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Week 22 Numbers (First Four Nights); How the Sitcoms Did

After about a month off in the ratings, we are back! We didn't have the final numbers in time each of those weeks so we decided not to bring the ratings, but we are now back! Hopefully every Sunday again.

Week 22 numbers (first four nights, Mon-Thu):

Households: Fox: 9.7/14.4; CBS: 8.9/13.7; ABC: 6.6/10.1; NBC: 6.3/9.7; The CW: 2.1/3.2.
Total Viewers: Fox: 16.73 million; CBS: 14.22 million; ABC: 10.2 million; NBC: 9.73 million; The CW: 3.28 million.
Adults 18-49: Fox: 6.8/16.5; CBS: 4.3/10.8; ABC: 4.0/9.9; NBC: 3.6/9.0; The CW: 1.5/3.6.

Analysis: The 22nd week saw Fox leading the pack with Hurricane American Idol and lead-out House rule on Tuesday with more Idol on top on Wednesday, thus the network has the lead through Thursday. CBS is in a solid second place in HH, viewers and 18-49, and will likely overtake Fox in HH and viewers by the end of the week. Fox will prevail in 18-49, with ABC likely taking 2nd over CBS. NBC will be 4th place in all categories. As usual, Friday and Saturday numbers are not above, since final numbers are not available yet. ABC will do very well tonight with CBS also in the mix. On Monday all four of the top four networks had something to tout about, but CBS still remained supreme. CBS's CSI: Miami was on fire and did 19.9 million at 10pm, and NBC's Heroes did very well in 18-49 rating at 9pm with a 6.3 rating, Deal or No Deal started the night off well though with 16.07 million for NBC. CBS sitcoms did decent in the 8pm hour doing 9.68 and 8.85 million, but down big from last week's Super Bowl-themed episodes. Two and a Half Men rose from those numbers and did 15.5 million (down some from last week, but still #1 for all of the sitcoms), with episode two of Rules of Engagement following and holding on well with 13.43 million. Even more impressive was a 100% hold of the lead-in's 18-49 rating at a 4.9 rating! Fox was above average with a two-hour 24 doing well. ABC saw decent numbers for all-new episodes of Wife Swap & Supernanny doing 8.31 and 9.83 million. The 18-49 rating for both was also decent. The CW's comedies are still under performing on this night. Tuesday was Fox's night. American Idol did 31.2 million and an all-new House did 25.99 million and was more than enough to win the night. CBS was second with NCIS, The Unit from 8-10 doing well, and a repeat of Without a Trace aired at 10. NBC got decent numbers from both Law & Order spin-offs doing 8.5 and 12.94 million from 9-11pm, with Dateline kicking the night off with a so-so 6.32 million. ABC saw a AFV repeat open up OK with 6.24 million, but then Primetime: The Outsiders did very well with 8.64 million (beating NBC), up from last week. A new episode of Boston Legal did 9.5 million, should be a bit better than that. The CW aired Gilmore Girls (4.37 million) and Veronica Mars (2.37 million). The latter didn't hold on to the lead-in well. Wednesday again Fox got the boost from its one show wonder American Idol, doing 28.89 million. Lead-in Bones got the halo-effect of Idol and did 12.28 million, good enough to win 8pm. CBS was second for the night but started off slow with a Jericho Recap Special doing just 7.36 million...not good news. Criminal Minds and CSI: NY followed and did good (but not dominant) with 15.16 and 14.81 million. NBC saw Friday Night Lights improve a but with 7.43 million, Deal or No Deal followed with 9.58 million. Medium followed with 8.62 million. ABC's comedy block opened up with George Lopez doing 7.13 and The Knights of Prosperity did 4.9 million--a series low. Let's hope we see it go up this week after a few weeks of rising numbers. ABC then followed with an encore of Lost not doing great with 4.96 million and an all-new Lost did just 12.84 million, though it did win the hour in 18-49. Lost should move back to 9pm next month...it can do better there even if Idol is there. The CW aired Beauty & the Geek doing 4.19 million but One Tree Hill was anemic with 2.25 million. The problem with The CW is most of their 8-9pm shows (Tues-Thurs) do decent, but the 9pm dramas (Tues-Thurs) are doing terrible. On Thursday we saw ABC and CBS dominate with all-new episodes. CBS opened the night with week two of Survivor Fiji doing a 9.4 rating (16.08 million), ABC was right on its trail with an all-new Ugly Betty doing a 9.1 rating (13.66 million) followed by a new Grey's Anatomy doing a dominant 16.0/23 rating (25.76 million), Men in Trees followed with 10.87 million...it should be doing 12 million for more respect. CBS's CSI did a 13.8/20 rating (22.71 million) and Shark followed with a first place of 15.12 million. NBC aired all-new episodes of comedies from 8-10pm and did decent for the first hour, but saw bleeding from Scrubs and 30 Rock. They all did decent though in 18-49 from a 2.5-4.4 in range. ER was new and did just 11.6 million though up from last week, 30 Rock is not helping it. And Fox saw pathetic numbers with 'Til Death, War at Home and The O.C.
Friday (numbers not counted in our ratings), saw CBS win each hour. CBS's Ghost Whisperer was #1 at 8 p.m. and for the night with a 7.7 preliminary rating. NBC was second in each hour, with its line-up of 1 vs. 100, Las Vegas and Law & Order. ABC re-aired the thrilling Super Bowl 2-part episode of Grey's Anatomy from last season and did OK but 20/20 built on that and did well, nerly beating NBC in viewers and winning in 18-49. And The CW and Fox battled for last place, but Fox did better than usual. Saturday ratings were anemic like usual with CBS's repeats in the lead overall and Fox's reality in 18-49. As for tonight, ABC, CBS, will likely share a win and have something to brag about, with ABC's Desperate Housewives dominating 9 p.m. and the rest of its A-class line-up of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition & Brothers & Sisters. As for this week in general, I expect Fox to win the demo and CBS in total viewers most likely. This coming week will be interesting as ABC will end the week with The Oscars, and part three of the special Grey's Anatomy arc. Also of note is American Idol airing Thursday at 8 this week.. 3 nights of Idol? UGH!! I think this will be for two weeks.

