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Ratings
October 31, 2011
What you're watching on TiVo
Comedies, dramas, reality TV, sports … Austinites like ‘em all.
‘Pan Am’s’ Christina Ricci
The folks at TiVo have offered up a list of the city’s most-recorded programs during September, and ABC newcomer “Pan Am” has the No. 1 spot.
Another ABC show that made the cut — “Charlie’s Angels” — has already been canceled.
Something kinda unusual: Several cable shows clawed their way onto the list, including USA’s “Burn Notice.”
See how your favorites ranked:
“Pan Am,” ABC
“Big Bang Theory,” CBS
“Body of Proof,” ABC
Emmys, Fox
“Grey’s Anatomy,” ABC
“Desperate Housewives,” ABC
“The Office,” NBC
“Parenthood,” NBC
“Survivor-Pacific,” CBS
NFC post-game, Fox
“Eureka,” SyFy
“Burn Notice,” USA
“Warehouse 13,” SyFy
“The Amazing Race,” CBS
“Countdown,” Fox
“Charlie’s Angels,” ABC
“Glee,” Fox
“Sunday Night Football,” NBC
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August 31, 2011
Austin drops from 44th to 47th largest U.S. TV market
Austin’s growing, but not as fast as comparable U.S. cities, according to new numbers out today from Nielsen Media Research.
Nielsen, which provides broadcasters nationwide with ratings data used to set advertising rates, is out with its 2011-2012 list of U.S. TV markets, ranked by audience size. Austin, which has been steadily moving up in recent years, tumbled from 44th to 47th.
While the number of viewers in the Austin TV market is up — 707,430 this season vs. 686,830 in 2010-2011 — three other cities saw more growth and were able to jump ahead of us: Oklahoma City, Okla.; Albuquerque, N.M.; and Greensboro-Winston-Salem-High Point, N.C.
Dallas remains the largest Texas TV market, coming in at No. 5. Houston is 10th, and San Antonio is 36th.
View a PDF of the full list here.
Permalink | | Categories: Ratings
June 13, 2011
Austin ratings for NBA Finals biggest since 2007
The Austin area had a Texas-sized interest in the sixth — and final — game of this year’s NBA Finals featuring the Dallas Mavericks and the Miami Heat.
Figures from the Nielsen Co. show 27 percent of Central Texas TV sets in use Sunday night were tuned to ABC affiliate KVUE to see the Mavs win the league’s 2011 championship.
That’s Austin’s highest viewership for an NBA Finals game since 2007 when another Texas team — the San Antonio Spurs — wrapped up a four-game series against the Cleveland Cavaliers. That matchup was watched on 28 percent of sets in use.
Permalink | | Categories: Ratings
February 13, 2011
'Fringe' falls further on Fridays
According to our friends over at TV by the Numbers, “Fringe” dipped to a 1.4 adults 18-49 rating in its fourth Friday episode, down 12.5% from last Friday.
That’s not good.
Commenters to that post are all but declaring the brilliant Fox show, which I just praised in my Sunday column, to be dead.
Beginning the night in second place in its time slot, behind only CBS’ “CSI:NY,” the show went on to lose viewers in its second half hour, falling to fourth place, ahead of only “Supernatural” on the CW.
Fox head Kevin Reilly said that “Fringe” would be safe on Fridays as long as it held it’s Thursday ratings, which it did for a few short weeks. Alas, that trend seems to have ended.
Do you think “Fringe” is doomed? Sound off in the comments, below.
Permalink | | Categories: Entertainment, Ratings
January 4, 2011
Near record-low ratings for Monday's 'bachelor' premiere
According to Entertainment Weekly, Monday night’s Season 15 debut of “The Bachelor” posted the series’ second-lowest premiere numbers ever, attracting only 8.9 million viewers.
This season marks the first time a former bachelor — Austinite Brad Womack, who left two finalists stranded at the end of Season 11 by choosing neither of them — has returned for a second round.
From the article:
The two-hour reality show only averaged a 2.9 rating/7 share among adults 18-49, down 12 percent from its last midseason premiere on Jan. 4, 2010. (Each 18-49 ratings point represents 1.3 million viewers).
The story noted that ABC tried to pull good news from the ratings, pointing out that the show was number one among female viewers aged 18-34.
Permalink | | Categories: Entertainment, Local people on TV, Ratings, Reality TV
November 12, 2010
USA Today: TV comedies laughing all the way to the bank
USA Today reports that TV comedies are having the last laugh this season.
In a season which has seen the cancellation of several prime time dramas, the report touts impressive viewership numbers for network comedies: “Modern Family” (ABC) is up 35%, “The Middle” (ABC) is up 29%, “Glee” (Fox, and questionably classified as a comedy) is up a whopping 43%, and “The Big Bang Theory” (CBS) is up 5% on a new night.
The story goes on to note that six comedies fall in the top ten programs with prized young adult viewers. Only three comedies landed in that category last season.
Quotes from ABC and Fox executives — one of whom claims that viewers are growing tired of crime procedurals and reality programs (please let this be true) — are included in the full story, here.
What’s your favorite comedy? Why? Log in and sound off, below.
Permalink | | Categories: Entertainment, Fall TV, Ratings
June 9, 2010
'Next Food Network Star,' featuring Austinites, draws big numbers
The June 6 season debut of the Food Network reality series “The Next Food Network Star,” which features a pair of Austin contestants, was the highest-rated season premiere in the show’s history, pulling an average of 2.5 million viewers and 1.3 million adults aged 25-54, according to Nielsen Media Research. The program posted a 1.2 adults 25-54 rating, a 26 percent increase over the season five premiere and a 1.9 household rating, up 13 percent over last season.
In fact, it was the most-watched season debut of any series in Food Network history.
We’re crediting the Austin effect.
“The Next Food Network Star” follows 12 hopefuls competing for their own Food Network show.
Permalink | | Categories: Entertainment, Ratings, Reality TV
May 27, 2010
Austin May sweeps results
Not much has changed in the local ratings wars. The November 2009 sweeps ratings reflected the programming shakeups at KEYE, where new local morning and afternoon programming was introduced. The CBS affiliate had just replaced its morning news program with a simulcast of Mix 94.7 radio team JB and Sandy, and created a new afternoon lifestyle program, “We Are Austin Live,” for former morning news co-anchor Michelle Valles.
