Wednesday November 19

ABC
8PM: The Middle – 2.2
8:30PM: The Goldbergs – 2.4
9PM: Modern Family – 3.7
9:30PM: Black-ish – 2.6
10PM: Nashville – 1.5

CBS
8PM: Survivor – 2.4
9PM: Criminal Minds – 2.3
10PM: Stalker – 1.7

Fox
8PM: Hell's Kitchen – 1.5
9PM: Red Band Society – 0.9

NBC
8PM: The Mysteries of Laura – 1.4
9PM: Law & Order: SVU – 1.8
10PM: Chicago PD – 1.6

The CW
8PM: Arrow – 0.9
9PM: The 100 – 0.6

–

Some strong week-on-week rises for the ABC comedy block with Modern Family up half a point. That ABC's comedy block is doing so well this year though just makes that Nashville rating stick out. I really think they have to move that midseason particularly given that neither NBC nor CBS is producing anything amazing at 10PM here. The slot seems open for something. Having said that Nashville is holding much better than I'd expected this season. Presumably because of the stronger lead-in at 9:30.

Elsewhere with no Voice or crossovers to fuel them SVU and Chicago PD fell back to earth. Mysteries of Laura continues to just plug along. Its not a great performer but I think its probably fair to say that its very much exceeding expectations.

Wednesday early ratings:

CBS:
Survivor- 9.82m (2.5)
Criminal Minds- 10.61m (2.3)
Stalker- 9.47m (1.7)

NBC:
The Mysteries of Laura- 8.57m (1.4)
Law and Order SVU- 7.86m (1.8)
Chicago PD- 7.22m (1.6)

ABC:
The Middle- 8.32m (2.2)
The Goldbergs- 7.70m (2.4)
Modern Family- 10.90m (3.7)
Blackish- 7.95m (2.6)
Nashville- 5.51m (1.5)

FOX:
Hells Kitchen- 3.94m (1.5)
Red Band Society- 2.95m (0.9)

CW:
Arrow- 2.63m (0.9)
The 100- 1.66m (0.6)

Better for The 100, and good for Arrow to stay the same, wish it could hit the 1s again! Big climbs for some of ABC including The Middle, The Goldbergs and MF, nice to see a rise for Blackish and Nashville too. Great ABC night.

As expected for CBS and FOX, and as expected big drops for the two shows from last weeks crossovers.

Those demo increases for Laura and Stalker are promising

On another subject for a moment this is a rather interesting press release from CBS regarding upscale viewers on Sunday night

Madam Secretary Elevates CBS's Sunday Upscale Audience

I get the feeling Madam Secretary might get a renewal but it really depends on the development slate.

Wednesdays at 10pm seems wide open and I know CSI Cyber is planned for Sundays after CSI but I wonder if Wednesdays after Criminal Minds might be better.

And we have Better Call Saul scheduling from AMC

Looks like it'll debut out of the midseason opener of The Walking Dead on Sunday February 8 with episode two to follow Monday February 9. It'll then air weekly on Monday nights at 10PM. That seems set up for a pretty big opening at least.

Looks like AMC are expanding scripted programming beyond Sundays, they've still not found anything that is compatible with TWD but I guess the companion show will likely be used rather than Talking Dead which rates very well considering how cheap it is but I think AMC is wasting a lead in.

Stalker adjusts down. No other movement.

Finals:

CBS:
Survivor- 9.85m (2.4)
Criminal Minds- 10.68m (2.3)
Stalker- 7.98m (1.6)

NBC:
The Mysteries of Laura- 8.61m (1.4)
Law and Order SVU- 7.93m (1.8)
Chicago PD- 7.29m (1.6)

ABC:
The Middle- 8.32m (2.2)
The Goldbergs- 7.70m (2.4)
Modern Family- 10.88m (3.7)
Blackish- 7.82m (2.6)
Nashville- 5.52m (1.5)

FOX:
Hells Kitchen- 3.98m (1.5)
Red Band Society- 2.90m (0.9)

CW:
Arrow- 2.64m (0.9)
The 100- 1.64m (0.6)

FOX has announced its midseason slate and it seems that Glee is going to Fridays, Backstrom is getting Thursdays, Last Man on Earth airing on Sundays after Family Guy and Weird Loners airing Tuesdays. Idol looks really cut down this season especially from March from Bones returns for new episodes. The Following is pretty late this year but that might be due to Sleepy Hollow having more episodes this season.