Last Sunday Sitcoms (counts for week of Feb. 5-11)

• Reba (The CW) 2 episodes - A repeats did 2.56 and a new episode did 3.24 million...better than their Monday comedies.
  
• The Simpsons (Fox) 2 episodes - 8.18 million for a new episode at 8, repeat at 7:30 did 5.41 million. The new episode should do a bit better.
  
• King of the Hill (Fox) 2 episodes - 6.99 tuned in for a new episode--down more than a million from lead-in. Repeat at 7 did just 4 million.
• Family Guy (Fox) - 7.97 million for a new episode...seems a bit low.
  
• American Dad (Fox) - Just 6.6 million. All the Fox lineup was under a 4.0 18-49 rating...not good news.
  

Monday Sitcoms

• How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - 9.68 million...decent, but down from last week's Super Bowl themed episode, which hit a season high.
  
• The Class (CBS) - 8.85 million. Same as above.
  
• Two and a Half Men (CBS) - 15.5 million for a new episode...very good like usual, but down about 2 million from last week.
• Rules of Engagement (CBS) - 13.43 million..pretty good retention from lead-in, but even more impressive was the 4.9 18-49 rating, which was the same as the lead-in! 100% retention! Will this show be the hit sitcom CBS is looking for?
  
• CW Monday Comedies: Chris, All of Us, Girfriends, The Game. New episode of Chris started it off with 2.83 million, the highest of the block. The rest ranged 2.52 to 2.64 million. Consistent, but needs to be doing 3 to 3.5 million.
  

Tuesday Sitcoms

• None
  

Wednesday Sitcoms

• George Lopez (ABC) - 7.13 million...decent, but Jim does better.
  
• The Knights of Prosperity (ABC) - 4.9 million only this week, after the rise the last two weeks. It should rise this week as the gang actually enter Jagger's apartment! Tune in!
  

Thursday Sitcoms

• My Name is Earl (NBC) - 9.1 million and a 3.918-49 rating...both disappointing. I think the return of Survivor has put a dent after season highs when that show was on a hiatus.
  
• The Office (NBC) - The same goes for this show. 8.84 million, but a decent 4.4 18-49 rating.
  
• Scrubs (NBC) - Just 6.23 million. NBC should air this at 9:30.
  
• 30 Rock (NBC) - This show is killing ER, just 5.01 million. They need to move this to 9pm.
  
• 'Til Death (Fox) - 5.21 million...not bad for this show and it beat 30 Rock and The Knights this week. What is American thinking?
  
• War at Home (Fox) - 4.79 million for a new episode...not good, but holding the lead-in's numbers well.
  

Friday Sitcoms
None.

Saturday Sitcoms
None.

Airing tonight (Sunday) are new episodes of Fox comedies and the series finale of Reba on The CW.

Summing it up. Two and a Half Men, How I Met Your Mother, The Office, My Name is Earl and Rules of Engagement were impressive for the week. Everything else was OK (such as The Class and George Lopez) or just plain old terrible (such as Knights of Prosperity and 30 Rock).