SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

Households: #1. Fox 5.8 rating/9.3 share; #2. CBS 5.4/8.8; #3. ABC 5.0/8.1; #4. NBC 3.9/6.3; #5. The CW 0.9/1.4
Total Viewers: #1. Fox 9.82 million; #2. CBS 8.42 million; #3. ABC 7.56 million; #4. NBC 6.23 million; #5. The CW 1.31 million.
Adults 18-49: #1. Fox 3.0 rating/8.5 share; #2. ABC 2.3/6.3; #3. NBC 2.2/6.1; #4. CBS 2.1/5.8 #5. The CW 0.6/1.6

Week 26 (March 12-18) Analysis: Week 26 has Fox on top with nearly all original programming, just like ABC and NBC. CBS was primarily in repeats and their top show in 18-49 was not on. Through the first four nights, Fox has the lead in all categories. For second, CBS has that in HH/viewers, but ABC is in second in adults 18-49. ABC is third in HH/viewers, while NBC is a tenth higher than CBS in 18-49 for third place, leaving CBS in fourth. NBC is fourth in HH/viewers. When the week is over by tonight, CBS will overtake NBC in 18-49 easily for third place thanks to NCAA coverage on Friday and Saturday. They could be second place even, but I think it will be close between them and ABC and it will come down to tonight. Fox will take the week in all categories. More on the prediction of week 26 below. As for last week, week 25, Fox took the crown in 18-49 and CBS took home the HH/total viewers crown. CBS was second in 18-49 and Fox was second in HH/viewers. NBC was third across the board just edging out ABC, who was primarily in repeats.

On Monday, it was NBC with the win but ABC was solid. First, on ABC, The Bachelor season finale started it off from 8-10pm with 9.23 million and a 2.9 18-49 rating, for a season high. The finale was on the low side, but still solid against the other major reality competition. Dancing with the Stars returns tomorrow with a great cast that features many TV stars like Jaleel White, Sherri Shepherd and Melissa Gilbert. At 10pm, Castle was preempted (and will return tomorrow with dance themed episode) for The Bachelor After The Final Rose special that did 9.87 million and a 3.3 18-49 rating, the best performance at 10pm in weeks on any night. For CBS, How I Met Your Mother was a repeat doing 5.74 million and a 1.9 18-49 rating, down a tenth from previous week. Then a repeat of breakout hit 2 Broke Girls followed doing a better 6.52 million and a 2.1 18-49 rating, on par with previous week. At 9pm, a repeat of Two and a Half Men did a below normal 7.65 million and a 2.1 18-49 rating, but on par week-to-week. A repeat of Mike & Molly followed and did 7.27 million and a 1.9 18-49 rating, up a tenth from previous week. A repeat of Hawaii Five-0 was next doing 7.93 million and a 1.6 18-49 rating, also up a tenth from previous week. Fox aired a repeat of House at 8pm and did 3.61 million and a 1.1 18-49 rating. At 9pm, a new Alcatraz did 5.07 million and a 1.6 18-49 rating, for a series low. Chances are it will not be back, I think. NBC was in first place and started it off with a two-hour The Voice and did 14.51 million and a 5.2 18-49 rating, which was down a full point from previous week. I think it will be at this level tomorrow or even lower against Dancing. Then at 10pm week six of critical darling Smash was next doing 7.04 million and a 2.4 18-49 rating, which was down three tenths from the previous week. The real test begins tomorrow and it will likely be third place in 18-49. I still think it will be back for a second season unless it tanks the rest of the way, meaning below a 2 (for a pricy show like this). The CW was in repeats, at 8pm a special repeat of America's Next Top Model aired and did 900,000 viewers and a 0.3 18-49 rating, on par with previous week's repeat. At 9pm a repeat of Hart of Dixie did just 480,000 viewers and a 0.1 18-49 rating, down a tenth from previous week. Yes, a 0.1 18-49 rating--ouch!

