>
The arrival of the World Series meant remarkably little to the other networks last night.FOX: Last night’s was the lowest rated non-Saturday Game 1 in history, and basically did the same rating for FOX as X Factor has been getting on Wednesdays all season. If there’s to be any upside for the network in carrying baseball, it will only kick in if the Series is a long one.
NBC: The network pushed the birth flashback episode of UP ALL NIGHT like it was a series launch, and barely even budged its needle–up 0.1 from last week’s early numbers. (Last week the show crept up an additional 0.1 when finals came in, and that could happen today as well.) Creatively, the episode showed the series still flailing for a consistent tone, wavering between the naturalistic comedy of Applegate/Arnett and Maya Rudolph’s broad silliness. Next week Up All Night will be a repeat, so NBC will have to pray they don’t lose any additional audience during the 2-week gap till a new episode airs. Last night’s ratings for HARRY’S LAW and SVU were stable, which is to say very bad.
ABC: SUBURGATORY proved its full season order to be well-earned, with a rock-solid 3.1 that built on its lead-in. The rest of the schedule was down a couple of ticks, but nothing to be concerned about, especially against atypical competition. (10PM ratings are particularly out of the norm this week, as FOX doesn’t usually even program in that hour.)
CBS: World Series? What World Series? The network’s numbers hardly moved from last week.
CW: A RINGER repeat did just about the same number that the reviled H8R was scoring at 8PM, and AMERICA’S NEXT TOP MODEL was likewise at the same level it’s been this season.
Last year’s World Series Game 2 was down about 20% from Game 1, and if that pattern holds, FOX’s ratings tonight could be even lower than what it’s been doing with regular programming on Thursdays this season. Meanwhile, NBC will have the season’s first full night of repeats, as they conserve fresh episodes before November sweeps begins. CBS and ABC will hope the absence of THE OFFICE brings some extra eyeballs to PERSON OF INTEREST and GREY’S ANATOMY.
About the Author
More articles by Mitch Salem »
