NETWORK UPDATE: RECKLESS was an even bigger flop in final numbers, losing 0.1 to a dismal 0.6. WIPEOUT gained 0.2 to 1.2, but there was no increase for RISING STAR.
SATURDAY CABLE: POWER (Starz) was steady at 0.4 for the combination of its 9PM and 10PM runs.
SUNDAY CABLE: THE LEFTOVERS (HBO) debuted with an OK 0.8 rating among 18-49s, a perfectly fine result for HBO but not impressive given the expensive marketing campaign for the series. Given the downbeat nature of the show, next week’s number will be key. It followed a 1.6 for TRUE BLOOD, down a heavy 0.6 from last week’s season premiere. LAST WEEK TONIGHT was steady at 0.4. A 0.1 decline for the 2d episode of THE LAST SHIP (TNT) to 1.1 has to be seen as a win, especially since FALLING SKIES followed it by dropping 0.2 to 0.8. (The LAST SHIP reairing at 11PM added 0.35.) The season finale of PENNY DREADFUL (Showtime) led that network, but fell from last week in 18-49s to 0.33. It was preceded by the season finale of NURSE JACKIE, down 0.06 to 0.2, and the series finale of CALIFORNICATION, steady at 0.16. On AMC, HALT AND CATCH FIRE lost the previous week’s gains, down more than 0.1 to 0.23. DEVIOUS MAIDS (Lifetime), airing without DROP DEAD DIVA, dropped 0.2 to a suddenly worrisome 0.4. (Perhaps next week’s return of THE WITCHES OF EAST END will help.) SALEM (WGN America) rose 0.05 to 0.23. The highest rated show of the night by far was the BET AWARDS, at 3.1, (with 1.3 for the POST-SHOW and 0.9 for the PRE-SHOW specials), followed by Sunday’s ESPN WORLD CUP games at 2.5/2.4, as detailed in today’s WORLD CUP SKEDBALL post. Over at E!, KEEPING UP WITH THE KARDASHIANS lost 0.1 to 1.1. NAKED AND AFRAID (Discovery) was at 1.0, and MOUNTAIN MEN (History) was at 0.9. RETURN TO AMISH (TLC) fell 0.1 to 0.5.
It was a bad night for newcomers.
CBS: Even with a solid 1.8 lead-in from the Sunday edition of BIG BROTHER (down 0.1 from last summer’s Sunday premiere), RECKLESS flopped at 0.7. The summer premiere of UNFORGETTABLE was at 0.9, down 0.4 from last summer’s launch.
ABC: The NBC competition was considerably weaker this week, but that didn’t help RISING STAR, which crashed to 1.2, down 0.3 from last week’s underwhelming premiere. WIPEOUT was steady at 1.0.
NBC: This week, the network threw a LAST COMIC STANDING clip show against the other networks and scored a 1.1, just about half of last week’s special America’s Got Talent. The rerun AMERICAN NINJA WARRIOR that preceded it maintained last week’s 0.7.
FOX: Reruns, led by 1.2 for FAMILY GUY–which tied the fresh programming on ABC and beat CBS.
CBS unleashes its big summer gun tonight, with the season premiere of UNDER THE DOME. Last year, the show premiered with an amazing 3.3 rating, and was still at 2.8 for its season finale (although it went lower than that in the heat of the summer). The other networks are status quo, except that NBC airs an hour-long infomercial for its corporate-owned Harry Potter theme park attraction at 8PM.
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