On Tuesday, it was Fox with a low-rated win with under a 2 rating. First at CBS, a repeat of NCIS at 8 started it off with 12.98 million and a 2.1 18-49 rating, which was off three tenths from previous week's repeat. Then a repeat of NCIS: Los Angeles at 9pm did 111.33 million and a 1.9 18-49 rating, on par week-to-week. At 10pm, a repeat of Unforgettable did 7.25 million and a 1.3 18-49 rating, off a tenth from previous week. ABC started with a repeat of Last Man Standing with Tim Allen leading the night off doing 5.27 million and a 1.3 18-49 rating, which is on par with previous week's repeat. New episode this week, if you're wondering. At 8:30pm, a new episode of the awesome Cougar Town did 4.17 million and a 1.4 18-49 rating, which is down again a tenth from previous week. The episode was HILARIOUS at least with a Scrubs reunion. Sarah Chalke continues her four-episode arc this Tuesday. At 9pm, new horror/adventure series The River did 4.09 million and a 1.3 18-49 rating, down two tenths from previous week for a series low. The finale is this Tuesday. Body of Proof was all-new at 10 and did 7.46 million and a 1.4 18-49 rating. This show should be back, but in another timeslot (like Fridays at 9). Fox will bring back Glee in early April, but for now a four-show comedy block! At 8pm, Raising Hope was all-new doing 4.31 million and a 1.8 18-49 rating, down three tenths from previous week. If it stays here, it is good enough but it could go down this week with ABC's comedy being new. At 8:30pm a new episode of the horrid I Hate My Teenage Daughter did only 3.57 million and a 1.4 18-49 rating, off two tenths from previous week. New Girl was new at 9 too and did 5.74 million and a 2.8 18-49 rating, yes solid but a series low. At 9:30pm Breaking In was new and did just 3.38 million and a 1.5 18-49 rating, off some from previous week. Wish it did better. NBC was next with The Biggest Loser from 8-9:30pm doing 6.46 million and a 2.1 18-49 rating, which was up a tenth from previous week when it was two-hours. From 9:30-111pm, NBC premiered Fashion Star doing just 4.55 million and a 1.6 18-49 rating. Not good. The CW was new with 90210 doing 1.16 million and a 0.6 18-49 rating, down a tenth from previous week. Then at 9pm, Ringer was new and did 1.11 million and a 0.4 18-49 rating, also down a tenth week-to-week.

Wednesday it was Fox with win again with a two-hour Idol leading the way of course. First, CBS started the night off with a new Survivor: One World doing 10.56 million and a 3.0 18-49 rating, which is down two tenths from the previous week. Then at 9pm, a new Criminal Minds did 11.43 million and a 2.8 18-49 rating, for a series low. And at 10pm a new CSI did 11.71 million and a 2.8 18-49 rating, holding 100% of its lead-in actually. ABC was all-new for its Laugh On comedy block with a new The Middle doing 6.93 million and a 2.1 18-49 rating, which is a season low. Suburgatory followed with a new airing at 8:30pm doing 6.21 million and a 2.1 18-49 rating, which held on to 100% of its lead-in again but a series low. The mega hit Modern Family was next at 9pm with a new episode and it did 10.6 million and 4.5 18-49 rating, which was #1 for the week for scripted TV but below normal. At 9:30pm, Happy Endings was new and did 5.27 million and a 2.4 18-49 rating, up four tenths from the previous week when its lead-in was a repeat. At 10pm the addicting Revenge will return in April, but the ABC News series Revenge for Real aired and did 4.37 million and a 1.2 18-49 rating, down two tenths from previous week. Fox aired American Idol from 8-10pm doing 18.38 million and a 5.4 18-49 rating, down three tenths from previous week but good for #1 for the week. NBC opened the night with a new episode of the terrible series Whitney doing 3.91 million and a 1.4 18-49 rating, down two tenths from the previous week. Week ten (God held us) of Are You There, Chelsea followed with only 2.88 million and a 1.1 18-49 rating, down four tenths from previous week for a series low. Time to go already. At 9pm, a Law & Order: SVU repeat did only 2.52 million and a 0.7 18-49 rating at a special time, down from previous week. And at 10pm, Rock Center with Brian Williams was new in its temporary new time period and did 2.61 million and a 0.6 18-49 rating, for another series low. Yank this already, too. The CW had a new One Tree Hill at 8pm doing 1.52 million and a 0.8 18-49 rating, up a tenth from previous week. This show is ending and its one of their best performing series. Sad. Then at 9pm, week three of America's Next Top Model did 1.01 million and a 0.5 18-49 rating, down a tenth from previous week.

