Broadcast TV Ratings for Tuesday, December 18, 2007

A close Tuesday night results in split victories for CBS and NBC, as CBS takes the overall audience win and NBC takes the A18-49 crown, easily, thanks to the season finale of The Biggest Loser.

In the game show vs. game show contest between ABC’s Duel and NBC’s Clash of the Choirs, ‘Choirs’ comes away with the victory.

My full analysis of the nights programs follows after the jump.

CBS finished in first place for the evening with a 6.7/11 household rating/share and 10.33 million viewers, while falling to third place among adults 18-49 with a 2.5/7 rating/share.

• Last Week:
  • 6.1/10 HH rating/share [#t1]
  • 9.20 viewers [#2]
  • 2.1/6 A18-49 rating/share [#4]

• 8:00 p.m.: A repeat of NCIS (8.3/14 HH rating/share, 13.04M viewers, 2.8/8 A18-49 rating/share) was the nights most-watched program. Quite amazing how strong CBS’s procedurals are.
• 9:00 p.m.: That led into a new episode of The Unit (6.8/11 HH rating/share, 10.76M viewers, 2.8/8 A18-49 rating/share) which took advantage of its strong repeat lead-in with a performance on par with its last newly aired episode. Noteworthy is that The Unit doesn’t appear to benefit all that much when it has an original lead-in, at least not when the lead-in is NCIS. The audience between these two shows must vary heavily for that to be the case. Regardless, this is good news because it shows that the series is not dependent on an original episode leading into it. I’d say that’s a good positive for the future of the series.
  • Episode-to-episode numbers (November 27):
    • Households – 6.6/10 to 6.8/11
    • Viewers – 10.56M to 10.76M
    • Adults 18-49 – 2.9/7 to 2.8/8
• 10:00 p.m.: Cane (4.9/8 HH rating/share, 7.19M viewers, 1.8/5 A18-49 rating/share), back to one-hour episodes after last week’s two-hour special, didn’t drop off too severely from that two-hour show. CBS must be hoping that it somehow hits it big, because it’s pretty surprisingly for them to be so willing to hold onto a weak performing show, especially one which rates so poorly among adults 18-49.
  • Week-to-week numbers (9:00-11:00 p.m.):
    • Households – 5.4/9 to 4.9/8
    • Viewers – 7.96M to 7.19M
    • Adults 18-49 – 2.0/5 to 1.8/5

NBC followed very closely behind in second place for the evening with a 6.5/11 household rating/share and 10.20 million viewers, but was a very strong first for the evening among adults 18-49 with a 3.9/11 rating/share.

• Last Week:
  • 6.1/10 HH rating/share [#t1]
  • 9.31M viewers [#1]
  • 3.0/8 A18-49 rating/share [#1]

• 8:00 p.m.: Another edition of Clash of the Choirs (5.2/9 HH rating/share, 7.73M viewers, 2.4/8 A18-49 rating/share) produced nearly identical numbers to the series premiere on Monday night. Though the time period was down heavily from the week prior when the network aired an episode of Deal or No Deal, the fact that it held onto to nearly all of its original audience is good news.
  • Episode-to-episode numbers (Monday, December 17):
    • Households – 5.3/8 to 5.2/9
    • Viewers – 7.95M to 7.73M
    • Adults 18-49 – 2.4/6 to 2.4/8
  • Last week’s numbers (Deal or No Deal):
    • Households – 7.3/12
    • Viewers – 11.31M
    • Adults 18-49 – 3.0/9
• 9:00 p.m.: The two-hour season finale of The Biggest Loser (7.3/12 HH rating/share, 11.43M viewers, 4.6/12 A18-49 rating/share) secured the networks A18-49 victory on the evening. Compared to its year-ago season finale, the program posted nearly identical numbers and was down only minimally (-300,000/-3% among viewers, -2% among households and -4% among adults 18-49).
  • Season finale comparison (Wednesday, December 13, 2006):
    • Households – 7.4/12 to 7.3/12
    • Viewers – 11.73M to 11.43M
    • Adults 18-49 – 4.8/13 to 4.6/12
  • Week-to-week numbers (8:00-10:00 p.m.):
    • Households – 6.3/10 to 7.3/12
    • Viewers – 9.83M to 11.43M
    • Adults 18-49 – 3.6/9 to 4.6/12

Fox finished in third place for the evening with a 5.1/8 household rating/share and 7.89 million viewers, and managed a solid second place finish among adults 18-49 with a 2.7/8 rating/share.

