Spotted Ratings, Wednesday 6/22/11 & 6/29/11

WHAT MATTERS: 

• Apparently The Voice is not exempt from the norm: not as many people are interested in reality TV results shows. The Wednesday airings on June 22 (3.3) and the finale on June 29 (3.5) were both much weaker than most recent Tuesday results (which were usually in the mid-4's).

• But America's Got Talent (3.9 on 6/22, 4.0 on 6/29) is absolutely thriving in its one-hour Wednesday airings. The 4.0 marks the first time Got Talent has broken a 4.0 demo on Wednesday since season 1 back in 2006. Got Talent lead-out Love in the Wild (2.2) didn't start off too well last night, though. It dropped 45% of its lead-in and significantly trailed last week's timeslot occupant, a repeat of Got Talent from last week (which got a 2.9).

• So You Think You Can Dance (1.9) dropped below the 2.0 threshold for the first time this season and just the third time in series history. It's now just a tick above its lowest summer rating ever.

Numbers from 6/19/11 through 6/25/11 based on FINAL adults 18-49 ratings unless otherwise noted. Numbers starting on 6/26/11 based on PRELIMINARY adults 18-49 ratings unless otherwise noted.

Spotted Ratings, Tuesday 6/21/11 & 6/28/11

WHAT MATTERS:

• The one-hour America's Got Talent eps (3.4 on 6/21, 3.2 on 6/28) have been getting a little weaker lately but may benefit from a return to two-hour length starting next week.

• The Voice (4.4 on 6/21, 4.4 on 6/28) is not exactly exploding to the finish but remains comfortably the highest-rated thing on TV nowadays. The finale is tonight (6/29).

• While the Monday editions of MasterChef have been doing decently against less reality competition, the Tuesday ones (1.8 on 6/21, 1.7 on 6/28) have dropped off against Got Talent and Wipeout.

• ABC premiered its all new Tuesday on June 21. Wipeout (1.7 on 6/21, 1.8 on 6/28) is off to a particularly slow start on Tuesday, 101 Ways to Leave a Game Show (1.9 on 6/21, 1.8 on 6/28) isn't doing anything great, but it deserves at least some kudos for building slightly on/maintaining its weaker-than-expected Wipeout lead-in thus far. And 10:00 scripted offering Combat Hospital (1.2 on 6/21, 1.1 on 6/28) is bringing up the rear with numbers fairly reminiscent of last summer's scripted flop Scoundrels.

Numbers from 6/19/11 through 6/25/11 based on FINAL adults 18-49 ratings unless otherwise noted. Numbers starting on 6/26/11 based on PRELIMINARY adults 18-49 ratings unless otherwise noted.

True Strength: Viewing Levels 102 - How TV Events Affect Viewing

Seemingly about 20 years ago, I looked at some of the basics of how many adults 18-49 watch TV during primetime. Ultimately, we want to look at how a program's rating is affected by the level of viewing. But before we look at how viewing affects ratings, we're gonna look at the reverse: how do ratings, specifically big events with really big ratings, affect viewing levels?*

Spotted Ratings, Monday 6/20/11 & 6/27/11

WHAT MATTERS:

•  The last two weeks of The Bachelorette (2.3 on 6/20, 2.5 on 6/27) didn't distinguish themselves, while Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition (2.0 on 6/20, highest-since-premiere 2.3 on 6/27) seems to be doing well enough in the post-Bachelorette slot to secure a renewal.

• MasterChef (2.2) hit a season high on 6/20 but then came back to more normal levels with a 2.0 on 6/27.

• The end is nearing for the Law & Order: LA burnoff run, and it's not doing anything special (1.3 on 6/20, 1.5 on 6/27). The finale airs in two weeks (7/11) after a break for the Fourth of July.

Numbers from 6/19/11 through 6/25/11 based on FINAL adults 18-49 ratings unless otherwise noted. Numbers starting on 6/26/11 based on PRELIMINARY adults 18-49 ratings unless otherwise noted.

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 6/19/11 & 6/26/11

I didn't find the broadcast ratings interesting enough to write up while on vacation, so we'll be doing two-a-days throughout this week.

