> No news was good news for NBC last night. NBC:  The network returned from several weeks of seasonal hiatus in pretty chipper shape.  CHUCK was up slightly from its last airing, but more importantly, GRIMM held steady with a 1.6 that on this night and this network was a veritable present under the tree, […]

> PBS had to dust off its forms and sharpen the quill pens it uses to announce big ratings news, because DOWNTON ABBEY came back strong in its Season 2 debut. The network announced that Downton‘s premiere was watched by 4.2 million viewers.  Apart from doubling PBS’s usual primetime average–which is no surprise–it was up […]

> Not a great night for bubble shows. CBS:  On a night where CSI NY and BLUE BLOODS both won their hours and were up slightly from last week, A GIFTED MAN went down 0.1 and tied for 3rd place at 8PM. FOX:  KITCHEN NIGHTMARES and FRINGE were both down 0.1 from last week, but […]

  Note that MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL local preemptions may affect final ratings for NBC and ABC. 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 […]

> A preview of next season’s schedule? CBS:  The network experimented with a new episode of THE MENTALIST at 9PM, and while the 2.0 rating was 20% below the show’s Thursday season low, Friday offers fewer available eyeballs, so a decline was to be expected.  Mentalist nevertheless considerably outrated what CSI NY and A Gifted […]

> Although cable networks have become much more aggressive with their in-season scripted programming in recent years (Sunday nights this season are at least as much about cable shows as they are broadcast), summer is still when those networks really come out and play.  Today TNT announced the premiere dates for its very busy summer […]

>Nobody wanted to watch TV last night. ABC: The premiere of Shonda Rhimes’ SCANDAL tied PRIVATE PRACTICE‘s 2.1 season low, a very unencouraging start. This followed new series lows for GREY’S ANATOMY and MISSING (2.8 and 1.4, respectively), making for a night of failure. FOX: AMERICAN IDOL fell to a series low 3.8, but even […]

  ABC and CW had local MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL preemptions and may be subject to adjustment in finals. 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 […]