|
|
over its fumbling fall
Gangbusters season finish, but NBC gets the cigar
By Toni Fitzgerald
Could “girls club” and “Firefly” still be haunting Fox six months after their cancellation?
That seems entirely possible, given how close the network will creep to No. 1 NBC in the season-to-date network averages.
Outrageous “American Idol” finale numbers for Tuesday and Wednesday’s shows should boost Fox to its second-straight sweeps win among 18-49s by a hair over NBC. The two are tied at 4.4 going into tonight, and Fox has "AI," a top-two show, against NBC's three-hour "Law & Order" extravaganza. Numbers are subject to change pending Thursday's final releases.
Fox will finish the season second behind NBC among 18-49s, recording its best performance among its target demographic. It will be the closest it's ever finished to NBC in the advertiser-friendly demo. Fox will finish at least tied for third, with ABC, among total viewers this season, the first time it has ever finished alongside a Big Three network.
But Fox can’t be fully satisfied.
If anything, the network must be wondering what could have been had the first half of its season done anywhere near as well as the second half.
In the first, Fox had less of a “Pulse” than its Thursday night newsmagazine. Clunkers like “girls club” and “Firefly,” paired with lukewarm World Series ratings that nudged Fox premieres into November, had the network in fourth place among 18-49s as recently as late January.
In a remarkable turnaround, Fox gained nearly an entire rating point in its season-to-date average since then.
“Joe Millionaire” and “Idol” revived the network in January and carried it to a February sweeps win, breaking NBC’s stranglehold on the 18-49 top spot.
That momentum continued into May, but NBC already had too great a lead in the season to date.
As of Sunday, Fox ranked No. 2 behind NBC in season to date average, 4.2 to 4.5.
But had Fox managed even slightly decent ratings during November and December, it could have placed ahead of down-trending NBC for the season.
Fox renewed just one of its new fall 2002 offerings, showing just how much work the schedule needed before 2003, when three shows that will return were introduced.
Its 3.7 average through January ultimately proved too much of an anchor, even with NBC’s 18-49 ratings down 15 percent sans last season’s Winter Olympics boost.
Fox will better last year’s 4.0 average by at least five percent, possibly more, depending on what three straight nights of “American Idol” this week do for its season-to-date average.
Its May sweeps average already has jumped 14 percent this year compared to last while NBC’s is down 20 percent.
By learning from this year’s coulda-beens, Fox will try next season to capitalize even more on its “Joe” and “Idol” lead-ins, which helped lift the entire Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday night schedules this season.
ABC also will show improvement in 18-49s this season, despite a flat year in the May sweeps. The network had a 3.6 average to this point last year, and enters this week with a 3.8, a 5 percent improvement.
Sunday’s finale of “The Bachelor” certainly helped. Though it was the lowest-rated of the series’ four (counting “The Bachelorette”) finales, “The Bachelor” still improved by 52 percent in 18-49s from start to finish and placed eighth for the week.
The first three finales averaged 21.3 million viewers. Sunday’s displaced show, which usually airs Wednesdays, averaged 15 million.
CBS is up 3 percent year-to-date to a 3.9 18-49 rating and down 8 percent in sweeps, but Monday’s big numbers for the super-sized “Everybody Loves Raymond” and “CSI: Miami” finales help.
The WB had a rating milestone last week with the passing of “Dawson’s Creek” and poor, unfortunate Jen. The show attracted 7.3 million viewers, the most ever for a WB offering.
The two-hour Wednesday series finale scored the network’s best-ever 18-34 rating, a 6.6, and finished tied for third in its time slot among 18-49s with a 4.2 rating.
That helped the WB to a 2.0 18-49 average for the week, 15 percent higher than its equivalent weekly average one year ago.