WHAT MATTERS:

• NBC's Miss USA 2011 (2.2) won the evening of June 19 and was way up from last year's 1.4, but that's mostly because of the later start time (9/8c this year vs. 7/6c last year). The only other original (aside from NBC US Open Golf overrun (1.8)) was the Daytime Emmy Awards (0.8), significantly down from last year's 1.1. Family Guy (1.8) led the repeat pack.

• The only June 26 original was the second-season premiere of The Marriage Ref (1.6), which tied last season's lowest point and failed to build on its America's Got Talent repeat lead-in (1.6, and scored a 1.9 in the 9:30 half hour). The evening's top program overall was the Family Guy repeat (1.9).

Numbers from 6/19/11 through 6/25/11 based on FINAL adults 18-49 ratings unless otherwise noted. Numbers starting on 6/26/11 based on PRELIMINARY adults 18-49 ratings unless otherwise noted.

The Definitive Sports TV Ratings Post, 2010-11 Edition

UPDATE: For more info, please refer to the most recent edition of this post.

The first one of these was one of the most popular posts I've ever done, and I think the info is definitely all worth putting in one place again! As more info on sports TV ratings becomes publicly available, I hope to be able to expand on this in future years, but for now I'm mostly going to examine the same stuff I examined last year. So let's take a look at sports that air regularly in broadcast primetime and the big sports championships from the 2010-11 season!

First, I'll return to the three regularly-scheduled sports franchises that I examined last year:

The War of 18-49, Private Practice

PRIVATE PRACTICE (ABC)

Scheduling history: The successful opening season of Private Practice aired in the middle of a night of three new Wednesday dramas in fall 2007 on ABC. When that three-drama block started going awry in fall 2008, ABC shipped Private Practice to the post-Grey's Anatomy slot on Thursday. It stayed there for more than three years, then went to Tuesday late in the 2011-12 season and remained there for the final season.

War of 18-49 Update, Desperate Housewives (2010-11)

Let's take a look at the 2010-11 season (the seventh overall) of Desperate Housewives on ABC.



2010-11 adults 18-49 low/average/high: 2.7/3.46/4.4

Rating the Ratings: The declines have become predictable for the Housewives in recent years. Since season 4 lost just 11% of the season 3 average, the next three years' drops have been almost eerily close: -21%, -20%, then -19% in season 7. It's not long ago at all that Desperate Housewives was one of the ratings monsters of primetime, but by the spring of 2011, even breaking a 3.0 demo was a struggle. It's interesting that after years of people claiming ABC left Brothers & Sisters after it for too long, it finally gets to lead into something new (Pan Am) in the year when it may finally decline out of "bonafide hit" range. (Another 20% drop would leave it at just a 2.8 average next year.) Grade: C-.

Here's the now updated War of 18-49 post for Desperate Housewives.

The War of 18-49, Wipeout

WIPEOUT (ABC)

Scheduling history: ABC premiered Wipeout on Tuesday in summer 2008 and has shuffled it around quite a bit since. Season two aired on Wednesdays, and then the next four summer seasons aired on some combination of Tuesday and Thursday. The long-troubled Thursday 8/7c hour became Wipeout's home during its two regular season runs. In season seven, it got its first crack at Sunday.

War of 18-49 Update, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (2010-11)

Let's take a look at the 2010-11 season (the eighth overall) of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition on ABC.


2010-11 adults 18-49 low/average/high: 1.5/2.26/2.7

Rating the Ratings: Since peaking in the 2004-05 season when fellow Sunday program Desperate Housewives blew up, it's been pretty steadily downward for Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. This season brought another 17% drop, its fifth double-digit year-to-year drop in the last six seasons. Though the size of the drop has been reliable for years, this was really the first year that the show's raw numbers sunk low enough to become a somewhat marginal player. Temporary spring replacement Secret Millionaire actually outrated it. The show's still a little too strong to get rid of, so it'll get bumped to Friday, which has been the final resting place for a couple other recent unscripted franchises on ABC. That means it's leaving its Sunday timeslot on a regular basis for the first time. Such a move is not likely to stop the bleeding, but it skews a lot older than strong timeslot competition Kitchen Nightmares, so it'll have a chance to carve out a good-for-Friday number. Grade: C-.

Here's the now updated War of 18-49 post for Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.