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July 12, 2013
 

THE SKED WEEKLY CABLE RATINGS SCORECARD – 7/12/13

 

THURSDAY

USA:  The night started out weakly with the premiere of reality show SUMMER CAMP, which only had a 0.5 rating among 18-49s year olds, and 1.1M total viewers. That seemed to set the tone for the evening, since airing for the first time in 2 weeks (due to July 4th preemptions), BURN NOTICE slipped in 18-49s (1.0 compared to 1.1), and really tumbled in older viewers, losing more than 800,000 of them (a 26% drop) to just over 3M.  GRACELAND had a similar night, down 0.1 in 18-49s to 0.7, and losing almost 25% of total viewers (450,000) to 1.9M.

SYFY:  Despite all the media hubbub about the excitement it stirred on social networks–so many tweets!–SHARKNADO wasn’t a show very many people actually wanted to sit through, and it had only 1.4M total viewers and an 0.4 rating in 18-49s.  (It appears, though, that all the tweeting did raise the show’s rating during its last half-hour, presumably from curiosity-seekers.)

FX:  How many episodes are left of ANGER MANAGEMENT?  Plenty, thanks to FX’s 100-episode order.  The show is now in the same vicinity as the network’s much cheaper, less high-visibility comedies, with twin 0.4 ratings last night (each with about 1.1M total viewers), while WILFRED had 700,000 viewers and 0.3.

WEDNESDAY

FX:  The network’s launch of THE BRIDGE had to come as a disappointment after months of promotion and largely very favorable reviews.  The show scored fairly well with total viewers (a bit over 3M, compared to 3.2M for the premiere of The Americans), but it skewed very old, with just an 0.9 rating in 18-49s (compared to 1.2 for The Americans).  The pilot’s rebroadcast added 1.1M viewers and 0.4 in the demo, which was again comparable in total viewers to the re-airing of the Americans pilot on its opening night, but lower than its demo score.  Of course, the picture could completely change next week:  The Americans took a heavy hit with its second episode, losing more than 1M viewers and down to 0.8 in the demo.  If The Bridge holds on better (FX will be repeating the pilot to death all week to help out), it would look a lot more solid.

USA:  ROYAL PAINS was almost exactly equal with its rating 2 weeks ago (it was preempted for the holiday last week), with 3.5M viewers and 0.8 in the demo.  NECESSARY ROUGHNESS, though, took a hit, down 500,000 viewers (to 2.1M) and 0.1 in the demo (to 0.6).

TNT:  The ratings for FRANKLIN & BASH are mediocre but very steady, with about 2.2M viewers and 0.6 among 18-49s.

TUESDAY

ABCFAMILY:  PRETTY LITTLE LIARS edged up a bit in both standard metrics, to 2.3M viewers and 1.0 in 18-49s.  It had standout numbers in its target female demos, with a 2.6 in 18-34s, a 3.1 in 12-34s and a 4.4 in teens.  TWISTED rebounded sharply from last week’s fall, up half a million viewers (to 1.6M) and 0.2 in 18-49s (to 0.6).  It had a 3.8 rating in female teens, but the other target female demos were less impressive, with a 1.2 in 18-34s and 1.8 in 12-34s.

TNT:  RIZZOLI & ISLES continues to slide downward, off 300K viewers to 5.6M and 0.2 in 18-49s to 1.0.  Those are still strong numbers, but this isn’t the direction a network wants to see for one of its tentpole series.  On the other hand, PERCEPTION had a nice bounce, up 500K viewers to 4M and even at 0.7 in the demo.

COMEDY CENTRAL:  The premiere of DRUNK HISTORY had 900,000 viewers and a 0.6 demo rating, and it was followed by 700,000 viewers and a 0.4 for the season premiere of THE JESELNIK OFFENSIVE.  That’s lower than what Inside Amy Schumer was doing in that slot, but that show often had the benefit of a big Tosh 2.0 lead-in.

MONDAY

ABCFAMILY:  A very good night for SWITCHED AT BIRTH, which was up by 400,000 to 2M viewers and by 0.2 in 18-49s to 0.9.  In the target female demos, it was also up, with a 1.7 among 18-34s and a 2.0 in 12-34s.  THE FOSTERS was very solid, with the same 1.8M viewers and 0.7 in the demo as last week, and up 0.2 among women 18-34 to 1.4.

TNT:  MAJOR CRIMES and KING & MAXWELL were both just about even, with 4.6M/0.8 for the first and 2.8M/0.5 for the latter.

SYFY:  The season finale of DEFIANCE was up by 300,000 viewers to 2.2M, and by 0.1 in the demo to 0.7.  The WAREHOUSE 13 season finale held even at 1.4M/0.5.

MTV:  TEEN WOLF continues to bounce around, this week up by 300,000 viewers and 0.1 in the demo to 1.9M/0.8.

A&E:  LONGMIRE and THE GLADES were very steady, at 3.6M/0.7 and 2.5M/0.6.

SUNDAY

HBO:  TRUE BLOOD, as usual, dominated the night, and rose from last week to 4.1M total viewers and a 2.3 total rating.  (Plus 1M viewers and 0.5 for the 11PM re-airing.)  This is the place to remind once again that HBO (like Showtime) is only in 1/3 of US households, so all of these numbers are triply impressive.  The season finale of FAMILY TREE was even with last week with 600K viewers and 0.3 in the demo.

SHOWTIME:  DEXTER held even with last week’s premiere 2.5M/1.2, while RAY DONOVAN rose slightly in total viewers to a rounded-up 1.6M, but remained very old skewing at 0.6 in the demo, less than 50% of its total.

LIFETIME:  DEVIOUS MAIDS must be doing something right, as its third episode jumped by 400,000 viewers (to 2.5M) and by 50% in the demo to 0.9.  That put it significantly ahead of its DROP DEAD DIVA lead-in at 2.1M/0.7.

AMC:  A bit of an uptick for THE KILLING, which climbed by 200,000 viewers to 1.6M and by 0.1 in the demo to 0.5.

TNT:  Also a good night for FALLING SKIES, which rose by 300,000 viewers to 3.5M, and by 0.1 in the demo to 1.2, with an additional 1.1M viewers and 0.4 for the re-airing.

 

 

 



About the Author

Mitch Salem
MITCH SALEM has worked on the business side of the entertainment industry for 20 years, as a senior business affairs executive and attorney for such companies as NBC, ABC, USA, Syfy, Bravo, and BermanBraun Productions, and before that, at the NY law firm of Weil, Gotshal & Manges. During all that, he has more or less constantly been going to the movies and watching TV, and writing about both since the 1980s. His film reviews also currently appear on screened.com and the-burg.com. In addition, he is co-writer of an episode of the television series "Felicity."