Ratings for the morning program are just a tenth of a point lower in May than they were in the November sweeps period while the afternoon program’s numbers are down two tenths of a point. Both trail other network affiliates in their time slots. At the time they were introduced, KEYE director of creative services Jerry Wagley labeled both programs “long-term plays” and suggested that it would take time for the new and different programs to build an audience.
The other big news is the increase in the numbers for NBC affiliate KXAN’s 10 p.m. newscast. Last November, the program’s ratings were down 26.5 percent from where they were prior to NBC’s disastrous introduction of the primetime “Jay Leno Show.” Eric Lassberg, the station’s general manager, said that a strong lead in was “critical” to the success of a nightly newscast. Post-Leno, KXAN’s 10 p.m. newscast has regained more than a full ratings point.
KAKW, Austin’s Univision affiliate, tied KTBC in the 5 p.m. slot, bested last-place CBS in the 5:30 p.m. network news battle and topped KEYE’s local news at 6 p.m. ABC affiliate KVUE held onto the top spot at 5, 6 and 10 p.m., while NBC affiliate KXAN retains sole possession of leadership in the 6 a.m. slot.
Here are selected May overnight Nielsen ratings (a rating is 1 percent of the 678,730 TV households in the Austin viewing area). We included the 9 p.m. hour to reflect the comparative ratings of KTBC’s “Fox 7 News at 9” and KNVA’s “KXAN Austin News,” and the 4 p.m. hour to show the rating for “We Are Austin Live.”
6 a.m. local news
KXAN 3.0
KVUE 2.6
KTBC 2.0
KEYE 0.6
KAKW 0.3
4 p.m.
KVUE (‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’) 4.6
KTBC (‘Judge Judy’) 2.8
KXAN (‘Jeopardy!’) 2.8
KAKW (‘Primer Impacto’) 1.8
KEYE (‘We Are Austin Live’) 0.9
KNVA (‘Tyra Show’) 0.4
5 p.m. local news
KVUE 5.6
KXAN 3.0
KAKW 2.6
KTBC 2.6
KEYE (‘Insider’) 1.2
KNVA (‘Everybody Loves Raymond’) 0.7
5:30 p.m. network news
ABC 5.7
NBC 4.5
KAKW 2.8
CBS 1.5
6 p.m. local news
KVUE 5.3
KXAN 4.3
KAKW (‘Mi Pecado’) 3.0
KTBC (‘TMZ’) 2.3
KEYE 2.1
KNVA (‘Friends’) 1.6
9 p.m.
CBS 7.2
ABC 6.5
NBC 4.6
KTBC (‘Fox 7 News at 9’) 4.2
KNVA (KXAN Austin News) 1.0
10 p.m. local news
KVUE 6.6
KEYE 4.9
KXAN 4.8
KTBC (‘The Simpsons’) 2.9
KNVA (‘The Office’) 0.9
Source: Nielsen Media Research
Permalink | Comments (5) | Categories: Local news, Ratings
May 10, 2010
Austin 'SNL' rating beats national numbers
Austin NBC affiliate KXAN notes that local ratings numbers for the Betty White episode of “Saturday Night Live” were higher than the national figures. The station reports that the Saturday, May 8 installment of the live, late night variety series pulled in a rating of 11.1 locally, or 75,369 viewers. That’s more than double the number the show typically pulls (“SNL” averages around a 4.9 rating, KXAN says).
Nationally, the show averaged an 8.8 household rating this weekend.
Permalink | | Categories: Entertainment, Ratings
Ratings: FNL and SNL (bonus Debbie downer video)
According to our friends at TV by the Numbers, “Friday Night Lights” returned quietly while Betty White hosted “Saturday Night Live” to its highest ratings in years.
The Austin-filmed “FNL’s” fourth-season debut (the season has already aired on DirecTV) netted a preliminary 1.2 rating with adults 18-49 and 3.9 million viewers. CBS’ “The Ghost Whisperer” (1.6 rating and 6.51 million viewers) and ABC’s “Wife Swap” (1.4 rating; 4.5 million viewers) both bested the NBC drama, while “FNL” beat a “House” rerun on Fox and “Smallville” on the CW, which came in last place. (Some sources report that “FNL” ranked first among the major broadcast networks in its time period among men 18-34).
White’s turn on NBC’s “SNL” (the result of a fan-based, online campaign) averaged an 8.8 rating. That’s the late-night variety show’s highest number since November 1, 2008.
Speaking of Ms. White, she makes a small appearance in this unaired “Debbie Downer” sketch. Take a look, then share your thoughts on her “SNL” appearance in the comments:
Permalink | | Categories: Entertainment, Friday Night Lights, Ratings
March 9, 2010
'Fringe' gets a third season
Fox’s trippy, sci-fi tale ‘Fringe’ has been renewed for a third season. Not exactly a ratings blockbuster, the show has been on the bubble for months and honestly could have gone either way. But its decent showing after a move to Thursday nights and the network’s love of the show seem to have granted it a stay of execution (and thank goodness — I’d hate to imagine the sorts of objects with which participants in a “save our show” campaign for ‘Fringe’ would be flooding the Fox offices).
The plot line of the show, created by “Lost’s” J.J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman and University of Texas alumnus Roberto Orci, finally caught fire this season after a fairly mind-blowing and risky revelation that the entire first season was basically a set-up. A cliffhanger of sorts in the last regular episode to air has set up an interesting dynamic between Dr. Walter Bishop and his son, Peter, which will play out when the series returns for the remainder of its second season episodes on (no fooling!) April 1.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: Entertainment, Ratings
February 8, 2010
Super Bowl nets super ratings
The Associated press is reporting that Super Bowl XLVII netted the highest overnight ratings in 23 years, according to preliminary measurements from America’s 55 biggest media markets as measured by the Nielsen Company.
The broadcast garnered a 46.4 rating, compared to a 42.1 overnight measurement for last year’s game (a ratings point represents 1,149,000 households, or 1 percent of the nation’s estimated 114.9 million TV homes). The overnight numbers for this year’s game were the largest since the New York Giants took on the Denver Broncos in 1987.
UPDATE: The Associated Press has added that Sunday’s Colt’s-Saints match up was watched by more than 106 million people, making it the most-watched program in television history (surpassing the 1983 finale of “M-A-S-H,” with 105.97 million viewers).
