US TV Ratings Wednesday February 1]

Fox won the night with total viewers and in the demo but American Idol was down 9% week-on-week and more worryingly still down almost 35% on the equivalent episode last year. When final numbers come in I suspect Idol will have dropped at least 3 demo points vs. last years third Wednesday show. It may now be time for Fox to panic especially given that it was up against no real competition. The question is have viewers deserted it because of The X Factor, The Voice or because they're bored? We may find out next week when The Voice returns. On the plus side for Fox with the Idol lead-in Mobbed was up more than 100% vs. its last episode.

Elsewhere NBC's 8PM comedy block aired original episodes and both were up compared to last week. Meanwhile CBS' Super Bowl commercial compilation was up vs. the same show last year and pulled a respectable 2.1. The CW were the only other broadcast network airing original content last night. One Tree Hill continued its final season even with last week and at a respectable (by current CW standards) level. I expect the rumours of another season to begin any second now. Meanwhile reality series Remodeled continues to perform terribly even by the low standard of The CW.

In other news Law & Order's 10PM repeat was down just two tenths on its last original episode in January which is a crazy factoid on so many levels.

ABC
8PM: The Middle [r] – 1.2 [4.90]
8:30PM: Suburgatory [r] – 1.2 [4.21]
9PM: Modern Family [r] – 2.7 [7.66]
9:30PM: Happy Endings [r] – 1.9 [5.25]
10PM: Revenge [r] – 0.9 [3.29]

CBS
8PM: Super Bowl's Greatest Commercials – 2.1 [8.66]
9PM: Criminal Minds [r] – 2.1 [8.23]
10PM: CSI [r] – 1.5 [7.40]

Fox
8PM: American Idol – 5.9 [18.19]
9PM: Mobbed – 2.9 [7.94]

NBC
8PM: Whitney – 1.7 [4.44]
8:30PM: Are You There Chelsea? - 1.7 [4.08]
9PM: Law & Order: SVU [r] – 1.1 [4.79]
10PM: Law & Order: SVU [r] – 1.6 [5.82]

The CW
8PM: One Tree Hill – 0.7 [1.47]
9PM: Remodeled – 0.3 [0.75]

Things are looking bad for American Idol, a drop of 35 pc is severe and should this be repeated next year, then the show is heading for flop zone territory. I can see the show either being rested for a few years or being axed together as TFX USA is being seen as the next big thing( although this wasn't such a mega success either).
I often wonder if the whole talent show boom of the last ten years is coming to an end, with AI showing a large fall in the ratings and TXF and BGT showing considerable drops over here and lesser shows like SYTYCD faring badly.

Ridiculously high rating for daytime filler there.

Really good for Channel 4 it seems last night, while ITV1 had a good night too.

Its worth remembering that American Idol is now a decade old. I'm not sure its drop is indicative of the death of the talent show format and more that shows (particularly in modern television) don't dominate for a decade in general. I suppose the real litmus test for this in the US will be how The Voice does. It could be argued that Idol and The X Factor US have both done relatively poorly so far because audiences have decided they prefer The Voice. We'll have to wait and see whether it holds up or grows year-on-year or not.

Coincidently The Voice may very well prove to be the litmus test for the same issue in the UK.

But generally speaking its hard right now to really predict the death of the talent show format when The Voice has been such a big international format over the past 18-24 months. I wonder if perhaps what we're seeing isn't a rejection of the talent show format but a rejection of the overtly exploitative production style of talent shows like Idol and The X Factor. Viewers may just have gotten wise to that technique.

whats amazing about those US ratings is that the Super Bowl's Greatest Commercials program is 2nd or 3rd (depending which measure you use) show in primetime.


Thats right programs, repeat or new, and NBC all our rated by advertising. People love those Superbowl ads.

Says he who is looking forward to seeing The Avengers Superbowl spot

BTW Daybreak if your looking to send anyone to review The Avengers, I could be bribed to say some nice things about you.

The year on year declines keep growing which is probably getting them even more nervous. The Wednesday shows are down into the 5's already - where the hell will the Thursday episodes be by April?! The decline is so steep (3 whole points!) that I think there must be more to it than X Factor. It only averaged a 3.6.

The poll on tvbythenumbers (not always the best indicator!) has expectations for The Voice in the 31-35m range. You could be talking about more than an 11.0 in the demo. Then airing the next night it'll surely take forward a good chunk of that. The next few weeks are going to be the most difficult Idol has ever had.

NBC really pushing this Super Monday thing - they're obviously hoping Smash and The Voice can create the new "Must See TV" stand to revive the network. Tbh, the main reason I'm hoping The Voice does well is so that Smash can do well! Enjoyed the pilot and looking forward to the rest of the series.

