CBS Wins; 8 p.m. Hour Remains One of the Softest of the Week

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Note: I am still on telephone call for potential jury duty, which means The Programming Insider could be pre-empted tomorrow.

CBS Wins; 8 p.m. Hour Remains One of the Softest of the Week

              HH
          Rtg/Shr

-Percent Change From the Year-Ago Evening (Wednesday, October 22, 2008):

Note: Fox aired game one of The World Series on the year-ago evening.

Hank (ABC), The Middle (ABC), Eastwick (ABC), The Jay Leno Show (NBC)

CBS led the Wednesday overnight troops, beating second-place NBC by a healthy 60 percent. Third overall was Fox, followed by ABC and distant The CW. 

CBS finished first overall in the 8 p.m. hour care of its combination of The New Adventures of Old Christine (#1: 4.4 rating/7 share) and compatible Gary Unmarried (#2: 4.3/ 7). The two sitcoms, in fact, beat ABC’s competing Hank (#4: 3.6/ 6) and The Middle (#4: 3.7/ 6), which were both series lows, by an average of 19 percent in the overnights. But the Wednesday 8 p.m. hour remains one of the least competitive in all of prime-time.

Also airing from 8-9 p.m. was NBC’s consistent, albeit non-spectacular Mercy (#2: 4.3/ 7), Fox’s So You Think You Can Dance (#3: 4.2/ 7), which will win the time period among adults 18-49, and fading America’s Next Top Model on The CW (2.4/ 4), which year-to-year was down by a significant 29 percent (3.4/ 6 on Oct. 22, 2008 to 2.4/ 4). 

The Wednesday 8-9 p.m. overnights in a nutshell:

Hank – 8 p.m.: 3.6/ 6 (#4)

The Middle – 8:30 p.m.: 3.7/ 6 (#4)

The New Adventures of Old Christine – 8 p.m.: 4.4/ 7 (#1)

Gary Unmarried – 8:30 p.m.: 4.3/ 7 (#2)

Mercy: 4.3/ 7 (#2)

So You Think You Can Dance: 4.2/ 7 (#3)

At 9 p.m., CBS’ underrated Criminal Minds stood well above the competition in the overnights, with an 8.8/14. Comparably, that beat NBC’s second-place Law & Order: SVU (5.7/ 9) by a hefty 54 percent. Battling out for third in the time period in the metered markets were ABC comedies Modern Family (#3: 4.9/ 8) and Cougar Town (#4: 4.2/ 7), which were both series lows, and Fox’s consistent Glee (#4: 4.4/ 7). But Modern Family, Cougar Town and Glee are all expected to be on the map among adults 18-49. Here are the updated metered market tracks for Modern Family and Cougar Town:

Modern Family (ABC)

9/23/09: 7.8/12

9/30/09: 5.8/ 9

10/06/09: 5.1/ 8

10/13/09: 5.4/ 8

10/20/09: 4.9/ 8

9/23/09: 6.8/10

9/30/09: 5.5/ 9

10/06/09: 4.7/ 7

10/13/09: 4.8/ 8

10/20/09: 4.2/ 7

Capping off the 9 p.m. hour was a repeat of The CW’s Melrose Place with a mere 0.7/ 1. For more on Melrose Place, see TV Tidbits below.

Leading the 10 p.m. hour in the overnights, of course, was CBS’ CSI: NY, this week with an 8.5/14. Next was NBC’s The Jay Leno Show (3.6/ 6), one of the rare evenings it did not finish third, followed by ABC’s failing Eastwick at a series-low 3.1/ 5. The next time a network decides to spin a series off from a movie over 20 years old, don’t do it. There was absolutely no need for Eastwick. 

Source: Nielsen Media Research data (R = repeat)

Ratings Box:

Based on the final Live Plus Same Day ratings on Tuesday, Oct. 20, Dirty Jobs and Ghost Lab lifted Discovery Channel to a second-place finish in primetime among all basic networks in men 18-49 (536,000) and men 25-54 (514,000). Dirty Jobs finished first in the 9 p.m. hour in men 18-49 (749,000) and men 25-54 (718,000), while Ghost Lab built from the year-ago time period by 15 percent in adults 18-49 (764,000), 14 percent in adults 25-54 (730,000) and as high as 69 percent among women 25-54 (376,000).

-National Ratings In Syndication – Week of October 5:

What follows are the top 20 rated programs in syndication for the week of October 5 based on households, including any individual program highlights worth noting.

