Schedules Plus, CBS Friday

Schedules Plus is another innovative application of the historical ratings statistic A18-49+. I hope this will be the ultimate resource for comparing the evolution of shows, networks and timeslots over time, complete with ratings numbers that make a fair adjustment for the collective decline. Right now this only includes programs aired in the fall. Much more about the process that went into this at the bottom.

CBS Friday looks at the half-decade reign of terror of dominant bookends Ghost Whisperer and Numb3rs and all the shows in between that couldn't quite live up to those standards, then moves into the still perfectly fine CSI: NY / Blue Bloods era.

Schedules Plus, ABC Friday

Schedules Plus is another innovative application of the historical ratings statistic A18-49+. I hope this will be the ultimate resource for comparing the evolution of shows, networks and timeslots over time, complete with ratings numbers that make a fair adjustment for the collective decline. Right now this only includes programs aired in the fall. Much more about the process that went into this at the bottom.

ABC Friday features the fall of TGIF, the rise of Shark Tank and a new TGIF, and the lean years in between.

Schedules Plus, CBS Thursday

Over the rest of December, I will be rolling out the first edition of Schedules Plus, another innovative application of the historical ratings statistic A18-49+. I hope this will be the ultimate resource for comparing the evolution of shows, networks and timeslots over time, complete with ratings numbers that make a fair adjustment for the collective decline. This is not the full realization of the vision here, but I wanted to release a somewhat condensed version because the "complete" version may well be so daunting that it never gets done. The major point is that right now this only includes programs aired in the fall. Much more about the process that went into this at the bottom.

Schedules Plus, ABC Thursday

Over the rest of December, I will be rolling out the first edition of Schedules Plus, another innovative application of the historical ratings statistic A18-49+. I hope this will be the ultimate resource for comparing the evolution of shows, networks and timeslots over time, complete with ratings numbers that make a fair adjustment for the collective decline. This is not the full realization of the vision here, but I wanted to release a somewhat condensed version because the "complete" version may well be so daunting that it never gets done. The major point is that right now this only includes programs aired in the fall. Much more about the process that went into this at the bottom.

Spotted Ratings, Wednesday 12/11/13

WHAT MATTERS:

• While down 25% from its post-Voice premiere, The Sing-Off still proved a pretty nice option in its two-hour self-starting debut on Wednesday; it did a few ticks better than NBC's usual Revolution / Law and Order: SVU mix, and it's still an improvement (even in raw numbers) on the show's previous full-fall cycle from two years ago. It led into a modest-rated Kelly Clarkson Christmas special, which posted the same number as last year's Michael Buble special.

• The other networks all had their regular lineups in full original mode, most of them for the last time in 2013; ABC saw some recovery for Modern Family but a dip from Nashville, while CBS' crime procedurals actually did no better than their last airings on Thanksgiving Eve. (CSI was even worse.) The CW's The Tomorrow People ended up with a dip to its first 0.5, and an announced demotion to Monday followed later in the day.

The True Top 25, Week Ending 12/8/13 (2013-14 Week Eleven)

Sunday Night Football won another True Top 25, and a huge Big Ten Championship Game put the pigskin in the #2 slot as well for a second straight week. Next was top entertainment series draw The Big Bang Theory, and rounding out a very strong top four was NBC's breakthrough special The Sound of Music Live! The drama race narrowly went to Scandal in a very good week for both of the top two draws; Scandal was up a tick even with the NBC competition over three points stronger than usual from SOML, while The Blacklist's fall finale grew by two tenths over its normal level.

With a few of the top newbies sitting out, only two made the cut this week; we seem to be at a point where one of the three new CBS comedies sneaks on every week, and this time it was The Crazy Ones' turn (for the first time since week three). Shark Tank was the lone Friday representative as usual, but it just barely made it thanks to irregularly high viewing estimates on Friday.

Spotted Ratings, Tuesday 12/10/13

WHAT MATTERS:

• The Agents of SHIELD roller coaster took another sharp dip, closing out the fall on a new low after a couple recent increases. The show was probably somewhat inflated last week by an easier situation, but dropping this much is simply not the way the show wanted to head into a four-week break. However, ABC got better news in the 9:00 hour from The Goldbergs and Trophy Wife with holiday themes, a better lead-in and no comedy competition.

• SHIELD was not alone in dropping against the return of original CBS competition; all the regulars on NBC were down a bit as well. Even the NCIS duo had lower-end performances.

• Fox pre-empted its comedies for the latest edition of its blatant attempt to get into the country music specials business, The American Country Awards, even year-to-year. And CBS' Victoria's Secret Fashion Show was down just a bit from last year but still the top show of the evening.

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 12/8/13

WHAT MATTERS:

• With The Walking Dead on hiatus and NBC providing a mediocre Sunday Night Football matchup between Carolina and New Orleans, the broadcasters got a rare bit of Sunday relief. This was most evident on male-skewing Fox, where (with an assist from an NFL lead-in) all four cartoons were at or very near season high levels.

• On CBS, The Amazing Race wrapped up its season at 19% behind last season's finale, about the same year-to-year trend it's experienced all season. And the returns from revamped The Mentalist remain surprisingly promising, as it adjusted up to another new season high (albeit with its largest lead-in of the season from TAR).

• After finals adjustments, ABC ended up with minor week-to-week growth out of both Once Upon a Time and Revenge.

Spotted Ratings, Saturday 12/7/13

WHAT MATTERS:

• In college football, national championship play-in games always draw a crowd. (Just look at Notre Dame-USC hanging a 5.1 last year.) On this night, somewhat uniquely, there were two of them going head-to-head in primetime, and the Big Ten was a clear winner over the ACC (and up triple digits vs. last year's less nationally significant game). Much of the gap was due to the quality of games; the discrepancy was much closer in the first half-hour (Big Ten 3.4 to ACC 2.3), but by 10:30 the Big Ten's game was nearly 4x the ACC (5.0 to 1.3). Given Florida State was a 29-point favorite in the ACC game, you could argue they did ABC a solid just by playing to a scoreless tie in the first quarter.

Spotted Ratings, Friday 12/6/13

WHAT MATTERS:

• Eleven regular series aired on Friday night. All eleven were up from their most recent originals in 18-49, at least preliminarily. (The Neighbors and The Carrie Diaries adjusted down in finals to merely even.) Among the most significant: NBC swung back up after a Black Friday hiccup with Grimm and, perhaps more importantly, grew at 10/9c with Dracula. After three straight 0.9's, it now finds itself back at a level that could make season two look more reasonable for the co-production... if it can maintain it when it returns, which won't be for at least four weeks. (Grimm airs two episodes next week, then both go into repeats.) And Fox's Bones continued its impressive recovery on Friday, tying the occupant of its old slot, Almost Human.

• Some of the growth may have come because CBS sat out its regular lineup and was softer than usual, especially in the last two hours. They had solid holiday specials Frosty the Snowman and Yes, Virginia at 8:00, an NCIS: Los Angeles repeat at 9:00 and the Grammy Nominations Concert at 10:00. All three specials were down double-digits year-to-year, with the concert down 27% in a move from Wednesday to Friday.