Friday night hour by hour:

8 p.m.

CBS: "Ghost Whisperer" (8.6 million viewers, 5.3/10 households)
NBC: "Law & Order" (7.2 million, 4.7/9)
ABC: "FlashForward" (3.1 million, 2.2/4)
FOX: "Brothers" (2.3 million, 1.5/3)/"'Til Death" (2.3 million, 1.5/3)
The CW: "Smallville" (2.3 million, 1.4/3)

18-49 leader: "Ghost Whisperer" at 2.1.

9 p.m.

CBS: "Medium" (8.3 million, 5.2/9)
NBC: "Dateline: NBC" (7 million, 4.9/9)
ABC: "Modern Family" (2.9 million, 1.9/3)/"The Middle" (2.7 million, 1.8/3)
FOX: "Dollhouse" (2.2 million, 1.4/3)
The CW: "America's Next Top Model" (1.1 million, 0.8/1)

18-49 leader: "Medium" (1.9)

10 p.m.

CBS: "Numb3rs" (7.1 million, 4.7/9)
ABC: "20/20" (6 million, 4.3/8)
NBC: "The Jay Leno Show" (5.3 million, 3.6/7)

18-49 leader: "Numb3rs" (1.6)

Sunday hour-by-hour:

7 p.m.

CBS: NFL overrun/"60 Minutes" (20.7 million viewers, 12.4/21 households)
ABC: NASCAR/"America's Funniest Home Videos" (8.2 million, 4.8/8)
NBC: "Football Night in America" (6.5 million, 4.0/7)
FOX: "Brothers" rerun (2.9 million, 1.9/3)/"The Cleveland Show" rerun (3.8 million, 2.4/4)

18-49 leader: NFL/"60 Minutes" (6.6)

8 p.m.

CBS: "60 Minutes"/"The Amazing Race" (13.1 million, 8.0/13)
NBC: "Sunday Night Football" - Colts at Titans (13 million, 7.8/12)
ABC: "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" (9.8 million, 5.8/9)
FOX: "The Simpsons" (7.5 million, 4.3/7)/"The Cleveland Show" (7.8 million, 4.4/7)

18-49 leader: "Sunday Night Football" (4.9)

9 p.m.

NBC: "Sunday Night Football" (15.7 million, 9.5/14)
ABC: "Desperate Housewives" (13.1 million, 8.0/12)
CBS: "The Amazing Race"/"Three Rivers" (9 million, 5.4/8)
FOX: "Family Guy" (8.9 million, 5.1/8)/"American Dad" (6.7 million, 3.9/6)

18-49 leader: "Sunday Night Football" (5.9)

10 p.m.

NBC: "Sunday Night Football" (12.8 million, 7.9/13)
ABC: "Brothers & Sisters" (9 million, 5.9/10)
CBS: "Three Rivers"/"Cold Case" (7.3 million, 4.7/8)

18-49 leader: "Sunday Night Football" (5.0)

TV ratings: 'Dancing,' 'Big Bang' and 'House' top Monday
By Rick Porter

October 13, 2009 8:38 AM

Fast National ratings for Monday, Oct. 12, 2009

"Dancing with the Stars" gave ABC Monday's biggest overall audience, and CBS' comedies, particularly "The Big Bang Theory," helped the Eye score a demographic win for the night.

ABC snagged 14.3 million viewers and a 9.3 rating/14 share in households for the night. CBS (11.5 million, 7.2/11) came in second, beating out FOX (10.4 million, 6.1/9). NBC continued its struggles, averaging just 5.4 million viewers and a 3.4/5. The CW drew 2.6 million people and a 1.6/2.

CBS (4.0) narrowly beat FOX (3.9) for the lead among adults 18-49. ABC finished third in the demo with a 3.1. NBC scored a 1.9 and The CW a 1.2.

Monday's hour-by-hour breakdown:

8 p.m.

ABC: "Dancing with the Stars" (16.1 million viewers, 10.4/16 households)
FOX: "House" (12.9 million, 7.5/11)
CBS: "How I Met Your Mother" (8.6 million, 5.4/8)/"Accidentally on Purpose" (7.8 million, 4.9/7)
NBC: "Heroes" (5.6 million, 3.5/5)
The CW: "One Tree Hill" (2.6 million, 1.6/2)

18-49 leader: "House" (5.0)

9 p.m.

ABC: "Dancing with the Stars" (16.8 million, 10.9/16)
CBS: "Two and a Half Men" (13.3 million, 8.2/12)/"The Big Bang Theory" (12.8 million, 7.9/12)
FOX: "Lie to Me" (7.8 million, 4.6/7)
NBC: "Trauma" (5.5 million, 3.5/6)
The CW: "Gossip Girl" (2.5 million, 1.6/2)

18-49 leader: "The Big Bang Theory" (4.7)

10 p.m.

