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Week 1 Numbers (First Four Nights); How the Sitcoms Did

Week 1 numbers (first four nights of the season, Mon-Thu):

Households: CBS: 9.3/14.7; ABC: 8.7/13.6; NBC: 7.4/11.6; Fox: 4.8/7.3; The CW: 2.4/3.8.
Total Viewers: CBS: 14.68 million; ABC: 13.09 million; NBC: 11.55 million; Fox 7.51: 7.98 million; The CW: 3.77 million.
Adults 18-49: ABC 4.7/12.4; CBS: 4.6/12.2; NBC: 4.2/11.2; Fox: 2.9/7.7; The CW: 1.7/4.7.

Analysis: The first four nights of the season had the big three each doing very well. And it looks like it will come down to tonight (Sunday) on who will win the week...and guess what? All three will do well tonight, too. Friday and Saturday numbers are not above, but those are slow nights. ABC's Grey's Anatomy and CBS's CSI battled Thursdays at 9pm and the result was surprising. ABC and CBS lead the pack so far with NBC close behind. On Monday, NBC's Deal or No Deal helped win the night with 15.76 million for its two-hour premiere, but CBS's CSI: Miami won the last hour with 17.62 million. NBC's Studio 60 opened so-so with 13.41 million (with a drop in its second half). Let's see how it does tomorrow. If it can have 13-14 million or so each week, then NBC will take it. If it goes under 10-11 million, then we have a bust. Tuesday, it was ABC's turn of excellence as Dancing with the Stars did 18.17 million for two-hours. CBS and NBC did good too as all their shows were above 10 million. Fox's House did well, too. CBS's Smith and ABC's Boston Legal at 10 p.m. saw drops in its second half hours--should be concering. Wednesday it was CBS's turn to win viewers, as the dramas from 9-11pm won their hours. ABC won the opening hour with Dancing with the Stars: The Results doing 15.03 million. CBS's Jericho opened decently with 11.66 million. NBC had a night to forget as their night was just at 7.31 million. And The CW opened nicely with the season premiere of America's Next Top Model. On Thursday we saw a historic night as ABC's red-hot drama Grey's Anatomy moved to its new night and time and came in and just swept CSI away in everything! Seriously! 25.41 million tuned in for the season premiere and an outstanding 11.0/26 A18-49 rating. Just unbelievable. CSI did 22.57 million and a 7.7/18 A18-49 rating. I think we will see this every week, but total viewers might vary from each week (GA should win on most nights), but expect GA to win 18-49 by a lot each week. A clip special of GA did even 13.7 million at 8 p.m. CBS looks like misses Without a Trace at 10 p.m. as Shark didn't premiere that well and dropped in its second half hour. 14.47 million tuned in. ABC premiered Six Degrees and had the same problem, 12.56 million tuned in. ER won the hour with 15.59 million. Friday (numbers not counted in our ratings), saw CBS's dramas so well, and NBC saw Deal or No Deal and Law & Order do decently. ABC saw some good numbers for Men in Trees. Saturday ratings saw ABC win with College Football. Tonight will be the deciding factor. Can CBS compete with NBC's NFL coverage? ABC will have no problem getting viewers, especially Desperate Housewives. Look for ABC to win the demo tonight and maybe total viewers, but that depends on how much new series Brothers & Sisters does. Without a Trace moves to its new night and time tonight at 10...will viewers follow? Or will CBS force it to move back to Thursdays? Time will tell. I expect ABC to win the week in demos and CBS in total viewers, with ABC a solid second. NBC should be third in everything. Fox is waiting for American Idol, because their fall is a big mess. As for new series, nothing has broke out yet, maybe Brothers & Sisters tonight will, but I have all bets on Ugly Betty on Thursdays.

Last Sunday Sitcoms (counts for week of Sept. 11-17)

• The Simpsons (Fox) - A repeat at 7pm did nothing with 4.37 million, but an all-new episode at 8pm did well with 9.01 million and a decent 4.2/11 A18-49 rating.
  
• 'Til Death (Fox) -Repeat at 7:30pm did 5.23 million...not bad.
  
• American Dad (Fox) - 7.71 million is good, but lead-in did 9.01 million. Lost a little too much.
  
• Family Guy (Fox) - 9.23 million and a 4.5/11 A18-49 rating. Very good.
• The War at Home (Fox) - 6.75 million and 3.3/8 A18-49 rating. Yikes, big drop. They should move this to Thursdays at 8:30 and air a repeat of Family Guy or Simpsons at 9:30 for now.
  

Monday Sitcoms

• The Class (CBS) - Series premiere was on-par with King of Queens from last year, with a 6.9/11 HH rating, 10.48 million viewers, and a so-so 3.6/10 A18-49 rating. CBS should be expecting a bit more.
• How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - Second season premiere did decent, built on A18-49 with a 3.8/10, and held 100% of the lead-in's viewers with 10.48 million. HH rating went a bit down to 6.8/10. Decent start.
  
• Two and a Half Men (CBS) - Season premiere did 15.09 million, but last season finale's 15.51 million, so slightly down, but certainly good.
• New Adventures of Old Christine (CBS) - 12.01 million tuned in for the second season premiere, down from the 13.06 million from the season finale.
  

Tuesday Sitcoms

None.

Wednesday Sitcoms

None.

Thursday Sitcoms

• My Name is Earl (NBC) - In its new slot, the sitcom's second season premiere premiered to so-so numbers with 8.86 million and a 3.8/11 A18-49 rating.
  
• The Office (NBC) - Season premiere was on par with last year's premiere, but this time it built on its lead-in. A very good sign. 9.11 million and a 4.3/11 A18-49 rating.
  
• 'Til Death (Fox) - Episode 3 of this terrible sitcom reached another low with just 5.78 million and a pathetic 2.2/7 A18-49 rating. Pattern will continue next week with numbers probably even lower.
• Happy Hour (Fox) - Episode 3 of this even worse sitcom did just like its lead-in, go down more. 4.4 million and an anemic 1.7/4 A18-49 rating. And guess what? Fox has benched this show starting this week. Repeats of 'Til November, err 'Til Death will take its spot.
  

Friday Sitcoms
None.

Saturday Sitcoms
None.

Airing tonight (Sunday) are repeats of Everybody Hates Chris from 7-8pm on The CW and the Fox animated sitcom block of The Simpsons, American Dad, Family Guy and the live-action sitcom The War at Home. We will have the numbers for these next week.

Summing it up. Two and a Half Men, The Office, How I Met Your Mother, and The New Adventures of Old Christine were impressive for the week. Everything else was OK (such as The Class and My Name is Earl) or just plain old terrible (such as 'Til Death and Happy Hour).