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Week 18 First Four Day Ratings; How the Sitcoms Did

Week 18 numbers (first four nights, Mon-Thu):
Households: FOX 11.5/16.9; CBS: 9.5/14.3; NBC: 7.5/11.2; ABC: 6.9/10.4; The WB: 2.4/3.5; UPN 1.5/2.2.
Total Viewers: FOX 20.26 million; CBS: 14.67 million; NBC: 11.22 million; ABC: 10.53 million; The WB: 3.54 million; UPN: 2.02 million.
Adults 18-49: FOX 8.5/20; CBS: 4.6/11.1; NBC: 4.2/10.1; ABC: 3.6/8.7; The WB: 1.5/3.5; UPN: 0.8/2.0.

Analysis: American Idol is back and it is better than ever it seems. Not good news for the other networks. Over 35.5 million tuned in to the season premiere on Tuesday and 31.65 more on Wednesday. Fox will make a run for the adults 18-49 crown for the season but I think CBS or ABC will hang on. ABC still has the Super Bowl and The Oscars to come. Idol dented a lot of programming this week, including According to Jim, Rodney, Fear Factor, Scrubs, Commander in Chief. NBC's ratings are a tad inflated due to the Golden Globes. CBS's premiere of new drama Love Monkey didn't do so well, with a last place finish at 10 p.m. with only 8.63 million tuning in. Fox had a strong Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. 24's season premiere part two was decent on Monday with 14.08 at 8 and 15.7 at 9, both solid finishes behind NBC's Golden Globe Awards. Tuesday again was all Fox with American Idol. CBS's Navy NCIS and The WB's Gilmore Girls seemed unaffected though from Idol. Wednesday it was a little better for the other networks but still Fox's Idol was too much for everyone. Lost did solid for ABC, Criminal Minds did well and Fox's Skating with Celebrities got off to a good start, but can it continue without American Idol as its lead-in? CSI: NY won the competitive 10 p.m. hour. We will find out tomorrow night. Thursday it was all CBS and ABC. ABC won the 8 p.m. hour with Dancing with the Stars, while CBS won the 9 and 10 p.m. hours with CSI and a season high performance from Without a Trace. NBC's comedies were way down from last week when CBS was all in reruns. Friday it was all ABC with the Dancing with the Stars: The Results, followed by a first place finish for the well done drama In Justice. A repeat of NUMB3RS won the 10 p.m. hour with ABC's 20/20 closely behind. Saturday was also ABC's night with a showing of the Will Smith movie Enemy of the State. Fox will win the week in both total viewers and adults 18-49 thanks to one show. CBS will be unaffected by Idol and pull the same numbers as it usually does, but will have to settle for second place. ABC will pull ahead of NBC after tonight.


Monday Sitcoms

• The King of Queens (CBS) - A repeat this week, 8.97 million tuned in.
• How I Met Your Mother (CBS) -Only 7.93 million tuned in for a repeat. I think CBS will ship this sitcom to Wednesdays once New Adventures of Old Christine joins the line-up.
• Two and a Half Men (CBS) - 13.47 for a repeat, and still number one for the week among sitcoms--impressive.
• Out of Practice (CBS) - A repeat scored a decent 11.24 million--see you in March, as Courting Alex takes over this slot starting tomorrow.
• One on One (UPN), All of Us (UPN), Girlfriends (UPN), Half and Half (UPN) - All new and all consistent, 9 p.m. was the best with 3.11 million.
  

Tuesday Sitcoms

• According to Jim (ABC) - Damn Idol is back so this sitcom will now suffer. Yes, it was a repeat but only 4.92 million tuned in.
• Rodney (ABC) - A new episode actually, but since its lead-in was a repeat, only 4.6 million.
• Scrubs (NBC) 2 episodes - Both episodes were down well over a million from last week, but you can thank Idol for that.

Wednesday Sitcoms

• Still Standing (CBS) - American Idol is back but this was the only sitcom in the half hour , scored a so-so 7.32 million.
• Yes, Dear (CBS) - Again the only sitcom in the half hour and did a so-so 7.13 million.

Thursday Sitcoms

• Will & Grace (NBC) - Down BIG from last week's 9.69 million to only 7.49 million. Ouch.
• Four Kings (NBC) - This sitcom is now tumbling, this week only 7.43 million tuned in.
  
• That's 70s Show (FOX) 2 episodes - An original episode did only 5.23 million, a repeat followed with a better 5.6 million--bot slightly up from last week.
  
• My Name is Earl (NBC) - Down a lot from last week since CSI was new this week. 10.78 million tuned in.
  
• The Office (NBC) - Like all of NBC's comedies, down a lot from last week to only 8.7 million.
  
• Crumbs (ABC) - The best new sitcom of the season did great with 11.37 million, down only 500,000 from last week.
  
• Everybody Hates Chris (UPN) - A new episode was on par with a repeat from last week.
• Love, Inc. (UPN), Eve (UPN), Cuts (UPN) - New episodes of all these were well under a 1.0 A18-49 rating--ouch.

Friday Sitcoms

The WB Friday was dead last in each half hour. And two Bernie episodes on Fox were in the 2 ratings.

Summing it up. Repeats of Two and a Half Men & Out of Practice, a new My Name is Earl and Crumbs were impressive for the week. Everything else was OK (such as The Office, King of Queens) or just plain old terrible (such as WB Friday, Bernie Mac, Rodney).