Broadcast TV Ratings for Thursday, October 11, 2007

CBS and ABC share leadership at the top, with CBS taking a first place finish among households and viewers, but ABC managed to take first place on the evening among adults 18-49.

The battle is still incredibly competitive between Grey’s Anatomy and CSI at 9:00 p.m., with ‘Grey’s’ getting ever so closer to passing up CSI among households and viewers, and continuing to easily better the show among adults 18-49.

Without A Trace, strangely, isn’t doing as well out of CSI as it once did, falling to second place on the hour among adults 18-49, losing to newcomer Big Shots, which had over 4 million less viewers.

NBC saw another solid (among adults 18-49) outing from its comedies, however 30 Rock saw a bit of a slide over last week’s much improved season premiere.

Over at The CW, the network saw improved performances for both Smallville, and more importantly, Supernatural, which improved a modest amount over last week’s season premiere.

Full analysis after the jump.

CBS finished in first place for the evening with a 9.9/16 household rating/share and 15.75 million viewers, but was second among adults 18-49 with a 4.7/12 rating/share.

• Last Week:
  • 11.3/18 HH rating [#1]
  • 18.58M viewers [#1]
  • 5.8/15 A18-49 rating [#1]

• 8:00 p.m.: Survivor: China (8.6/14 HH rating/share, 14.00M viewers, 4.5/13 A18-49 rating/share) began the evening for CBS in a good position. Many have said that the show isn’t as strong as it once was, and though that is true, that doesn’t mean it’s still not performing well. It continues to win the timeslot, and by a comfortable margin.
  • Week-to-week numbers:
    • Households – 8.5/14 to 8.6/14
    • Viewers – 14.14M to 14.00M
    • Adults 18-49 – 4.5/13 to 4.5/13
• 9:00 p.m.: CSI (12.3/19 HH rating/share, 19.63M viewers, 6.0/14 A18-49 rating/share) was once again the most-watched show on the evening among households and viewers, but it’s lead on Grey’s Anatomy has slipped and if the trend continues, Grey’s Anatomy will likely pass it in overall audience within a few weeks.
  • Week-to-week numbers:
    • Households – 12.8/19 to 12.3/19
    • Viewers – 20.97M to 19.63M
    • Adults 18-49 – 6.4/16 to 6.0/14
• 10:00 p.m.: Without A Trace (8.9/15 HH rating/share, 13.63M viewers, 3.6/10 A18-49 rating/share) faded to second place in the time period among adults 18-49. For whatever reason, the show is not faring as well in this time period as it once did before the move to Sunday nights. Retention from it’s lead-in is not where it should be at 72% among households, 69% among viewers and only 60% in the demo.
  • Week-to-week numbers:
    • Households – 9.3/16 to 8.9/15
    • Viewers – 14.20M to 13.63M
    • Adults 18-49 – 3.7/10 to 3.6/10

ABC followed in second place for the evening with a 8.5/14 household rating/share and 12.75 million viewers, but managed to push past CBS for first place among adults 18-49 with a 4.7/12 rating/share.

• Last Week:
  • 8.3/13 HH rating [#2]
  • 12.19M viewers [#2]
  • 4.8/13 A18-49 rating [#2]

• 8:00 p.m.: Ugly Betty (7.1/11 HH rating/share, 10.35M viewers, 3.5/10 A18-49 rating/share) showed some improvement from the week prior, nothing major, but it’s worth noting the week-to-week increases.
  • Week-to-week numbers:
    • Households – 6.7/11 to 7.1/11
    • Viewers – 9.90M to 10.35M
    • Adults 18-49 – 3.4/10 to 3.5/10
• 9:00 p.m.: Grey’s Anatomy (12.1/18 HH rating/share, 18.65M viewers, 7.7/18 A18-49 rating/share) dropped a little among households, but showed some growth among viewers and adults 18-49. Considering this show is growing while CSI is losing a little steam, I think it’s possible that ‘Grey’s’ will pass up CSI in the coming weeks. One thing is for sure, the 9:00 p.m. timeperiod is a big draw on this evening, with multiple shows doing well.
  • Week-to-week numbers:
    • Households – 12.5/19 to 12.1/18
    • Viewers – 18.51M to 18.65M
    • Adults 18-49 – 7.6/19 to 7.7/18
• 10:00 p.m.: Big Shots (6.3/11 HH rating/share, 9.26M viewers, 3.9/11 A18-49 rating/share) rebounded a bit after last week’s drop, growing by 1.03 million/13% among viewers, 11% among households and 8% among adults 18-49. Another positive was that it won the time period among the demo, passing up Without A Trace, and holding off the fading ER. But there are some negatives that must be noted. Retention from it’s lead-in is quite horrible, and since Grey’s ran three minutes into the show, ratings are likely to drop once finals are released. Let’s get back to those retention rates: 52% among households, 50% among viewers and 51% among adults 18-49. Considering overall numbers are not too poor (especially among key demos) look for ABC to move the show to another night before they cancel it.
  • Week-to-week numbers:
    • Households – 5.7/10 to 6.3/11
    • Viewers – 8.23M to 9.26M
    • Adults 18-49 – 3.6/10 to 3.9/11

NBC finished in third place for the evening with a 5.2/8 household rating/share, 8.17 million viewers and a 3.7/10 rating/share among adults 18-49.

