On the Air Tonight:
Prime-Time Programming Options 

Prime-Time Metered Market Wednesday Ratings:
Fox Wins; Crowing Rights for CBS and ABC as Well

              HH
          Rtg/Shr

-Percent Change From the Year-Ago Evening (Wednesday, February 4, 2009):
CBS: +66, ABC: + 2, CW: no change, NBC: -18, Fox: -19

Super Bowl’s Greatest Commercials (CBS), American Idol (Fox), Criminal Minds (CBS), Modern Family (ABC), CSI: NY (CBS)

Led by American Idol, Fox dominated the Wednesday overnights and will certainly win the evening among key adults 18-49. But its advantage over second-place CBS in the metered markets was just four-tenths of a rating point. In the distant No. 3 spot was the home of Modern Family, ABC, followed by NBC and another night of repeats on The CW. 

CBS opened the night on a winning note care of 8 p.m. special Super Bowl’s Greatest Commercials at a 7.4 rating/12 share. Tied for second were ABC comedies Modern Family (repeat: 4.9/ 8) and The Middle (5.0/ 8) and recently introduced Fox drama Human Target (5.0/ 8), which now anchors the evening (leading into American Idol). All things considered this is a very respectable start for Human Target in its new time period. ABC was wise, meanwhile, to give The Middle an early renewal for 2010-11 given the improved performance in recent weeks. The Middle is turning into the real deal. 

Also airing at 8 p.m. was on-the-fence NBC medical drama Mercy (#4: 4.2/ 7) and a repeat of The CW’s Life Unexpected (#5: 1.2/ 2). 

Fox took control of the 9 p.m. hour, of course, with the final night of auditions on American Idol notching a very healthy 13.4/20 in the overnights at 9 p.m. But also worth positively noting were CBS’ Criminal Minds (#2: 9.8/15) and ABC’s demo friendly Modern Family (#3: 6.4/ 9), which built by 28 percent out of improved The Middle. Far less significant on ABC was lead-out Cougar Town at a third-place 4.5/ 7 at 9:30 p.m. -- 30 percent below Modern Family. For more on Criminal Minds, see TV Tidbits below. As for American Idol, am I the only one unhappy to have Ellen DeGeneres onboard next week?

Rounding off the 9 p.m. hour were repeats of NBC’s Law & Order: SVU (3.3/ 5), which will air in originals in the Wednesday 10 p.m. hour effective on March 3, and The CW’s Gossip Girl (0.5/ 1). 

CBS moved into the overnight winner’s circle at 10 p.m. care of CSI: NY (9.2/16), followed by ABC’s canceled Ugly Betty (3.4/ 6) and NBC’s canceled The Jay Leno Show (3.3/ 5).  Considering ABC has officially swung the axe on four-year old Ugly Betty, you have to wonder why it is spending so much money promoting it.

The Miss America Pageant on TLC this past Saturday rose to 4.5 million viewers, the largest number of viewers to-date on cable.

-No. 2 Telemundo:
Based on final national January results, Telemundo finished second among adults 18-49 in the weeknight 7-11 p.m. block, with 615,000 viewers in the demo and a 20 percent share of the Spanish language audience. Comparably, results in the 8 p.m. hour (818,000) were up by a hefty 28 percent from one year earlier. 

Midway through the 2009-10 season (through January 24 to be exact), CBS Television Distribution’s Oprah, which concludes next season, remains well above the competition at levels close to one year-earlier. But freshman spin-off Dr. Oz from Sony Pictures Television is neck-and-neck with declining “corporate cousin” Dr. Phil from CBS, and NBC Universal mainstay Maury now ranks second overall among women 18-49, with growth of 15 percent in the demo from one year earlier. All three NBCU talkers -- Jerry Springer, Steve Wilkos and aforementioned Maury -- are up year-to-year.

Elsewhere, Warner Bros.’ The Ellen DeGeneres Show, which is hoping to inherit some of the Oprah time periods in fall 2011, is also on the plus side, with a second-place ranking among women 25-54. Disney-ABC’s perennial Live With Regis & Kelly is still a competitive option despite the minor losses, while Debmar-Mercury’s freshman The Wendy Williams Show ranks in the middle of the pack in the female demos at levels on par with CBS’ declining Rachael Ray. Warner Bros.’ sophomore The Bonnie Hunt Show is not returning next season, and cellar-dweller Martha from NBC Universal is moving to The Hallmark Channel next fall. 

What follows is an updated tracking of all occupants in syndicated talk based on households and the two key demos – women 25-54 and women 18-49. Percent change versus the comparable year-ago period appears in parentheses (for the established entries).