I really cannot make sense of how they're scheduling Empire at this point. Just in terms of fitting it around Idol's run on Wednesday which is inevitably going to have to be 2 hours or at least longer than an hour.

I also can't work out how they're scheduling the additional episodes of The Mindy Project they ordered. That order now makes no sense to me at all since I assume they'll have to burn them off out of New Girl repeats and/or in place of New Girl repeats.

Unsurprisingly they're burning through Glee quickly. Its off the air before the end of March.

Also I'm assuming Bones is actually being held back because they're pretty sure Backstrom and/or Empire are going to bomb and they'll want to use Bones as replacement. I also can't even begin to imagine how bad Wayward Pines must have turned out since the seem to have pushed it back again.

The schedule looks like it designed that if a show finals then Idol can expand or add episodes. Fridays after Glee finish look like they'll be a slot for something like Backstrom or Bones, Idol wont be airing just one episode, its logistically impossible

Yeah there's a lot of safety netting built into this schedule which is wise given how the season has shaped up for them so far.

I really need Fox to explicitly lay out the scheduling for Empire because I really don't get how that's working at all.

Its also just occurred to me that Backstrom is getting thrown to the wolves. Its going to air opposite Scandal on ABC and The Blacklist on NBC and its lead in to start will be an already weak American Idol hobbled by The Big Bang Theory on CBS and to be truthful Grey's Anatomy on ABC (and God knows what NBC have lined up to lead-in to The Blacklist at this point). Then they're saying it'll switch to a Bones lead in which is even worse.

It's one thing for Glee to be burned off on Fridays but to be placed after an AFV/YouTube show has to be embarrassing for a series which once was a dominant player in broadcast.

Watching the wednesday night comedy domination makes me realise how much i miss thanksgiving.

Wait, so it matters what the other shows are, and the reputation of a show depends on something entirely unconnected with its own production? I don't think it does in the slightest. Besides, what's the difference between this show and something like America's Funniest Home Videos? That doesn't have an 'oh god, what are they pairing it with' issue, does it? Fox have this other show that has 'Friday night TV' written all over it - it's sounds like a few shows we have over here on UK TV - and Glee was always going to end up on a Friday, whether it was Jan-Mar, or Mar-May, they had 13 hours of Glee to broadcast. Everyone expected a double episode finale, the double episode opener is relatively standard for many shows IMO. I'm happy it's on a Friday, at least it's getting a final run of episodes, which is more than many cancelled shows get, and it's new slot should support even low ratings. Being scheduled Jan-Mar isn't 'burn-off', I don't think. They always had this amount of episodes, it's a fairly natural fit in the overall season - short runs often get placed in this winter season.

Glee, of course, lost their way when the showrunner completely lost interest in making the show. Ryan Murphy has a raging case of ADHD that makes him a terrible showrunner for a longrunning series - it's why he still enjoys making AHS, given it's single season premises, that keep him interested for their 12 episode existences. His next show will be along the lines of AHS, and will have wholesale changes every single season. Glee suffered, but the show has an important legacy, no matter where the final season is placed on the schedule. The fact that it stayed on air, and with decent ratings up until last year, for 4 seasons beyond when the showrunner got bored with it, speak pretty highly of it, TBH!

Backstrom looks good but i never really like comedy crime shows so i am in two minds whether to check it out if renewed. I don't know what it is. But comedy and crime just don't go in my opinion for television shows. They become too cringey.

Those are some good points there. While it's great for Glee to get a proper final season, I just find it disappointing that it had to be placed after Fox's version of AFV, instead of it being a lead-in. Shows erode in ratings, that's a given fact. Fox screwed up with their two season renewal two seasons ago, when their ratings at the time were marginal. I would have given it a one season renewal and give an opportunity for the show to have a conclusion run. Glee lost their touch creatively and I don't watch it as much as I used to, but they do have the occasional bright moments, here and there. Also, like you said, Ryan Murphy is much more invested in AHS series and seemingly stepped away (not given up though) from Glee.

So, when I found out that Glee is placed in that slot, it is more heartbreaking because even the network sort of gave up (I did expect them to be placed on Fridays though like Fringe). However, I do agree that Glee will at least get all their final episodes aired and that speaks volume as many hit shows which plummet in later seasons don't even get a send-off. I also concur that Glee has left a legacy in television, something which Murphy's previous (and underrated) teen series, Popular, hardly ever got the opportunity for.

