ratings

Fox’s American Idol slid in its second Wednesday outing, but it did provide a solid lead-in for the new Kiefer Sutherland drama Touch, whose sneak preview drew strong numbers. Touch averaged a 3.9 adults 18-49 rating, becoming the second-highest-rated new drama premiere this season, behind ABC’s Once Upon a Time, which averaged a 4.0 in October.

The State of the Union address Tuesday night was seen by 37.8 million television viewers, according to Nielsen figures, by far the fewest who have watched President Obama give the address. The number was down from 42.8 million last year, 48 million in 2010, and 52.3 million for the president’s address to Congress during his first year in office in 2009.

Though the data is extremely approximate due to coverage of President Obama’s State of the Union address, preliminary numbers indicate that an American Idol repeat pushed Fox to a ratings win Tuesday night. A repeat of Sunday night’s Idol at 8 p.m. posted the night’s highest numbers in the adults 18-49 demographic, scoring a 3.3 rating/9 share and 9.5 million total viewers.

Wheel of Fortune is syndications No. 1; Judge Judy makes it 800 weeks atop the courtroom genre with a 3% week-to-week rise, while Dr. Phil led the talk shows and freshman Anderson posted  the largest increase of any new show.

Many of the most popular, highest-rated shows hold relatively little appeal if seen through a video-on-demand streaming service. The converse is also true; some of the most successful streaming shows struggle to find a corresponding audience on broadcast television.

Fox’s new drama Alcatraz averaged a 3.0 adults 18-49 rating at 9 p.m. Monday, down a respectable 9% from last week’s debut, which posted a 3.3 rating over two hours. Alcatraz seemed to be compatible with lead-in House, which averaged a 3.1 at 8 p.m.; Alcatraz, about investigators who seek out the men who disappeared from the island decades before, held 97% of House‘s rating.

Fox dominated the competition with football Sunday night, as expected, but ABC did have at least one bright spot. The new drama Once Upon a Time held up well against the NFC Championship Game, becoming the night’s only program to average more than a 3.0 in adults 18-49 opposite the New York Giants’ 20-17 overtime victory over the San Francisco 49ers. Time averaged a 3.2 in the 8 p.m. timeslot, down just 0.1 from last week.

American Idol‘s big declines continued last night, with the show dropping well below 20 million total viewers in its second night and seeing more double-digit percentage dips versus last year. Idol averaged a 5.6 adults 18-49 rating at 8 p.m., off 15% from a 7.8 on night two last year but still the night’s top show. It was also down from a 7.4 for Wednesday night’s debut, which fell a substantial 24% from the previous year.

Fox’s American Idol was still an easy No. 1 last night, but it returned to much lower ratings than last year’s season premiere. The season 11 debut averaged a 7.2 adults 18-49 rating from 8 to 10 p.m., down a considerable 27% from last year’s bow, which averaged a 9.7. Idol still won every half hour and finished 44 percent ahead of the night’s No. 2 show, Modern Family, which averaged a 5.0.

New England’s lopsided win over Denver in the AFC divisional match on CBS was last week’s most-watched broadcast with 34.2 million viewers, according to Nielsen Co. figures released Wednesday. CBS also got a boost from the debut of the sitcom Rob, which rode the coattails of The Big Bang Theory to draw 13.5 million viewers despite scathing reviews.

With CBS’s lineup in reruns, Fox got an easy primetime win last night led by new sitcom New Girl. Girl averaged a 3.4 adults 18-49 rating at 9 p.m., for its first episode back from a holiday hiatus. That was off 12% from the show’s 3.8 season average but in line with what it’s been drawing in its most recent outings. And it was the highest-rated show of the night.

Fox’s much-hyped new drama Alcatraz got off to a solid start last night against tough competition, which included a surprisingly strong Betty White birthday tribute on NBC. Alcatraz averaged a 3.3 adults 18-49 rating from 8 to 10 p.m., slightly better than the 3.1 Terra Nova logged in its premiere in the same Monday slot last fall. The J.J. Abrams show was steady through its two hours, usually a good sign for a new show because it means viewers aren’t fleeing after the first half hour.

A huge primetime overrun from the Giants-Packers NFC Divisional playoff game easily won the night for Fox and lifted the network’s animation block. NBC is on track to finish second with the Golden Globe Awards, which were on par with last year in the metered markets.

The new sitcom Rob! had a promising debut last night behind CBS’s hit The Big Bang Theory. Rob! averaged a 4.1 adults 18-49 rating at 8:30 p.m., bettering both former timeslot occupants from earlier this season and retaining 79% of Bang‘s 5.2 lead-in. Rob! was up 11% from a 3.7 for Rules of Engagement‘s debut in the timeslot in October. It also did far better than the last new show to inhabit the slot, How to Be a Gentleman, which managed a mere 2.7 in its debut.

After two months on the New Orleans’ Fox affil’s ch. 8.2, the new African-American targeted network is competitive with some other stations in the market and equal to or better than numerous cable nets, the station reports.

NBC’s new sitcom Are You There, Chelsea? earned a so-so rating in its premiere Wednesday night, but it did much better than anything the network has had in the slot this season. Chelsea averaged a 2.3 adults 18-49 rating at 8:30 p.m. last night, bettering lead-in Whitney‘s 2.1 rating by 10 percent.

