SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

Households: 1. CBS 7.3/11.6 rating/share; 2. Fox 6.4/9.8; 3. ABC 4.5/7.2; 4. NBC 4.2/6.7; 5. The CW 1.2/1.8
Total Viewers: 1. CBS 12.02 million; 2. Fox 11.42 million; 3. ABC 7.23 million; 4. NBC 7.07 million; 5. The CW 1.89 million.
Adults 18-49: 1. Fox 3.8/9.9 rating/share; 2. CBS 2.7/7.1; 3. ABC 2.4/6.3; 4. NBC 2.4/6.3; 5. The CW 0.8/2.2

Week 20 (Jan. 31-Feb. 6) Analysis: Week 20 has CBS and Fox share leadership, as February sweeps started on Thursday. Through the first four nights CBS leads the way in HH/viewers but Fox is winning in 18-49. Fox is second in HH/viewers, while CBS is second in 18-49. ABC and NBC are in third and fourth, respectively. Fox will win the week big after tonight's Super Bowl. Last week, week 19, had Fox win big thanks to Idol of course but also CBS was in repeats mainly. CBS was in second place across the board and ABC was third everywhere again while NBC was still stuck in fourth.

Monday saw ABC with the win. ABC started with The Bachelor doing 9.66 million and a 3.2 18-49 rating, up again from previous week. It is starting to grow every week again since the BCS game. At 10pm ABC aired a repeat of Castle and did 6.22 million and a 1.7 18-49 rating, its best repeat rating of the season so far. CBS was in repeats again with its comedies and Hawaii Five-0. At 8pm, a repeat of How I Met Your Mother started it off with 7.26 million and a 2.5 18-49 rating, which is up some from previous week. At 8:30, a repeat of Rules of Engagement did 7.42 million and a 2.6 18-49 rating, up some from previous week and build from its lead-in. Two and a Half Men followed with a repeat of its own doing 11.21 million and a 3.2 18-49 rating, which is down a bit in viewers but up a bit in 18-49 from previous week. At 9:30, Mike & Molly was a repeat too and did 9.06 million and a 2.5 18-49 rating, down a lick from previous week. A repeat of Hawaii Five-0 at 10pm did 6.94 million and a 1.8 18-49 rating, which was up a bit from previous week. Fox was all-new but House was preempted for a special all-new Human Target airing doing 7.75 million and a 2.1 18-49 rating, up some from its usual Wednesday at 8 numbers. Is there any night where this show has not aired yet? A new episode of Lie To Me followed at 9pm with 7.06 million and a 2.2 18-49 rating, down some from previous week. Will Fox bring back these two and Fringe...which all seem to do around the same rating. NBC started its night with a new Chuck doing 5.57 million and a 1.7 18-49 rating, which is down again a few tenths from previous week. At 9pm, the struggling The Cape did 5.34 million and a 1.5 18-49 rating, down some again from previous week. At 10pm, week three of Harry's Law aired doing a solid 11.02 million but just a 2.1 18-49 rating. Still consistent. The CW was new with 90210 doing 1.67 million and a 0.8 18-49 rating, off a bit from previous week. And ABC Family's Pretty Little Liars towers over it. Gossip Girl followed with a new episode doing 1.5 million and a 0.8 18-49 rating, also down a bit from previous week.

Tuesday had CBS dominate with its dramas. CBS started with a new NCIS and did 22.85 million and a 4.6 18-49 rating. Wow. NCIS: Los Angeles followed with a new episode and did 17.7 million and a 3.8 18-49 rating, which is above average. The Good Wife did well in total viewers with 12.14 million but only a 2.2 18-49 rating. For ABC, No Ordinary Family was a repeat in the 8pm hour doing 4.22 million and a 1.1 18-49 rating, on par with previous week. At 9, V was new and did 5.29 million and a 1.7 18-49 rating, for a season low. Should perk back up this week with the lead-in being new. Detroit 1-8-7 returned with 5.49 million and a 1.2 18-49 rating, up from its most recent episode. Fox again had a repeat of Glee and it did 4.97 million and a 1.7 18-49 rating, which was up a bit from previous week's repeat. Next Million Dollar Money Drop had its last scheduled airing of the season do 5.15 million and a 1.8 18-49 rating...which is not bad, as it skews young. NBC aired a two-hour The Biggest Loser doing 9.2 million and a 3.3 18-49 rating, which was up some from previous week's hour episode. Then at 10pm, Parenthood did 6.18 million and a decent 2.2 18-49 rating, which was tied for first actually. The CW was new with One Tree Hill doing 2.42 million and a 1.2 18-49 rating, up from previous week thanks to a special wedding episode. Next at 9pm was a new episode of Hellcats and that did 1.8 million and a 0.8 18-49 rating, down some from previous week.

