Post by Forever Xena on Oct 11, 2005 5:40:55 GMT -6
CBS scares up ratings with Ghost Whisperer
October 10, 2005 at 09:49:00 AM
The Eye network wins week as unlikely hit rises from the Friday night grave.
Friday night champion Ghost Whisperer. The new Jennifer Love Hewitt drama Ghost Whisperer is settling into its own Friday night groove and proving to be a self-starter for CBS so far this season.
Meanwhile, the network hit a new milestone on Thursday night as Without a Trace beat NBC's stalwart ER for the first time in the adults 18-49 demographic head-to-head original competition.
Missing persons and forensic mysteries may be CBS's ticket to success on Thursday, but Friday nights seem to be just right for crossing over to the other side for the dwindling audience that is turning out for the Big Four networks on the night.
Ghost Whisperer, which stars Hewitt as a woman who can communicate with dead people, ranked as Friday night's most-watched show, albeit only by a hair over CBS's 10 p.m. procedural Numbers. Whisperer brought in an average of 10.9 million viewers and 2.8 rating/10 share in the adults 18-49 demographic, compared to 10.8 million and 3.2/9 in 18-49 for Numbers, according to preliminary estimates from Nielsen Media Research.
CBS won every half-hour of Friday except the 9-9:30 p.m. chunk, when the second of two episodes of NBC's new feel-good reality series Three Wishes (7.7 million, 2.3/7) nudged past CBS's sci-fi drama Threshold (8.4 million, 2.4/7) by one-tenth of a rating point in adults 18-49 (NBC's 2.4/7 to CBS's 2.3/7).
ABC had a lackluster debut at 9:30 p.m. for new comedy Hot Properties (5.9 million, 2.1/6), though it didn't get much help from its Hope & Faith (5.7 million, 1.9/6) lead-in.
NBC capped its night with a repeat of Law & Order: Criminal Intent (7.2 million, 2.3/7) subbing for the quickly canceled drama Inconceivable. NBC is widely believed to be mulling a permanent move of Criminal Intent out of the line of fire from ABC's Desperate Housewives to the Friday 10 p.m. slot where Law & Order: SVU thrived for several seasons.
For the night overall, CBS dominated a weak field, with an average of 10 million viewers and 2.8/9 in adults 18-49.
Saturday night was once again mostly rerun-ville among the broadcasters, save for Fox's postseason baseball action. NBC did respectable business with a 8:30-10 p.m. block of repeats of its budding Tuesday comedy My Name Is Earl, which peaked with the 9:30 p.m. installment at 6.2 million viewers and 2.6/8 in the key demo.
On Thursday, Without a Trace continued its hot start to its fourth season with its first win in four years of hand-to-hand combat in the 10 p.m. hour with ER, which has been handicapped by the paucity of its lead-in from The Apprentice.
Thursday's 10 p.m. airing of Trace delivered 21.3 million viewers and 6.8/17 in the adults 18-49 demographic, compared to ER's 14.2 million viewers and 6.3 /16 in 18-49.
Trace has long had the edge in total viewers over NBC's veteran medical drama, but not in the demo column. CBS's 9 p.m. dynamo CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (28.9 million, 9.8/24) helped Trace's cause, just as Apprentice (9.9 million, 4.5/11) made it an uphill climb for ER.
CBS got off on the good foot with 8 p.m.'s Survivor: Guatemala (17.9 million, 6.3/17) looking more like its old highly rated self after posting weaker numbers during the past few weeks.
UPN's Everybody Hates Chris (5.7 million, 2.2/6) was in solid shape by UPN's standards. The same could not be said for NBC's competing Joey (7.2 million, 2.9/8), especially with Fox's baseball playoff coverage subbing for The O.C. in the time slot. NBC saw slight improvement at 8:30 p.m. with Will & Grace (8.3 million, 3.6/10).
ABC saw 8 p.m.'s Alias (7.4 million, 2.3/6) and 9 p.m. newcomer Night Stalker decline from their premieres last week, but not precipitously. WB Network's relocated Smallville (5.7 million, 2.6/7) held up well in its second outing in its new 8 p.m. time slot.