CBS: "CSI: Miami" (12.9 million, 8.3/14)
ABC: "Castle" (10 million, 6.7/11)
NBC: "The Jay Leno Show" (4.9 million, 3.2/5)

18-49 leader: "CSI: Miami" (4.0)

Ratings information includes live and same-day DVR viewing. All numbers are preliminary and subject to change.

Posted: Mon., Oct. 12, 2009, 4:39pm PT

Audiences dive into the DVR
Top TV dramas draw the most playback

By RICK KISSELL

The rich got richer in DVR playback numbers released Monday, which paint a picture of auds watching more programs on their own timetables.

Top dramas like "Grey's Anatomy" and "House" exhibited the biggest growth in premiere-week Nielsens that include all same-week DVR playback, but laffers like "The Big Bang Theory" and "The Office" also shot up. And overall, the networks saw a noticeable rise in same-week playback vs. the kickoff frame last year.

NBC, meanwhile, benefited the least in premiere-week DVR lift as its top show, "Sunday Night Football," and its nightly "The Jay Leno Show" had relatively little traction in DVR playback.

Thursday remains the night where DVRs get their biggest workout, as seven of the biggest 18-49 gainers in premiere week -- across each of the major networks -- aired on the night.

Looking at the 18-49 numbers, ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and the CW averaged a combined 15.2 rating in "live plus 7-day" DVR playback during the week of Sept. 21-27 -- a lift of 1.9 ratings points from the 13.3 total originally reported for the "live plus same-day" Nielsens a couple of weeks ago (Daily Variety, Sept. 23). Last year during premiere week, the growth from "same-day" to "7-day" was just 1.3 ratings points (14.5 to 15.8).

This kind of jump was not unexpected, as the national penetration of digital video recorders among adults 18-49 is now 38%, up from 33% last year at this time.

The ratings growth from "live plus same-day" to "live plus 7" isn't necessarily a good thing for a network's bottom line.

While a high rating in DVR playback is a good indication of a show's overall popularity, it isn't a viable sales measurement. The nets sell ad time based on the "C3" metric (the number of viewers who watch commercials in three-day DVR playback), so they would prefer auds watch a program as close to its skedded timeslot as possible.

The nets aren't eager to release C3 numbers, but here are some of the Nielsen highlights from the first-week "live plus 7" DVR playback race:

The two-hour preems of ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" (up by 1.5 ratings points in adults 18-49) and Fox's "House" (up 1.4) were easily the biggest demo gainers, but CBS dramas "CSI" and "The Mentalist" as well as NBC comedy "The Office" grew by 1 full point. Overall, CBS claimed 13 programs that grew by at least half a ratings point from "same day" to "7-day" -- more than any other net.

Among new shows, the biggest gains in premiere week came from ABC's "FlashForward" (0.9 ratings point), Fox's "Glee" (0.8 gain for its third episode) and NBC's "Community" (0.7 gain for its second episode).

In total viewers, ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" (17.06 million to 20.03 million) and CBS' "The Mentalist" (15.09 million to 18.04 million) gained the most, nearly 3 million viewers, but Fox's "House" (17.27m vs. 20.14m) and CBS' "CSI" (16.04m vs. 18.26m) also tacked on more than 2 million.

Shows with a sci-fi tinge tend to be big gainers, with NBC's "Heroes" and Fox's "Fringe" shooting up by 0.9 ratings points and ABC's "FlashForward" by 0.8.

On the opposite end of the spectrum are such sports shows as NBC's "Sunday Night Football," and ABC's "Saturday Night Football" and newsmags "60 Minutes," "20/20" and "48 Hours" that either remained at their initial rating or grew by just a tick.

Similarly, NBC's "Jay Leno Show," which auds know they can watch any weeknight, doesn't see much playback, rising by just 0.1 from "same-day" to "7-day."

Struggling first-year shows "Brothers" on Fox and the since-canceled "The Beautiful Life" on CW failed to see any ratings uptick -- another sign that auds just aren't that into them. And another rookie that has failed to do much, CBS half-hour "Accidentally on Purpose," grew by just 0.2 ratings points.

On a network basis, Fox saw the biggest jump in 18-49 (0.6 ratings points), followed by ABC and CBS (0.4), CW (0.3) and NBC (0.2). Fox ended up tying ABC for the lead (3.7 rating), with CBS close behind (3.6) and NBC a now-distant fourth (2.9).

And in total viewers, winner CBS went from 11.8 million to 13.0 million, while second-place ABC rose from 11.1 million to 12.0 million.

CW is the biggest gainer on a percentage basis, as its 30% rise in 18-49 during premiere week (1.3 from 1.0) was larger than that of ABC, CBS or Fox (whose increases were between 12% and 19%).

