBS), Betty White’s Off Their Rockers (NBC), Mike & Molly (CBS), Hawaii Five-O (CBS) Castle (ABC)

-Losers (excluding repeats):
Gossip Girl (CW), Rock Center With Brian Williams (NBC)

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Ratings Breakdown:
CBS led the Monday overnights, but the real winner was above-average NBC, which trailed the Eye net by just two-tenths of a rating point (or three percent) thanks to beloved Betty White. Third overall was Fox, which is off to a solid start with new drama Alcatraz, followed by the home of The Bachelor, ABC, and lowly The CW.

Betty White’s 90th Birthday: A Tribute to America’s Golden Girl, featuring a barrage of classic TV stars and reminiscent of those fun roasts from yesteryear, scored a dominant 9.1 rating/13 share in the overnights from 8-9:30 p.m., building by half-hour as follows:

Betty White’s 90th Birthday: A Tribute to America’s Golden Girl (NBC)
8:00 p.m.: 8.6/13 (#1)
8:30 p.m.: 9.3/13 (#1)
9:00 p.m.: 9.5/14 (#1)

Next was the series premiere/preview of Betty White’s Off Their Rockers, a hidden-camera half-hour, at an also first-place 7.6/11 at 9:30 p.m. Needless to say, this was a season high for NBC in the Monday 8-10 p.m. block. The morale of the story: we all love Betty White. Happy Birthday, Betty!

Despite the improved lead-in support, NBC newsmagazine Rock Center With Brian Williams still finished a distant third at 10 p.m., with a 3.8/ 7. As a reminder, Rock Center moves into the Wednesday 9 p.m. hour (out of sitcom Are You There, Chelsea?) on February 8.

In other series-premiere news, a two-hour installment of drama Alcatraz on Fox was clearly sampled at a 6.8/10 in the overnights from 8-10 p.m. Comparably, Alcatraz beat the two-hour debut of former occupant Terra Nova (6.4/ 9 on Sept. 26) by six percent. Consistency in each of the four half-hours means viewers, apparently, were happy with what they saw. Take a look:

Alcatraz (Fox)
8:00 p.m.: 6.9/10 (#2)
8:30 p.m.: 6.9/10 (#3)
9:00 p.m.: 6.8/10 (#3)
9:30 p.m.: 6.6/10 (#3)

Despite facing this increased competition, CBS performed admirably with its combination of How I Met Your Mother (#3: 6.6/10), 2 Broke Girls (#2: 7.4/11), Two and a Half Men (#2: 8.5/12), Mike & Molly (#2: 7.3/11) and Hawaii Five-O (#1: 7.0/11). And ABC was on the map, meanwhile, with two more hours of The Bachelor (#4: 5.4/ 8 from 8-10 p.m.) and Castle (#2: 6.8/11 at 10 p.m.). The morale of this story: there is plenty of room for four different networks to succeed on one evening.

Last, and very least, was The CW’s line-up of tired Gossip Girl (#5: 1.1/2), which really should conclude this season, and a repeat of freshman drama Hart of Dixie (#5: 0.6/ 1).

Source: Nielsen Media Research data

Source: Marc Berman@TVMediaInsights