Ratings News - 2nd October 2012 *Full Tables Posted*

Metered Market Monday Ratings
ABC Wins; NBC Most Improved

Monday 10/01/12
Metered Market Results

Household
Rating/Share
ABC 8.8/13
NBC 7.2/11
CBS 5.4/ 8
Fox 3.7/ 5
CW 0.9/ 1

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-Percent Change from the Year-Ago Evening (on 10/03/11)
NBC: +148, ABC: -17, CBS: -31, Fox: -32, Fox: -41

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-Winners:
Dancing With the Stars (ABC), The Voice (NBC)

-Honorable Mention:
Castle (ABC), Revolution (NBC)

-Down But Not Out:
How I Met Your Mother (CBS), 2 Broke Girls (CBS), Mike & Molly (CBS)

-Losers (excluding repeats):
Partners (CBS), IHeartradio Music Festival (CW), The Mob Doctor (Fox)

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-Ratings Breakdown:
The tide has shifted on Monday and it is in NBC’s direction. ABC still leads in the overnights, but year-to-year the network slipped by 17 percent. NBC is the network to beat among adults 18-49 (and other young adult demos) thanks to bona fide hit The Voice. CBS and Fox, meanwhile, dipped by a steep 31 and 32 percent, respectively, from one year earlier. And two of the Monday freshman series, Partners on CBS and The Mob Doctor on Fox, have sprung a leak.

In the 8-10 p.m. battle of Dancing With the Stars on ABC versus The Voice on NBC, the All-Star edition Dancing still reigned supreme in the overnights with a 9.6 rating/14 share. The Voice was second with a healthy 8.1/12, and that 8.1 overnight household rating was up by a whopping 170 percent from The Sing Off one year earlier (3.0/ 4 on 10/03/11). Dancing With the Stars dropped by 19 percent (versus an 11.8/18 on 10/03/11), and both reality/competitions qualify as “winners.” The Voice will, no doubt, lead the evening in the key demos.

Castle on ABC at 10 p.m. finished first with a 7.2/12, which was 10 percent below the year-ago evening (8.0/13 on 10/03/11) with retention of 77 percent out of the 9:30 p.m. portion of Dancing With the Stars (9.4/14). Week three of competing The Revolution on NBC tied Hawaii Five-O for second (each with a 5.4/ 9). And that, comparably, slipped by 14 percent from week two (three-week overnight track: 7.9/13 – 6.3/11 – 5.4/ 9), with retention of 65 percent from the 9:30 p.m. portion of The Voice (8.3/12). But Revolution still more than doubled short-lived year-ago occupant The Playboy Club (2.6/ 4 on 10/03/11) thanks to the lead-in support. And it will win the time period among adults 18-49.

If Revolution can settle in now, NBC definitely has something. If it keeps dropping, Smash is waiting in the midseason wings.

CBS, no doubt, has miscalculated Monday this season by moving Two and a Half Men off the night, introducing Partner and shifting sophomore 2 Broke Girls to 9 p.m. How I Met Your Mother was on the 8 p.m. map with a 5.7/ 9 in the overnights (#3: -16 percent from the year-ago evening). And the erosion, of course, stems from the added competition from The Voice on NBC. But week two of lead-out Partners is a real problem at a fourth-place 4.0/ 6 at 8:30 p.m. (which slipped by 11 percent from the opening 4.5/ 7 on Sept. 24). While no one expected Partners to match former time period levels of 2 Broke Girls, year-to-year erosion of 47 percent (versus a 7.5/11 for 2 Broke Girls on 10/03/11) is too steep. While 2 Broke Girls was building from How I Met Your Mother last season, last night Partners dropped by 30 percent.

2 Broke Girls at 9 p.m. did perk up to a 6.1/ 9 -- 52 percent above Partners. But that was 46 percent below Two and a Half Men one year earlier (11.3/16 on 10/03/11, which was still inflated by the then recent arrival of Ashton Kutcher). Mike & Molly followed with a 5.8/ 8 at 9:30 p.m., which held 95 percent of the 2 Broke Girls lead-in. And aforementioned Hawaii Five-O tied Revolution on NBC for second with a 5.4/ 9. Year-to-year, Hawaii Five-O slipped by 21 percent (versus a 6.8/11 on 10/03/11). Needless to say, CBS is opening the week on a serious down trending note.

Over at fading Fox, Bones at 8 p.m. scored a respectable fourth-place 4.8/ 7 in the overnights at 8 p.m. (which was down by 19 percent from the 5.9/ 9 for Terra Nova one year earlier). But week three of The Mob Doctor remained lost at 2.6/ 4 (#4) at 9 p.m., which was down by 62 percent from former time period occupant House (6.8/10 on 10/03/11). Three-week overnight track for The Mob Doctor: 3.7/ 6 – 2.7/ 4 – 2.6/ 4). Tick, tock…the cancellation clock is ticking.

Last was The CW, which scored a mere 0.9/ 1 in the overnights for two-hour special, IHeartradio Music Festival. Next Monday on The CW will feature the returns of 90210 and the final season of Gossip Girl.

Source: Nielsen Media Research

Source: Marc Berman@TVMediaInsights