The younger-skewing net's "Smallville" shot up 50% (1.5 from 1.0), and "90210" grew by 40% (1.4 from 1.0).

TV ratings: 'NCIS' and CBS rule another Tuesday
By Rick Porter

October 14, 2009 8:48 AM

Fast National ratings for Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2009

"NCIS" continued its dominance of Tuesday nights and led CBS to another big win in the ratings. Its spinoff, while still strong, is starting to taper off a little.

CBS easily won the night, scoring 16.2 million viewers and a 10.2 rating/16 share in households. ABC (8.8 million, 5.8/9) finished a distant second. FOX (8 million, 4.4/7) edged NBC (7.9 million, 4.9/8) for third. The CW drew 1.9 million viewers and a 1.3/2.

Thanks to the finale of "Hell's Kitchen," FOX led the adults 18-49 demographic with a 3.8 rating, topping CBS' 3.6. NBC came in third with a 2.9, followed by ABC, 2.2, and The CW, 1.0.

Tuesday hour by hour:

8 p.m.

CBS: "NCIS" (20.4 million viewers, 12.4/20 households)
NBC: "The Biggest Loser" (8.4 million, 5.2/8)
FOX: "Hell's Kitchen" season finale (7.7 million, 4.3/7)
ABC: "Shark Tank" (5.4 million, 3.6/6)
The CW: "90210" (2.4 million, 1.6/2)

18-49 leader: "NCIS" (4.4)

9 p.m.

CBS: "NCIS: Los Angeles" (15.3 million, 9.6/15)
ABC: "Dancing with the Stars" results (13.5 million, 8.8/14)
NBC: "The Biggest Loser" (9.5 million, 5.7/9)
FOX: "Hell's Kitchen" season finale (8.2 million, 4.6/7)
The CW: "Melrose Place" (1.4 million, 1.0/2)

18-49 leader: "Hell's Kitchen" (4.0)

10 p.m.

CBS: "The Good Wife" (12.8 million, 8.6/15)
ABC: "The Forgotten" (7.6 million, 5.0/9)
NBC: "The Jay Leno Show" (5.8 million, 3.8/7)

18-49 leader: "The Good Wife" (2.7)

Ratings information includes live and same-day DVR viewing. All numbers are preliminary and subject to change.

TV ratings: Crime pays for CBS Wednesday
By Rick Porter

October 15, 2009 8:52 AM

Fast National ratings for Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2009

CBS' crime dramas paved the way to a ratings win Wednesday night, while elsewhere ABC's 9 o'clock comedies rebounded a little from their numbers last week and NBC's "Law & Order: SVU" grabbed its biggest audience of the season.

CBS averaged 11.3 million viewers and a 7.2 rating/12 share in households for the night. NBC (7.4 million, 4.9/8) edged out FOX (7.3 million, 4.4/7) for second place. ABC came in fourth with 6.7 million viewers and a 4.4/7. The CW (2 million, 1.4/2) was, as usual, at the back of the pack.

FOX narrowly won the adults 18-49 demographic with a 3.1 rating, finishing just ahead of CBS' 3.0. ABC's 2.3 was good enough for third, followed by NBC, 2.1, and The CW, 0.9.

Wednesday night hour by hour:

8 p.m.

CBS: "The New Adventures of Old Christine" (7.5 million viewers, 4.9/8 households)/"Gary Unmarried" (7.4 million, 4.7/8)
NBC: "Mercy" (7.3 million, 4.7/8)
FOX: "So You Think You Can Dance" (7.1 million, 4.3/7)
ABC: "Hank" (6.2 million, 4.2/7)/"The Middle" (6.7 million, 4.3/7)
The CW: "America's Next Top Model" (3.1 million, 2.1/3)

18-49 leader: "So You Think You Can Dance" (2.8)

9 p.m.

CBS: "Criminal Minds" (13.4 million, 8.3/13)
NBC: "Law & Order: SVU" (8.8 million, 5.9/9)
ABC: "Modern Family" (9.3 million, 5.8/9)/"Cougar Town" (7.9 million, 5.1/8)
FOX: "Glee" (7.5 million, 4.5/7)
The CW: "Melrose Place" rerun (880,000, 0.6/1)

18-49 leader: "Criminal Minds" and "Modern Family" tied at 3.6

10 p.m.

CBS: "CSI: NY" (12.9 million, 8.5/15)
NBC: "The Jay Leno Show" (6.2 million, 4.0/7)
ABC: "Eastwick" (5.1 million, 3.6/6)

18-49 leader: "CSI: NY" (3.2)

Ratings information includes live and same-day DVR viewing. All numbers are preliminary and subject to change.