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Week 8 Numbers (First Four Nights); How the Sitcoms Did

Week 8 numbers (first four nights, Mon-Thu):

Households: ABC: 9.6/14.8; CBS: 8.6/13.2; NBC: 6.0/9.2; Fox: 4.3/6.4; The CW: 2.4/3.6.
Total Viewers: ABC: 14.96 million; CBS: 13.61 million; NBC: 9.47 million; Fox: 6.93 million; The CW: 3.69 million.
Adults 18-49: ABC: 4.9/12.6; CBS: 4.3/10.9; NBC: 3.6/9.3; Fox: 2.8/6.9; The CW: 1.7/4.1.

Analysis: The eight week saw the first full full week of sweeps and ABC is off to the lead! Last week we saw CBS win for the 7th straight week in HH and total viewers, but that is in jeopardy this week as ABC, thanks to a strong Monday, will likely win it. ABC will also likely get the 18-49 demo for the 8th straight week, though last week NBC came roaring back to virtually tie the network in that thanks to a very strong NFL game. As usual, Friday and Saturday numbers are not above, since final numbers are not available yet. ABC and CBS lead a close race for the top spot so far with NBC a distant third and Fox well back in fourth. On Monday, ABC was finally in the game and won the night in HH, viewers, and 18-49 thanks to the network's first showing of the CMA Awards. The broadcast did a 9.9/15 HH rating, 15.96 million, and a 5.4/13 A18-49 rating. CBS's CSI: Miami still won the last hour with 16.8 million, and NBC's Heroes at 9 p.m. was again strong in the 18-49 demo, with a series high 6.7/15 and decent in total viewers with 14.47. NBC's Deal or No Deal lead the night off for NBC with a solid second place and did 14.67 million, though almost down 2 million from last week. NBC's Studio 60 was just renewed for a full season for some reason, but it is still not doing good with just 7.67 million. CBS sitcoms suffered thanks to the CMA's, as The Class at 8:30 was again down as the newbie did just 7.57 million, but the number one sitcom Two and a Half Men rose from that and did 14.48 million. Fox did usual business for Prison Break but Justice had its last straw, as Fox pulled it after this week's terrible performance of 5.85 million.Tuesday, again it was ABC on top as Dancing with the Stars did 18.15 million for a special Election Day 30 minute recap followed by a 60 minute performance that did a stellar 21.98 million! The sitcom Help Me Help You was pre-empted as ABC dedicated the rest of the night to ABC: Vote 2006, doing the best of the big three election coverage at 8.55 million. Fox is doing bad with Standoff leading off but House came back strong and did 16.11 million, building well over 10 million from its lead-in. NBC was off the map tonight as Election Coverage pre-empted its strongest show Law & Order: SVU, while Friday Night Lights continues to under-perform at just 5.94 million. Law & Order: CI was very low, at probably a series low for a new episode, doing just 7.39 million. CBS did decent with NCIS and The Unit. Wednesday saw CBS and ABC battle it out, with ABC edging CBS in viewers this time and ABC winning in the demo again. ABC won the opening hour again with Dancing with the Stars: The Results doing 13.7/21 rating and 20.69 million. CBS's Jericho did 9.68 million, a series low, after last week's 9.87 million, which also was a series low. NBC had a bad night with The Biggest Loser 3 doing just 7.2 million for two-hours..though 8pm was so much improved now that the comedies are gone. ABC's The Nine had something to be happy about finally, it went up from last week's series lows. The show did 7.22 million up from last week's 6.52 million. ABC is being patient. CBS won from 9-11pm with Criminal Minds and CSI: NY both doing over 16 million (17.57 and 16.77 million). ABC's Lost didn't win 9pm in viewers, as it did 17.15 million for its fall finale, beat by CBS's Criminal Minds. Lost will return February 7. The CW's America's Next Top Model was up a million from last week's clip show of 4.41 million to 5.37 million. Fox had a terrible showing from The O.C., on a special night, doing just 3.54 million (down from last week's canceled game show premiere of 4.1 million)--ouch! On Thursday we saw CBS and ABC dominate. ABC's Grey's Anatomy had 20.65 million at 9pm and in the same slot CSI had 20.83 million (GA won in HH 13.5/20 to 12.6/19 and A18-49 8.6/21 to 6.9/17). At 8 p.m. ABC continues to do well with Ugly Betty, as the one-hour comedy did decent again with 12.81 million, slightly down from previous week; Survivor was also down and did 14.39 million though.When Survivor finishes, looks for the best new comedy to do even better. At 10 p.m. newbie Shark did 13.64 million, with ER edging it with 14.56 million. People keep saying ER has resurged...it really hasn't. It is doing the same as last year, it just seems like it is up because CBS's Without a Trace was dominating this hour last season. ABC's Six Degrees was pre-empted, and won't return to the schedule now until January, after last week's 7.4 million, a Desperate Housewives repeat aired tonight and did a better 8.69 million. And Fox saw pathetic numbers with 'Til Death and another (save us!) episode of The O.C.
Friday (numbers not counted in our ratings), saw CBS's dramas doing well and winning each hour. NBC was a solid second, but Las Vegas is out of place on Fridays. ABC was a distant third. And The CW beat Fox yet again on Friday. Saturday ratings saw CBS win the night with NBC and Fox doing usual business and the College Football game did bad for ABC. As for tonight, ABC and NBC will dominate, especially Desperate Housewives. Look for ABC to win the demo tonight and total viewers, as new series Brothers & Sisters is consistent and steady. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition is also solid for ABC and NBC might get high numbers for their football game, but not enough to win the night. Last week's game did very well, as the Colts always draw. I don't expect that high numbers for tonight's Bears-Giants game, but it will ve very good. I again expect ABC to win the week in the demo and yes, ABC in total viewers..though it will be close because of the bad Friday and Saturday for ABC. As you can see from our numbers above (Mon-Thurs), ABC had a decent lead in everything. NBC should be third in everything. What to look for this week is how Dancing with the Stars finale will do. I expect 25-30 million both nights. It should be another good week for ABC and CBS.