Wheel of Fortune (CBS Television Distribution): 6.6 rating, Jeopardy (CBS): 5.4, Oprah (CBS): 5.1, Two and a Half Men (Warner Bros.): 4.7, Entertainment Tonight (CBS): 4.3, Judge Judy (CBS): 4.1, Family Guy (Twentieth Television): 3.4, Inside Edition (CBS) and CSI: NY (CBS): 3.0 each, The Office (NBC Universal): 2.9, Dr. Phil (CBS): 2.7, Dr. Oz (Sony Pictures Television) and Seinfeld (SPT): 2.6 each, Law & Order: Criminal Intent (NBC Universal): 2.5, Live With Regis & Kelly (Disney-ABC) and Two and a Half Men (Warner Bros.): 2.4 each, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (Disney-ABC), Everybody Loves Raymond (CBS) and Seinfeld Weekend (SPT): 2.3 each

-Oprah increased two percent in households from one week earlier in households, with gains of as much as 12 percent among women 18-49 (2.8). 

-Inside Edition built by 11 percent week-to-week in households, more than any other newsmagazine. 

-Growing Dr. Oz reached another new zenith in households and women 25-54 (1.6 rating), with a second-place finish in the demo among all talkers behind only Oprah. 

-CBS Television Distribution’s The Doctors rose to a 1.9 in households -- up a massive 46 percent from one year earlier, with its best performance since last April. 

-Warner Bros.’ TMZ (1.9) finished first among all syndicated magazines in adults 18-34 (1.0, tied with Entertainment Tonight) and men 18-34 (0.8). 

-NBC Universal’s The Office (2.9) continues to lead the freshman class of off-net comedies, followed by Twentieth Television’s My Name is Earl (1.7) and CBS Television Distribution’s Everybody Hates Chris (1.4). 

Source: Nielsen Media Research data

On the Air Tonight:
Prime-Time Programming Options

 8:00 p.m. Survivor: Samoa

 9:00 p.m. CSI (R)

10:00 p.m. The Mentalist (R)

10:00 p.m. The Jay Leno Show

 8:00 p.m. 2009 American League Championship Series, Game 5

 8:00 p.m. The Vampire Diaries

 9:00 p.m. Supernatural

TV Tidbits:

Notes of Interest

The CW, as expected, as re-upped bona fide hit The Vampire Dairies for the remainder of the season, with a back-end order for nine additional telecasts. Struggling Melrose Place, which is hoping the return of Heather Locklear on Nov. 17 will spark interest, has been picked-up for five additional telecasts, bringing the first season order to 18. 

-Fox Retools Friday for November:

Yes, there is still a November sweeps period. And Fox will temporarily replace its struggling combination of Brothers, ‘Til Death and Dollhouse with repeats of House and Bones. An encore telecast of the two-hour season-premiere of House will populate the evening on Oct. 30, followed by the House and Bones second-runs in November. Dollhouse will return with back-to-back episodes beginning on Friday, December 4, while recently introduced Brothers will move into the Sunday 7 p.m. half hour on November 8. ‘Til Death, meanwhile, will return to where it was most of last season: on hiatus. 

-Glee on DVD:

Although the musical dramedy is still only in its debut season, Twentieth Century Fox Home Video Entertainment will debut Glee: Season 1: Road To Sectionals on Tuesday, December 29 with 14 episodes on four DVDs. Included will be a director's cut of the pilot episode, audition videos of the cast, behind-the-scenes footage, and the music featured at iTunes. The suggested retail price is $39.98 U.S./$49.98 Canada.

-Boomerang Celebrates The Flintstones:
Animated classic The Flintstones, a Mr. TV Favorite, will be showcased in a 13-hour commercial-free marathon on cable net Boomerang on Sunday, Oct. 25 beginning at 8 a.m. ET. In honor of this 26-episode extravaganza:

Flintstones. Meet the Flintstones.
They're the modern stone age family.
From the town of Bedrock,
They're a page right out of history.

Let's ride with the family down the street.
Through the courtesy of Fred's two feet.

When you're with the Flintstones
You'll have a yabba dabba doo time.
A dabba doo time.
You'll have a gay old time.

What were the names of the three Robinson children in classic 1960s sci-fi drama Lost and Space?

The answer to yesterday’s question…

Which one of the following series was never regularly scheduled on Saturday?

a)      Eight is Enough

b)      The Golden Palace

c)      Growing Pains

d)      Rhoda

e)      Wonder Woman

Is: b) The Golden Palace, which was spun-off from The Golden Girls and aired Friday at 8 p.m. in its sole 1992-93 season. Click below for the opening theme song of The Golden Palace.