Led by syndication’s overall No. 1, Judge Judy, four court shows hit new season highs in the week ending Jan. 1. Other shows posting good numbers included Maury, Dr. Phil, Rachael Ray, Jeremy Kyle as well as the weekend editions of many entertainment magazines.

It’s probably safe to say that Work It, the universally reviled ABC cross-dressing sitcom, isn’t really working. The show saw ratings drop from an already-low debut in its second outing last night. Work averaged a 1.6 adults 18-49 rating, tying for the lowest-rated original Big Four show last night with ABC’s Body of Proof. Meanwhile, CBS led the night among 18-49s with a 3.2 average overnight rating and an 8 share.

Except for NBC’s pre-game show and it Sunday Night Football contest between Detroit and New Orleans, CBS dominated in the rankings last week, scoring big with such hits as NCIS, 60 Minutes and Two and a Half Men. Overall for the week, CBS averaged 12.67 million viewers (7.7 rating, 12 share), far ahead of NBC, with 8.26 million viewers (5.0 rating, 8 share), Nielsen said.

You know it’s a quiet night for broadcast when the highest-rated show averages a mere 2.4 adults 18-49 rating. With the networks largely in repeats or airing reality fare against ESPN’s college football national championship game last night, ABC earned a tight victory over CBS, despite the fact that the latter aired all reruns. ABC averaged a 2.2 18-49 rating and 5 share, overnights, with CBS a close second at 2.1/5.

On a night that was dominated by the end of the Denver Broncos-Pittsburgh Steelers NFL playoff game, ABC’s new fairytale drama Once Upon a Time delivered its best rating in weeks. Time bucked up to a 3.7 adults 18-49 rating in the 8 p.m. timeslot, the show’s top outing since averaging a 3.8 on Nov. 13 and 28% better than the show’s last original episode on Dec. 11.

With ABC once again the only Big Four network with an all-original schedule, it dominated a second straight night of primetime on Thursday. ABC averaged a 3.3 adults 18-49 rating and 9 share last night, 43% ahead of No. 2 CBS at 2.3/6 with all repeats.

ABC’s comedy lineup surged last night, lifting the network to an easy victory with the rest of the Big Four mostly airing repeats. ABC averaged a 3.3 adults 18-49 rating and 9 share in primetime, 65% ahead of second-place CBS, which averaged a 2.0/5.

What happens when the broadcast networks decide to scale down their programming for a week because of the holidays? They lose viewers to Univision.

With its primetime lineup Saturday night, ABC finished a strong first last week with a total viewership averaging 9.9 million viewers. That beat ABC’s combined competition (CBS, Fox and NBC) by 3.3 million viewers.

The critically derided Work It had an underwhelming debut on ABC last night. The new sitcom about two men who cross-dress to secure desperately needed jobs averaged a 2.0 adults 18-49 rating in the 8:30 p.m. timeslot, losing 17% of Last Man Standing‘s 2.4 lead-in. Work It was down from the debut of the former timeslot occupant, Man Up!, which bowed to a 2.4 last fall, though with a stronger lead-in from Standing.

The long-running ABC reality show logged one of its lowest-ever debuts last night, as Bachelorette reject Ben took over the titular mantle for season 16. Bachelor averaged a 2.4 adults 18-49 rating from 8 to 10 p.m., down 17% from last season’s premiere.

NBC’s Sunday Night Football matchup of the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants scored the highest overnight ratings in the show’s six-year history and the highest overnight ratings of any Sunday or Monday primetime game in 13 years, according to preliminary numbers. The game, in which the Giants beat the Cowboys 31-14 to win the NFC East, scored a 17.1 overnight rating and a 27 share in metered market household ratings.

The holiday programming lull has once again proven beneficial for CBS. On a night marked by an absolute lack of new programming across the board for the Big 4, the network took an overall win Thursday night with a roster of reruns spearheaded by The Big Bang Theory. Univision came in second.

To look back at 2011, here are a few numbers on the storylines, product placements and ratings that made it the year it was. Not all the numbers are good: Here also are the year’s sadder moments, including the shows that died quick deaths, the ratings slides and the face-offs that didn’t end so happily for some favorite characters.

Wednesday night slipped by almost unnoticed, with each of the networks offering a block of repeats. CBS’s lineup of NCIS: Los Angeles, Criminal Minds and CSI encores topped the night in both adults 18-49 and total viewers. The network averaged a 2.1 rating in the demo with 9.8 million. Criminal Minds was the night’s strongest performer on any network, bringing in a 2.3 in adults 18-49.

Now that we’re in rerun hell, it’s high time to take stock of what we liked (and loathed) from September to December. Here is a list of every network show and how many viewers each one averaged.

During Christmas week, NBC averaged 7.2 million viewers in primetime (4.0 rating, 7 share), a rare primetime victory for the network. CBS was second with 6.9 million viewers.

Fox News Channel continued its dominance, with an average viewership that exceeded CNN and MSNBC combined in primetime and for the entire day. Fox typically had 1.87 million viewers in primetime this year. The top 13 programs in cable news all aired on Fox.

The status quo pretty much ruled the pre-holiday week ending Dec. 18 with established genre leaders generally holding on despite lower PUT levels.