Week 25 First Four Day Ratings; How The Sitcoms Did

Week 25 numbers (first four nights, Mon-Thu):

Households: FOX: 11.1/16.9; CBS 10.0/15.5; NBC: 5.5/8.5; ABC: 5.3/8.3; UPN: 2.0/3.0; The WB 1.8/2.7.
Total Viewers: FOX: 18.91 million; CBS: 15.71 million; NBC: 8.25 million; ABC: 7.85 million; UPN: 2.95 million; The WB: 2.72 million.
Adults 18-49: FOX 7.8/19.4; CBS: 4.9/12.6; NBC: 3.1/7.9; ABC: 2.9/7.3; UPN: 1.3/3.2; The WB: 1.2/2.9.

Analysis: It was a mix week, as the networks were filled with either some new programming with repeats. CBS and FOX were all-new this week, thus their numbers show. Monday saw CBS prevail with its comedies and CSI: Miami. Fox did well with its two-hour 24 episode and NBC started off strong with Deal or No Deal, and The Apprentice again was disappointing and it has even made Medium go way down. In other Monday news, ABC's all-reality Monday line-up started off pretty well, with Supernanny battling with The Apprentice and Miracle Workers premering with decent numbers, but nothing spectacular. Tuesday it was all Fox with American Idol with 28.56 million viewers. House followed with HUGE numbers, 20.56 million. CBS competed with Fox at 9 p.m. with the premiere of its new drama The Unit surprising many with 18.5 million. ABC's critically acclaimed and hilarious new sitcom Sons & Daughters opened with a nice start with 8.41 million, followed by another episode with 7.5 million--the erosion at 9:30 is concerning. It is a tough hour now because The Unit did better than expected with House already in that slot. NBC's sitcoms suffered a lot, especially the return of Joey--only 4.09 million for an all-new episode and just 3.76 for a repeat, Scrubs followed with a fourth place finish with 5.71 million for both episodes. Joey will be benched again (hopefully for good) after that terrible performance. Wednesday again the story was American Idol with 30.38 million, but Bones didn't do as well holding the audience at 9 p.m. with 11.82 million, good for second place behind CBS's Criminal Minds' 15.27 million. ABC's Lost was a repeat. Thursday it was all CBS, though Fox still had American Idol at 8 p.m. tonight and scored 26.62 million beating CBS's Survivor which did 15.2 million. NBC's comedies were all repeats and didn't perform well, especially Will & Grace. The O.C. needs to be canceled because it lost almost 20 million viewers from its lead-in. That is pathetic. I don't care if CSI is up against it; it needs to have a better retention than that! Friday had a battle of CBS and NBC--CBS won each hour. Deal or No Deal was NBC's highest rated program at 8 p.m., but it was no match against The Ghost Whisperer. Las Vegas was down from last week and couldn't beat CBS's Close to Home. NUMB3RS won the 10 p.m. hour and the best ratings for the night. NBC's Conviction was last place in the hour, down from last week's premiere. Saturday was pathetic--all the networks were under a 5 rating. ABC's will win the tonight thanks to their big Sunday line-up: an expanded two-hour EM: Home Edition, an all-new Desperate Housewives, and an all-new Grey's Anatomy! For the week, Fox will probably hang on to total viewers and adults 18-49 but it will a battle for second place among adults 18-49 with CBS and ABC after what will happen tonight.


Monday Sitcoms

• The King of Queens (CBS) - Down slightly from last week's 10.81 million to 10.48 million this week.
• How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - Up from last week's 9.82 million to 10.15 million.
• Two and a Half Men (CBS) - 17.06 million tuned in.
• Courting Alex (CBS) - 13.77 million tuned in to Jenna Elfman.
• One on One (UPN), All of Us (UPN), Girlfriends (UPN), Half and Half (UPN) - Repeats did better than normal. 2.6-3.2 million on average.
  

Tuesday Sitcoms

• According to Jim (ABC) 2 episodes - Two all-new episodes tonight! 8 p.m. against Idol suffered, only 5.84 million...the 8:30 p.m. all-new episode down slightly to 5.83 million
• Sons & Daughters (ABC) 2 episodes - The premiere did decent with 8.41 million, the second episode didn't do too well with 7.5 million.
  
• Joey (ABC) 2 episodes - And the show is gone again after returning this week to ANEMIC ratings. Univision partied when it beat NBC in this hour. 4.09 million for a new episode and 3.76 million for a repeat.
  
• Scrubs (NBC) 2 episodes - A new episode did 5.71 million at 9. So what did the repeat do at 9:30? The exact same!
• Chris/Girlfriends (UPN) - Special repeats at 9 and 9:30 did 1.87 and 1.65 million, up from the lead-in at least.
  

Wednesday Sitcoms

• George Lopez (ABC) - A repeat scored 6.01 million, up from last week's new episode.
  
• Freddie (ABC) - 5.3 million for an all-new episode.
• Still Standing (CBS) - Two all-new episodes beat ABC's comedies, 6.88 million and 7.36 million.

Thursday Sitcoms

• Everybody Hates Chris (UPN) - Repeat scored 2.73 million.
  
• Love, Inc. (UPN), Eve (UPN), Cuts (UPN) - Repeats all under 2 million.
• Will & Grace (NBC) 2 episodes -Two repeats did 5.24 and 5.4 million.
  
• My Name is Earl (NBC) - 8.62 million for a repeat is nothing to be ashamed of.
  
• The Office (NBC) - Repeat scored 6.84 million.
  

Friday Sitcoms

The WB Friday had an all-new What I Like About You and encore of Living with Fran in dead last place in the 8 p.m. hour. The 9 p.m. hour was slightly better with two Reba repeats, but still dead last.

Summing it up. The King of Queens, How I Met Your Mother, Two and a Half Men, Courting Alex were impressive for the week. Everything else was OK (such as Sons & Daughters 9pm, My Name is Earl repeat) or just plain old terrible (such as Joey, WB Friday).