> The broadcast networks continue their holiday vacation, with virtually no new programming on the air. CBS:  The KENNEDY CENTER HONORS are a prestige show that no one watches, and more so this year:  a dismal 1.1 that was down considerably even from last year’s 1.5–and that’s with a 2.1 NCIS rerun lead-in that was […]

> Some things are eternal, and Michael Jackson appears to be one of them. FOX:  GLEE‘s Michael Jackson episode propelled the show to a 3.6, its best rating in months.  The strong lead-in didn’t help the network’s sit-coms much, though:  NEW GIRL was only up 0.1 for the night, and RAISING HOPE fell to match […]

> Don’t get too excited about that increase in SMASH‘s 18-49 rating last night, because it just vanished.  In the final Nielsen numbers, Smash came back down to the same 2.3 number it had last week.  (Castle was also lowered a tenth of a point.)   The lower number is nothing to panic about.  The final […]

> This morning we anticipated that the season finale of THE WALKING DEAD on AMC would outrate anything on network television last night, but that didn’t do justice to Dead‘s accomplishment.  In the finale’s initial airing (it was repeated later in the evening), it broke Dead‘s own record as the highest-rated cable television drama ever, […]

> SMASHWatch has plenty of company in Season Low City. NBC: For the past 2 weeks, SMASH‘s initial rating has declined in the final daily numbers. So although right now it’s at its 3rd consecutive 2.1 rating, a drop to a new season low 2.0 could be in the cards by the end of the […]

Apparently ABC viewers are unimpressed by superheroes. ABC:  On a night when the other networks were mostly down (were viewers at the multiplex to see the near-record Avengers opening?), all of ABC’s shows were up, and the network took the night across the board.  SHARK TANK and PRIMETIME, in particular, rose a strong 0.3 for […]

  Nielsen wasn’t in a hurry with today’s ratings. DEMOGRAPHIC DETAIL: For each broadcast program (or hour segment), the chart below displays preliminary live+same day key advertiser demographics (adult 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54 ratings), audience skews (women 18-49, men 18-49 and adults 50+ shares) and total viewership (thousands of people over the age of 2). Ratings […]

HBO’s True Blood tops the cable ratings chart again this week, although it’s down three tenths of an Adult 18-49 rating point from last week’s season premiere.  TNT’s Dallas reboot looks impressive in terms of all viewers (almost 6.9 million viewers over the age of 2 watched during an average minute), but the show’s 1.5 […]