WHAT MATTERS:
- Preseason NFL dominated broadcast TV on Friday and Sunday, with the 2.3 average on Friday for Seahawks/Packers on CBS particularly impressive, but it lost out to a nice showing from ABC's NASCAR on Saturday (it was up a tick from last year's late-August race).
- On Friday, America's Next Top Model decided to go from 0.5 to 0.2 in one week. Probably just one of those weird blips, but we'll see...
- AMC saw Saturday's Hell on Wheels (0.33) finally take the 18-49 dip that it seemed like it should've taken last week when it dropped a ton of viewers. But HoW is far from the network's biggest concern; week three of Low Winter Sun (0.42) dropped again and is now retaining 17% of its Breaking Bad (2.53) lead-in. It's pretty clear now that this show is a disaster, and I think AMC ought to strongly consider moving BB aftershow Talking Bad (which actually very narrowly built from LWS at a 0.43) to the immediate post-BB slot.
- The week's top program was Sunday's Video Music Awards (5.2) on MTV, which nearly doubled last year's ill-scheduled 2.8 rating on a Thursday. The 2.8 in 2012, not this rating, was the real outlier here; the show actually got a 6.2 two years ago.
WHAT MATTERS:
- NBC had pretty big numbers for the last night of the DNC, crushing both the broadcasters and the cable news options. The one-hour head start on ABC/CBS (it started at 9:00 while ABC/CBS started at 10:00) probably helped in a big way.
- Though America's Got Talent had an ugly result for a special Thursday 8:00 original, most other broadcast options rallied from last Thursday's NFL preseason-muddled results. Perhaps the evening's biggest loser was another show taking a rare turn on Thursday: MTV's Video Music Awards (2.8). Though that number topped the evening, it was down by a staggering 55% from the year-ago 6.2!!! I guess awards shows should stick to Sundays...
WHAT MATTERS:
- NBC ruled the broadcast evening thanks to preseason football (3.2), and the game was the second-highest-rated of the preseason trailing only last week's NBC telecast. The peacock did get a weak showing at 7:00 from the "Madden NFL 12 Pigskin Pro-Am" special (0.8).
- Elsewhere on broadcast, Big Brother (3.0) was the top entertainment program by far but down a couple tenths from last week, while week two of ABC's 20/20: The Sixth Sense specials (1.6) picked up by three tenths. Week three of Fox's In the Flow with Affion Crockett (1.0) inched down again.
- The biggest story of the evening by far was another record audience for MTV's Video Music Awards (6.2 A18-49 and 12.445 million viewers overall). It capped off an amazing week for MTV, which also had a hugely-rated 7:00 episode of Jersey Shore (4.4) earlier in the evening. That Shore ep was up about 50% from the one that led into the VMAs last year. Throw in the VMA pre-show (3.6) and Thursday's Jersey Shore (4.5) and MTV had the week's top four 18-49 programs on broadcast or cable!
Above based on FINAL adults 18-49 ratings unless otherwise noted.
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