I don't know if its ever translated internationally just how big an event the Super Bowl ads have become in the US. Its a very strange thing although we should remember that the US is also the country that somehow managed to make a tourist attraction out of a giant collection of ads (Time Square) so... I suppose part of the problem is that no one else really has a comparable event. I've always felt that ITV and advertisers have missed a trick by not tapping into similar kind of marketing for some kind of UK event. I suppose though that The X Factor or BGT finals are really the only thing ITV have that could work for...

Maybe age is counting against it and maybe newer formats like The Voice could take over. 10 years is a good run for a show and usually by then, unless the show is a massive hit, the show has either been cancelled or is in big decline like AI.
I can see the same thing happening here with TXF by 2014, ratings will be showing huge falls and I can see Simon Cowell pulling the plug.

1) it does seem strange to outsiders, and whilst I spend plenty of time online, on US based websites, I dont think I get the scale of it, nor do I quite understand.

I know I said above I was looking forward to the Avengers Superbowl spot, but that is something I can see online, and I would not sit watching the Superbowl ads for.

Obviously I have seen the first Avenegers trailer, but I know the Superbowl one will be worth a watch.

2) to be fair hasnt London kinda done the same with Piccadilly Circus?

3) it is of course easy to understand the Superbowl itself, even with the large rating its understandable. However we dont have an event show with those kind of ratings, there are few big football games on terrestrial TV unlike in the USA.

Of course part of why the Superbowl ads work is that the ads are often one offs, and have had alot of money spent on them, some with big names, some a little sexy, something advertisers themselves have created, to be part of the event. If those superbowl ads were bog standard ads people would not care.

the X-Factor ratings I dont think are big enough to justify the extra spend by advertisers even if people are watching live. That said of course if Compare the Market was to premier a new advert (a special entry in the canon of Meerkat adverts) we might see some interest, people love those Meerkats.

Still having said all of this, whilst its one thing to keep people watching the adverts whilst they are watching the Superbowl, its those people who tune in only for the adverts I dont get, however you can understand that for the half time show.

Never thought I would see this

Gadget Show USA

If that snow is significant the overnight rating for Call The Midwife will be very interesting. In fact everything on Sunday primetime could get a significant boost. We shall see.

I agree. It looks like the US are starting to tire of it now that The Big Bang Theory is almost beaten it in total viewership. Looks like TBBT is the new biggest show in America. Weird to think that the show averaged around 8.6m in the first series and now is achieving 16m+.

Anyone know what Loose Women's viewing figures are looking like recently?

TBBT is going the same route as NCIS for the ratings. I remember NCIS scraped by the first season and the numbers started growing season by season after that. Now, NCIS is the only scripted show which can achieve 20m+ in total viewers. No idea if NCIS ever topped the ratings week though like Desperate Housewives and The Mentalist at their peaks.

If Idol keeps falling, pretty soon, Modern Family might edge them out too. Their numbers are a bit behind TBBT, but they are performing at a competitive level. Speaking of ABC, they released their February Sweep today and it pretty much outlined what we already know. But, just to recap:

(Link: http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/201...lights/118543/)

1. The River premieres Feb 7 as a two-hour episode from 9-11pm. They will be a lead-in show for Body of Proof (at this rate, BoP will have to pull a dramatic increase and great retention from The River). Cougar Town premieres on Feb 14. Both BoP and Cougar Town have finished/are filming their final episode for the season.

2. Pan Am's last episode will air on Feb 19 and it is listed as "season finale" (really?)

3. Revenge will be pre-empted on Feb 22 for a 20/20 Special.

4. Like last year, ABC will host a 90-minute red carpet special, preceding the Oscars ceremony.

ABC apparently not wanting to make a decision until they see what pilots they have this year. Honestly ABC must be the only people who think it may return.

Yet another one tonight with the Underground too - though both Bouncers and this seem to be one-offs, though based on last nights ratings I suspect Bouncers will be recommissioned - and lose half it's viewers.

C4 have thrown alot of shit at the screen in the last couple of years and they've found a few returnable formats like One Born Every Minute which are inexplicably popular. I think 9pm for them at the moment is probably stronger than it has been for a couple of years - but they need to get that balance in their schedules now and get the drama back at 10pm, while the 8pm lifestyle hour isn't as strong as it once was at the moment either.


I'd expect it probably terrifies housewives yet to have children.


After The Voice and The X Factor the Idol auditions must seem very old fashioned now - just three judges in an empty room compared to the live audiences on the newer shows. Even though neither show hit the heights of Idol in the ratings I'm sure they both found fans in people who watched Idol, but wanted something a bit fresher.

If The Voice does well this year though and Idol continues to falter I wonder if NBC might be tempted to hijack Idol's slot next year.

sorry dumb question but what is the big deal about Idol failing, its 10 years old, it has a new line up of judges, The Voice has been successful, whist Simon Cowell has bought its natural successor to the US market.

This season of Idol should really be the last, allowing X-Factor to replace it totally in its next run.

I never for a moment thought FOX would be able to keep both Idol and X-Factor on air.

