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closeFriday, Oct. 16, 2009
Thursday TV ratings: '30 Rock' doesn't rock
Robert Philpot
Haven't done one of these in a while, but with 30 Rock's belated premiere it's time to take another look at how fall shows are doing in the overnight ratings. Numbers are from Nielsen Media Research via Variety. Remarks, unless otherwise noted, are from me. All times are Central.
7 p.m.: CBS' Survivor: Samoa took the hour, both in 18-49 and in overall viewers (11.9 million). ABC's FlashForward was a strong second in both categories, with 9.1 million overall viewers. That was the same number of overall viewers Fox's Bones had, but it was third in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demo (hmm ... I just left that demo a couple of weeks ago. No wonder I feel less advertiser-coveted).
NBC's sitcom duo of Community (5.1 million) and Parks & Recreation (4.7 million) combined for fourth. The CW's Vampire Diaries (3.9 million) was a pretty close fifth to the NBC shows, considering that CW shows tend to be the lowest-rated, and the CW notes that Vampire continues to do well among the network's target teen and young-women audience, with numbers on par with its record-breaking (for the CW) premiere.
8 p.m.: In the continuing battle for Thursday supremacy, ABC's Grey's Anatomy won the night in the 18-49 demo, by a pretty convincing margin, over CBS' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Grey's had a 4.9 rating in the demo, compared with CSI's3.6). But CSI ruled in overall viewers, with 15.1 million to Grey's 13.6 million.
NBC's The Office continued to do well (for a scripted NBC show), actually doing better than CSI in the 18-49 demo with a 4.0 rating. But it was a distant third in overall viewers at 8 p.m., with 8.1 million. None of that helped the season premiere of 30 Rock, which dropped a big hunk of its Office lead-in in 18-49 and in overall viewers (6.3 million). Variety notes that 30 Rock was down from last year's season premiere. Backlash? Or just the lack of Oprah Winfrey?
Fox's Fringe was fourth (if you count the NBC sitcoms as one show) in the hour among the 18-49 demo and in overall viewers (6 million). The CW's Supernatural was fifth in the hour with an estimated 2.6 million viewers. The CW notes, however, that Supernatural is up week-to-week and year-to-year in key demos for the network. I'm not sure what this says about me, but I'd rather watch Supernatural, Fringe, The Office and 30 Rock than ratings megaliths Grey's Anatomy and CSI. Actually, I think I do know what it says about me. It says I'm a geek. Thursday's Supernatural was excellent, by the way, with the show's trademark mix of humor and creepiness at a peak.
9 p.m.: Riding a Grey's Anatomy lead-in -- and presenting a Grey's crossover episode -- ABC's Private Practice won the hour in 18-49. CBS' The Mentalist wasn't far behind, and won the hour in overall viewers, 14.4 million to Private Practice's 10.4 million. Note that The Mentalist did a better job of holding on to its lead-in than Private Practice did. The Jay Leno Show but on the night it was pretty close to NBC's sitcoms Community and Parks & Recreation in the 18-49 demo, and beat both in overall viewers with 5.2 million. NBC has a lot of patience with its sitcoms, and seems to have a lower standard for ratings success than other networks, but if this keeps up I'd be surprised to see these two sitcoms around past this season.
For Variety's ratings analysis, go here.
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