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Week 18 Numbers (First Four Nights); How the Sitcoms Did

Week 18 numbers (first four nights, Mon-Thu):

Households: Fox 9.4/14.3, CBS 6.3/9.9, NBC 6.3/9.8, ABC 4.5/7.0, The CW 1.2/1.8, MyNetworkTV 0.9/1.4
Total Viewers: Fox 16.34 million, NBC 9.96 million, CBS 9.66 million, ABC 6.67 million, The CW 1.78 million, MyNetworkTV 1.34 million
Adults 18-49: Fox 6.4/15.8, NBC 3.5/8.8, CBS 2.5/6.4, ABC 2.2/5.5, The CW 0.7/1.8, MyNetworkTV 0.5/1.3

Analysis: Week 18 saw Idol score big for Fox, even though it was down a bit year-to-year. It was also down to one-hour each for its two nights rather than two two-hour slots as the previous week. Fox is obviously on top by big this week in all categories. CBS and NBC are battling for distant second in HH, viewers, and 18-49. ABC is fourth in all categories. Fox will for sure win the week thanks to Idol but it will be much closer than last week as there is no 54 million for an NFL game. Like I said before, the writers' strike has caused a lot of repeats, thus CBS and ABC are down, while NBC is doing better than it normally would do with scripted programming, thanks to the reality shows. Last week, week 17, Fox ruled in all categories by a big margin. CBS was a distant second in HH and viewers, while NBC was second in 18-49. NBC was third in HH and viewers, while CBS was third in 18-49, and ABC fourth in everything
On Monday, all of the big 4 had something to smile about. NBC saw a decent night with American Gladiators doing 9.99 million, down from previous week, but its strength is 18-49 as it did a 4.2 rating, also slightly down from previous week. Deal or No Deal followed with 14.24 million, down a bit from previous week, followed by Medium at 10.02 million, slightly up from previous week and a season high...now it is benched until Feb. 18...go figure. CBS was in repeat mode for its sitcoms, but it still did pretty well, especially Two and a Half Men doing 11.58 million..slightly up from previous week. How does it do it? The other three sitcoms were all decent but no where the numbers as Men. See sitcom numbers below. CBS closed the night off with an repeat of CSI: Miami at 10.5 million. Fox aired an all-new Prison Break at its normal so-so numbers doing 7.83 million and a 3.1 18-49 (both down a bit from previous week), it was followed by episode three of Sarah Connor Chronicles which did 8.66 million and a 3.6 18-49 rating...free falling...now it will be preempted tomorrow and will return the week after because of the State of the Union. ABC's 90 minute Dance War did a solid 9.84 million, down slightly from previous week. Notes from the Underbelly followed at 9:30 at just 4.48 million, down a bit from previous week. October Road followed at 10pm with just 4.95 million, slightly up from previous week. The CW had repeats of their sitcoms...the best was Chris at 2.32 million and the worst was Girlfriends' 1.37 million.
On Tuesday, Fox was on top thanks to Idol's 29.72 million, though it usually doesn't go down under 30 million until weeks later. A repeat of House followed with 13.91 million. CBS was a distant second with a repeat of NCIS at 11.95 million, very solid...followed by a repeat of The Unit at 7.8 million and a new 48 Hours Mystery at just 6.96 million. NBC suffered from Idol, but the second hour of the two-hour Biggest Loser built tremendously from its first hour and finished with an average of 8.97 million, up from previous week when Idol was two-hours and Law & Order: SVU followed with 12.98 million, slightly up from previous week. ABC also suffered from Idol-itis, as Just for Laughs started the night off with 4.69 million, though slightly up from previous week, a repeat followed with 4.62 million, up from previous week's repeat...According to Jim followed with 6.28 million, way up from previous week as it didn't go up against Idol and a new Carpoolers only managed 4.92 million. ABC closed the night off with an all-new Boston Legal at a below normal 8.3 million, but up from previous week. The CW aired a repeat of Reaper at just 1.53 million and all-new One Tree Hill did 3.04 million...up from previous week.
On Wednesday, it was all Fox again. American Idol did 27.09 million, big but not as big as before. The series premiere of Moment of Truth followed with an impressive 23.05 million. NBC started the night off with the Wednesday edition of Deal or No Deal at 13.66 million, up about 2 million from previous week, the NBC airing of USA Network's Law & Order: Criminal Intent did 8.21 million, down a bit from previous week, followed by the original Law & Order at 10.35 million, down from previous week. CBS started off slow with Power of 10 at just 3.63 million, down from previous week, followed by new episodes of Criminal Minds and CSI: NY at 12.67 and 11.51 million...seems below normal. ABC's Wife Swap and Supernanny did 5.57 and 7.18 million, both up from previous week. ABC closed the night with Cashmere Mafia at 5.58 million, slightly up from previous week. The CW had a new showing of Crowned and a repeat of Gossip Girl at 1.37 and 960,000...Crowned is not doing good, down againfrom previous week.
On Thursday, we again had repeats of the two big players, but there were some new showings for scripted series. CBS started the night off with a repeat of CSI: NY at a solid 8.48 million, followed by a repeat of CSI at 13.27 for #1 for the night but down from previous week, and a repeat of Without a Trace closed the night off with 11.72 million. Fox was second thanks to Idol's promotion for sure, as a two-hour Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader? did 10.51 and 10.34 million. ABC's big gun of Grey's Anatomy was in repeat mode and it doesn't repeat as well as the other big gun (CBS's CSI), but Ugly Betty was all-new and started the night with 8.88 million, down from previous week, the Grey's repeat did 7.21 million, followed by an all-new Big Shots at 4.89 million, up a bit from previous week. Lost returns this week and will dominate. NBC started the night with the first of two new Chuck episodes at 8pm at 6.91 million, Celebrity Apprentice followed with 8.68 million, down from previous week and the final Chuck episodes closed the night out with 6.56 million...why did NBC burn this off quickly?
Like usual, no Friday finals yet, but CBS won thanks to repeats of Ghost Whisperer (#2 at 8pm) and NUMB3RS (#1 at10pm). A Garth Brooks music special was #1 at 9pm. 1 vs. 100 for NBC was #1 at 8pm. Saturday ratings were not available at the time of this writing.
Tonight will be probably ABC's night as ABC has an all-new two-hour Home Edition while CBS has a new Shark at a special time and a new movie from 9-11pm. NBC will be off the map with figure skating, but will do a bit better with a Guinness special. Fox has a mix of new and repeats for its animation. Brothers & Sisters has two more episodes left for ABC, if you're wondering. They will air Feb. 10 and 17.
As for the week, Fox will win in HH, viewers and 18-49 because of Idol. CBS will likely be second in all categories, with NBC third and ABC fourth.
This coming week...American Idol will probably go below 25 million (hopefully) and we'll see how week two of Moment of Truth will do. State of the Union will mess things up tomorrow but some shows are still new like Dance War from 8-9pm on ABC. ABC has Lost returning on Thursday with last season's finale re-airing Wednesday. I just saw the first two episodes of this season's Lost...and all I will have to say is WOW. It is GREAT! Tune in!!! Eli Stone is also decent, and Lost fans will like it...so stick around.

