The Sked: TUESDAY RATINGS December 20

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>NBC managed to win last night (the only network to average a 2 rating across the evening) by programming an original game show and a Christmas-themed SNL special (the same strategy the network employed last year on this night).  CBS was second by repeating its regular schedule (as it did last year).  ABC improved over last year by repeating its normal Tuesday lineup (and not airing Skating with the Stars as it did last year).  Last year FOX benefited from Million Dollar Drop, while this year it was burned by a schedule that simply doesn’t repeat well.

             Nightly Adult 18-49 Rating
Tuesday      NBC    CBS    ABC    FOX
12.20.2011   2.0    1.9    1.2    1.1
12.21.2010   2.3    1.9    0.8    1.7

NBC won Tuesday night by completely throwing out its regular schedule, just as it did last year on this night.  The second episode of Who’s Still Standing? (1.8 Adult 18-49 rating) in as many nights showed some promise.  It is up over the first episode Monday (1.5), it managed to finish second in the time period (to the 2.0 by NCIS), and it grew by half hour (1.7 from 8:00-8:30 to 2.0 from 8:30-9:00).  The night was capped by SNL: A Very Gilly Christmas, which averaged a 2.1 from 9-11 pm and delivered a rare first-place finish for NBC stations from 10:30-11:00 leading into the late local news.  Last year on this night: Minute to Win It (2.2) and SNL: A Very Gilly Christmas (2.3). 

CBS is blessed to have shows that repeat well or at least repeat much better than the competition’s shows.  Last year on this night:  NCIS (2.2), NCIS Los Angeles (2.1) and Good Wife (1.3).

FOX viewers, in contrast, are much less likely to tolerate repeat telecasts.  Last year on this night: Glee repeat (1.4) and Million Dollar Drop (2.0) proved that some original programming keeps FOX relevant in late December.

ABC averaged a 1.2 last night with some acceptable repeat performances in the first half of the evening — Last Man Standing (1.4), Last Man Standing (1.6) and The Middle (1.3) — before the wheels came off after 9:30 pm — Suburgatory (1.0) and Body of Proof (0.8).  Last year on this night: Skating with the Stars (0.8), No Ordinary Family (0.8) and Detroit 187 (0.9). 

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