Wednesday had American Idol win but then viewers fled elsewhere at 9. It did 25.14 million and a 9.0 18-49 rating, down a tad from previous week, which was two hours. At 9pm Fox aired Human Target and viewers fled elsewhere, as the show did 9.22 million and a 2.6 18-49 rating. Above average for that show, but the 9:30pm half-hour ratings were similar to its Monday airing. This means that Idol viewers went elsewhere and only the fans of this show were watching. That's not a bad thing, it's just that Fox should air something else at 9pm. CBS started the night off with dud Live to Dance doing just 4.75 million and a minuscule 0.9 18-49 rating again. CBS would usually pull a show that low, but this might be different since it is near the end anyway. Veteran drama Criminal Minds was next but it was a repeat doing 9.66 million and a 2.3 18-49 rating. At 10pm, the third special Wednesday airing of Blue Bloods did 11.31 million but only a 1.6 18-49 rating, down from previous week. It is Friday material only. ABC had its Laugh On comedy block and had a repeat of The Middle open the night with a solid 6.77 million and a 1.7 18-49 rating, but down some from previous week. A second repeat aired instead of Better With You and did 6.53 million and a 1.8 18-49 rating, also down some from previous week. Then ABC aired Modern Family with a repeat at 9pm doing 9.2 million and a 3.5 18-49 rating, its best repeat ratings ever again and the best for any show this season! Viewers turned to this show after Idol was over. Then at 9:30, Cougar Town was the only new airing in the block and did better this week doing 6.51 million and a 2.7 18-49 rating, up sharply week-to-week. It seems to have trouble every time it faces Idol but every other week it is always at least a 2.7 or more when it is new. The show will return April 18, as ABC tries Mr. Sunshine starting this week. At 10pm, a new episode of new drama Off the Map aired and did 5.37 million and a 1.9 18-49 rating, up some from the previous week. NBC aired a two-hour all-new Minute to Win It and did well with 7.67 million and a 2.4 18-49 rating, after Idol finished, the 9pm hour jumped big time. NBC has pulled Chase for good. At 10pm, Law & Order: SVU was next with an all-new episode doing 8.81 million and a 2.9 18-49 rating, easily winning the hour. The CW had repeats, this time with Smallville starting it off at 8pm doing 1.11 million and a 0.4 18-49 rating. At 9pm a repeat of Supernatural did only 1.0 million and a 0.4 18-49 rating.

Thursday saw once again Fox win the night, though ABC and CBS did well, too. ABC opened the night with an all-new Wipeout doing 7.95 million and a 2.5 18-49 rating, up a bit from previous week and still solid against Idol. Then Grey's Anatomy was next with a new episode doing 11.18 million and a 4.3 18-49 rating, on par with its previous new episode a few weeks ago. At 10pm, Private Practice was also new and did 7.05 million and a 2.5 18-49 rating, lower than usual. This coming week's episode will be big as Nicholas Brendan returns. CBS opened with a new The Big Bang Theory and it did 13.83 million and a 4.3 A18-49 rating, which is excellent. Then a new $#*! My Dad Says followed with 10.45 million and a 2.8 18-49 rating, up from previous week when its lead-in was a repeat. Next, CSI was new too and did 13.98 million and a 3.0 18-49 rating, for fourth place behind ABC, NBC and Fox. A new The Mentalist did 15.18 million and a 2.9 18-49 rating, winning its hour (on broadcast at least, as some MTV junk keeps doing big here at 10pm). OK so onto Fox, at 8pm a new American Idol did 21.89 million and a 7.5 18-49 rating, which is down a few tenths from previous week. A new episode of Bones followed at 9pm and did 10.2 million and 3.3 18-49 rating, down a lot from previous week. NBC was all-new new with its comedies, as Community did 4.37 million and a 2.0 18-49 rating, down a bit from previous week. Still surprised it can do a 2 with all the competition when in the fall most weeks it was below a 2. Then new comedy Perfect Couples did only 3.06 million and a 1.4 18-49 rating, down again from previous week. If it can't go up this week, it will be pulled I bet. At 9pm The Office was new and did 7.28 million and a 3.7 18-49 rating, which is down some from previous week. At 9:30pm, a new Parks and Recreation was at 4.95 million and a 2.4 18-49 rating, down from previous week after two weeks of promising numbers against repeats. At 10, NBC started with 30 Rock doing 4.78 million and a 2.4 18-49, on par with previous week and still good for 10pm. At 10:30, Outsourced did only 3.74 million and 1.8 18-49 rating, which is down a tenth from previous week, though. The CW was next with a new Vampire Diaries doing a 3.22 million and a 1.5 18-49 rating, down a tenth from previous week. Then a new Nikita did 2.38 million and a 0.9 18-49 rating, down some from previous week.

Now, final numbers for Friday and Saturday are not available as usual, but Friday had good showings by the CBS special Super Bowl's Greatest Commercials and an above average Dateline on NBC. Kitchen Nightmares remained steady but Fringe dropped a few tenths. Season premiere of NBC's Who Do You Think You Are did decent in total viewers but not in 18-49, and the same goes true for the Friday premiere of CBS drama The Defenders. Saturday had Fox win again with its crime reality series doing a prelim a 1.9 18-49 rating, with CBS winning total viewers but only a prelim 0.8 18-49 rating.

