Primetime TV Ratings - Part III (2008-09 Season)

[actionjackson29]

I love Scrubs and am glad that ABC picked it up this season. But, it still baffles me why they did it for a show that never got good ratings and is getting its worst right now.

[GizmoDVD]

Originally Posted by actionjackson29

I love Scrubs and am glad that ABC picked it up this season. But, it still baffles me why they did it for a show that never got good ratings and is getting its worst right now.

Several reason.

1. ABC produces it which means its a cheap show for them
2. Bill Lawrence is BFFs with the ABC head honcho
3. ABC needed a 30 min filler

[RichC2]

Scrubs is more popular in syndication than in first run, if ABC could squeeze an extra season or two out of it that means more $$ for them. It isn't exactly a high budget show.

[sb5]

Also, I read it has great DVD sales, thus having another season on the shelf (along with the aforementioned syndication for another year) will ultimately make it worthwhile money-wise.

[Superman07]

Hopefully low numbers for the Unusuals (Awfuls?), and relatively high numbers for Castle means we'll get more Castle next season.

[nateman]

Thursday 04/23/09

-CSI (CBS) 14.35m
-Grey's Anatomy (ABC) 13.22m
-Survivor: Tocantins (CBS) 11.32m
-Private Practice (ABC) 9.23m
-Bones (FOX) 8.22m
-Southland (NBC) 8.03m
-Harper's Island (CBS) 7.48m
-The Office (NBC) 7.21m
-Hell's Kitchen (FOX) 6.85m
-30 Rock (NBC) 6.35m
-My Name is Earl (NBC) 5.50m
-Parks and Recreation (NBC) 5.23m
-Grey's Anatomy (R) (ABC) 5.12m
-Smallville (CW) 3.05m
-Supernatural (CW) 2.76m

[nateman]

Friday 04/24/09

-Ghost Whisperer (CBS) 9.15m
-Numb3rs (CBS) 8.84m
-Flashpoint (CBS) 8.18m
-20/20 (ABC) 6.63m
-Dateline (NBC) 4.80m
-Wife Swap (ABC) 3.95m
-Howie Do It (2 episodes) (NBC) 3.29m
-Prison Break (FOX) 3.05m
-Dollhouse (FOX) 2.99m
-The Game (CW) 1.89m
-Everybody Hates Chris (CW) 1.79m
-America's Next Top Model (R) (CW) 1.28m

[RichC2]

Well I guess that solidifies Dollhouse's fate. < 3m? Ouch.

[DJariya]

Really? Prison Break fans still aren't watching or don't know it's on Friday?

[actionjackson29]

Originally Posted by nateman

Thursday 04/23/09

-CSI (CBS) 14.35m
-Grey's Anatomy (ABC) 13.22m
-Survivor: Tocantins (CBS) 11.32m
-Private Practice (ABC) 9.23m
-Bones (FOX) 8.22m
-Southland (NBC) 8.03m
-Harper's Island (CBS) 7.48m
-The Office (NBC) 7.21m
-Hell's Kitchen (FOX) 6.85m
-30 Rock (NBC) 6.35m
-My Name is Earl (NBC) 5.50m
-Parks and Recreation (NBC) 5.23m
-Grey's Anatomy (R) (ABC) 5.12m
-Smallville (CW) 3.05m
-Supernatural (CW) 2.76m

It looks like almost all these shows ratings are down a little.

[nateman]

Saturday 04/25/09

-48 Hours Mystery (CBS) 5.95m
-Streisand: In Concert (CBS) 4.98m
-Cops (FOX) 4.66m
-CSI: Miami (R) (CBS) 4.56m
-Law & Order (R) (NBC) 4.55m
-America's Most Wanted (FOX) 4.50m
-Law & Order: SVU (R) (NBC) 3.22m
-Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (R) (ABC) 3.22m
-Southland (R) (NBC) 2.79m

[nateman]

Originally Posted by actionjackson29

It looks like almost all these shows ratings are down a little.

The numbers are definitely down. The same date last year (04/23/08) CSI had 16.74m and Grey's Anatomy had 16.02m viewers.

At the beginning of last season CSI was averaging 19.63m and Grey's Anatomy was averaging 18.65m viewers.

[Patman]

Can we still blame the strike for the lower ratings in general this year?

[mrpayroll]

Originally Posted by Patman

Can we still blame the strike for the lower ratings in general this year?

I think a lot of people found alternatives and/or just stop giving a damn about the shows they use to watch.

Chris

[DJariya]

Originally Posted by mrpayroll

I think a lot of people found alternatives and/or just stop giving a damn about the shows they use to watch.

Chris

Yeah I agree, I think the days of shows being in the 20-25M a week range are done. I think the writer's strike just destroyed the momentum alot of these shows once had.

[RichC2]

I think it's a mix of DVR, scheduling and just general loss of interest.

[GizmoDVD]

Originally Posted by mrpayroll

I think a lot of people found alternatives and/or just stop giving a damn about the shows they use to watch.

Chris

Almost every Freshman show last year has been, or will be canceled.

Pushing Daisies, Eli Stone, Dirty Sexy Money, Terminator TSCC, Chuck (?)...sigh.

