• by Wayne Friedman , November 30, 2006

Everyone has their own view about what constitutes family programming. But you might not know what adults wrestle with when deciding what to watch with their children.

Guess what is the second-most-watched show that adults watch with children in prime time? Thinking "7th Heaven" or "Gilmore Girls"? Try CW's "Friday Night Smackdown." The No. 1 show is CW's "Supernatural," a show with its own dark side.

Why "Smackdown"? "Friday might be the best night for family viewing," says Brad Adgate, vice president of corporate research for Horizon Media. "Young kids are home, and parents can't get out. That's why there was the success of "TGIF."

This TV research came from presentation that was put together for the Family Friendly Programming Forum by David Poltrack, chief research officer of CBS Corp., and president of CBS Vision. For the first two months of the season so far, of the top 20 shows where adults watched with children, The CW had 12 shows--easily the most of any network. Fox was next with five. ABC had two and CBS one.

Poltrack says this measure, called the "co-view share," was only one factor. A deeper question is one of engagement, the hot new metric advertisers are demanding of their TV programmers. IAG Research, with whom CBS shared research duties, measures engagement by counting correct answers to a series of specific show questions.

With that in mind, CBS looked at shows in relation to adults who watched with their kids. The winner so far this season: ABC's "Lost," which scored 90%, according to IAG.

Second and third place went to middle-level-rated CBS comedies: "The Class" and "How I Met Your Mother." Four and fifth place went to ABC's "Desperate Housewives" and Fox's "Prison Break."

While "Friday Night Smackdown" may have had big raw numbers of adults watching with their kids, engagement was not apparent. It only took in a score of 61%, which didn't even rank among the top 90 shows. "Supernatural," which ranked No. 1 in co-viewing share of adults watching with kids, came tied for 14th place when it came to engagement.

Overall, Fox had six of the top 20 engaged shows with adults watching with kids. ABC had five; NBC four; CBS three; and the CW two.

Poltrack believes this season will be a real test for family-friendly programming. "This fall is going to be a significant turning point because the network has been dual streaming their content on the Internet," he says, adding that the results will give networks a better indication of how to program for family viewing.