Tonight ABC has two repeats of AFV, as Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Desperate Housewives and Brothers & Sisters are preempted. ABC is airing the network television premiere of Knocked Up from 9-11pm. NBC has repeats of Who Do You Think You Are from 7-9 followed by a two-hour Dateline from 9-11pm. CBS has a new 60 Minutes Presents special, followed by repeats of Undercover Boss, CSI: Miami and Hawaii Five-0. But who cares about all that as the 100 million+ event Super Bowl will air tonight from 6-10pm ET on Fox followed by a post-Super Bowl 66-minute airing of Glee at approx. 10:30pm-11:36pm ET.

As for the week (week 20), Fox will win the week...anyone can tell you that with the Super Bowl airing. CBS will be in second, with ABC following and NBC in fourth I think. And for the coming week (week 21), has February sweeps continuing and we have series debuts the next few nights with drama Chicago Code on Fox on Monday, the comedy Traffic Light on Fox Tuesday and the comedy Mr. Sunshine starring Matthew Perry on ABC Wednesday.

Week 20 How the Sitcoms Did

Last Sunday Sitcoms (counts for week 19 -- Jan. 24-30)

• American Dad! (Fox) - preempted for the Pro Bowl.
• The Simpsons (Fox) - preempted for the Pro Bowl.
• Bob's Burgers (Fox) - preempted for the Pro Bowl.
• Family Guy (Fox) - preempted for the Pro Bowl.
• The Cleveland Show (Fox) - preempted for the Pro Bowl.

Monday Sitcoms

• How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - A repeat did 7.26 million and a 2.5 18-49 rating, which was up some from previous week.
• Rules of Engagement (CBS) - 7.42 million for a repeat is solid and the 2.6 18-49 rating gained from the lead-in...both up from previous week.
• Two and a Half Men (CBS) - 11.21 million for a repeat is great, but down some from previous week. A 3.2 18-49 rating is impressive as well and up some from previous week. Skewed younger this week...Sheen rehab turning some older viewers off?
• Mike & Molly (CBS) - 9.06 million for a repeat and a 18-49 rating of 2.5, is good but down a bit from previous week.

Tuesday Sitcoms

• Raising Hope (Fox) - Returns this Tuesday (Feb. 8).
• Traffic Light (Fox) - Premieres this Tuesday (Feb. 8).

• The Middle (ABC) 2 episodes - A repeat of this sitcom did 6.77 million and a 1.7 18-49 rating, off a bit from previous week. Another repeat followed and did a similar 6.53 million and a 1.8 18-49 rating, also off a bit from previous week. There were a few preemptions, maybe that's why.
• Better with You (ABC) - preempted.
• Modern Family (ABC) - A repeat did 9.2 million and a 3.5 18-49 rating, which is outstanding for a repeat and that 3.5 is the best for any show repeat this season! Wow!
• Cougar Town (ABC) - A new episode of this series followed repeats again and did a better 6.51 million and a 2.7 18-49 rating, sharply up from previous week. This will be its last airing until April 18, but it went on a high note.

Thursday Sitcoms

• The Big Bang Theory (CBS) - A new episode did 13.83 million and a 4.3 18-49 rating, outstanding against Idol.
• S#*! My Dad Says (CBS) - A new showing did 10.45 million and a 2.8 18-49 rating, u sharply from previous week when its lead-in was a repeat. Season finale is coming up in a few weeks.
• Community (NBC) - A new episode did 4.37 million and a 2.0 18-49 rating, down some from previous week. It skews very young and is consistent. Heavily DVRed, too, as it only did a 1.3 rating for live numbers (gaining 0.7 from same day DVR).
• Perfect Couples (NBC) - A new episode did 3.06 million and a 1.4 18-49 rating, which is down again from previous week. Terrible. No one likes this show, as its live rating was only a 1.3, too. Only gained a tenth from same day DVR. It will be pulled soon I bet.
• The Office (NBC) - A new episode did 7.28 million and a 3.7 18-49 rating, which is down again from previous week...but by far the best of this block on NBC.
• Parks and Recreation (NBC) - A new showing did 4.95 million and a 2.4 18-49 rating..after potential the past two weeks, it disappoints this week.
• 30 Rock (NBC) - At 10pm, a new episode did 4.78 million and a 2.4 18-49 rating, on par really with previous week.
• Outsourced (NBC) - At 10:30pm, a new episode of this show was lost at 10:30 doing 3.74 million and a 1.8 18-49 rating, off a bit from previous week.

Friday Sitcoms

• None.

Saturday Sitcoms

• None.

Airing tonight (Sunday) are no comedies.

Summing it up. A mix of new and repeat this week with The Big Bang Theory, Modern Family, Two and a Half Men, The Office, Mike & Molly, Rules of Engagement, Cougar Town were impressive for the week. Everything else was OK (such as a new Parks and Recreation, The Middle repeat) or just plain old terrible (such as Outsourced, Perfect Couples).