[nateman]

Sunday 04/26/09

-Desperate Housewives (ABC) 13.51m
-Cold Case (CBS) 10.48m
-60 Minutes (CBS) 10.38m
-The Amazing Race (CBS) 10.38m
-Brothers & Sisters (ABC) 9.40m
-The Unit (CBS) 8.87m
-Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (ABC) 8.71m
-Celebrity Apprentice (NBC) 8.17m
-America's Funniest Home Videos (ABC) 7.58m
-Family Guy (FOX) 6.80m
-The Simpsons (FOX) 5.94m
-American Dad (FOX) 5.15m
-Dateline (NBC) 5.13m
-Sit Down, Shut Up (FOX) 4.20m
-King of the Hill (250th episode) (FOX) 2.86m
-American Dad (R) (FOX) 2.17m
-Four Weddings and a Funeral (R) (CW) 1.19m
-Jericho (R) (CW) 630,000

[Superman07]

Guess we wait unitl tomorrow to find how Chuck's finale did.

Edit: Check that -

The season finale of Chuck scored a 2.3 rating with adults 18-49 and 6.11 million viewers overall. The season finale of Heroes pulled a 3.0 adults 18-49 rating and 6.39 million viewers.

[RichC2]

Originally Posted by Superman07

Guess we wait unitl tomorrow to find how Chuck's finale did.

Edit: Check that -

That's reasonably solid for Chuck.

[nateman]

Monday 04/27/09

-Dancing With the Stars (ABC) 19.09m
-Two and a Half Men (CBS) 14.09m
-CSI: Miami (CBS) 11.98m
-House (FOX) 11.36m
-Rules of Engagement (CBS) 11.29m
-24 (FOX) 10.56m
-Surviving Suburbia (ABC) 9.91m
-The Big Bang Theory (CBS) 9.31m
-How I Met Your Mother (CBS) 8.87m
-Castle (ABC) 8.38m
-Medium (NBC) 6.72m
-Heroes (season finale) (NBC) 6.39m
-Chuck (season finale (NBC) 6.11m
-One Tree Hill (CW) 2.24m
-Gossip Girl (CW) 2.02m

[nateman]

Tuesday 04/28/09

-American Idol (FOX) 22.54m
-The Mentalist (CBS) 16.90m
-NCIS (CBS) 16.32m
-Dancing With the Stars Results Show (ABC) 14.27m
-Without a Trace (CBS) 12.35m
-Fringe (FOX) 10.61m
-Law & Order: SVU (NBC) 10.50m
-The Biggest Loser (NBC) 8.35m
-Cupid (ABC) 6.16m
-According to Jim (2 episodes) (ABC) 3.57m
-Reaper (CW) 1.82m


Wednesday 04/29/09

-American Idol (FOX) 21.85m
-Presidential News Conference (NBC (6.68m), ABC (6.12m), CBS (6.01m)) 18.81m
-Criminal Minds (CBS) 13.27m
-CSI: NY (CBS) 12.47m
-Lost (ABC) 8.81m
-Lie to Me (FOX) 7.88m
-Law & Order (NBC) 7.69m
-The Unusuals (ABC) 5.08m
-Law & Order: SVU (R) (NBC) 4.81m
-America's Next Top Model (CW) 4.00m
-90210 (R) (CW) 1.25m

[nateman]

Thursday 04/30/09

-CSI (CBS) 15.30m
-Grey's Anatomy (ABC) 13.94m
-Survivor: Tocantins (CBS) 11.73m
-Criminal Minds (R) (CBS) 10.33m
-Private Practice (season finale) (ABC) 9.85m
-Bones (FOX) 8.83m
-The Office (NBC) 7.31m
-Hell's Kitchen (FOX) 6.97m
-Ugly Betty (ABC) 6.81m
-Southland (NBC) 6.68m
-30 Rock (NBC) 5.97m
-Parks and Recreation (NBC) 5.29m
-My Name is Earl (NBC) 5.27m
-Smallville (CW) 3.26m
-Supernatural (CW) 2.96m

[mrpayroll]

I think it's very obvious that people in huge numbers are giving up on their longtime favorite shows. It was just a couple of years ago that CSI and Grey's Anatomy both averaged around 20M viewers.

Maybe they are not giving up entirely. The lower #'s could be because of DVR's and sites like Hulu, etc. People are watching the shows when the want to.

Shows like Survivor I don't think have dropped off as dramatically because it's a show that is best watched live because of the live drama at the end. People like me want to be able to go online here on TV Talk and read everyone's comments about what happened at Tribal Council.

Chris

[nateman]

Originally Posted by mrpayroll

I think it's very obvious that people in huge numbers are giving up on their longtime favorite shows. It was just a couple of years ago that CSI and Grey's Anatomy both averaged around 20M viewers.

Maybe they are not giving up entirely. The lower #'s could be because of DVR's and sites like Hulu, etc. People are watching the shows when the want to.

I think the lower #'s might be because more people are recording shows on their DVR, watching them online at Hulu or wait until the DVD comes out and you don't have to watch any commercials and you can watch as many episodes as you want and you can watch them whenever you want.

Originally Posted by mrpayroll

Shows like Survivor I don't think have dropped off as dramatically because it's a show that is best watched live because of the live drama at the end. People like me want to be able to go online here on TV Talk and read everyone's comments about what happened at Tribal Council.

Chris

Although Survivor has dipped in the rating a bit I don't think they will lose #'s like CSI and Grey's Anatomy has. DVD releases of reality shows don't sell well and people want to watch it pretty much the night it's on because it could get spoiled for you the next day. More people are probably using their DVR and watch it later in the evening (like I do).