ratings

Multi-screen media measurement firm Rentrak Corp. announced that it has signed a long-term TV Essentials contract with Crown Media Holdings Inc. for its Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movie Channel cable […]

Fox’s American Idol received a ratings boost over last week for the first performance episode of the finals, although the show was still well down from the same episode a year ago. Idol averaged a 5.6 adults 18-49 rating from 8 to 10 p.m., up 14% from a 4.9 the previous week.

ABC’s Good Morning America won’t surpass NBC’s Today as the No. 1 morning show this season. But that day may be coming closer. The longtime No. 2 is making strides this season toward catching Today, which has held its top position for an amazing 16 years.

Super Tuesday represented another strong TV news day for the cable news networks — but one of the broadcast networks could also claim some honors.

Multi-screen media measurement firm Rentrak Corp. announced that announced that Local TV LLC’s Fox affiliate WJW Cleveland (DMA 18) has signed a long-term contract for Rentrak’s StationView Essentials service. With […]

Even against minimal competition, the premiere of Fox’s new Tuesday comedy block got off to a slow start last night, with two shows drawing less than a 2.0 adults 18-49 rating. The network did win the night with a 2.1 rating and 6 share in 18-49s. But that came against repeats on CBS and a sagging ABC lineup where its only two originals sank to series lows.

CBS, as usual, was powered by its slate of dramas, sitcoms and reality shows, claiming 21 of the Top 30 rankings. Fox was supercharged with three editions of American Idol.

The courtroom queen retakes the top spot in first-run syndication from Wheel of Fortune with a 1% ratings gain from last week and 61% from this time last year.

NBC’s lineup, most notably the drama Smash, benefited from airing against CBS reruns last night. The Voice and Smash both saw ratings rise over their previous episode, the second straight week that Smash has risen. Smash averaged a 2.7 adults 18-49 rating at 10 p.m., up 17% over the previous week and hitting a three-week high. The show easily won its timeslot against limp competition.

Which TV show is No. 1 these days in broadcast TV? Increasingly, it depends on your point of view: popularity, advertising-wise, or something in between.

ABC’s much-hyped new dramedy GCB got off to an okay start on Sunday night, drawing an unremarkable rating in its premiere, though it did improve sharply on former timeslot occupant Pan Am. GCB averaged a 2.2 adults 18-49 rating at 10 p.m., according to Nielsen, up from a 1.2 for Pan Am‘s final episode two weeks ago and ABC’s best rating in the timeslot in five months.

Boosted by the most-watched Super Bowl in history, NBC cruised to an easy February sweeps victory among adults 18-49, its second February victory in the past two years. Fox and CBS tied for second while ABC fell to fourth.

It wasn’t exactly a bang-up premiere, but compared to what NBC’s been averaging in the Thursday 10 p.m. timeslot the new drama Awake did alright. The show averaged a 1.9 adults 18-49 rating in its 10 p.m. debut, NBC’s best non-sports rating in the hour since May 19. It also improved the network’s dismal 1.2 average in the slot this season by 58%, and it finished No. 1 in the hour in the demo, ahead of repeats on the other Big Three networks.

American Idol won the final night of the February sweeps for Fox despite seeing declines versus both last week and last year. Idol averaged a 4.9 adults 18-49 rating from 8 to 10 p.m., down 4% from last week and off 37% from the same night last year, when a 90-minute Idol averaged a 7.8. Though Fox dominated the other networks, ABC’s Modern Family came very close to tying as the top-rated program of the night.

Sunday’s Oscarcast was easily No. 1 last week, with an audience of nearly 40 million viewers. For the week in primetime, ABC averaged 10.68 million viewers (6.5 household rating, 11 share), edging out CBS, with 10.06 million (6.3 rating, 10 share). Far behind were Fox with 6.84 million (4.1 rating, 6 share) and NBC with 5.42 million (3.4 rating, 5 share).

Every entertainment magazine matched or exceeded its highest Nielsens of the season and scored double-digit growth over last year in the week ending Feb. 19.

A special Tuesday edition of American Idol last night resulted in new lows for competing shows on ABC, NBC and CBS. Expanding from its usual Wednesday-Thursday timeslots, Idol averaged a 5.0 adults 18-49 rating from 8 to 10 p.m., off 34% from the same night last year. But it was still easily the night’s highest-rated show, boosting Fox to a dominant victory, and it clearly took a toll on the competition.

Fox ended NBC’s three-week Monday winning streak last night, though just barely. Fox carried special coverage of the Daytona 500, which was delayed from Sunday by rain, and it averaged a 4.5 adults 18-49 rating and 11 share from 8 to 11 p.m., just ahead of NBC’s 4.4/11.

It looks as though ABC’s Oscars improved on last year’s performance, according to very early Nielsen numbers. The Oscars broadcast averaged a 25.5 household rating and 38 share from 8:30 to 11:24 p.m. last night, according to Nielsen metered-market data. That was up a full point over last year, when the show averaged a 24.5/37.

CBS tied the usually victorious Fox on the final Thursday of the February sweeps as the hit show American Idol fell to a season low and its lowest-rated episode in years. Idol averaged a 4.4 adults 18-49 rating at 8 p.m., down 12% from a 5.0 overnight rating last week.

Wednesday was another night of declining ratings for the broadcast networks, and Fox’s hit American Idol declined the most. Idol averaged a 5.1 adults 18-49 rating from 8 to 10 p.m. last night, off 16% from last week. It was still the night’s top show and boosted Fox to an easy first-place finish on the night, but the declines came after two weeks of stable ratings for the hit singing show.

The proximity of the broadcast to Whitney Houston’s death allowed the viewing audience an opportunity to share in a communal social moment with the artists, as they simultaneously processed the immediacy of the shocking news. The impact this had was evident on a market by market basis, as 20 of the 25 LPM markets delivered higher household ratings than the national broadcast — which was the most-watched Grammy broadcast since 1984 (the year of Thriller).

In last week’s top 30 ranking, CBS claimed all but eight of the most-watched shows. Fox was represented only by its two editions of American Idol — which ranked second and third — with NBC’s lone entry, The Voice, taking fourth place.

The first full week of the sweep finds other strong performances from Dr. Phil, Anderson, Extra and Criminal Minds.

Tuesday is turning into a night of the haves and the have-nots. CBS and Fox are the haves; ABC is clearly, until Dancing with the Stars returns next month, a have-not. The network had just one show with a rating above a 1.7 in adults 18-49 last night, with Last Man Standing averaging a 2.2.

NBC’s The Voice continues to be a real smash. The new drama Smash, not so much. Voice lifted NBC to its third straight Monday win last night despite fading ratings for its critically acclaimed lead-out, Smash, which lost more than half its lead-in in its third week. Voice averaged a 5.8 adults 18-49 rating from 8 to 10 p.m., down just 3% from last week and dominating its timeslot. CBS, the No. 2 network in those two hours, managed just a 3.8.

With the football barely visible in the rear-view mirror and last week’s record-breaking Grammys out of the way, the Sunday lineup lacked any destination programming last night, making room for a very tight race between the big four. Overrun of golf’s Northern Trust Open led into the dominant CBS lineup, which gave the network a 2.2 among adults 18-49 and 10.5 million viewers for the night. 60 Minutes earned a 1.8 in the demo, followed by the season premiere of The Amazing Race (2.7), The Good Wife (2.2) and CSI: Miami (2.1).