Some networks were untouched by the massive Olympics ratings being piled up by NBC, while others appeared to be hit hard. USA:  Last night’s BURN NOTICE showed the limitations of the USA house format, as what should have been a relatively serious hour following the death of a major recurring character was 90% the […]

The week heading into Labor Day is usually forgettable.  Television viewing is always very light the Thursday-Sunday before the holiday, and this past week the broadcast networks suffered through low ratings for the Republican National Convention (NBC ranged between a 0.9 and a 1.1 rating with Adults 18-49 at 10 pm Tuesday-Thursday, while ABC averaged […]

So much for the monkey. NBC:  ANIMAL PRACTICE lurched into the regular season with an awful 1.4 start, the lowest rated show in primetime (other than on CW) last night.  GUYS WITH KIDS did marginally better at 1.6, but that was still deeply in 4th place for its timeslot.  (Incidentally, in other NBC bad sitcom […]

Major League Baseball’s revised postseason format can’t be blamed for taking viewers away from the broadcast networks.  On Monday night, October 8, while The Voice posted a 4.8 rating with Adults 18-49, 2 Broke Girls managed a 3.4, and ESPN’s Monday Night Football of course hit a 5.7 rating in prime time, the main baseball playoff game of the day […]

  Advertising Age has issued its yearly survey of the actual prices (more or less) being charged by networks for 30-second national ads in their primetime programming, which allows us to do some back-of-the-envelope calculations about just how profitable each individual show and network may be.  We’ll get to the network-by-network calculus tomorrow, but today, […]

  Halloween is traditionally not a great night for network TV, especially on the younger-skewing side, brecause viewers have other plans.  Last night was no exception. ABC:  With all the promos for NASHVILLE, THE CMA AWARDS and MALIBU COUNTRY that aired last night, viewers could be forgiven for wondering if they’d mistakenly tuned in to TNN.  It didn’t benefit Nashville any, […]

Another night to consider how low a rating can justify a back order these days. NBC:  WHITNEY returned to the NBC schedule last night, and the same nobody who watched it last year came back for more.  The show kicked off with the same 1.4 that Animal Practice had in its premiere (tying Whitney‘s own […]

        NETWORK FINALS:  There were no changes from the preliminary morning ratings.           Broadcast Official Nationals Program Ratings Chart     CABLE HIGHLIGHTS:  TNT’s NBA doubleheader was at 1.12 (Lakers vs. Milwaukee)/0.79 (Houston vs. Clippers).  CNN’s coverage of the latest DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES DEBATE (which aired on PBS as well) […]