Last Sunday Sitcoms (counts for week of January 14-20)

• Aliens in America (The CW) - A repeat did just 450,000 viewers...as everyone watched the NFC Championship game on Fox probably.

Monday Sitcoms

• How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - 6.98 million for a repeat...down a bit from previous week's repeat of 7.13 million.
  
• The Big Bang Theory (CBS) - 7.72 million for a repeat...down from previous week's 8.07 million.
  
• Two and a Half Men (CBS) - 11.58 million tuned in for a repeat..very good, up slightly from previous week.
• Rules of Engagement (CBS) - 8.48 million for a repeat, good, up slightly from previous week.
  
• CW Monday Comedies: Chris, Aliens in America, Girlfriends, The Game. All were repeats ... Chris led the block with 2.32 million, Aliens did 1.39 million, Girlfriends did 1.37 million, and The Game did 1.66 million.
  

Tuesday Sitcoms

• According to Jim (ABC) - A new episode did a season high 6.28 million!
  
• Carpoolers (ABC) - 4.92 million for a new episode.
  

Wednesday Sitcoms

• None
  

Thursday Sitcoms

• None
  

Friday Sitcoms

• None.

Saturday Sitcoms

• None.

Airing tonight (Sunday) is a repeat of Aliens in America on The CW at 7:30, and Fox's animated comedies are a mix of new and old.

Summing it up. Not a lot of sitcoms this week at all. Two and a Half Men, The Big Bang Theory, and Rules of Engagement repeats were impressive for the week. Everything else was OK (such as According to Jim, How I Met Your Mother repeat) or just plain old terrible (Girlfriends repeat, Carpoolers).