Thursday it was Fox beating ABC. Starting with ABC, they opened the night with the series premiere of Missing doing 10.6 million and a 2.1 18-49 rating. Total viewers is excellent but the 18-49 rating could be better. It could go up in week two like GCB did, so let's see what happens. At 9pm, a new Grey's Anatomy aired doing 9.62 million and a 3.0 18-49 rating. At 10pm, Private Practice aired its last new Thursday airing doing 6.85 million and a 2.1 18-49 rating. It moves to Tuesdays at 10 for five airings starting April 17. CBS preempted The Big Bang Theory, Person of Interest and The Mentalist for the round of 64 coverage of the NCAA Basketball Tournament. The primetime block averaged 4.76 million and a 1.7 18-49 rating. That's below what CBS would do usually, but probably on par with repeats. Fox aired American Idol at 8 doing 16.02 million and a 4.6 18-49 rating, down three tenths from previous week. Fox aired the pilot encore of Touch, as it returns this week with new episodes, doing 8.57 million and a 2.2 18-49 rating. NBC was all-new with the return of Community up first doing 4.75 million and a 2.2 18-49 rating, which is pretty good for an NBC comedy. Can it keep it up? Probably not. At 8:30pm, 30 Rock moved to a new time of 8:30pm and did 4.0 million and a 2.0 18-49 rating, its best ratings in weeks. The Office was next and did just 4.87 million and a 2.4 18-49 rating, down two tenths from previous week. Maybe one final season and that's it? At 9:30pm Up All Night was new and did just 3.49 million and a 1.7 18-49 rating, on par with previous week. At 10pm, week three of Awake did not do much with 5.12 million and a 1.6 18-49 rating, but on par with previous week. The CW's big gun Vampire Diaries was new and did 2.64 million and a 1.2 18-49 rating, which is good for this network but below normal. Then at 9pm, drama The Secret Circle was new and did 1.62 million and a 0.7 18-49 rating.

Now, final numbers for Friday and Saturday are not available, but CBS beat ABC with coverage of the NCAA Tournament. ABC was #1 with regular programming with Shark Tank at 8pm as Undercover Boss was preempted on CBS. At 9pm What Would You Do? did solid for ABC, with NBC's Grimm a repeat. CBS' Blue Bloods preempted so ABC's 20/20 was #1 at 10 among regular shows. Fox's Fringe is on hiatus until April.
Saturday numbers have CBS winning the night for a second straight night with NCAA coverage. ABC did decent for Saturday, but Fox continued to struggle with Q'Viva. ABC was led once again by the 9-11pm limited news series 20/20: My Extreme Affliction which did well for a Saturday.

Tonight ABC's line-up is all-new with AFV, Once Upon a Time, Desperate Housewives and GCB. Look for a first place finish once again, as Desperate Housewives has the continuation of the shocker from last week! The shot heard around the world. NBC has Dateline at 7 followed by a new episode of old skewing Harry's Law, then a two-hour Celebrity Apprentice, from 9-11pm. Maybe a fourth place finish. CBS has new airing of 60 Minutes then a new Amazing Race, followed by new episodes of The Good Wife and CSI: Miami. I think that is a second or third place finish for CBS, though. Fox has all-new episodes of Animation Domination starting at 7:30pm, including the season premiere of Bob's Burgers. It'll battle with CBS for second.

As for the week (week 26), Fox will likely win the week in 18-49, but I think CBS could make a run in HH/viewers. ABC will likely be third across the board, but they could remain second in 18-49 over CBS. NBC will for sure finish fourth across the board. As for the coming week (week 27), ABC brings back Dancing with the Stars tomorrow at 8pm. Also, Fox starts airing Touch regularly on Thursdays at 9.

Week 26 How the Sitcoms Did

Last Sunday Sitcoms (counts for Week 25 -- March 5-11)

• The Simpsons (Fox) 2 airings - A new episode did 4.97 million and a 2.3 18-49 rating, which was down two tenths from the previous week. A repeat at 7pm earlier in the night did 2.84 million and a 1.3 18-49 rating, much better than a repeat of Bob's Burgers.
  
• The Cleveland Show (Fox) - A new episode at 7:30pm did just 3.35 million and a 1.6 18-49 rating, up a tenth from previous week thanks to a better lead-in.
  
• Bob's Burgers (Fox) - The season premiere aired at 8:30pm and did 4.04 million and a 1.9 18-49 rating, which could be better. It'll be a toss-up on what show comes back--this or Napoleon. Or better yet, neither.
  