Another interesting Nielsen measurement concerned commercial viewing. The Dorito’s ad with the little boy drawing the line with his mom’s suitor was stopped and played back in 15 percent of homes with the digital video recorder, the company reports.
The David Letterman/Jay Leno/Oprah Winfrey ad came in second and the Snicker’s ad with Betty White and Abe Vigoda came in third place.
Permalink | | Categories: Entertainment, Ratings, Sports on TV
January 15, 2010
Lots of network news: TCA Press Tour recap
NBC’s Jay Leno/Conan O’Brien feud dominated much of the Television Critics Association’s Winter Tour, an annual event in which networks and television writers meet in Pasadena and justify each others’ livelihoods.
The Peacock network declared Leno’s unsuccessful 5-nights-a-week prime time experiment a failure, abandoning its early posture that they were maintaining a “52-week strategy” and would give the affable but average host time to develop an audience. Admitting that the drumbeat from local NBC affiliates — whose late-night newscasts were suffering due to Leno’s weak lead-in — was becoming too loud and insistent, the network announced that it was brokering a deal to return Leno to his 10:35 p.m. CT slot and kick Conan O’Brien’s “Tonight Show” to an 11:05 p.m. CT start.
Perhaps NBC should have tried to obtain some buy-in from O’Brien before making the announcement. He declined the network’s proposal and the whole shebang remains in limbo.
What’s not in limbo is the future of “The Jay Leno Show.” It’s last airing is set for Feb. 11, which left NBC scrambling for post-Olympics programming (perhaps seeing the writing on the wall, the network green-lighted an unusually large number of new pilots for next Fall).
At least 8 new shows are in development, including product from David E. Kelly, Jerry Bruckheimer and J. J. Abrams; and brace yourselves — we’re going to see a “Rockford Files” remake. Also look for “Law & Order: Los Angeles.”
In other NBC news, Leno’s prime time failure means that on-the-bubble dramas “Trauma” and “Mercy,” and the spy-action-comedy “Chuck” have much better chances of renewal than they normally would, but their numbers are going to have to come up.
Here are TCA highlights from the other networks:
FOX
Fans of “Glee” were thrilled to hear that the show has already been renewed for a sophomore season. And several new cast members will be added through an online reality competition of sorts. Details on how to audition (online entries are welcome) can be found on the Fox Web site.
Star Kiefer Sutherland and executive producer Howard Gordon both said they’re on board for yet another season of “24.” No decision has been made, but both said they’d keep doing the show as long as Fox would let them.
Simon Cowell announced that he will leave “American Idol” after this season to produce and appear as a judge on the competitive talent show “The X Factor.” There were sly suggestions that ex-“Idol” judge Paula Abdul might appear on the new show with Cowell, but at this point that’s just a wild rumor. Buried by this announcement was news that David Hasselhoff is abandoning his own judging post on “America’s Got Talent,” to be replaced by “Deal or No Deal’s” Howie Mandel.
“The Simpsons” will continue to air for at least two more years, and the network remains committed to ratings-challenged “Fringe,” at least for now.
The debut of the game show “Our Little Genius” was moved back because of concerns that the manner in which contestants were informed of topics might make the show appear to be “rigged.”
ABC
Not much news from ABC. Much of their news was the lack of news about the final season of “Lost.” Suprise, surprise … show runners Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof remained predictably tight-lipped. A few tid-bits they did reveal: Cynthia Watros (Libby) and Harold Perrineau (Michael) will return in the final season. A collective squee was heard across the blogosphere in anticipation of Libby-Hurley romance and Libby-Desmond backstory resolution. Cuse and Lindelof have indicated that the finale won’t answer all of fans’ questions, and while ABC owns and could continue to milk the franchise in a number of ways, as far as the pair are concerned, at the conclusion of this season, the story of this particular group of characters is over.
Finally, the network renewed its Wednesday night comedy block of “The Middle,” (yay!) “Modern Family” (big, big yay!) and “Cougar Town” (boo) for second seasons.
CBS
“The Late Show” host David Letterman, who has been having a great time this week needling NBC (who chose Jay Leno over him to replace Johnny Carson years ago) remains in contract talks with his network, but will remain on until at least “deep into 2012.”
“Three Rivers,” in spite of having saved at least 8 lives (CBS got letters from people who received successful transplants due to the increased awareness created by the show) couldn’t save itself and has been canceled.
Network entertainment president Nina Tassler said that Charlie Sheen’s domestic problems (the actor has been charged with second-degree assault, menacing and criminal mischief) won’t affect the “Two and a Half Men” cash cow.
New drama “Miami Medical” replaces “Num3ers” on Fridays, but “Num3ers” might be back next season. CBS finds itself in the unusual position of having too many popular shows for its available slots.
The new reality series “Undercover Boss,” in which Fortune 500 bigwigs don disguises and infiltrate their own companies’ front lines, gets a rare new-series post-Superbowl premiere on Sunday, Feb. 7.
Permalink | | Categories: Entertainment, Fall TV, Friday Night Lights, News coverage, Ratings, Reality TV
January 14, 2010
The 'Leno effect' in Austin
You may have seen the Associated Press story elsewhere on our site about the latest in the NBC late night debacle: Conan O’Brien and Jay Leno have increasingly turned their ire away from the network and toward each other.
Further into the story were these alarming statistics:
The research firm Harmelin Media said local NBC stations saw their late news audience drop by an average of 25 percent in November compared with the previous year among 25- to 54-year-old viewers. That’s the demographic upon which news advertising rates are based. The decline was particularly steep in some of the largest markets: 48 percent in New York, 43 percent in Los Angeles and 47 percent in Philadelphia. Harmelin used data on the number of ads run in late local news programs and their cost to calculate that over a three-month period, the Leno experiment would cost these stations collectively $22 million. The 10 stations that NBC owns and operates would lose something like $570,000 per week, the report said.
I contacted Bernie Shimkus, Harmelin’s Vice President of Research, to get specific numbers for Austin.
He responded that KXAN, Austin’s NBC affiliate, experienced a 30.8% ratings drop in their late newscast according to Nielsen Media Research data (that’s a bigger drop here than in more than half of the top 20 U.S. television markets). Harmelin estimated that would translate to an estimated $7,895 per week loss in late news advertising revenue for KXAN.
