ABC
Winners: It’s no wonder the network is returning to bland TGIF-style family comedies. “My Wife and Kids” was one of just three shows last week – along with the network’s “Bachelor” special and CBS’s “Yes Dear”– to average a 4.0 or better 18-49 rating against Fox’s five hours of “American Idol.”
  At 10 on Tuesday, “NYPD Blue” averaged a still-potent 5.0 18-49 rating. No surprise, then, that NBC will move highly rated “Law & Order: SVU” to counter “Blue.”
   Reality train wreck “Extreme Makeover” and “The Bachelor” also remain strong performers.

Losers: Though the network was up 6 percent among 18-49s this season, it tied for third with CBS for the season and the sweeps, and its May average didn’t better its season average at all. Aren’t sweeps the time for over-achieving? 
   Too many shows ended early. By the final week, all ABC had left was the “Bachelor” finale and the “ABC 50th  Anniversary” special. Though ABC didn’t have any “I’m a Celebrity” stinkers this time, the May 12 movie “The Diary of Ellen Rimbau” came close.

CBS
Winners: “CSI: Miami” matched the numbers for the “Everybody Loves Raymond” season finale last week, an impressive feat.
  “Without A Trace” started fitfully but built a following against the late-surging “ER” on NBC. Its sophomore year should prove even better after “ER” fanatics catch up through summer reruns.

Losers: Bye-bye to “Becker,” “My Big Fat Greek Life,” “Touched By An Angel” and “The Agency,” a substantial portion of the network’s old-skewing Saturday and Sunday schedule. “Life” debuted to boffo numbers but lost more than half its audience during an abbreviated run.
  And though CBS professes not to focus on 18-49s but rather total viewers, a 3 percent season and sweeps drop in that demo is a warning sign when you still boast the second-most-watched drama, “CSI,” and most-watched new drama, “CSI: Miami.” Or maybe it was just the controversial-but-little-watched “Hitler” miniseries dragging those numbers down.

Fox
Winners: We know all about “American Idol,” but what about the shows around it? “Bernie Mac” floundered in its Wednesday move until “Idol” rescued it. Midseason replacement “Wanda at Large” earned a second season after to a post-“Idol” premiere and decent subsequent retention.
   And “24” blossomed from critical hit to ratings one thanks to lead-in “Idol.” It showed the biggest year-to-year 18-49 ratings improvement of any drama.

Losers: If not for “Joe Millionaire,” “Boston Public’s” Monday 8 p.m. ratings would be down much more than 10 percent. No new dramas were renewed, including “Fastlane” and “John Doe,” which both yawned off the schedule with an average 2.25 18-49 season finale rating before sweeps even began.
   Plus, Fox still couldn’t program a successful new sitcom on Sunday night. At least “Andy Richter Controls the Universe” and “The Pitts” got the chance to be rejected by viewers, unlike “The Grubbs,” the Sunday show that never even debuted, it was so bad.

NBC
Winners: “Friends” and “ER” remain the most popular comedy and drama among 18-49s, though “ER” by just a tad over “CSI.” “Law & Order” had another cast change and still survived.
   It took a kidnapping, but the season finale of “The West Wing” finally earned “West Wing”-like numbers, tying season-long tormentor “The Bachelor” two weeks ago.
   Two made-for-TV Monday movies had good ratings, highlighted by "Martha Inc." last week.

Losers: Anything programmed Tuesdays after “Frasier,” most recently “Watching Ellie.” Its series finale fumbled more than a fifth of last week’s “Frasier” lead-in, which was itself just over half what the program’s September premiere averaged.
   Though Sunday’s “American Dreams” will return for a second season, it’s far from a hit. The finale averaged a 3.3 18-49 rating against CBS’s “60 Minutes” and an ABC rerun of “The Waterboy.”

UPN
Winners: “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” finally gave UPN the ratings it had hoped for with a 2.5 18-49 season finale. That fed nicely into the premiere of “America’s Top Model,” which could be a summer surprise.
   The Monday comedies stayed reliable, ranking in the top 10 among African-Americans behind only Fox’s “Mac” and “Idol.”

Losers: “Platinum” had the critical cred, but not the ratings. All three shows the network launched behind “Buffy” this season, also including “Haunted” and “Abby,” flopped.
   UPN’s other established show, “Enterprise,” also couldn’t spark now-canceled “Twilight Zone.”

WB
Winners: The season finale of “Smallville” had its highest-ever finish among 18-49s last week, ranking No. 32 with a 3.6 rating. “Gilmore Girls” finished ahead of the “Buffy” sendoff earlier Tuesday night, giving the WB a 3.1 nightly average last week – ahead of NBC and .2 behind CBS.
  “Seventh Heaven” and “Everwood” were consistent on Monday, and a record 18-34 audience for the series finale of “Dawson’s Creek” helped the WB improve by 17 percent this season in that demo.

Losers: Thursday and Friday nights lag. Don’t let the renewal of “What I Like About You” fool you; it’s no ratings winner, tying for 87 last week. And “Charmed” didn’t lend any magic to the canceled “Black Sash” Sundays.

May 29, 2003© 2003 Media Life

-Toni Fitzgerald is a staff writer for Media Life.

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