Idol is a safety net for FOX, in case X Factor did crap in the ratings. As we have witnessed, it was no Idol, but performed below FOX's expectation. Not to mention, the horrendous reviews. Should X Factor drop further, at least they will still have Idol - but for how long? Then again, DWTS had a huge slump for their recent season, as also with The Bachelor currently.

FA Cup live games sorted...

http://thefa.com/TheFACup/Fixtures

Stoke fans hoping to travel to Crawley can get the first Sunday morning train at 8.59am to arrive at 1.03pm. Kick-off is 12 noon

http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/servic...90212/1307/arr

Pivotal night for DOI this weekend. They've booked popular boy band One Direction, and snow is due on Sunday too.

That (in bold) is pretty much why it is a big deal. No show in the history of US television has been as dominant as American Idol (I think last season was the 7th in a row where it was the #1 show on US TV). And last season it performed strongly when many thought it might falter.

As it stands, there's no chance of FOX "replacing" Idol with X Factor. But from January to May it contributes 3 hours of FOX's 11 significant primetime hours (ignoring Friday/Saturday). They aren't as reliant on Idol as they used to be. Thanks to new hits like Glee, New Girl and X Factor (as well as World Series Baseball), they have been #1 in November Sweeps in 2009 and 2011. But Idol powers them for the rest of the season.

There's also the whole Cowell/Fuller issue. There isn't going to be an orderly handover.

Assuming Idol continues to falter NCIS is better positioned to become the biggest show on television in total viewers. Although that also assumes that Dancing with the Stars doesn't rebound this cycle and that The Voice continues to skew young rather than amassing huge total viewers in the way Idol has. Looking at the demo numbers it could be a much tighter race with Big Bang Theory, Modern Family and Two and a Half Men all there or there about this season. The Voice is the wild card in all this though and I wouldn't be against it to win the demo race if you discount Idol.


Its the value of syndication.

NCIS became a big hit when it started its syndicated run on USA (where huge numbers of people discovered it and still watch it) and those viewers transferred to the CBS originals. The Big Bang Theory started stripped syndication this season which has produced a decent uplift in its numbers on broadcast although its big jump came when it got the Two and a Half Men lead-in a couple of seasons ago. And worth mentioning at this stage that Modern Family will start stripped syndication locally and syndication on USA next year which should if the theory holds see some broadcast bump for it.


I don't think they believe it'll return they just don't want to call it. Its not the first time networks have done it and it won't be the last.


Because American Idol is central to Fox's success.

If you remove Idol from the equation then all they have are (at best) mediocre hits. Their Monday night line-up can't break a 3 and hasn't been able to all season. Tuesday nights is the height of their success with Glee and New Girl both above a 3 but now topping out at a mid-3. Bones is lucky to break a 3 when it has an Idol lead-in and can just about muster a high-2 on its own. Animation Domination has stumbled this year with big hitters Family Guy and The Simpsons both struggling to break the 3 marker. American Idol has rather brilliantly hidden the fact that Fox really don't have all that much on their schedule any more that can produce.

The other major issue is that they don't have a natural successor for it. I completely agree that Fox's plan was to replace Idol with The X Factor but after this season that's not looking like an option any more. X Factor under performed and unless it has a major up tick in season two then I can't see it becoming the corner stone of the Fox schedule people thought it would be.

And ITV's Rod Hull clip show was what, exactly?

Clearly viewers wanted to watch Rip Off Britain because it got 5.1m!

I think some are getting carried away by the threat of some snow this weekend.

It looks like being fairly transient, preceding a band of rain sweeping in on a warm front, so I doubt it will have any noticeable ratings impact - it will probably have been washed away by the time DOI starts, so I can't see a bit of freak weather saving the show from further decline this weekend...

[EDIT: the late Weatherview just now said any passing UK snow would be a late Saturday affair, with nothing due on Sunday]

Back to tonight - I thought Inside Men got off to a good start, and I hope gets a decent figure in the morning. Though I do wonder if the subject matter, and a fairly violent start, will have put folk off.

Decent night for BBC1. DIY SOS was a repeat so that did well to get above 4m viewers. Masterchef doing the usual solid mid-range sort of numbers. It looks like they will be keeping Waterloo Road in the 7:30pm slot for the run starting in a couple of weeks, so we could be back to the awkward 8:30pm Wednesday mini-flopzone.


A strong night for ITV1, Midsomer Murders posted an overnight rating above the sort of levels it has been at in recent episodes, although the +1 excluded number was below the distinguishable 6m marker. Nice share for Emmerdale too.


One Born Every Minute did really well last night, in fact +1 inclusive that is its highest ever overnight rating, although excluding +1 it comes up about 150k shy of its previous highest non +1 rating back in 2010. It is well up on all of last year's ratings, which is certainly a bright spot for channel 4 right now. Bouncers also did very well, not many 10pm shows on C4 reach those heights nowadays.


It has been quick to catch up on the thread in the evening the last couple of days, with not many posts.