Articles

November 3, 2012
 

The Sked: Friday Nov 2 — NBC Does Some Good But ABC Has a Winning Night Going

ABC finally premiered its entire Friday night lineup, and it won the night, won each half hour, and averaged a 2.0 rating (an extremely difficult feat on a Friday night with a regular schedule).  Last Man Standing starring Tim Allen returned for a second season and claimed a 1.9 rating.  It might be awful and unfunny, but that rating is better than almost all NBC comedies that play on nights with significantly more viewers available to watch TV.  The news only got better at 8:30 when Reba McEntire in Malibu Country premiered to a 2.2 rating, pushing an original Shark Tank to a 2.3 rating at 9 pm.  20/20 cooled down to a 1.5 rating at 10 pm, but still won the weak hour.

NBC placed second with a 1.5 rating from 8-11 pm.  Hurricane Sandy: Coming Together averaged a 1.5 rating from 8-9 pm.  Since it ran commercial-free, the telethon won’t count in NBC’s official ratings averages, but it was a good thing to do and that is a very respectable rating.  Grimm scored a 1.8 rating at 9 pm, down from the Halloween-fueled 2.0 last week but still solid.  Dateline has really lost its mojo and struggled to a 1.1 rating at 10 pm, third in the hour.

CBS finished third on the night with a 1.4 rating.  Undercover Boss premiered with a disappointing 1.5 at 8 pm — perhaps it might edge up a tenth or two in the next few weeks.  CSI: New York lumbered to a 1.5 rating, and Blue Bloods stumbled to a 1.3 at 10 pm.  Those are pretty mediocre results for a fairly costly night of original programming.

FOX is completely adrift on Friday.  Kitchen Nightmares opened to a 1.0 at 8 pm.  The audience is clearly saying that Gordon Ramsay is a summer treat not a fall staple.  And Fringe is staying off the radar with a 1.0 rating at 9 pm.



About the Author

Mitch Metcalf
MITCH METCALF has been tracking every US film release of over 500 screens (over 2300 movies and counting) since the storied weekend of May 20, 1994, when Maverick and Beverly Hills Cop 3 inspired countless aficionados to devote their lives to the art of cinema. Prior to that, he studied Politics and Economics at Princeton in order to prepare for his dream of working in television. He has been Head of West Coast Research at ABC, then moved to NBC in 2000 and became Head of Scheduling for 11 years.