SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

Households: 1. Fox 8.7/13.6 rating/share; 2. CBS 5.9/9.5; 3. ABC 4.1/6.6; 4. NBC 3.7/6.0; 5. The CW 1.2/1.9
Total Viewers: 1. Fox 15.44 million; 2. CBS 9.38 million; 3. ABC 6.39 million; 4. NBC 6.11 million; 5. The CW 1.95 million.
Adults 18-49: 1. Fox 5.4/14.5 rating/share; 2. CBS 2.1/5.8; 3. NBC 2.0/5.6; 4. ABC 2.0/5.4; 5. The CW 0.9/2.4

Week 19 (Jan. 24-30) Analysis: Week 19 is seeing Fox dominating so far as many series on CBS and ABC are in repeats. As a result of that, Idol didn't drop much in week two. Through the first four nights Fox leads the way, followed by CBS then ABC and NBC. Last week, week 18, had CBS win big thanks to the AFC Championship Game on Sunday. Fox was in second place across the board thanks to the return of Idol. ABC was third everywhere again while NBC was still stuck in fourth.

Monday saw Fox and ABC battle, with CBS in repeats. ABC started with The Bachelor doing 9.28 million and a 2.9 18-49 rating, up from previous week. I think it is going to get better and better now. At 10pm ABC aired a new Castle and did 9.08 million and a 2.4 18-49 rating, up from its previous new episode two weeks prior. What an episode it was! CBS was back to repeats with its comedies and Hawaii Five-0. At 8pm, a repeat of How I Met Your Mother started it off with 7.1 million and a 2.3 18-49 rating, which is good but seems below average. At 8:30, a repeat of Rules of Engagement did 7.05 million and a 2.2 18-49 rating, good retention. Even without DVR factored in, it was similar retention. Two and a Half Men followed with a repeat of its own doing 11.46 million and a 3.0 18-49 rating, which is great for a repeat. At 9:30, Mike & Molly was a repeat too and did 9.39 million and a 2.6 18-49 rating, a solid performance for a repeat. A repeat of Hawaii Five-0 at 10pm did 6.65 million and a 1.7 18-49 rating, which is good but most CBS dramas do better in repeats. Could have been better because the previous night had a post-AFC airing doing well. Fox was all-new starting with House doing 10.45 million and a 3.7 18-49 rating, up some from previous week. A new episode of Lie To Me followed at 9pm with 7.67 million and a 2.5 18-49 rating, up A LOT from previous week. Good job, but is it fool's gold? NBC started its night with a new Chuck doing 6.06 million and a 1.9 18-49 rating, which is down a few tenths from previous week. At 9pm, the struggling The Cape did 5.85 million and a 1.6 18-49 rating, down from previous week. At 10pm, week two of Harry's Law aired doing a solid 10.43 million but just a 2.1 18-49 rating. Majority of its audience is out of the 18-49 demo, which isn't what advertisers want. Bright spot was that it was just down a tenth from previous week. If it keeps it up, NBC will take it despite the old skew. The CW was FINALLY back with new episodes as a new 90210 did 1.69 million and a 0.9 18-49 rating, on par with its episodes from the fall. Still not too good, though, as ABC Family's Pretty Little Liars towers over it. Gossip Girl followed with a new episode doing 1.58 million and a 0.9 18-49 rating.

Tuesday had President Obama affect primetime with the annual State of the Union Address. CBS started with a repeat of NCIS and did 13.4 million but just a 2.3 18-49 rating. Given the total viewers, the 18-49 should be better. NCIS: Los Angeles and The Good Wife were preempted for The State of the Union, that doesn't count in the ratings due to no commercial breaks. CBS did have an analysis at 10:13pm doing a third place 6.95 million and a 1.2 18-49 rating. A repeat of The Big Bang Theory followed at 10:41pm ET doing 5.88 million and a 1.5 18-49 rating. For ABC, No Ordinary Family was a repeat in the 8pm hour doing 4.1 million and a 1.1 18-49 rating. However, V and Detroit 1-8-7 were preempted for the State of the Union, which doesn't count in the ratings. ABC's analysis of the speech did a second place 7.06 million and a 1.5 18-49 rating. Then a repeat of Cougar Town joined in progress did 2.49 million and a 0.7 18-49 rating. Fox again had a repeat of Glee do 4.75 million and a 1.5 18-49 rating, which was similar to previous week's repeat. Next Raising Hope was preempted for the State of the Union. NBC aired an abbreviated The Biggest Loser doing 8.58 million and a 3.2 18-49 rating, which was up some from previous week despite being just an hour. Then at 9pm, they aired the State of the Union, followed by an analysis from 10:12pm-10:30pm doing 7.73 million and a 1.9 18-49 rating, but it dropped in the 10:30pm half-hour to 5.45 million and a 1.3 18-49 rating. Parenthood was preempted. The CW was new with One Tree Hill doing 1.89 million and a 0.9 18-49 rating. Next at 9pm was the new night of Hellcats and that did 2.15 million and a 0.9 18-49 rating, improving the hour from normal.

