Primetime Ratings: September 2011

[Soapsuds]

I actually liked last night's show. It was much better than last week. I hated the first episode for sure.....

[Soapsuds]

In week two a number of Thursday shows saw big declines, led by ABC's "Charlie's Angels" and NBC's "Prime Suspect," which both slid double-digit percentages from last week.

"The X Factor" may be the only new show to gain traction on Thursday nights, and even it was down from last week's lower-than-expected debut.

"Factor" averaged a 3.8 adults 18-49 rating from 8 to 10 p.m., according to Nielsen overnights, down 12 percent from last week's 4.3. (Note: "Factor" has been rising by two or three tenths of a point when final ratings are released.)

That lifted Fox to its second straight Thursday win, yet another first for the network, which finished 21 percent ahead of second-place CBS.

ABC, CBS and NBC are all looking at major issues on the night. ABC's "Angels" plummeted 29 percent from last week's premiere, to a 1.5 in the highly competitive 8 p.m. timeslot.

NBC's "Suspect" also managed just a 1.5 at 10 p.m., a big disappointment for one of its most highly touted new shows. "Suspect" lead-in "Whitney" fell 24 percent from last week's solid 3.3 premiere to a 2.4, the second-biggest week-to-week decline for any show on the night.

And while CBS's "The Big Bang Theory" remained the No. 1 show on the night with a 4.8, the network's new shows are not looking promising. The series premiere of "How to Be a Gentleman" managed just a 2.7 at 8:30 behind "Bang," down a third from the premiere of "$#*! My Dad Says" in the same slot last year.

The network's 9 p.m. anchor, the new drama "Person of Interest," fell 13 percent to a decent but not great 2.7.

Meanwhile, Fox was first for the night among 18-49s with a 3.8 average overnight rating and a 10 share. CBS was second at 3.0/8, ABC third at 2.6/7, NBC fourth at 2.1/6, Univision fifth at 1.7/5, CW sixth at 1.1/3 and Telemundo seventh at 0.5/1.

As a reminder, all ratings are based on live-plus-same-day DVR playback. Seven-day DVR data won’t be available for several weeks. Forty-one percent of Nielsen households have DVRs.

CBS began the night in the lead with a 3.8 at 8 p.m. for "Bang" (4.8) and "Gentleman" (2.7), followed by Fox with a 3.5 for "Factor." Univision was third with a 2.1 for "Teresa," NBC fourth with a 1.9 for "Community" (1.8) and "Parks and Recreation" (2.1), ABC fifth with a 1.5 for "Charlie's Angels," CW sixth with a 1.3 for "The Vampire Diaries" and Telemundo seventh with a 0.4 for "Mi Corazon Insiste."

Fox took the lead at 9 p.m. with a 4.2 for more "Factor," while ABC moved to second with a 3.5 for "Grey's Anatomy." NBC was third with a 2.9 for "The Office" (3.4) and "Whitney" (2.5), CBS fourth with a 2.7 for "Interest," Univision fifth with a 1.9 for "La Fuerza del Destino," CW sixth with a 0.9 for "The Secret Circle" and Telemundo seventh with a 0.5 for "Flor Salvaje."

At 10 p.m. ABC was first with a 2.8 for "Private Practice," with CBS second with a 2.5 for "The Mentalist." NBC was third with a 1.5 for "Suspect," Univision fourth with a 1.2 for "Mujeres Asesinas" and Telemundo fifth with a 0.7 for "La Casa de al Lado."

CBS led the night among households with a 7.6 average overnight rating and a 12 share. Fox was second at 6.9/11, ABC third at 5.6/9, NBC fourth at 3.4/5, Univision fifth at 1.7/5, CW sixth at 1.5/2 and Telemundo seventh at 0.7/1.

[EricMontreal22]

I don't like Person of Interest, but it's actually doing better than I thought it would. Numbers wise, it doesn't look like a failure to me at this point, though far from a breakout success--what am I missing?

How To Be a Gentleman was *abysmal*--I thought it looked like it could be a minor hit from the previews, but it was truly dreadful, maybe the worst new comedy of the year, which is saying something.

Glad to see Vampire Diaries and Secret Circle satying the same--they're never gonna get bigger numbers, and this seems to be enough for The CW.

[Toups]

No link to your copy/paste, Ron? And there's no need to copy/paste all that info. I"m sure Zap2it (I'm assuming you got it from there) would like to get some hits too.

[Soapsuds]

Its not from Zap2it...I thought of linking but I am too lazy Toups....lol

[!@#$%^&*] yes! I totally [!@#$%^&*] agree with you Eric.

Do exes actually view these shows before putting them on the air??

[wingwalker]

I like POI a lot and while I wouldn't deem in a "failure", I think SoapSuds raises a good point. POI is putting up disappointing numbers. In fact, other Big Bang Theory, Thursday Night is one of it's weakest nights. POI is doing worse that CSI was, a show they moved and POI is getting a ton of promotion and should be doing better and bringing down The Mentalist as well. POI is compatible with the comedies and not compatible with TM. It should be on Tuesday or Wednesday, and Thursdays need to be a 2 hour comedy block next season (they didn't couldn't do it season due to the uncertainty of the Monday comedy lineup). BBT is being totally wasted at 8pm, if was on 9pm, it would be pulling 5s or 6s again the demos like it did season 3 @ 9:30pm and be able to be a "halo" for the whole night, like that 2.5 Men is on Mondays. While POI probably going to get a full season order (CBS only picked up 3 dramas, only 1 of which has yet to debut) and I hope and think it can grow into a hit like NCIS, my concern, CBS is NOT as patient as NBC or ABC are. CBS regularly cancels shows that other networks would typically consider a hit

[alexisfan07]

Thanks for these Toups

Yikes, when did "The Office" plummet down so far? Just this season or was it after Steve left?

[Soapsuds]

I do think that CBS should make The Bing Bang Theory an hour. It did real well last week in an hour format and the ratings increased this week too.

[Toups]

An hour? LOL That means they'll have to double everything which would cause burn out and would be more expensive.

It looks like TBBT could be like Friends where they couldn't find a compatible show to follow.

[wingwalker]

Yeah, TBBT isn't going an hour. LOL

It could very well be a Friends type situation. Although, when it was on Monday's it was compatible with HIMYM and 2.5 Men, so far none of the comedies they put after it on Thursdays have been any good, they've all been bad. If they can put an actual good show there, it might be a situation. CBS just picked up Rob Schneider's comedy for Mid-Season and it went through a massive retooling/recasting, I imagine that might get the Post-BBT slot, maybe that'll be a good show.

[AS THE WORLD TURNS]

The Good Wife didn't beat DH and probably never will.

[Juliajms]

Zap2it links for us now, god bless them. If you copy anything from there the name of the show is a link.

[AS THE WORLD TURNS]

Actually Bleep my Dad says was doing the same at the end of it's season and got removed and Rules of Engagement took over.

[Soapsuds]

Really???

NBC: "Football Night in America" (18.1 million, 10.7/16)

CBS: "The Good Wife" (10.5 million, 6.8/10)

ABC: "Desperate Housewives" (9.8 million, 6.2/9)

FOX: "Family Guy"/"American Dad" (6.7 million, 3.8/6)

[lovely_m]

They're referring to the 18-49 demo not the total viewers.