January-March scheduling isn't in and of itself burn off but when you look at the complete picture for this final season of Glee it does start to scream burn off (episode order effectively cut in half, shipped off to Friday, avoiding May sweeps, off the air in 11 weeks etc.).


Ryan Murphy is a terrible showrunner period. Even American Horror Story, a set up that should completely suit his many flaws as a writer, is falling into the exact same traps as every other series Murphy has written. Much like Tim Kring, Ryan Murphy shouldn't ever be allowed anywhere near running the shows he creates/co-creates.


My problem with Backstrom is that its yet another series (and yet another one on Fox to boot) that can be summed up as House as a [insert not doctor profession here]. I think it might be time for the television industry as a whole to move on from this concept especially since House is pretty much the only show in this area that has worked.

It never dawned on me till today that the only midseason shows that got renewed were Resurrection, The 100, chicago PD and About a boy.

Then i got me thinking that more midseason shows are cancelled perhaps slightly more than the shows that began the season. Or could it be a mixture?

If you actually look at the long running shows on television right now, only Scandal, Grey's, Parks and recs, Hannibal, castle, Bob's burgers, the simpsons, family guy and the following were all originally midseason shows.

I wonder how many will make the cut this season because i think this season's midseason shows are perhaps the strongest i have seen in a while.

Thursday November 20

Note: These numbers are subject to more change than usual after quite a few local markets opted to air a Presidential address instead of regularly scheduled programming at 8PM and either preempting or shifting content around to accommodate. NBC and CBS were also preempted by football coverage.

ABC
8PM: Grey's Anatomy – 2.4
9PM: Scandal – 3.1
10PM: How To Get Away With Murder – 3.1

CBS
8PM: The Big Bang Theory – 4.0
8:30PM: Mom – 2.7
9PM: Two and a Half Men – 2.3
9:30PM: The McCarthys – 1.4
10PM: Elementary – 1.0

Fox
8PM: Bones – 1.3
9PM: Gracepoint – 0.8

NBC
8PM: The Biggest Loser – 1.3
9PM: Bad Judge – 1.2
9:30PM: A to Z – 0.9
10PM: Parenthood – 1.5

The CW
8PM: The Vampire Diaries – 0.8
9PM: Reign – 0.4

--

With the exception of How To Get Away With Murder I'd venture that those are slightly disappointing (or maybe underwhelming is better) winter finale numbers for the ABC Thursday line-up. Not horrible but I'd imagine ABC would have been expecting a little more from Scandal in particular which seems to have dropped week-on-week right now. But we'll see what final adjustments bring.

CBS meanwhile really need to address 9:30-11 on Thursday night. Also that Bad Judge number doesn't look right at all to me and Parenthood also looks suspiciously high.

EDIT - OK both NBC and CBS also had football preemptions last night which perhaps makes a little more sense of the NBC numbers.

Thursday with the viewing figures also (I know they don't mean much in the US, but will post them anyway). Expect adjustments for CBS and NBC.

ABC
Grey's Anatomy: 8.28m (2.4)
Scandal: 10.02m (3.1)
How To Get Away With Murder: 9.81m (3.1)

CBS
The Big Bang Theory: 14.65m (4.0)
Mom: 10.64m (2.7)
Two and a Half Men: 8.97m (2.3)
The McCarthys: 6.35m (1.4)
Elementary: 6.41m (1.0)

Fox
Bones: 5.24m (1.3)
Gracepoint: 3.21m (0.8)

NBC
The Biggest Loser: 5.13m (1.3)
Bad Judge: 4.09m (1.2)
A to Z: 3.05m (0.9)
Parenthood: 4.58m (1.5)

The CW
The Vampire Diaries: 1.67m (0.8)
Reign: 1.15m (0.4)

I hope Mom doesn't adjust down too much! If Parenthood holds, that is very good. Fantastic for ABC, brilliant for Scandal and incredible for Murder.

Bad Judge's adjustment might get them back to usual numbers they have been having the last few weeks. A to Z, meanwhile, looks to have another series low.

CBS need to sort out elementary. That is two weeks it has earned a 1.0. CBS won't put up with that for much longer. A move to friday?

HTGAWM is amazing. Deserves those figures.

Reign fell to 0.3 in the officials, ouch. It's dead.