These late news losses don’t take into account the additional revenues declines the affiliates suffered in directly in Prime time and in Late Night as a ripple effect of the move, Harmelin’s press release noted. According to Shimkus, “Even if The Jay Leno Show was itself profitable from a production standpoint as NBC executives continued to assert to the end, the overall revenue picture for the company was not moving in a positive direction.”
Permalink | | Categories: Entertainment, News coverage, Ratings
January 10, 2010
Leno's prime time exit might mean an early return for 'Friday Night Lights'
As reported by a ton of television writers attending the Spring Television Critics Association gathering in Los Angeles, NBC President Jeff Gaspin announced what everybody has more or less known for much of the past week: “I can confirm, starting Feb. 12, The Jay Leno Show will no longer air at 10 p.m.,” he said.
“While [Leno] was performing at acceptable levels for the network, it did not meet our affiliates’ needs, and we realized we had to make a change.”
In early December, Austin NBC affiliate KXAN’s general manager Eric Lassberg acknowledged Leno’s poor ratings and weak lead-in to his station’s late-night newscast, but said he hoped the network would give the concept time to catch on.
“Some of the greatest programs in the history of television wouldn’t have made it if we only evaluated them over a two-month period — ‘Cheers’ and ‘Seinfeld’ would be two examples,” Lassberg said then. “So I get that it’s not doing what we want it to and that we’re at a disadvantage. But at the same time I think that … it’s a little bit premature.”
Gaspin said he’s spoken to Leno, “Tonight Show” host Conan O’Brien and “Late Night” host Jimmy Fallon about a scheduling shuffle that would land Leno in an abbreviated, half-hour segment at 10:35 CT (the “Tonight Show’s” current slot); push Conan to an 11:05 start (will they still be able to call it “The Tonight Show” when it will literally be starting “tomorrow” in the eastern time zone?) and kick Fallon to a post-midnight , 12:05 start.
Gaspin said that he has yet to have reached a consensus among the hosts. “The talks are ongoing,” he said. “[But] I hope and expect, before the Olympics begin, we will have everything set.”
O’Brien addressed the rumors in Friday’s “Tonight Show” monologue, saying, “We’ve got a great show for you tonight. I have no idea what time it will air — but it’s going to be a great show.” He joked about the network tossing him and Leno into a pit with sharpened sticks and seeing which of them would crawl out.
So what happens to prime-time? Well, perhaps in anticipation of Leno’s failure, NBC green-lit an unusually ambitious slate of new programming for the fall. In the meantime, it looks as though the network will plug in a couple of new hours of drama, expand “Dateline” and toss in some reality programming to fill the void.
The good news (besides, you know, Leno’s awful show going away) is that the shake-up might herald an early return for “Friday Night Lights.” The current season has been airing on DirecTV since last Fall and NBC was holding network broadcast for Summer, 2010. It seems like a great, scripted series such as “FNL,” in the midst of a terrific season and with so many episodes in the can just waiting to run would be a natural choice.
We’ll keep you posted.
Permalink | | Categories: Entertainment, Fall TV, Friday Night Lights, Ratings
January 8, 2010
BCS championship game also ratings champ
Ricardo B. Brazziell/AMERICAN-STATESMAN
Hitfix.com has reported the ratings for Thursday night’s BCS Championship game. The post says the game topped the prime time numbers in every possible measure. From the story:
Among adults 18-49, ABC averaged a 9.5 rating, far more than the combined totals for CBS (2.1 rating), NBC (1.5 rating), FOX (1.4 rating) and The CW (0.6 rating) in the key demographic.
Overall, ABC averaged an estimated 28.5 million viewers to go with a 15.8 rating/24 share. CBS was a distant second with a 6.7/10 and an estimated 10.26 million viewers. FOX’s 2.9/4 and the 2.7/4 for NBC were fare back, still beating the 1.1/2 for The CW.
One rating point equals 1% of total TV households; share is the percentage of television sets in use tuned to the program.Last night’s numbers are even with those of last year’s Florida-Oklahoma battle on FOX, which also drew a 15.8 average rating.
The game’s hourly ratings: 8 p.m.: 14.8/22 for the start of the football game, which also did an 8.5 rating in the key demo. 9 p.m.: 18.0/27 and an 11.0 rating in the demo for ABC. 10 p.m.: 14.5/23.
The article notes that cancellation rumors did not lead to any spike in ratings for NBC’s “Jay leno Show,”couldn’t stir up interest in NBC’s “The Jay Leno Show,” which only scored a 3.0/5.
As with all Nielsen preliminary reports, numbers are subject to change.
Permalink | | Categories: Entertainment, Ratings, Sports on TV
January 6, 2010
Nielsen says KAKW's 'Noticias 62' is numero uno
KAKW, Austin’s Univision affiliate, sent out a press release touting the station’s 2009 ratings successes. The release says that as measured by Nielsen, KAKW’s signature broadcast, the Spanish language “Noticias 62” news program, finished the year as the number one Austin newscast in 2009 in key demographics. The 5 p.m. newscast was ranked number one among adults 18-34 (2.1 rating), adults 18-49 (2.2 rating) and adults 25-49 (2.2 rating). The station’s 10:00 p.m. newscast ranked top among adults 18-34 (2.4 rating). the station also achieved high marks in the recent November sweeps.
Permalink | | Categories: Ratings
December 1, 2009
Local ratings results for the November sweeps
Put the broom away, sweeps results are in.
It was an interesting ratings period, with numbers from KEYE’s new morning and afternoon experiments included for the first time. The CBS affiliate replaced its morning news program with a simulcast of local Mix 94.7 radio team JB and Sandy, splitting up its former morning anchor team. KEYE sent Fred Cantu to its Telemundo channel, and co-anchor Michelle Valles (who must have been thrilled to hear competitor Oprah Winfrey announce her retirement) went to the station’s new afternoon lifestyle program, “We Are Austin Live.” Neither that program nor the morning radio simulcast can be considered a ratings success, but KEYE director of creative services Jerry Wagley says the station is satisfied so far.
“We’re really happy with (“We Are Austin Live”) and we’re really happy with the direction that it’s going,” Wagley says. He calls both new shows “long-term plays,” and adds that it was expected each would take time to build an audience, being new and different — at least to the Austin market. Of the JB and Sandy show, Wagley explains that “time will tell if it’s going to be a ratings bonanza, but we like that it’s working for us and that it’s different content.”
