Primetime Overnights

[Sylph]

‘Men in Trees’ climbs to a ratings high

The ABC dramedy averages a 3.9 in 18-49s

By Toni Fitzgerald

Jan 26, 2007

It took a few weeks, but audiences seem to be warming to “Men in Trees,” ABC’s romantic dramedy set in Alaska. Last night the Anne Heche show hit a series best in adults 18-49, building on the previous week and winning its Thursday timeslot in the demographic for the first time.

It’s still far from a hit, but it’s a promising sign for ABC, which already saw “Six Degrees” bomb in the important 10 p.m. post-“Grey’s Anatomy” timeslot earlier this season.

“Trees” averaged a 3.9 adults 18-49 rating, according to Nielsen overnights, 0.1 better than its then-record 3.8 when it debuted on Thursdays last year.

Granted, the gains against weak competition. NBC and CBS aired repeats, and “Trees” was just 0.1 ahead of the “Shark” rerun aired by the latter.

But for the show to experience growth after two months’ worth of episodes in the timeslot has to seem promising for ABC, whose strength on the night is with the women. TV Guide recently ran a feature calling “Men” the most romantic show on television, and the network has been marketing it as such, making it a much better fit on the night with the similarly themed “Ugly Betty” and “Grey’s” than “Degrees” ever was.

“Trees” is still fumbling more than half its “Grey’s” lead-in, which is never good. But ABC has promised to give the show time to find an audience in the timeslot, especially since it started off on Fridays and will take time for buzz to build for viewers coming in at midseason.

With this week’s season high in 18-49s coming a week after last week’s season best in 18-34s, there’s reason to believe that could happen.

Meanwhile, ABC continues to rule on Thursdays. “Grey’s” led the network to a first-place finish for the night among 18-49s with a 5.3 average rating and a 14 share. CBS was second at 4.6/12, NBC third at 2.7/7, Univision fourth at 1.7/5, and CW and Fox tied for fifth at 1.7/4.

Although it finished third for the night, NBC started the night in the lead with a 3.6 rating at 8 p.m. for repeats of “My Name is Earl” and “The Office.” ABC and CBS tied for second at 3.3, ABC for a repeat of “Ugly Betty” and CBS for a “CSI: Miami” rerun. That left Univision fourth with a 2.4 for “La Fea Mas Bella,” CW fifth with a 2.1 for “Smallville” and Fox sixth with a 1.9 for “Til Death” (2.0) and “The War at Home” (1.8).

ABC took the lead in a big way at 9 p.m. with an 8.8 rating for “Grey’s.” CBS was second with a season-low 6.6 for “CSI,” with NBC third with a 2.1 for repeats of “Scrubs” and “30 Rock” and Fox and Univision tied for fourth at 1.5, Fox for “The O.C.” and Univision for “Mundo de Fieras.” CW fell to sixth that hour with a 1.4 for “Supernatural.”

At 10 p.m. ABC led with a 3.9 for “Men in Trees.” CBS was a close second with a 3.8 for “Shark,” with NBC third with a 2.3 for an hour of “Office” repeats and Univision fourth with a 1.3 for “Aqui y Ahora.”

Among households, CBS led the night with a 10.1 average rating and a 16 share. ABC was second at 9.5/15, NBC third at 3.6/6, Fox fourth at 2.9/4, CW fifth at 2.5/4 and Univision sixth at 2.2/3.

[Errol]

After finals were released this week, MiT fell to a 3.7

[Sylph]

[Sylph]

Thank you. That's why I worte "overnights" in the title.