• Family Guy (Fox) - A new showing at 9 did 5.74 million and a 2.8 18-49 rating, the best of the block like usual and on par with previous week.
• American Dad! (Fox) - A new airing at 9:30pm did 4.62 million and a 2.2 18-49 rating, up a tenth week-to-week.
  

Monday Sitcoms

• How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - A repeat did 5.74 million and a 1.9 18-49 rating, down a tenth from the previous week.
  
• 2 Broke Girls (CBS) - A repeat did 6.52 million and a 2.1 18-49 rating, which is on par with previous week but this show has done better in repeats than this.
  
• Two and a Half Men (CBS) - 7.65 million and a 2.1 18-49 rating is not that great for this show, but on par with previous week.
  
• Mike & Molly (CBS) - A repeat did 7.27 million and a 1.9 18-49 rating, up a tenth actually from previous week. The only sitcom in the block to go up.
  

Tuesday Sitcoms

• Last Man Standing (ABC) - A repeat in its 8pm half-hour did 5.27 million and a 1.3 18-49 rating, which is on par with previous week. A new episode airs this Tuesday!
  
• Cougar Town (ABC) - A new episode did 4.17 million and a 1.4 18-49 rating, down a tenth again from previous week. It was a great episode with Scrubs stars all over the place, but wish it did better! It should be up this Tuesday as its lead-in is finally new.
  
• Raising Hope (Fox) - A new episode at 8 did 4.31 million and a 1.8 18-49 rating, down three tenths from previous week. New Last Man airs this Tuesday, so will this show go lower?
  
• I Hate My Teenage Daughter (Fox) - A new episode at 8:30pm did just 3.57 million and a 1.4 18-49 rating, down two tenths from previous week.
  
• New Girl (Fox) - A new episode at 9pm did 5.74 million and a 2.8 18-49 rating, also down two tenths from previous week for a series low. When The Voice Results and Dancing Results air in this slot in the next few weeks, will this show get lost (to DVR, at least)?
  
• Breaking In (Fox) - A new episode at 9:30 did just 3.38 million and a 1.5 18-49 rating, down two tenths from previous week. Fox got your back this season?
  

• The Middle (ABC) - A new episode did 6.93 million and a 2.1 18-49 rating, which is below normal. It won't be new again until April 11, along with the rest of the Wednesday comedies besides Happy Endings.
  
• Suburgatory (ABC) - A new episode did 6.23 million and a 2.1 18-49 rating, holding on to 100% of its lead-in again but below normal.
  
• Whitney (NBC) - A new episode did just 3.91 million and a 1.4 18-49 rating, which was down two tenths from previous week.
  
• Are You There, Chelsea? (NBC) - Week ten did only 2.88 million and a 1.1 18-49 rating, down four tenths from previous week for a series low. Yank it already.
  
• Modern Family (ABC) - A new episode did 10.6 million and a 4.5 18-49 rating, which is great but below normal for this show.
  
• Happy Endings (ABC) - A new episode did 5.27 million and a 2.4 18-49 rating, up four tenths from previous week when its lead-in was a repeat. It'll be new this week, too, while the other Wednesday comedies are repeats. So make a note to watch!
  

Thursday Sitcoms

• The Big Bang Theory (CBS) - preempted.
  
• Rules of Engagement (CBS) - Returns March 29!
  
• Community (NBC) - The return did 4.75 million and a 2.2 18-49 rating, while this is not great it is surprising. But it won't keep it up, I think.
  
• 30 Rock (NBC) - A new episode did 4.0 million and a 2.0 18-49 rating, helped by its leas-in.
  
• The Office (NBC) - A new episode did just 4.87 million and a 2.4 18-49 rating, down two tenths from previous week despite the 8pm hour going up.
  
• Up All Night (NBC) - A new episode did just 3.49 million and a 1.7 18-49 rating, on par with previous week again.
  

Friday Sitcoms

• None.
  

Saturday Sitcoms

• None.
  

Airing tonight (Sunday) are Fox's animated comedies from 7-10pm with new episodes starting at 7:30pm.

Summing it up. Airings of Modern Family, New Girl, 2 Broke Girls, Two and a Half Men, Community, Happy Endings, Mike & Molly were impressive for the week. Everything else was OK (such as 30 Rock, Suburgatory) or just plain old terrible (such as I Hate My Teenage Daughter, Are You There Chelsea).