• Last Week:
  • 5.2/8 HH rating/share [#3]
  • 7.97M viewers [#4]
  • 2.8/8 A18-49 rating/share [#2]

• Repeats of Bones and House performed on par with their usual repeat performances, and with the House repeat nearing 10 million viewers, Fox was in a very solid position for the evening, with a strong second place finish on the night among adults 18-49.
• 8:00 p.m.: A repeat of Bones (3.8/6 HH rating/share, 5.89M viewers, 2.0/6 A18-49 rating/share).
• 9:00 p.m.: That was followed by a repeat of House (6.5/10 HH rating/share, 9.88M viewers, 3.4/8 A18-49 rating/share).

ABC followed in fourth place for the evening with a 4.4/7 household rating/share, 6.94 million viewers and a 2.1/6 rating/share among adults 18-49.

• Last Week:
  • 4.9/8 HH rating/share [#4]
  • 8.00M viewers [#3]
  • 2.6/7 A18-49 rating/share [#3]

• 8:00-9:30 p.m.: Day two of the new game show Duel (4.5/7 HH rating/share, 7.31M viewers, 2.4/7 A18-49 rating/share) posted solid day-to-day gains, increasing by 590,000/9% among viewers, 5% among households and 14% among adults 18-49. Though its performance is only just above average, the fact that it increased from the day prior is worth positively noting. Of course that may have more to do with the football pre-emptions on Monday night. We’ll find out for sure when the numbers for Wednesday’s edition are released tomorrow.
  • Episode-to-episode numbers (Monday, December 17, 2007):
    • Households – 4.3/7 to 4.5/7
    • Viewers – 6.72M to 7.31M
    • Adults 18-49 – 2.1/6 to 2.4/7
  • Last week’s numbers (Shrek the Halls-REPEAT):
    • Households – 5.6/9
    • Viewers – 9.80M
    • Adults 18-49 – 3.3/10
  • Last week’s numbers (Winnie the Pooh and Christmas Too-REPEAT):
    • Households – 4.4/7
    • Viewers – 8.18M
    • Adults 18-49 – 3.2/8
• 9:30 p.m.: A repeat of According to Jim (2.8/4 HH rating/share, 4.40M viewers, 1.5/4 A18-49 rating/share).
• 10:00 p.m.: Alright, time to spin the performance of Boston Legal (5.0/8 HH rating/share, 7.66M viewers, 2.1/6 A18-49 rating/share). In a likely series low performance, Boston Legal fell off quite significantly from the week prior (-1.36M/-15% among viewers, -15% among households and -16% among adults 18-49). That severe drop is cause for worry, and definitely not the numbers ABC wants from this fourth year show. However, you can’t help but overlook the pitiful lead-in support that ABC has given the show. Case in point is this evening. A repeat of According to Jim? Really? Growth of 3.26M/74% among viewers, 79% among households and 40% among adults 18-49 can’t be ignored. Come on ABC, is this really the best support you can lend the show?
  • Week-to-week numbers:
    • Households – 5.9/10 to 5.0/8
    • Viewers – 9.02M to 7.66M
    • Adults 18-49 – 2.5/7 to 2.1/6

The CW finished in fifth place for the evening with a 1.0/2 household rating/share, 1.38 million viewers and a 0.6/2 rating/share among adults 18-49.

• Last Week:
  • 1.7/3 HH rating/share [#5]
  • 2.34M viewers [#5]
  • 1.0/3 A18-49 rating/share [#5]

• Repeats of ‘Crowned’ and Reaper put The CW in a distant last place.
• 8:00 p.m.: Another re-broadcast of the series premiere of Crowned: The Mother of all Pageants (1.0/2 HH rating/share, 1.37M viewers, 0.6/2 A18-49 rating/share).
• 9:00 p.m.: A repeat of Reaper (1.0/2 HH rating/share, 1.38M viewers, 0.6/2 A18-49 rating/share).

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 “The Unit” will be reported in next weeks report for Tuesday, December 25, 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