CBS Gives 'Criminal Minds' Post-Super Bowl Slot

Network hopes for a 'Grey's Anatomy'-style bounce

December 4, 2006

Thomas Gibson of 'Criminal Minds'Already developing into a surprising smash in its second season, "Criminal Minds" will get another boost from the coveted slot after the Super Bowl.

A special episode of the profiling drama will air on Sunday, Feb. 4 after Super Bowl XLI on CBS. A post-Super Bowl showing earlier this year helped transform "Grey's Anatomy" from a sophomore hit into a runaway juggernaut and CBS presumably hopes for a similar splash.

"In just a couple of months, 'Criminal Minds' has gone from our unsung hero to a Top 10 series," says CBS Entertainment President Nina Tassler. "Millions of viewers are discovering it every week and obviously they like what they see. This is an outstanding opportunity to expose a series that is young in its life cycle and on the rise to an enormous universe of potential new viewers."

After averaging 13.78 million viewers in its first season, "Criminal Minds" has come out swinging this fall. The show's viewership is up by 25 percent this year, to 16.8 million. After lagging behind the far-more-publicized hit "Lost" in the season's early weeks, "Criminal Minds" beat the ABC show in their last two head-to-head meetings.

Adult 18-49 viewership is also up 23 percent for "Criminal Minds," which stars Mandy Patinkin, Thomas Gibson, Paget Brewster, Shemar Moore, Matthew Gray Gubler, A.J. Cook and Kirsten Vangsness.

I don't really watch any CBS shows really. I keep forgetting that the Superbowl is on CBS this year.

I think it goes CBS, NBC, FOX, and ABC (even though ABC got rid of everything sports, so who knows if they're still in the rotation.)

I think its a bad choice. Criminal Minds doesn't need any help beating Lost. I think CBS should've gone with either How I Met Your Mother or TAR, two of its low-rated, but critical darlings.

ABC had it this year so it will go 2007-CBS, 2008-Fox, and 2009-NBC. ABC is out of the rotation.

I read on the Criminal Minds message boards that they are working on a huge episode that will appeal to male and female viewers (ala Greys) for the post Super Bowl slot.

CM is already a Top 10 drama, but I guess they are looking to catapult it into the Top 5. They want to reclaim the title of having the #1 drama on television and this is probably going to help them do it. I'm sure they also chose CM because they want to build an even bigger audience since Americal Idol returns next month.

I personally would have loved to see CBS use the hour for How I Met Your Mother and The Class. Both are way underrated and it would have been a great platform for them to potentially get viewers.

I love Criminal Minds so it's all good.

Thanks for posting.

Good for Criminal Minds....it's an awesome show. I *love* Mandy Patkin, and started watching this show out of curiorsity since I missed Dead Like Me so much. It's really the best crime drama series on TV, IMO. The viewer is always invested in the characters/victims, unlike CSI.

Criminal Minds is the best crime show on TV now. I'm glad they're using it to boost the ratings even more and to put a dent in American Idol's mammoth ratings.

I'm also glad because Lost won't be in that timeslot anymore.

I guess CBS really wants a new #1 show. Good way to do it.

I love Criminal Minds. I think it's a good idea.