Time will tell, as well, if NBC’s decision to put Jay Leno on 5 nights a week as a 9 p.m. lead-in to local newscasts will continue to hurt its local affiliate, KXAN, which has seen the ratings for its 10 p.m. newscast drop more than 31 percent since May.
KXAN general manager Eric Lassberg calls a strong lead-in “critical” and says Leno’s poor ratings are “to our disadvantage.” But he points out that NBC often placed 3rd in the 9-10 p.m. time slot well before Leno’s show began in September — Jay’s just dragged those ratings down by another 26.5 percent. The station is responding by using all of its promotional tools to point viewers to the newscast and investing in outside media to get the word out. And now that sweeps are past and the other networks’ shows are going into reruns, Lassberg sees a real chance for Leno’s numbers to improve. “Part of the strategy for Leno,” he says, “is that it was a 52-week aggregate play.”
The station fared better in the mornings, taking sole possession of the top slot it shared with FOX affiliate KTBC a year ago.
KXAN shouldn’t be the only station worried about the 10 p.m. slot: all local network affiliates’ late night newscast numbers are down over a year ago, one of them (KTBC’s ‘Fox 7 News at 9’) by more than 28 percent. ABC affiliate KVUE retains the top spot in the 5, 6 and 10:00 p.m. local newscast slots.
Here are selected November overnight Nielsen ratings (a rating is 1 percent of the 678,730 TV households in the Austin viewing area.) We included the 9 p.m. hour to show the rating of KTBC’s 9 p.m. newscast as well as the numbers for “The Jay Leno Show,” and the 4 p.m. hour to show the rating for “We Are Austin Live” (in that hour, where there are two hyphenated numbers the first is the first half of the hour and the second is the remaining half). The leader in each time slot is italicized.
6 a.m. local news
KXAN 2.9
KVUE 2.7
KTBC 1.7
KEYE 0.7
4 p.m.
KVUE (‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’) 4.5
KXAN (‘Jeopardy!’) 2.5-3.4
KTBC (‘Judge Judy’) 2.1-2.2
KEYE (‘We Are Austin Live’) 1.1
KNVA (‘Tyra Show’) 0.6
5 p.m. local news
KVUE 5.6
KXAN 3.8
KTBC 2.4
KEYE (’Insider’) 1.4
KNVA (‘Everybody Loves Raymond’) 1.0
5:30 p.m. network news
ABC 6.3
NBC 4.4
CBS 2.1
6 p.m. local news
KVUE 5.6
KXAN 4.4
KEYE 2.8
KTBC (‘TMZ’) 2.3
KNVA (‘Friends’) 1.9
9 p.m.
CBS 8.9
ABC 7.0
NBC (’The Jay Leno Show’) 3.6
KTBC (‘Fox 7 News at 9’) 3.3
The CW 0.7
10 p.m. local news
KVUE 5.9
KEYE 5.0
KXAN 3.7
KTBC (‘The Simpsons’) 2.5
KNVA (‘The Office’) 0.9
Source: Nielsen Media Research
Permalink | Comments (10) | Categories: Ratings
November 2, 2009
'Southland' saved by TNT
As speculated, cable network TNT has picked up “Southland,” in a manner of speaking. The cop drama, starring Benjamin McKenzie (of Austin) was canceled by broadcast network NBC after six episodes of its second season were shot but before any of them had aired. TNT will run those episodes along with the 7 from its truncated first season; this will give new viewers a chance to jump in at the beginning.
Here’s your chance, “Southland” fans … TNT — already home to cop drama “Dark Blue” — will evaluate “Southland’s” ratings and decide whether or not to bring it back after these 13 episodes have aired.
The show will begin airing on TNT January 12 at 9 p.m., going head-to-head with NBC’s “Jay Leno Show.”
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November 1, 2009
Most networks up this fall, but ABC drops
Reuters reports that viewership is up at three of the four major broadcast television networks this season. Only third-place ABC — with 11 new dramas and comedies — has seen a decline in ratings.
Major points from the story:
“Glee” and “House” are doing well for FOX, the only network up in all demographics and categories.
First-place CBS has 13 of the Top 20 programs.
NBC ratings are up but network, whose move of Jay Leno to the 9 p.m. prime-time hour from late night has drawn only about 5 million viewers weekly, is still in last place.
Read the complete story by clicking here.
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October 22, 2009
'Brothers,' 'Til Death' and 'Dollhouse' go on hiatus for sweeps
The Fox Network’s Friday night prime time shows “Brothers,” “‘Til Death” and “Dollhouse” are going on hiatus after their October 23 airings, according to The Futon Critic. The programs will be replaced with reruns of “House” and “Bones.”
There’s good news and bad news here: the numbers for “Dollhouse” have been ticking slightly upward, but it’s never a good sign when you’re pulled from sweeps periods — when important ratings are measured — especially for reruns of other programs. “Dollhouse” will return in December with back-to-back airings. In January, the show will be back in its regular single-run Friday night slot.
“Brothers” will shift permanently to a 6 p.m. CT Sunday slot, the site reports, noting that no return date for “Til Death” was given.
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September 11, 2009
'Vampire Diaries' sinks its teeth into viewers
The CW is justifiably proud of the ratings garnered by its premiere of “The Vampire Diaries” Thursday night. The show took off like a bat out of, well, you know. Setting a record for the most-watched CW premiere ever, the teen-based supernatural drama scored 4.84 million viewers, beating ABC and FOX.
The CW seems to have jumped on the vampire bandwagon at just the right time: anticipation is high for the second “Twilight” movie and ratings for HBO’s “True Blood” have exploded.
It will be interesting to see if the angsty love story can hold onto those viewers — the first episode played like “Twilight” lite (I’ve seen it referred to as “Dawson’s Creek” with fangs).
Did you watch “Vampire Diaries?” Will you tune in for further entries?
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June 30, 2009
Univision beats ESPN in soccer ratings
KAKW graphic
KAKW Univision 62, a Spanish-language TV station serving the Austin market, delivered the highest local ratings during Sunday’s USA vs. Brazil soccer match, regardless of language, based on average household ratings. Univision beat ESPN, which also aired the live match.
KAKW’s coverage reached approximately 18,000 Austin market households, while ESPN reached 12,000.