The network is 12 percent ahead of its 18-49 May sweeps average from last year. UPN is 12 percent behind.
|
PRIMETIME AVERAGES BY NETWORK |
|||||||||
|
Network |
Households |
People 2+ |
Adults 18-49 |
||||||
|
Rtg% |
(000) |
Shr |
Rtg% |
(000) |
Shr |
Rtg% |
(000) |
Shr |
|
|
CBS |
8.5 |
9040 |
14 |
4.6 |
12610 |
13 |
3.5 |
4570 |
10 |
|
NBC |
8.1 |
8620 |
14 |
4.4 |
11960 |
12 |
4.7 |
6060 |
13 |
|
FOX |
6.4 |
6860 |
11 |
3.8 |
10410 |
10 |
4.6 |
5880 |
13 |
|
ABC |
5.8 |
6170 |
10 |
3.2 |
8620 |
9 |
3.5 |
4480 |
10 |
|
WB |
2.2 |
2370 |
4 |
1.2 |
3400 |
3 |
1.5 |
1990 |
4 |
|
UPN |
2.8 |
3010 |
5 |
1.6 |
4310 |
4 |
2.0 |
2590 |
6 |
|
PAX |
0.7 |
760 |
1 |
0.4 |
990 |
1 |
0.2 |
260 |
1 |
|
* Each rating point is equivalent to 1.067 million homes
|
|||||||||
|
SEASON-TO-DATE PRIMETIME AVERAGES BY NETWORK |
|||||||||
|
Network |
Households* |
People 2+ |
Adults 18-49 |
||||||
|
Rtg% |
(000) |
Shr |
Rtg% |
(000) |
Shr |
Rtg% |
(000) |
Shr |
|
|
CBS |
8.3 |
8810 |
13 |
4.6 |
12540 |
12 |
3.8 |
4940 |
10 |
|
NBC |
7.7 |
8240 |
13 |
4.3 |
11650 |
11 |
4.5 |
5740 |
12 |
|
ABC |
6.3 |
6730 |
10 |
3.7 |
9960 |
10 |
3.8 |
4860 |
10 |
|
FOX |
6.0 |
6400 |
10 |
3.6 |
9830 |
9 |
4.2 |
5440 |
11 |
|
WB |
2.6 |
2760 |
4 |
1.5 |
4080 |
4 |
1.8 |
2280 |
5 |
|
UPN |
2.2 |
2400 |
4 |
1.3 |
3520 |
3 |
1.5 |
1910 |
4 |
|
PAX |
0.8 |
880 |
1 |
0.4 |
1170 |
1 |
0.3 |
370 |
1 |
|
* Each rating point is equivalent to 1.067 million homes |
|||||||||
|
MAY SWEEPS PRIMETIME |
||
|
Network |
Adults18-49 Rtg% |
Shr |
|
NBC |
4.5 |
13 |
|
FOX |
4.1 |
12 |
|
CBS |
3.7 |
10 |
|
ABC |
3.3 |
9 |
|
WB |
1.9 |
5 |
|
UPN |
1.5 |
4 |
|
* Each rating
point is equivalent to 1.067 million homes |
||
|
NETWORK TV |
||||||||
|
# |
PROGRAMS |
Net |
HOUSEHOLDS |
PERSONS 2+ |
||||
|
Rtg% |
Shr |
(000) |
RANK |
Rtg% |
(000) |
|||
|
1 |
FRIENDS |
NBC |
16.0 |
26 |
17070 |
1 |
9.4 |
25463 |
|
2 |
CSI |
CBS |
15.4 |
24 |
16427 |
3 |
8.8 |
23868 |
|
3 |
AMERICAN IDOL-WEDNESDAY |
FOX |
14.7 |
23 |
15736 |
2 |
9.3 |
25349 |
|
4 |
E.R. |
NBC |
14.3 |
23 |
15227 |
5 |
7.9 |
21613 |
|
5 |
AMERICAN IDOL-TUESDAY |
FOX |
14.1 |
23 |
15038 |
4 |
8.6 |
23362 |
|
6 |
WILL & GRACE |
NBC |
13.1 |
20 |
13973 |
6 |
7.5 |
20278 |
|
7 |
EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND |
CBS |
12.4 |
19 |
13263 |
7 |
6.9 |
18711 |
|
8 |
LAW AND ORDER |
NBC |
12.2 |
20 |
13067 |
8 |
6.7 |
18328 |
|
9 |
CSI: MIAMI |
CBS |
11.6 |
19 |
