November Sweeps: 'Melrose' Still Hot, 'V' Flies South

by Wayne Friedman , November 18, 2009

The CW's Melrose Place

Deep into the November sweeps, competitive battles are having their effect on all network TV shows, old and new.

The new -- CW's "Melrose Place," now with the highly marketed return of Heather Locklear -- did a bit better than recent editions, but probably not quite the bump the network wanted.

Among 18-49 viewers, the show rose one-tenth of a rating point to a Nielsen 0.8 rating/2 share. But the series' numbers for women 18-34 climbed to a 1.1 rating, its best in weeks.

ABC's "V" -- another new show this season, airing at 8 p.m. -- went further south. Now in its third week, it fell from the high 5.0 rating of its debut to a still-healthy 3.1 rating/8 share.

The struggle remains for ABC's 10 p.m. show "the forgotten," which was flat at a 1.9 rating/6 share among 18-49 viewers, compared to a week ago. The silver lining in this time period for NBC is "The Jay Leno Show," which again beat the ABC scripted show with an above-season average 2.0 rating/6 share score.

The bigger-rated shows on Tuesday all took it on the chin. CBS' two leaders were down: "NCIS" dropped 7% versus last week to a 4.1/ 11, a season low; and CBS' "NCIS:LA" was off 8% to a 3.4/9, also a series/season low. NBC's "The Biggest Loser" went 3% south to a 3.7/10, while ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" put its feet down 9% to a 3.2/8.

Overall, CBS won the night among 18-49 viewers with a 3.4/9. NBC was at a 3.0/8; ABC, a 2.7/7; Fox, a 2.4/7; Univision, a 1.5/4; and the CW at a 0.9/3.

media measurement, television

3 comments about "November Sweeps: 'Melrose' Still Hot, 'V' Flies South".

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Mike Einstein from the Brothers Einstein, November 19, 2009 at 12:51 p.m.
Looking at these ratings I have one question: Where exactly is the mass in this medium?
Reply

John Grono from GAP Research, November 19, 2009 at 4:39 p.m.

OK, let's have a little look for the "mass".

A universe of 292m People 2+. But, bear with me as I don't have all the US data, may I be so bold as to assume that the People 2+ rating is pretty close to the P18-49 ratings quoted.

Picking one show, NCIS, which did a 4.1. This means 12m people average per minute for the 60-minute episode. Even if the P1849 ratings are double the People 2+, we're still talking 6m people. In just a single hour to a single programme.

So let's look at the prime-time averages by network. We have CBS with 3.4 (9.9m) , NBC with 3.0 (8.8m), ABC with 2.7 (7.9m), Fox with 2.4 (7.0m), Univision with 1.8 (5.2m), CW with 0.9 (2.6m). That is, these six networks sum to 41.4m ... which even if we invoke the "halve it" guideline is still over 20m ... for each and every minute or prime-time. Let's not even think of adding cable into the equation!

That looks like mass, smells like mass, feels like mass, so ... let's call it a mass medium.

Mike Einstein from the Brothers Einstein, November 19, 2009 at 8:23 p.m.

John,

First of all, the 18-49 universe is much smaller than the 2+ universe. But that aside, you keep forgetting it's the advertisers who pay for this crap. They're the only one's with a vested interest in the "mass" me thinks you doth protest too much about here.

Speaking of which, to reach this dubious mass, these beleaguered advertisers would have to buy spots simultaneously on all six networks to approach what they used to be able to get from one spot in one good show on one network only 25 years ago.

You also neglected to factor in (deduct) the 35% of the audience that favors time-shifted viewing (for obvious and ominous reasons) and the feeding frenzy (another deduction) that occurs during the commercial breaks viewed in real-time.

Why do you think the only property the bankrupt Tribune Company has been able to sell it its baseball team? Could it be because their media properties - major-market newspapers and television stations -are worthless? Potential buyers seem to think so. So do I. And so do the masses.