3 nets each take piece of ratings pie Mon.

By Paul J. Gough

Feb 13, 2007

NEW YORK -- "Heroes" continued to prevail in a three-way race at 9 p.m. while "CSI: Miami" had its highest ratings of the season and the new "Rules of Engagement" built upon "Two and a Half Men" in its second week.

A two-hour "24" won the night for Fox and gave the network the win in the demo at 8 p.m., although stiff competition an hour later gave both viewership and the demo to NBC and its runaway hit "Heroes," according to preliminary data released Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research.

NBC's "Deal or No Deal" (16.1 million, 4.6 rating/12 share in adults 18-49) got the night started with a win in viewership although it bowed to the first hour of "24" in the demo by three-tenths of a ratings point. Meanwhile, CBS got good news with "How I Met Your Mother" (9.8 million, 3.6/10) and "The Class" (9 million, 3.3/8) that were both ahead of their season averages for original episodes. ABC's "Wife Swap" (8.3 million, 3.7/9) was also at its highest demo mark of the season.

Things got busier at 9 p.m., with three networks -- CBS, NBC and Fox -- all drawing over 13 million viewers. "Heroes" (14.7 million, 6.3/14) was the unquestioned winner in the demo and squeaked out a win over the full hour in viewers against CBS that had "Two and a Half Men" (15.6 million, 4.9/11) and "Rules of Engagement" (13.5 million, 5.0/11). ABC's "Supernanny" (9.7 million, 4.1/9) was well behind in both measures but it was still its highest ratings of the season too.

Fox's "24" (13.4 million, 5.0/12) is up 1% in viewers compared to a year ago.

The pendulum swung back big time to CBS at 10 p.m., with "CSI: Miami" (19.8 million, 6.4/16) winning the hour and the night in both viewership and the adults 18-49 demographic. ABC's "What About Brian" (5.5 million, 2.7/7) was about average while NBC's "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" (6.5 million, 2.8/7) was at its lowest rating for an original episode so far this season.

Nightly averages: ABC (7.9 million, 3.5/9); CBS (14.6 million, 4.9/12); NBC (12.4 million, 4.6/11); Fox (13.4 million, 5.0/12); and The CW (2.6 million, 1.2/3).

i liked Studio 60 at first, but i'm almost positive its going to get cancelled..so i don't really care about the show anymore..and frankly i'm pissed it keeps brining NBC's ratings down for the night..Hopefully the black donnoleys will do better in the slot..

Christine fans should be worried, Rules of Engagement is doing great in the timeslot...but i guess they could always bump The Class..

It's disappointing to see Studio 60 continuing to drop, but I've given up watching it as well. I'm lookin forward to seeing what the Black Donneleys has to offer...

Monday February 12, 2007

Total Viewers

CSI: Miami 19.9 million

Deal or No Deal 16.1 million

Two and a Half Men 15.6 million

Heroes 14.7 million

The Rules of Engagement 13.5 million

24 (x2) 13.4 million

How I Met Your Mother 9.8 million

Supernanny 9.7 million

The Class 9.0 million

Wife Swap 8.3 million

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip 6.5 million

What About Brian 5.6 million

Everybody Hates Chris 2.8 million

Girlfriends 2.6 million

All of Us 2.6 million

The Game 2.5 million

Adults 18-49

CSI: Miami 6.4/16

Heroes 6.3/14

24 (x2) 5.0/12

The Rules of Engagement 5.0/11

Two and a Half Men 4.9/11

Deal or No Deal 4.6/12

Supernanny 4.1/9

Wife Swap 3.7/9

How I Met Your Mother 3.6/10

The Class 3.3/8

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip 2.8/7

What About Brian 2.7/7

Girlfriends 1.3/3

Everybody Hates Chris 1.2/3

All of Us 1.2/3

The Game 1.2/3

Monday Night (8:00-11:00 p.m.)

ABC' Monday night lineup delivered the Net's highest ratings on the night in Adults 18-49 (3.5/9) and Adults 18-34 (3.3/9) in 11 weeks - since 11/27/06 -- with non-sports programming. In addition, the Net led the evening among Women 18-34 (4.5/11) for the second time in three weeks, while finishing second among Women 18-49 (4.8/11).

"Wife Swap" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)

"Wife Swap" logged season-high ratings in the time period in Adults 18-34 (3.4/10) and Adults 18-49 (3.7/9 - tied).

* For the third consecutive week, "Wife Swap" ranked No. 1 its hour in its core Women 18-34 demo (4.7/12), while taking second among Women 18-49 (4.9/12).

"Supernanny" (9:00-10:00 p.m.)

Opposite stiff competition on CBS, Fox and NBC, ABC's "Supernanny" posted its strongest performance of the season in both Total Viewers (9.7 million) and Adults 18-49 (4.1/9). Building on its lead-in (8.3 million & 3.7/9 in Adults 18-49) by 1.4 million viewers and by 11% in young adults, "Supernanny" also produced the Net's best numbers in the hour this season with regular programming.

"What About Brian" (10:00-11:00 p.m.)

In the 10 o'clock hour, "What About Brian" saw its best Adults 18-34 (2.7/7) and Adults 18-49 (2.7/7 - tied) performances since October - since 10/16/06 and 10/30/06, respectively.

* "What About Brian" took second in the hour, topping NBC's "Studio 60," across each of the key women demos: Women 18-34 (3.6/9 vs. 2.9/7), Women 18-49 (3.7/9 vs. 3.0/7) and Women 25-54 (3.7/8 vs. 3.3/8).

Source: Nielsen Media Research (Fast Affiliate Ratings, Live+SD), 2/12/07.

Goodness, Studio 60 seems to be dragging down NBC overall viewership. I guess this means it's gone at the end of the season. I'm surprised they haven't at least tried to move it around to see if it can grab rating somewhere else.

I think it's too late in the season to do that. It's gone. I just wish we knew a date when we'll know for sure.