12397 |
9 |
6.3 |
17230 |
|
10 |
LAW AND ORDER:CI-10PM |
NBC |
11.0 |
18 |
11731 |
10 |
5.9 |
16165 |
|
11 |
WITHOUT A TRACE |
CBS |
10.5 |
17 |
11178 |
11 |
5.8 |
15663 |
|
12 |
STILL STANDING |
CBS |
10.3 |
16 |
11015 |
13 |
5.7 |
15458 |
|
13 |
LAW AND ORDER:CRIM INTENT |
NBC |
9.7 |
15 |
10382 |
15 |
5.3 |
14459 |
|
14 |
BACHELOR SP-5/18, THE(S) |
ABC |
9.6 |
15 |
10232 |
14 |
5.5 |
15051 |
|
15 |
LAW AND ORDER:SVU |
NBC |
9.5 |
17 |
10147 |
17 |
5.0 |
13719 |
|
16 |
JUDGING AMY |
CBS |
9.4 |
15 |
10034 |
22 |
4.7 |
12788 |
|
17 |
60 MINUTES |
CBS |
9.1 |
16 |
9695 |
21 |
4.8 |
12937 |
|
17 |
BERNIE MAC |
FOX |
9.1 |
13 |
9685 |
11 |
5.8 |
15838 |
|
17 |
WEST WING |
NBC |
9.1 |
14 |
9724 |
16 |
5.1 |
13788 |
|
20 |
CBS SUNDAY MOVIE |
CBS |
9.0 |
14 |
9562 |
17 |
5.0 |
13620 |
|
21 |
THAT '70S SHOW |
FOX |
8.7 |
15 |
9242 |
17 |
5.0 |
13570 |
|
22 |
JAG |
CBS |
8.5 |
14 |
9102 |
24 |
4.6 |
12635 |
|
23 |
CSI 8PM(S) |
CBS |
8.3 |
14 |
8814 |
25 |
4.5 |
12297 |
|
23 |
GUARDIAN, THE |
CBS |
8.3 |
13 |
8823 |
28 |
4.3 |
11714 |
|
25 |
YES, DEAR |
CBS |
8.2 |
13 |
8763 |
25 |
4.5 |
12276 |
|
Source: Nielsen Media Research |
||||||||
|
TOP 30 PROGRAMS - BROADCAST TV |
||||
|
Rank |
Program |
Net |
Rtg% |
In Millions |
|
1 |
FRIENDS |
NBC |
12.4 |
15.91 |
|
2 |
AMERICAN IDOL-WEDNESDAY |
FOX |
11.4 |
14.69 |
|
3 |
AMERICAN IDOL-TUESDAY |
FOX |
10.7 |
13.70 |
|
4 |
WILL & GRACE |
NBC |
10.6 |
13.59 |
|
5 |
ER |
NBC |
10.4 |
13.33 |
|
6 |
CSI |
CBS |
8.3 |
10.62 |
|
7 |
BERNIE MAC |
FOX |
7.6 |
9.75 |
|
8 |
BACHELOR SP-5/18, THE |
ABC |
7.2 |
9.21 |
|
9 |
THAT ‘70S SHOW |
FOX |
6.8 |
8.79 |
|
10 |
LAW & ORDER |
NBC |
6.6 |
8.53 |
|
10 |
CSI: MIAMI |
CBS |
6.6 |
8.48 |
|
12 |
SIMPSONS SPCL |
FOX |
6.1 |
7.79 |
|
13 |
LAW & ORDER: CI – 10 PM |
NBC |
6.0 |
7.74 |
|
14 |
24 |
FOX |
5.9 |
7.64 |
|
15 |
EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND |
CBS |
5.8 |
7.51 |
|
16 |
SIMPSONS |
FOX |
5.5 |
7.03 |
|
17 |
WITHOUT A TRACE |
CBS |
5.0 |
6.45 |
|
17 |
STILL STANDING |
CBS |
5.0 |
6.41 |
|
19 |
LAW & ORDER: CRIM INTENT |
NBC |
4.9 |
6.29 |
|
19 |
FEAR FACTOR |
NBC |
4.9 |
6.32 |
|
21 |
NYPD BLUE |
ABC |
4.8 |
6.15 |
|
22 |
BACHELOR: WOMEN TELL ALL |
ABC |
4.7 |
6.04 |
|
22 |
WEST WING |
NBC |
4.7 |
6.01 |
|
24 |
MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE |
FOX |
4.6 |
5.94 |
|
24 |
LAW & ORDER: SVU |
NBC |
4.6 |
5.94 |
|
26 |
NBC MOVIE OF THE WEEK – MON |
