The Extratextuals

Now that I have another week of Nielsen ratings to work with, let’s reevaluate how the new shows are doing. After the fold …

[Note that I draw the numbers from TV By the Numbers, usually the day after, so they’re usually just the “overnights”; note, too, when I offer rankings, that (i) several new and returning shows started this week, and (ii) last week, I jumped the gun and posted before the Sunday shows, meaning that they’re now out of 81, whereas last week they were only out of 61. Toggle accordingly]

Numbers in parentheses are the rankings, according to the numbers I received, of total viewers, and then ratings/share in the 18-49 demo

The Big Hit

• NCIS: LA (2, 8 ) remains the only bona fide hit, and is only down slightly from its first week

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The Successes

• Flash Forward (22, 18) dropped 1.43million viewers and 0.4/1 off its demo rating/share, but still fared well
• The Cleveland Show (35, 13) joins the mix at the top, though it lost a full 0.7/2 demo rating/share from its first week, so it’s not quite on safe ground
• Modern Family (24, 20) and Cougar Town (31, 25) are still doing well, but both suffered losses of over 2 million viewers and 0.6/2 and 0.7/2 demo ratings/share drops too. If that becomes a pattern, they’re out of this category quickly
• The Good Wife (11, 28) moves into this category, improving upon its rankings from last week, even if only marginally
• Vampire Diaries (71, 65) held its numbers from the previous week. Its numbers could get it canceled elsewhere, but it’s still The CW’s most-watched show, so I’d imagine the network like it a lot

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Moderately Successful

• Accidentally on Purpose (38, 33) lost almost a million viewers, but is still doing okay
• The Middle (36, 40) hardly enjoyed the great start of its ABC sitcom colleagues, but it’s safe for now
• Glee (48, 30), in a week of lower viewer numbers, actually gained 0.7 million, and went up in ratings/share. Say thank you to Kristen Chenoweth, Glee

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Tier III

• The Forgotten (41, 57) dropped markedly from last week, putting it in danger. One more week going down, and I’m moving it to the Drop Zone (if ABC don’t beat me to it)
• Community (63, 35) has low overall viewership, but is doing okay with younger audiences (look at that overall viewers/demo split in rankings), so will survive for now
• Mercy (47, 54) is falling, while Trauma (54, 49) opened with meh numbers, so the question now becomes which NBC will euthanize first. Stay tuned
• Eastwick (58, 45) is also free-falling, especially in overall viewers
• Jay Leno (highest/lowest are 51, 42 and 69, 70) isn’t getting canceled, though he should be

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Drop Zone

• Melrose Place (81, 81) is dead last in the rankings. How long will The CW hold its nose?
• Brothers (76, 78) did poorly last week, and worse this week. Whereas The CW is used to low numbers, perhaps keeping Melrose Place around for a while, FOX certainly isn’t, and I’d expect to see this go soon

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Looking Beyond the New Shows
A few notes:

• Kudos to The Simpsons, ranking 11 in the 18-49 demo. Wuhoo!
• Surely Dollhouse is not long for this world, unless it improves upon its rather horrific 0.8/3 18-49 rating/share with 2.09 million viewers
• Parks and Rec is also facing the axe, at 1.9/5 an 4.63 million viewers (though it did add half a mill viewers this week)
• Other shows earmarked for trouble by TV By the Numbers’ Cancel/Renew Index (a neat metric formed by dividing the show’s ratings by its network’s average ratings) are Castle, Cold Case, and Law and Order

new shows, ratings Nielsen, ratings