Wednesday had American Idol dominate with minimal drops from previous week. A two-hour airing did 25.33 million and a 9.2 18-49 rating, down a half a point from previous week. It will be interesting when everything is new (and Survivor) returns and Idol is down to an hour, to see how the show does then. CBS started the night off with dud Live to Dance doing just 4.51 million and an embarrassing 1.0 18-49 rating again. Paula Abdul is probably pissed. Veteran drama Criminal Minds was next and did 12.77 million and a 3.2 18-49 rating, up some from previous week. At 10pm, the second special Wednesday airing of Blue Bloods did 12.1 million and a 2.1 18-49 rating, on par with previous week. The problem with this show is, like Harry's Law, The Good Wife, Detroit 1-8-7, the majority of the audience is not in 18-49. ABC had its Laugh On comedy block and had a repeat of The Middle open the night with a solid 6.93 million and a 2.0 18-49 rating, great repeat ratings, especially against Idol. A second repeat aired instead of Better With You and did 6.58 million and a 2.0 18-49 rating, which is on par with previous week's all-new Better With You. Wow. ABC aired Modern Family with a repeat at 9pm doing 7.27 million and a 2.6 18-49 rating, its best repeat ratings ever, even opposite Idol. Then at 9:30, Cougar Town was the only new airing in the block and got lost in the shuffle doing only 5.03 million and a 2.0 18-49 rating. It will have to do it again this week, but this time with no Idol against it. So maybe it will go up this week. At 10pm, a new episode of new drama Off the Map aired and did 5.06 million and a 1.8 18-49 rating, down some from the previous week. It is skewing young, so ABC has something here to watch, which it didn't have for The Whole Truth. NBC started off with a new Minute to Win It at 8pm doing 5.02 million and a 1.4 18-49 rating, which was eaten by Idol again. After that a new episode of Chase did only 4.17 million and a 1.2 18-49 rating, but it was up a few tenths actually from previous week. At 10pm, Law & Order: SVU was next but in repeat mode, doing 5.47 million and a 1.7 18-49 rating. The CW had repeats, this time with Nikita starting it off at 8pm doing 1.44 million and a 0.4 18-49 rating, similar to previous week. At 9pm a repeat of The Vampire Diaries did only 900,000 viewers and a 0.4 18-49 rating.

Thursday saw once again Fox win the night. But first, ABC opened the night with an all-new Wipeout doing 7.6 million and a 2.4 18-49 rating, down two tenths from previous week but actually still solid against Idol. Then Grey's Anatomy was next but it was a repeat doing 4.54 million and a 1.5 18-49 rating, off a bit from previous week. At 10pm, Private Practice was also a repeat and did 3.33 million and a 1.0 18-49 rating, on par with previous week. ABC returns with new episodes to kick-off February sweeps this Thursday. CBS opened with a repeat of The Big Bang Theory and it did 9.03 million and a 2.3 A18-49 rating, good but seems lower and older than normal. Then a new $#*! My Dad Says followed with 8.74 million and a 2.3 18-49 rating, down from previous week. Looks like a step back after some consistency. Next, CSI was a repeat and did 9.56 million and a 2.1 18-49 rating. A repeat of The Mentalist did 10.11 million and a 1.9 18-49 rating. OK so onto Fox, at 8pm a new American Idol did 22.48 million and a 7.7 18-49 rating, which is down big from the previous night but only down a tenth from the previous Thursday. A new episode of Bones followed at 9pm and did 12.05 million and 3.9 18-49 rating, up from previous week with the competing CBS drama in repeat mode. NBC was all-new new with its comedies, as Community did 4.59 million and a 2.2 18-49 rating, on par with previous week. Then new comedy Perfect Couples did 3.49 million and a 1.7 18-49 rating, down from previous week but not as bad I thought it would be. Maybe this week it will be killed with everything new. At 9pm The Office was new and did 7.93 million and a 4.0 18-49 rating, which is down from previous week. At 9:30pm, a new Parks and Recreation was still decent with 5.83 million and a 3.0 18-49 rating, against mostly repeats though. Still with a lot of sitcoms in repeats, this show is a winner for the week. At 10, NBC started with 30 Rock doing 4.92 million and a 2.4 18-49 down some from previous week but still good for 10pm. At 10:30, Outsourced did 4.13 million and 1.9 18-49 rating, which is up a tenth from previous week, though. The CW was next with the return of Vampire Diaries doing a 3.33 million and a 1.6 18-49 rating, by far the network's highest rated series... followed by a new Nikita doing 2.62 million and a 1.1 18-49 rating, up from recent airings.

Now, final numbers for Friday and Saturday are not available as usual, but Friday had Fox win for the second straight week with Kitchen Nightmares and Fringe doing well for Friday in 18-49 rating. Saturday had Fox win again with its crime reality series doing a prelim a 1.7 18-49 rating, with CBS winning total viewers.