Last Sunday Sitcoms (counts for week of Oct. 30-Nov. 5)

• The Simpsons (Fox) 7, 7:30 and 8pm - Two repeats did 4.96 and 7.22 million leading into a good premiere for the Halloween episode, doing 10.46 million and a 5.0 A18-49 rating!
  
• American Dad (Fox) - 7.71 million...down almost 3 million from lead-in. Move this back to 9:30 in January and have the return of King of the Hill here at 8:30.
• Family Guy (Fox) - Built back up from lead-in with 8.45 million.
  
• War at Home (Fox) - Why not move this to Thursdays at 8:30 now? Did only 6.16 million...it just seems out of place with the animated sitcoms.
  

Monday Sitcoms

• How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - A repeat did 8.38 million last week and a new episode for sweeps did just 8.22 million. NOT GOOD!!! CMA Awards on ABC for sure affected it.
  
• The Class (CBS) - 7.22 million for a repeat. last week, which was bad, and a new episode this week did just as bad with 7.57 million. Back nine doesn't seem likely, sadly.
  
• Two and a Half Men (CBS) - 14.48 million, down slightly from 15.03 million two weeks ago, the last original episode.
• New Adventures of Old Christine (CBS) - 11.47 million for an all-new episode. This show should try to jump start this night. CBS should try that for a week or two.
  
• CW Monday Comedies: Chris, All of Us, Girfriends, The Game. All new episodes of Chris started it off with 3.18 million, the highest of the block. The rest went under 3 million ranging 2.75 to 2.92 million.
  

Tuesday Sitcoms

• None.
  

Wednesday Sitcoms

• None.
  

Thursday Sitcoms

• My Name is Earl (NBC) - 9.13 million tuned in, down slightly from last week's first sweeps episode.
  
• The Office (NBC) - 8.05 million, down from last week's sweeps premiere of 8.81 million.
• 'Til Death (Fox) 2 episodes - 4.33 million tuned in last week at 8pm for a new episode...this week 4.43 million. The repeat at 8:30pm jumped to 4.92 million, way up from Happy Hour in the same slot last week.
  

Friday Sitcoms
None.

Saturday Sitcoms
None.

Airing tonight (Sunday) are Fox comedies.

Summing it up. Two and a Half Men, My Name is Earl, and The New Adventures of Old Christine were impressive for the week. Everything else was OK (such as The Office and Everybody Hates Chris) or just plain old terrible (such as 'Til Death 8pm and The Class).