For the night, it was CBS all the way with an average of 22.5 million viewers and 7.7/20 in adults 18-49.
October 10, 2005 at 09:49:00 AM
The Eye network wins week as unlikely hit rises from the Friday night grave.
Friday night champion Ghost Whisperer. The new Jennifer Love Hewitt drama Ghost Whisperer is settling into its own Friday night groove and proving to be a self-starter for CBS so far this season.
Meanwhile, the network hit a new milestone on Thursday night as Without a Trace beat NBC's stalwart ER for the first time in the adults 18-49 demographic head-to-head original competition.
Missing persons and forensic mysteries may be CBS's ticket to success on Thursday, but Friday nights seem to be just right for crossing over to the other side for the dwindling audience that is turning out for the Big Four networks on the night.
Ghost Whisperer, which stars Hewitt as a woman who can communicate with dead people, ranked as Friday night's most-watched show, albeit only by a hair over CBS's 10 p.m. procedural Numbers. Whisperer brought in an average of 10.9 million viewers and 2.8 rating/10 share in the adults 18-49 demographic, compared to 10.8 million and 3.2/9 in 18-49 for Numbers, according to preliminary estimates from Nielsen Media Research.
CBS won every half-hour of Friday except the 9-9:30 p.m. chunk, when the second of two episodes of NBC's new feel-good reality series Three Wishes (7.7 million, 2.3/7) nudged past CBS's sci-fi drama Threshold (8.4 million, 2.4/7) by one-tenth of a rating point in adults 18-49 (NBC's 2.4/7 to CBS's 2.3/7).
ABC had a lackluster debut at 9:30 p.m. for new comedy Hot Properties (5.9 million, 2.1/6), though it didn't get much help from its Hope & Faith (5.7 million, 1.9/6) lead-in.
NBC capped its night with a repeat of Law & Order: Criminal Intent (7.2 million, 2.3/7) subbing for the quickly canceled drama Inconceivable. NBC is widely believed to be mulling a permanent move of Criminal Intent out of the line of fire from ABC's Desperate Housewives to the Friday 10 p.m. slot where Law & Order: SVU thrived for several seasons.
For the night overall, CBS dominated a weak field, with an average of 10 million viewers and 2.8/9 in adults 18-49.
Saturday night was once again mostly rerun-ville among the broadcasters, save for Fox's postseason baseball action. NBC did respectable business with a 8:30-10 p.m. block of repeats of its budding Tuesday comedy My Name Is Earl, which peaked with the 9:30 p.m. installment at 6.2 million viewers and 2.6/8 in the key demo.
On Thursday, Without a Trace continued its hot start to its fourth season with its first win in four years of hand-to-hand combat in the 10 p.m. hour with ER, which has been handicapped by the paucity of its lead-in from The Apprentice.
Thursday's 10 p.m. airing of Trace delivered 21.3 million viewers and 6.8/17 in the adults 18-49 demographic, compared to ER's 14.2 million viewers and 6.3 /16 in 18-49.
Trace has long had the edge in total viewers over NBC's veteran medical drama, but not in the demo column. CBS's 9 p.m. dynamo CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (28.9 million, 9.8/24) helped Trace's cause, just as Apprentice (9.9 million, 4.5/11) made it an uphill climb for ER.
CBS got off on the good foot with 8 p.m.'s Survivor: Guatemala (17.9 million, 6.3/17) looking more like its old highly rated self after posting weaker numbers during the past few weeks.
UPN's Everybody Hates Chris (5.7 million, 2.2/6) was in solid shape by UPN's standards. The same could not be said for NBC's competing Joey (7.2 million, 2.9/8), especially with Fox's baseball playoff coverage subbing for The O.C. in the time slot. NBC saw slight improvement at 8:30 p.m. with Will & Grace (8.3 million, 3.6/10).
ABC saw 8 p.m.'s Alias (7.4 million, 2.3/6) and 9 p.m. newcomer Night Stalker decline from their premieres last week, but not precipitously. WB Network's relocated Smallville (5.7 million, 2.6/7) held up well in its second outing in its new 8 p.m. time slot.
For the night, it was CBS all the way with an average of 22.5 million viewers and 7.7/20 in adults 18-49.
Source Reuters