Tonight ABC has AFV, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Desperate Housewives, from 7-10pm, with the latter a repeat and Brothers & Sisters is preempted. Bieber is in the two-hour Home Edition, so maybe a spike in the ratings? NBC has the big screen movie National Treasure from 8-11 following Dateline at 7. CBS has a new 60 Minutes, followed by a Undercover Boss and a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie. Fox will preempt animation for the NFL Pro Bowl, which will probably win the night even though no one cares about this game.

As for the week (week 19), Fox will win the week for sure as CBS and ABC were in repeats mainly. CBS will remain second, with ABC following and NBC in fourth. And for the coming week (week 20), has February sweeps starting on Thursday, but before that we still have a mix of new and repeats.

Week 19 How the Sitcoms Did

Last Sunday Sitcoms (counts for week 18 -- Jan. 17-23)

• The Simpsons (Fox) 2 episodes - A new episode at 8pm did 6.48 million and a 3.0 18-49 rating, on par with previous week despite facing NFL on CBS. A repeat at 7pm did an improved 4.47 million and a 1.9 18-49 rating.
• Bob's Burgers (Fox) - Week three for this series did 4.81 million and a 2.2 18-49 rating, down from previous week.
• Family Guy (Fox) - A repeat at 9pm did 5.4 million and a 2.5 18-49 rating, building from the lead-in, which was new...so good job.
• American Dad (Fox) - A new episode at 7:30pm did 4.81 million and a 2.3 18-49 rating, up a lot from previous week.
• The Cleveland Show (Fox) - A new showing at 9:30pm did 5.19 million and a 2.3 18-49 rating, lower than previous week.

Monday Sitcoms

• How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - A repeat did 7.1 million and a 2.3 18-49 rating, which is good but lower than the last few repeats. This one week new, one week repeat schedule is frustrating.
• Rules of Engagement (CBS) - 7.05 million for a repeat is solid and the 2.2 18-49 rating is good retention from the lead-in.
• Two and a Half Men (CBS) - 11.46 million for a repeat is great. A 3.0 18-49 rating is impressive as well. Sheen is now in rehab so the series has only 2 more episodes left to air because the show has just went on production hiatus.
• Mike & Molly (CBS) - 9.39 million for a repeat and a 18-49 rating of 2.6, is good and better than the usual repeat performance.

Tuesday Sitcoms

• Cougar Town (ABC) - Only 2.49 million and a 0.7 18-49 rating following the State of the Union is not good, but just filler as it was joined in progress.
• The Big Bang Theory (CBS) - A special repeat following the State of the Union did 5.88 million and a 1.5 18-49 rating. Not much is expected from this, as it was just time filler.

• The Middle (ABC) 2 episodes - A repeat of this sitcom did 6.93 million and a 2.0 18-49 rating, not bad for a repeat. Another repeat followed and did a similar 6.58 million and a 2.0 18-49 rating, skewing younger.
• Better with You (ABC) - preempted.
• Modern Family (ABC) - A repeat did 7.27 million and a 2.6 18-49 rating, which is its best ratings for a repeat. Good!
• Cougar Town (ABC) - A new episode of this series followed repeats was sure to be down and did 5.03 million and a 2.0 18-49 rating, down from previous week. It skewed very young, but it should have done a bit better like a 2.2-2.4 18-49. The series is renewed anyway because of its young skew.

Thursday Sitcoms

• The Big Bang Theory (CBS) - A repeat did 9.03 million and a 2.3 18-49 rating, which is good but below normal it seems for repeats.
• S#*! My Dad Says (CBS) - A new showing did 8.74 million and a 2.3 18-49 rating, down from previous week, but its lead-in was a repeat this time. It didn't fare as well like it did two weeks ago.
• Community (NBC) - A new episode did 4.59 million and a 2.2 18-49 rating, on par with previous week. If it can stay above a 2, NBC will take it as it skews very young.
• Perfect Couples (NBC) - A new episode did 3.49 million and a 1.7 18-49 rating, which is down from previous week. Not good, as NBC was in the 2s in this timeslot all season.
• The Office (NBC) - A new episode did 7.93 million and a 4.0 18-49 rating, which is down from previous week's season high.
• Parks and Recreation (NBC) - A new showing did 5.83 million and a good 3.0 18-49 rating. Like shows like Cougar Town, it skews young.
• 30 Rock (NBC) - At 10pm, a new episode did 4.92 million and a 2.4 18-49 rating, down from previous week. ABC AND CBS are new this week in the hour, so let's see if it can be in the 2.4-2.7 range still.
• Outsourced (NBC) - At 10:30pm, a new episode of this show was actually up a bit from previous week to 4.13 million and a 1.9 18-49 rating, but still could be better.

Friday Sitcoms

• None.

Saturday Sitcoms

• None.

Airing tonight (Sunday) are no comedies.

Summing it up. A mix of new and repeat this week with Modern Family, Two and a Half Men, The Office, Mike & Molly, Parks and Recreation, The Big Bang Theory were impressive for the week. Everything else was OK (such as $#*! My Dad Says, 30 Rock) or just plain old terrible (such as Cougar Town TUES-repeat, Perfect Couples).