In addition, KAKW reached more viewers during the USA/Brazil time period (Sunday, 1:30p-3:30p) and the Wimbledon Early Round match on KXAN, according to the recent Nielsen overnight ratings for Sunday, June 28, 2009.
Do you prefer Univision or ESPN for this type of programming? Why?
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June 11, 2009
'Jon & Kate' tops cable ratings
TLC’s “Jon & Kate Plus 8” topped cable ratings for the week of June 1-7, according to Nielsen Media Research. The 8:30 episode was the No. 1 show with 5.94 million viewers, while the 8 p.m. show was No. 4 with 5.46 million viewers. While the show still tops the Nielsens, ratings are down from the season premiere on May 25, which drew 9.8 million viewers
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June 20, 2007
What's hot? Reality, reruns and 'The Closer'
With summer in full swing, what are heat-avoiding viewers watching on television? Reality shows and a few reruns.
The most-watched show last week, according to Nielsen Media Research, was NBC’s trainwreck “America’s Got Talent,” which proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that we really don’t (have talent). Or if we do, the producers of this show haven’t found it.
Could the 11.8 million people watching “Talent” be hoping to see judge David Hasselhoff show up drunk and drooling a juicy hamburger all over himself? Maybe. Probably.
Also in the summer Nielsen Top 20 last week were Fox’s “So You Think You Can Dance,” “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader” and “Hell’s Kitchen.”
Reality notwithstanding, CBS retained its total household lead, thanks to the enduring popularity of its procedural dramas “NCIS,” “CSI,” “CSI: Miami,” “CSI: New York,” “Cold Case” and “Without a Trace.”
If Nielsen ranked cable networks AND broadcast networks, the third season premiere of TNT’s “The Closer” would have been 12th, far ahead of eight broadcast programs in the top 20. The Monday night season opener of “The Closer” drew 8.8 million viewers — a new record for a series on a basic-cable network.
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February 1, 2007
More 'Friday Night' love
It’s not just us, we swear: Variety gives “Friday Night Lights” some much-needed love, too, suggesting that maybe NBC should move the show to Friday nights (good, sensible) or maybe swap it with “Studio 60” (even better!).
Please, just get it out of the path of the “American Idol” boulder. Somebody. Please.
(Link via Defamer.)
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December 29, 2006
November sweeps: KVUE leads local news and ABC tops prime-time favorites
The full results of the November sweeps are in — total TV households and demographic information.
What’s new and earth-shaking? Well, not really very much.
KVUE, Austin’s ABC affiliate owned by Belo Corp., maintained its crown as the local news leader weeknights at 5, 6 and 10 p.m.
KXAN, the NBC affiliate owned by LIN television (and the station that has seen more comings and goings than a liquor store before New Year’s Eve), kept its strong second place at 6 p.m.
But KXAN came within a fraction of a rating point of getting nipped for No. 2 at 10 p.m., where CBS-owned KEYE surged on the strength of CBS’s prime-time lineup.
The numbers weren’t so happy for KEYE elsewhere. At 5 p.m., KEYE, anchored by Austin vets Judy Maggio and Ron Oliveira, was thumped by “Jeopardy” on KXAN and by “The Simpsons” on KTBC at 6 p.m. Ouch!
On the network news front, Austin still puts ABC’s news at No. 1, followed by NBC and CBS.
Among prime-time shows, we were just like everybody else, boosting ABC series such as “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Dancing with the Stars” and “Desperate Housewives” to the top of the ratings chart. Only one NBC show topped our charts — “Deal or No Deal.”
Check out rating details below, provided by Nielsen Media Research.
NOVEMBER NIELSENS
Note: HH= ratings for total households; DM= ratings in the 25-54 age demographic
5 p.m. Local news
KVUE — 6.8 HH/2.7 DM
KXAN (“Jeopardy”) — 4.1 HH/1.2 DM
KEYE — 3.0 HH/1.3 DM
KTBC — 2.5 HH/1.00 DM
5:30 Network news
ABC 6.7 HH (KVUE)
NBC 5.4 HH (KXAN)
CBS 2.9 HH (KEYE)
6 p.m. Local news
KVUE — 7.2 HH/3.3 DM
KXAN — 6.1 HH/2.2 DM
KTBC (“The Simpsons”) — 4.1 HH/3.2DM
KEYE — 3.0 HH/1.6DM
10 p.m. Local news
KVUE — 8.3 HH/5.3 DM
KXAN — 6.4 HH/4.2 DM
KEYE — 6.3 HH/3.6 DM
KTBC (“The Simpsons”) — 4.0 HH/ 2.8 DM
[KTBC’s late news is 9-10 p.m. — 4.5 HH/3.0 DM]
Top 15 prime-time shows in Central Texas for November
“Grey’s Anatomy” (ABC)
“Dancing with the Stars,” performance (ABC)
“Desperate Housewives” (ABC)
“Dancing with the Stars,” results (ABC)
“Lost” (ABC)
“Saturday Night Football” (ABC)
“House” (FOX)
“CSI” (CBS)
“CSI: Miami” (CBS)
“Country Music Awards” (ABC)
“Ugly Betty” (ABC)
“Two and a Half Men” (CBS)
“Deal or No Deal” (NBC)
“Barbara Walters Special” (ABC)
“Criminal Minds” (CBS)
According to Nielsen, there are 602,340 TV Households in the Austin television market, so one rating point equals 6,023 households.
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October 23, 2006
Guest blog: What's the matter with 'Studio 60'?
ADDENDUM (Tues. a.m.): The guest blog (below) was written prior to last night’s episode, which was a definite change of pace. D.L. Hughley, for instance, got a lot more airtime, to largely good effect. Though I’m still not persuaded he’s a convincing sketch comedian, he demonstrated that, as an actor, he can hold his own with Matthew Perry and Bradley Whitford.
Nate Corddry got a lot more exposure, too, though less effectively — he still strikes me as a bit whiny, and he was saddled with a hackneyed set of standard-issue midwestern parents (mom: hand-wringing, long-suffering; dad: stoic, uptight; both of them: humorless and culturally clueless) and a heart-tugging subplot that lacked an ounce of nuance or surprise.
I basically enjoyed the guest appearance by UT alum Eli Wallach (engineered, perhaps, by the show’s co-exec producer, UT alum Thomas Schlamme?), though, again, I saw the basic outlines of his story from the first five minutes.