• Last Week:
  • 5.3/9 HH rating [#3]
  • 8.39M viewers [#3]
  • 3.8/10 A18-49 rating [#3]

• 8:00 & 8:30 p.m.: My Name Is Earl (5.0/8 HH rating/share, 7.74M viewers, 3.1/9 A18-49 rating/share) and 30 Rock (4.2/7 HH rating/share, 6.61M viewers, 3.0/8 A18-49 rating/share) posted minimal week-to-week losses. 30 Rock was off the most between the two shows, but it had excellent retention from its lead-in, especially among adults 18-49 (97%). And I really thought this episode was a bit of a letdown after last week’s season opener. Hopefully they don’t slide any further.
  • Week-to-week numbers (My Name Is Earl):
    • Households – 5.1/8 to 5.0/8
    • Viewers – 7.98M to 7.74M
    • Adults 18-49 – 3.3/10 to 3.1/9
  • Week-to-week numbers (30 Rock):
    • Households – 4.7/7 to 4.2/7
    • Viewers – 7.33M to 6.61M
    • Adults 18-49 – 3.4/9 to 3.0/8
• 9:00 p.m.: Despite its reduced lead-in, The Office (5.2/8 HH rating/share, 8.91M viewers, 4.7/11 A18-49 rating/share) showed no ill effects. The show was up a tad from the weak prior, and continues to perform exceptionally well among the key A18-49 demo. Once again, nearly 70% of the audience fell within the demo. Those numbers more than make up for the lower audience level of the show. And how about that episode last night? This show is incredibly funny, and those openers are just getting better and better.
  • Week-to-week numbers:
    • Households – 5.0/8 to 5.2/8
    • Viewers – 8.57M to 8.91M
    • Adults 18-49 – 4.6/11 to 4.7/11
• 10:00 p.m.: ER (5.7/10 HH rating/share, 8.41M viewers, 3.4/9 A18-49 rating/share) lost more audience. If this was any other show, I wouldn’t say too much about it, but given it use to consistently pull 20+ million viewers, these numbers are extremely weak. This’ll probably be it’s last year.
  • Week-to-week numbers:
    • Households – 6.1/10 to 5.7/10
    • Viewers – 9.09M to 8.41M
    • Adults 18-49 – 3.7/10 to 3.4/9

Fox followed in fourth place for the evening with a 4.6/7 household rating/share, 6.88 million viewers and a 2.1/5 among adults 18-49 rating/share.

• Last Week:
  • 4.5/7 HH rating [#4]
  • 7.15M viewers [#4]
  • 2.1/5 A18-49 rating [#4]

• Both Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader? and Don’t Forget the Lyrics! both remained consistent from the week prior. There was only very minor audience loss from the week prior. These are by no means great numbers, but the ratings are an improvement over what FOX has programmed on Thursday’s over the past few years.
• 8:00 p.m.: Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader? (5.4/9 HH rating/share, 8.16M viewers, 2.3/7 A18-49 rating/share).
  • Week-to-week numbers:
    • Households – 5.4/9 to 5.4/9
    • Viewers – 8.63M to 8.16M
    • Adults 18-49 – 2.4/7 to 2.3/7
• 9:00 p.m.: Don’t Forget the Lyrics! (3.9/6 HH rating/share, 5.60M viewers, 1.8/4 A18-49 rating/share).
  • Week-to-week numbers:
    • Households – 3.6/5 to 3.9/6
    • Viewers – 5.74M to 5.60M
    • Adults 18-49 – 1.8/4 to 1.8/4

The CW was left then in fifth place earning a 2.4/4 household rating/share, 3.99 million viewers and a 1.5/4 rating/share among adults 18-49.

• Last Week:
  • 2.4/4 HH rating [#5]
  • 3.76M viewers [#5]
  • 1.5/4 A18-49 rating [#5]

• 8:00 p.m.: Smallville (2.9/5 HH rating/share, 4.75M viewers, 1.9/5 A18-49 rating/share) showed some improvement from the week prior, but the real growth came from its lead-out Supernatural…
  • Week-to-week numbers:
    • Households – 2.9/5 to 2.9/5
    • Viewers – 4.59M to 4.75M
    • Adults 18-49 – 1.9/5 to 1.9/5
• 8:00 p.m.: Supernatural (2.0/3 HH rating/share, 3.23M viewers, 1.2/3 A18-49 rating/share), in the face of continued strong competition in the hour, grew by 260,000/9% among viewers. I’m of the opinion that The CW needs to strive for all its shows to average at least 3 million viewers, so when they have an evening approaching an average of nearly 4 million, that’s good news.
  • Week-to-week numbers:
    • Households – 2.0/3 to 2.0/3
    • Viewers – 2.97M to 3.23M
    • Adults 18-49 – 1.2/3 to 1.2/3

GO TO WEEKLY RATINGS PAGE

Note: Network average numbers from the week prior are based on fast national data. Comparison’s from the week prior (or episode-to-episode, etc.) on specific shows are based on final national data. Ratings for the current day are based on fast nationals. (Expect all three scenarios to be the case at all times, unless otherwise noted). The final rating for first-run episodes that aired this evening will be reported the following week. So for example, the final rating for tonights episode of “CSI” will be reported in next weeks report for Thursday, October 18, 2007.

Also keep in mind that because these are fast national ratings, numbers may increase or decrease when the final nationals are released.

Source: Fast/Final National Ratings Data from Nielsen Media Research and PIFeedback