Monday, December 30, 2013

Schedules Plus, CW Monday


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.

As of the WB/UPN merge, both networks had a reasonably successful Monday lineup; the WB had family dramas 7th Heaven and Everwood, while UPN had a two-hour block of African-American sitcoms. The new CW initially went with the WB approach but quickly audibled into the UPN one. Then in 2008, they set out on their own direction: Dawn Ostroff's infamous teen soaps. While it's not remembered too fondly nowadays, the inaugural lineup in 2008-09 was actually quite successful. But after five years of fairly rapid decline, Monday is now the CW's only major problem weeknight.

WB Monday


8:00 8:30 9:00 9:30 Avg
2001-02 7th Heaven Angel 61
71 51
2002-03 7th Heaven Everwood 63
71 54
2003-04 7th Heaven Everwood 53
59 47
2004-05 7th Heaven Everwood 50
55 44
2005-06 7th Heaven Just Legal 38
52 25

UPN Monday


8:00 8:30 9:00 9:30 Avg
2001-02 The Hughleys One on One The Parkers Girlfriends 41
35 40 43 45
38 44
2002-03 One On One The Parkers Girlfriends Half and Half 39
40 36 43 38
38 41
2003-04 The Parkers Eve Girlfriends Half and Half 40
37 41 44 40
39 42
2004-05 One On One Half and Half Girlfriends Second Time Around 36
33 37 41 33
35 37
2005-06 One On One All of Us Girlfriends Half and Half 36
30 35 41 36
33 38

CW Monday


8:00 8:30 9:00 9:30 Avg
2006-07 Everybody Hates Chris All of Us Girlfriends The Game 31
31 30 33 31
31 32
2007-08 Everybody Hates Chris Aliens in America Girlfriends The Game 29
30 23 29 36
26 33
2008-09 Gossip Girl One Tree Hill 47
46 47
2009-10 One Tree Hill Gossip Girl 39
39 39
2010-11 90210 Gossip Girl 34
34 34
2011-12 Gossip Girl Hart of Dixie 26
25 27
2012-13 90210 Gossip Girl 19
18 21
2013-14 Hart of Dixie Beauty and the Beast 19
21 16
2014-15 The Originals Jane the Virgin 31
34 29

Avg 31 31 31





2014-15 Update: Though there was a much flashier night in the CW's 2014-15 resurgence, don't discount the Monday improvement, as the network finally had enough depth to turn its Surrender Night into something in line with the CW's historical Monday average. The Originals was a massive improvement, even if down a lot from its season one ratings on Tuesday. And newbie Jane the Virgin did surprisingly OK at 9/8c. But the Monday respectability will be put to the test this fall as The Originals departs to try to help patch up flailing Thursday. That makes the new Monday (with former Showtime pilot Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) seemingly more compatible but also more of a wild card.

Notable midseason replacements:

As noted on the Sunday post, the CW began with 7th Heaven and Runaway but swapped that lineup over to Sunday after just two weeks, returning the UPN sitcoms to Monday.

See here for more explanations/disclaimers about Schedules Plus.

4 comments:

Spot said...

I don't get the point of the change in 2009-10, why?? --- 7th at the heaven, just wow

Spot said...

I wouldn't be surprised to learn ABC Family Monday lineup gained as many viewers as The CW lost over last few seasons. I mean, in W18-34 or W12-34, and not A18-49. If I remember well, ABCF always airs their flagship shows on Monday.

Spot said...

When The WB and UPN announced their merger, this was the night I had concern over from an fantasy-scheduler perspective. Both netlets had distinct and different audiences on Mondays that couldn't just be mashed together like other pieces; there's no way a line up like Reba, Blue Collar TV, Girlfriends, & The Game would work. And the concern bore out pretty quickly when The CW switched from family dramas to urban sitcoms. (Although my opinion is this clash is a result of 7th Heaven's big ratings jump for its announced series finale in 2005-2006. Had The CW not uncanceled the show this probably wouldn't have happened.)

The teen soaps were at least a step in ... some direction towards branding and creating a new identity for a new network. And it helped bring some buzz to The CW; unfortunately building an entertainment property on a fickle audience's ever-changing taste is not a viable long-term strategy.

Spot said...

Damn those Beauty and The Beast numbers are even scarier put in context. I think Supernatural is Monday bound next year, the Winchesters shall save every single CW night.

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