But the big relief was the complete absence of sub-par sketches or overripe anxiety about how this week’s show was going to be put together. (The plot revolved around the cast’s weekly wrap party.) Without either of those elements, Sorkin was able to focus on character and storytelling, which he did with his usual flair (if not quite his usual knack for surprise). The most promising note was the hiring of a new writer for the show-within-the-show, which I hope will prompt Sorkin to spend more time portraying what goes on in the writers’ room. Right now, the show’s portrait of the creative process is Matt Perry sitting in front of a computer pulling out his hair.
Still, I’m not quite sure that Sorkin is quite sure what “Studio 60� is supposed to be about. This episode’s three main story lines found their sense of gravity outside of the world of modern-day show business – the Wallach story line harked back to the 1950s blacklist, the Hughley story line to inner-city violence and Corddry’s to, improbably, the war in Afghanistan. These are all worthy and weighty topics, but if they indicate the direction Sorkin is planning on taking “Studio 60,� then he’s offering us something I didn’t expect at all — “The West Wing� by other means.
GUEST BLOG: No new shows started the season with higher expectations than “Friday Night Lights” and “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip,” and no new shows have tanked so ignominously in the ratings. My colleague Diane Holloway does an excellent job of setting out why people aren’t watching “Friday Night Lights” in her TV column, so I thought I’d try to do the same with “Studio 60” — which has seen a steady decline in audience, drawing 13.4 million viewers for its debut but only 8.6 million for last week’s episode.
There isn’t one problem that explains “Studio 60’s” struggles; there’s a bunch of them. (And I say this as someone who likes the show a lot.) Diane has her own list that she might share with you if you ask, but here are four of mine:
1) The set. I’m told that in person, the theater where “Studio 60” is shot is big and impressive. But on TV, it looks dirty, dark and cramped. Is this a place where viewers want to spend an hour each week? The sense of claustrophobia is exacerbated by Aaron Sorkin’s writing style, what with all those people walking and talking, talking fast, talking over each other and talking sotto voce to themselves. The palatial environs of the White House gave the overlapping conversations on “The West Wing” some room to breathe, but on “Studio 60” you constantly feel as if you’re overhearing — and, often, only half-hearing — prisoners huddled together, whispering their escape plans.
2) The cast. Matthew Perry, Bradley Whitford, Steven Weber, Sarah Paulson and Amanda Peet are all terrific, but I have my doubts about the second tier of actors. D.L. Hughley is a talented enough comedian, and I remember liking him on the short-lived “The Hughleys” (and enjoying interviewing him on that show’s set years ago), but he has an odd voice — high in pitch, thin and grainy in timbre — that has trouble registering amid Sorkin’s trademark hubbub. I find myself hitting rewind and trying to simply hear the guy a lot of the time.
And what I do hear isn’t all that impressive; five episodes in, his Simon Stiles hasn’t really emerged as either a particularly strong character or a funny guy. In the second episode, Simon complained to Perry’s Matt Albie that he’s a Yale-trained actor, not the sort of guy who does “voices” (which he proceeded to confirm by doing a Bill Cosby imitation that’s about as good — or bad — as mine). You couldn’t help but wonder if this wasn’t a bit of unintentional honesty leaking out about Hughley’s miscasting as a sketch comedian.
I’m not much more impressed with Nate Corddry’s Tom Jeter, who seems like a pretty thin character — high-strung, insecure and eternally put-upon. And Ayda Field’s Jeannie Whatley has made no impression whatsoever. A show like this needs to be filled with charismatic, larger-than-life actors who make being a sketch comedian seem like the greatest job in the world. But in five episodes, have any of these people elicited a single laugh? Which brings me to …
3) The skits. The fake Gilbert & Sullivan number that climaxed the second episode was pretty audacious, but since then we’ve been subject to some terribly unfunny skits-within-the-show. “Meet the Press with Juliette Lewis”? “Nicolas Cage, Marriage Counselor”? Beside having a somewhat 1995 feel to them, they’re the sort of random, cut-and-paste humor that Albie is supposedly saving the show-within-the show from. I don’t watch Nancy Grace, so some of the bit’s finer points may have been lost on me, but last week’s parody of her CNN show seemed to go on, mirthlessly, forever. A handful of posters to imdb.com suggest that the skits are supposed to be bad, but this seems untenable to me — every week, we see Albie struggling to crank out some comedy genius on deadline, and each week the results are lauded as such. (If, on the other hand, Sorkin holds the entire genre of late-night humor in contempt, then this show has bigger problems than I can enumerate here.)
My guess is that writing sketch comedy is something that Sorkin is not very good at (it requires different skills than character-based humor, at which he is brilliant) or maybe he’s just stretched too thin to switch back and forth between modes. In either case, he needs to loosen up his legendary stranglehold; Sorkin should hire experienced — or young and hungry — sketch writers and let them run wild. Even if they do, though, I think the show has problems with …
4) Tone. The sense of portentousness that Sorkin perfected on “The West Wing” — his ability to spend an hour hinting that something important is buried beneath all that smart chatter and then, at the end of the episode, unveil a secret that tells us something unexpected yet true about a character and a situation — doesn’t play quite as well when the stakes are so much lower. This is show biz, not foreign policy, so when Albie realized at the end of the third episode that it was Danny who inserted a provocative question into a focus group study (really, I’m making it sound more exciting than it was), it resulted in a shrug rather than the force of revelation Sorkin was going for.
It’s not that we’re incapable of caring about the fortunes of show-biz types; the success of everything from “Entourage” to “Entertainment Tonight” suggests that we care very much. It’s that our relationship to celebrity is a two-faced one; build Britney up one day, tear her down the next. The whiff of saintliness that emanated from President Bartlet on “The West Wing” wasn’t realistic, but it worked as a form of wish-fulfillment; we’d all like our politicians to be that virtuous. But does anybody care if exorbitantly well-paid TV producers are martyrs for their art?
If somebody told me that Lorne Michaels is a genuinely good guy who stands up for his employees, I’d be happy for the people who work for him. But it’d be a lot more entertaining to hear stories about what a crass opportunist he is.
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August 3, 2005
'Mister Mom' not bad, Danny so sad ...
Stumbled on NBC’s new reality show “Meet Mister Mom” last night, and guess what? It’s not awful.