Oprah (CBS Television Distribution): 4.9 rating (- 2), Dr. Phil (CBS): 2.9 (-15), Dr. Oz (Sony Pictures Television): 2.6, Live With Regis & Kelly (Disney-ABC): 2.6 (- 4), Ellen DeGeneres (Warner Bros.): 2.3 (+ 5), The Doctors (CBS): 1.9 (+19), Maury (NBC Universal): 1.9 (+ 6), Rachael Ray (CBS): 1.7 (- 6), Jerry Springer (NBCU) and Steve Wilkos (NBCU): 1.2 (+20 each), Wendy William (Debmar-Mercury): 1.2, Bonnie Hunt (Warner Bros.): 0.8 (-11), Martha (NBCU): 0.6 (-14)

Oprah (CBS Television Distribution): 3.1 (- 3), Ellen DeGeneres (Warner Bros.): 1.6 (+14), Dr. Oz (SPT): 1.6, Dr. Phil (CBS): 1.6 (-20), Live With Regis & Kelly (Disney-ABC): 1.4 (- 7), Maury (NBCU): 1.3 (+ 8), Rachael Ray (CBS): 1.0 (-17), Wendy Williams (Debmar-Mercury): 0.9, The Doctors (CBS): 0.9 (no change), Steve Wilkos (NBCU): 0.8 (+33), Jerry Springer (NBCU): 0.7 (+17), Bonnie Hunt (Warner Bros.): 0.5 (no change), Martha (NBCU): 0.4 (-20)

Oprah (CBS Television Distribution): 2.5 (- 4), Maury (NBCU): 1.5 (+15), Ellen DeGeneres (Warner Bros.(: 1.4 (+17), Dr. Oz (SPT): 1.2, Dr. Phil (CBS): 1.2 (-25), Live With Regis & Kelly (Disney-ABC): 1.1 (- 8), Wendy Williams (Debmar-Mercury): 0.9, Rachael Ray (CBS): 0.9 (-10), Jerry Springer (NBCU) and Steve Wilkos (NBCU): 0.8 (+33 each), The Doctors (CBS): 0.8 (+14), Bonnie Hunt (Warner Bros.): 0.4 (no change), Martha (NBCU): 0.3 (-25)

On the Air Tonight:
Prime-Time Programming Options

 8:00 p.m. The Deep End

10:00 p.m. Private Practice

 8:00 p.m. Surviving Survivor

 9:00 p.m. CSI

10:00 p.m. The Mentalist

10:00 p.m. The Jay Leno Show

 9:00 p.m. Fringe (winter season finale)

 8:00 p.m. The Vampire Diaries

 9:00 p.m. Supernatural

TV Tidbits:

Notes of Interest

-More Big:

HBO has renewed drama Big Love for a fifth season, with 10 new episodes ordered for 2010-11. 

-Dana Delaney to Reunite with Nathan Fillion:

Dana Delaney will appear opposite her former Desperate Housewives hubby Nathan Fillion in a two-part episode of ABC’s Castle, which airs Sunday, March 25 and Monday, March 26 at 10 p.m. ET. Delaney will play a Federal Investigator who teams with Richard Castle (Fillion) and Detective Beckett (Stana Katic) to hunt down an elusive serial killer. 

-Pam Anderson Puts on Her Dancing Shoes:

The full cast of new celebrity contestants on Dancing With the Stars will not be revealed until the season-finale of The Bachelor on March 1. But buzz is circulating that one of the participants will be former Baywatch and VIP star Pam Anderson. Stay tuned. 

-Rob Lowe to Head to CBS?:

As reported last week, Rob Lowe is exiting ABC’s Brothers & Sisters at the end of the season. Word has it that he is in conversations to head the cast of CBS’ upcoming Criminal Minds spin-off. Lowe’s last regularly scheduled stint on the Eye net was short-lived drama Dr. Vegas in the fall of 2004.

-ABC Announces Lost Finale Date:

Must see ABC drama Lost, a Mr. TV favorite, will officially conclude on Sunday, May 23 from 9-11 p.m. Leading into the event will be a clips special at 8 p.m. This means, of course, that the season finale dates for ABC’s regularly scheduled Sunday rotation of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Desperate Housewives and Brothers & Sisters will probably be one week earlier. 

-Speaking of ABC:

Upcoming alphabet net drama Happy Town, the Twin Peaks-like tale of a small Minnesota town rocked by a series of kidnappings, will debut on Wednesday, April 28 our of Cougar Town at 10 p.m. ET. 

-So You Think You Can Dance to Return on Fox in May:

Fox summer favorite So You Think You Can Dance (which should never air a fall edition again) will return for its seventh season on Thursday, May 27 at 8 p.m. ET. For information on the audition schedule, click on fox.com/dance.

What city was critically acclaimed, but short-lived sitcom Frank’s Place set in?

a)      Chicago

b)      Las Vegas

c)      New Orleans

d)      Philadelphia

e)      Savannah

The answer to yesterday’s question…

Who played Chase’s mother on long-running serialized drama Falcon Crest?

a)      Joan Crawford

b)      Greer Garson

c)      Joan Fontaine

d)      Barbara Stanwyck

e)      Lana Turner

Is: e) Lana Turner, who portrayed Jacqueline Perrault and was apparently “killed off” after she did not get along with series star Jane Wyman.

 -Current kudos goes to:
Gerry Bixenspan, Lisa Blatt, Barbara Bloomfield, Susan Brandes, Jim Colucci, Larry Collins, Tom Condosta, Mike Dugger, John Ferlazzo, Maureen Goldman, Michelle Harrington, Bob Ingersoll, Deb Kainer, Marie LeFevre Karp, Tom Kilgallon, Synda Kollman, Mark Krause, Steve Kurtzer, Charmaine Leary, Patty Lynch, Kathy Martin, Lisa Menin, Jim Moore, Michael Murphy, Sandra Pettway, Greg Phelan, Gordon Purcell, Joe Rubi, Ron Salmon, Marni Setless, Michelle Stanton, Andrew Stearn, Joe Swaney, Ronnie Tallant, John Wood, Ted Zawislak