NBC |
4.5 |
5.85 |
|
27 |
EXTREME MAKEOVER – WED |
ABC |
4.4 |
5.63 |
|
27 |
MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE SPL |
FOX |
4.4 |
5.70 |
|
27 |
DAWSON’S CREEK |
WB |
4.2 |
5.41 |
|
30 |
ACCORDING TO JIM |
ABC |
4.1 |
5.21 |
|
Source: ABC Networks, based on
data from Nielsen Media Research
|
||||
|
CABLE TV |
|||||
|
BASIC CABLE |
|||||
|
# |
PROGRAM NAME |
NET |
Households |
Persons 2+ |
|
|
(000) |
Rtg |
(000) |
|||
|
1 |
NBA PLAYOFFS (LAKERS/SPURS) |
TNT |
4850 |
4.5 |
6544 |
|
2 |
NBA PLAYOFFS (LAKERS/SPURS) |
TNT |
4533 |
4.2 |
6141 |
|
3 |
NBA PLAYOFFS (SPURS/LAKERS) |
TNT |
4424 |
4.1 |
6072 |
|
4 |
WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE RAW ZONE) |
TNN |
3136 |
2.9 |
4697 |
|
5 |
NBA PLAYOFFS-CONF SEMIS L (KINGS/MAVERICKS) |
ESPN |
3116 |
2.9 |
4037 |
|
6 |
FAIRLY ODD PARENTS |
NICK |
2994 |
2.8 |
4122 |
|
7 |
SPONGEBOB |
NICK |
2953 |
2.8 |
4146 |
|
8 |
NBA PLAYOFFS (MAVERICKS/KINGS) |
TNT |
2939 |
2.8 |
3633 |
|
9 |
NBA PLAYOFFS-CONF SEMIS L (MAVERICKS/KINGS) |
ESPN |
2842 |
2.7 |
3567 |
|
9 |
SPONGEBOB |
NICK |
2842 |
2.7 |
4234 |
|
11 |
NBA PLAYOFFS (PISTONS/76ERS) |
TNT |
2831 |
2.7 |
3510 |
|
12 |
WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE RAW) |
TNN |
2804 |
2.6 |
4155 |
|
13 |
FAIRLY ODD PARENTS |
NICK |
2772 |
2.6 |
3915 |
|
14 |
SPONGEBOB |
NICK |
2625 |
2.5 |
3874 |
|
15 |
WHT NOT 2 WR |
TLC |
2586 |
2.4 |
3506 |
|
PAY CABLE |
|||||
|
# |
PROGRAM NAME |
NET |
Households |
Persons 2+ |
|
|
(000) |
Rtg% |
(000) |
|||
|
1 |
SIX FEET UNDER |
HBO |
3455 |
3.2 |
5071 |
|
2 |
SPIDER-MAN |
HBO |
2080 |
1.9 |
2892 |
|
3 |
SOPRANOS, THE |
HBO |
1979 |
1.9 |
2878 |
|
4 |
WIRE, THE |
HBO |
1803 |
1.7 |
2482 |
|
5 |
SPIDER-MAN |
HBO |
1630 |
1.5 |
2085 |
|
Total U.S. ratings and household projections are based on
106.7 million TV homes. |
|||||
|
SYNDICATION |
||||
|
# |
PROGRAMS |
Syndicator |
Households |
|
|
US Rtg% |
(000) |
|||
|
1 |
WHEEL OF FORTUNE |
KIN |
8.7 |
9253 |
|
2 |
JEOPARDY |
KIN |
6.8 |
7263 |
|
3 |
FRIENDS-SYN (AT) |
WB |
6.6 |
6999 |
|
4 |
SEINFELD (AT) |
SPT |
6.5 |
6882 |
|
5 |
OPRAH WINFREY SHOW (AT) |
KIN |
6.3 |
6669 |
|
6 |
EVRY LVS RAYMOND-SYN (AT) |
KIN |
6.1 |
6526 |
|
7 |
SEINFELD-WKND (AT) |
SPT |
5.6 |
6007 |
|
8 |
ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT(AT) |
PRM |
5.3 |
5635 |
|
9 |
JUDGE JUDY (AT) |
PRM |
5.0 |
5335 |
|
10 |
DR. PHIL SHOW |
KIN |
4.9 |
5236 |
|