In fact, it was actually funny and sweet. The first episode featured two Austin families, which we wrote about in Saturday’s paper.
The concept is simple: Two families give up their moms, and the dads take over. They are graded on things like parenting, nutrition and time management. The dads face challenges, such as hosting spend-the-night parties and building soap-box racers.
Meanwhile, the moms are off enjoying life at a spa or learning how to do fancy bartender tricks.
The prize is $25,000 for an education fund.
Future episodes won’t be filmed in Austin, but if the future chosen families are anything like the Smiths and the Potters of Austin, “Mister Mom” should hold up. Both families were chaotic but loving, and both dads were good dads from the get-go. And by the end of the hour, they had new appreciation for their wives and kids.
There were nice little touches along the way, like the Potter Dad “bonding” with a llama that was sent to the house as an extra pet-caring duty. Romantic music and slow-mo scenes showed him walking with and kissing said llama. Warm and fuzzy.
The best news is the kids were not brats. Most reality shows portray parents as inept and kids as brats. “Mister Mom,” at least in the early going, is considerably more appealing than the average family reality disaster.
Give ‘Real World’ Danny a break!
If I hadn’t interviewed Danny at the end of “The Real World: Austin” filming in May, I might wonder if the Boston kid survived.
Last night’s episode of the MTV hit reality show found Danny having yet another really bad day. Remember, in the show’s second episode, Danny got into a fight on Sixth Street and broke a bone in his face. He had surgery in another episode and has been sporting an ice-pack and a sad demeanor ever since.
Last night Danny finally got his stitches out and made elaborate Valentine’s Day plans with squeeze Melinda. But cupid’s wings were clipped by bad news from home: Danny’s mother died.
This kid can’t catch a break. We know he does survive the series, but will he have to endure even more hardship along the way? I hope not. It’s time for sexist pig Wes to get his comeuppance.
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January 28, 2005
No. 1 on cable: 'Monk,' not wrestling
Either cable viewers are acquiring better taste or pro wrestling is simply losing its luster.
For years, the top-rated program on basic cable was wrestling, whatever version was the most outrageous at the time. Today’s televised grunt-fest is “WWE Raw,” seen Monday nights on Spike.
(On broadcast TV, UPN has “WWE Smackdown” on Thursday nights, which also, thank heavens, is in a ratings slump.)
The top-rated cable show last week was the award-winning “Monk,” which airs at 9 p.m. Fridays on USA. I feel like high-fiving the cable-viewing public and telling them to keep it up!
Rounding out the Top 15 on the cable Nielsens were various installments of the daytime kid faves “SpongeBob SquarePants” and “Fairly Odd Parents,” both on Nickelodeon, and reruns of NBC’s “Law & Order” on TNT.
I find it depressing when the most popular shows on TV are icky stuff like wrestling. And I find it encouraging when reality trash like “The Will,” which lasted only one week on CBS, definitively bombs.
I’m truly heartened that “Monk” is the top-rated show on basic cable, and the current broadcast Nielsen heavyweights include “CSI,” “Desperate Housewives,” “Lost” and “The West Wing.”
The taste of the American public has a direct impact on my professional life, not to mention my health and frame of mind. When the most popular shows are tasteless junk, more are bound to be coming, and that squeezes out any hope for the good stuff.
I have to watch it, good or bad, and, well, you should feel my pain when a half-dozen pilots come along that were clearly “inspired by” “My Wife and Kids” or “Fear Factor.” It’s excruciating.
Do I smell a whiff of a quality television trend? I’m holding my breath.
Ranch reality coming to PBS
It’s not the first time PBS has joined the reality craze, but it is the first time one has been steeped in Texas history.
“Texas Ranch House” will feature 20 participants ranching, roping and generally living life as American cowboys (and cowgirls) in the post-Civil War era. The eight-part series will film this summer at an undisclosed location in East Texas and is scheduled to air in spring 2006.
Executive producer Jody Sheff has said the show, which sounds similar to “Frontier House” and “Colonial House,” will dispel Hollywood’s often romantic stereotypes of life on the range.
If you have time to kill and want to live like a true citizen of the Old West, you can find applications and information about “Texas Ranch House” at www.pbs.org, beginning Tuesday.
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June 25, 2004
Buzz and ratings not the same
Funny how buzz and critical babbling often have no correlation to Nielsen ratings. It’s a case of decibel level versus actual viewing. This seems to be especially true with cable, where independent-minded viewers have hundreds of choices and enjoy finding their own favorites.
Take the latest cable Nielsens, for example. The No. 1 program for the week ending June 20 was Rob Lowe’s two-part movie “Salem’s Lot,” which was mostly panned by critics and ignored in pop mainstream media outlets such as “Entertainment Tonight.” The TNT flick was seen in more than 4 million homes.
The week’s buzz and critical praise went to FX’s “Nip/Tuck.” Although difficult to watch at times due to the surgical gore, this series is the darling of critics (including me) for its intense drama and dark humor. But fewer than 2 million households tuned in for the Tuesday episode.
Other cable viewer favorites include the 15-year-old drama “Law & Order,” which has a gazillion reruns almost every night on TNT, and “WWE Raw Zone,” the pro wrestling extravaganza on Spike TV that is a favorite among certain segments of the macho population.
The return of USA’s “Monk” was the No. 2-rated cable program, and the neutered syndicated reruns of “Sex and the City” were a hit on TBS.
But Bravo’s brand-new reality show “Blow Out” was a bust even though just about every newspaper in the country gave it a positive nod.
Here’s the Cable Top 15 according to Nielsen Media Research: 1. ”Salem’s Lot” (4.02 million homes) 2. ”Monk” (3.91 million homes) 3. ”Law & Order” (3.41 million homes) 4. ”WWE Raw Zone” (3.31 million homes) 5. ”Sex and the City” (3.2 million homes) 6. ”Sex and the City” (3.01 million homes) 7. ”WWE Raw” (2.98 million homes) 8. ”Sex and the City” (2.89 million homes) 9. ”Law & Order” (2.83 million homes) 10. ”Sex and the City” (2.8 million homes) 11. ”SpongeBob SquarePants” (2.77 million homes) 12. ”Fairly Odd Parents” (2.75 million homes) 13. ”Law & Order” (2.74 million homes) 14. ”SpongeBob SquarePants” (2.72 million homes) 15. ”Real World XIV” (2.72 million homes)