Source: Nielsen Media Research |
||||
|
SPANISH-LANGUAGE TELEVISION |
||||
|
# |
PROGRAMS |
Net |
NHTI* |
Projection |
|
1 |
ENTRE EL AMOR Y ODIO TUE |
UNI |
27.0 |
2631 |
|
2 |
ENTRE EL AMOR Y ODIO WED |
UNI |
25.7 |
2503 |
|
3 |
ENTRE EL AMOR Y ODIO MON |
UNI |
24.2 |
2353 |
|
4 |
ENTRE EL AMOR Y ODIO THU |
UNI |
23.6 |
2293 |
|
5 |
VIAS DEL AMOR TUE |
UNI |
22.4 |
2181 |
|
6 |
VIAS DEL AMOR WED |
UNI |
21.8 |
2118 |
|
7 |
ENTRE EL AMOR Y ODIO FRI |
UNI |
21.7 |
2111 |
|
8 |
VIAS DEL AMOR MON |
UNI |
21.0 |
2045 |
|
9 |
VIAS DEL AMOR THU |
UNI |
20.9 |
2034 |
|
10 |
GATA SALVAJE-TUE |
UNI |
19.2 |
1865 |
|
11 |
VIAS DEL AMOR FRI |
UNI |
18.9 |
1840 |
|
12 |
GATA SALVAJE-MON |
UNI |
18.5 |
1803 |
|
13 |
CASOS VIDA R: ED. ESP FRI |
UNI |
18.4 |
1787 |
|
14 |
CRISTINA-MON |
UNI |
18.3 |
1779 |
|
15 |
GATA SALVAJE-WED |
UNI |
18.1 |
1759 |
|
16 |
DON FRANCISCO PRESENTA-WE |
UNI |
17.8 |
1733 |
|
17 |
GATA SALVAJE-THU |
UNI |
17.7 |
1724 |
|
18 |
AQUI Y AHORA-THU |
UNI |
17.4 |
1689 |
|
18 |
VER PARA CREER-TUE |
UNI |
16.4 |
1593 |
|
20 |
GILBERTO GLESS 5/11(S)-05/11 |
UNI |
15.2 |
1480 |
|
* Nielsen
Hispanic Television Index; ratings based on 9.7 million Hispanic
TV homes. |
||||
|
NETWORK SPORTS |
|||||||
|
NETWORK TV |
Net |
Episode |
Households |
Persons 2+ |
|||
|
# |
PROGRAMS |
US Rtg% |
Shr |
(000) |
(000) |
||
|
1 |
NBA PLAYOFFS ON ABC-SUN 1 |
ABC |
SAN ANT |
5.7 |
15 |
6096 |
8243 |
|
2 |
WWE SMACKDOWN! |
UPN |
3.2 |
5 |
3420 |
4885 |
|
|
3 |
WACHOVIA CHAMPIONSHIP-SU(S) |
CBS |
2.2 |
6 |
2319 |
3004 |
|
|
4 |
WACHOVIA CHAMPIONSHIP-SA(S) |
CBS |
2.0 |
6 |
2123 |
2602 |
|
|
5 |
NHL PLAYOFFS ON ABC-SAT 5(S) |
ABC |
ANAHEIM |
1.6 |
5 |
1734 |
2409 |
|
6 |
ABC SPORTS FIG SKTNG CHL(S) |
ABC |
1.5 |
5 |
1623 |
2180 |
|
|
7 |
NBC SPORTS SPECIAL 5/10-A(S) |
NBC |
BOXING |
1.3 |
4 |
1428 |
1855 |
|
8 |
NBC SPORTS SPECIAL 5/10-B(S) |
NBC |
VAN'S |
1.2 |
3 |
1262 |
1805 |
|
9 |
BRIDGESTONE |
CBS |
GERMAN |
1.0 |
3 |
1092 |
1351 |
|
10 |
INDY 500 TIME TRIALS-RAIN(S) |
ABC |
0.8 |
2 |
819 |
1215 |
|
|
11 |
BRIDGESTONE CHAMP CAR-SA(S) |
CBS |
LONDON CHAMP TROPHY |
0.8 |
3 |
905 |
1058 |
|
12 |
NBC ARENA FOOTBALL |
NBC |
SAN JOSE |
0.7 |
2 |
769 |
991 |
|
13 |
WUSA SOCCER |
PAX |
PHILA AT WASH |
0.1 |
0 |
138 |
144 |
|
Source: Nielsen Media Research |
|||||||
May 21, 2003© 2003 Media Life
-Toni Fitzgerald is a staff writer for Media Life
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