SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

Households: #1. CBS 6.6/10.3 (rating/share); #2. ABC 6.5/10.1; #3. NBC 4.6/7.2; #4. Fox 3.4/5.3; #5. The CW 1.2/1.9
Total Viewers: #1. CBS 10.43 million; #2. ABC 9.83 million; #3. NBC 7.47 million; #4. Fox 5.39 million; #5. The CW 1.94 million.
Adults 18-49: #1. CBS 2.7/7.3 (rating/share); #2. NBC 2.7/7.3; #3. ABC 2.3/6.4; #4. Fox 1.6/4.5; #5. The CW 0.8/2.1

Week 4 (Oct. 15-21) Analysis: For the third straight week, we saw another debate cause primetime to be messed up, this time on Tuesday. Through the first four nights, CBS has the lead in all categories but it is very close. ABC is a close second in HH/viewers but third in 18-49, but only four tenths behind CBS and NBC who are tied for first. NBC is third in HH/viewers, but tied for first in 18-49, but that will change after tonight's NFL game and they could take the week again. Fox is in fourth in HH/total viewers and in 18-49, and they will likely stay that way. MLB NLCS rain delays really hurt them this week, as they had to preempt X Factor. I expect CBS to take the week in HH/viewers for sure. ABC will likely remain second in HH/viewers, with NBC third and Fox in fourth. Among adults 18-49, we can CBS and NBC battle, as CBS has the NFL overrun tonight. More on that later. As for last week, week 3, NBC won the week again among adults 18-49 thanks to the NFL game. CBS and Fox were tied for a distant second, while ABC was a tenth behind them. Among total viewers, CBS took that crown again followed by NBC this time in second.  ABC was a close third (ABC has slight edge over NBC in HH), followed by Fox.

Monday started off week four and it was the same as previous three weeks...NBC on top in 18-49 and ABC in total viewers. Starting with ABC, a two-hour Dancing with the Stars: All-Stars did 13.64 million and a 2.1 18-49 rating, down a tenth in 18-49 from previous week. Tomorrow will only be an hour due to another Presidential Debate at 9pm ET. A new episode of Castle followed with a first place 10.94 million but a third place 2.0 18-49 rating, down two tenths in 18-49 from the previous week. For NBC, a two-hour The Voice, which is in week six actually, did 13.01 million and a night best 4.8 18-49 rating, on par in 18-49 from previous week. At 10pm, week five of Revolution did well for NBC with a third place 8.61 million but a first place 3.3 18-49 rating, up three tenths in 18-49 from previous week. First time it has gone up. It's been picked up for a full season. Next up was CBS with its comedies and Hawaii Five-0. At 8, How I Met Your Mother started it off with 7.93 million and a 3.2 18-49 rating, up a tenth from previous week. Week four of Partners followed with 6.08 million and a 2.1 18-49 rating, up two tenths in 18-49 from previous week. Not good for a CBS Monday comedy, but it did go up for the first time. Then it was 2 Broke Girls at 9pm doing 9.3 million and a 3.4 18-49 rating, on par in 18-49 from previous week. Not as strong as the previous CBS Monday 9pm anchors, is it? A new Mike & Molly followed with 9.1 million and a 3.0 18-49 rating, up two tenths in 18-49 week-to-week. A new Hawaii Five-0 was next doing a second place 8.7 million and a 2.1 18-49 rating, up two tenths in 18-49 from previous week. Fox was next but Bones and The Mob Doctor were preempted for MLB NLCS Game #2 doing 5.58 million and a 1.6 18-49 rating. Pretty low and was lower in primetime hours with 5.54 million and a 1.5 18-49 rating. The CW aired their Monday slumping dramas, with 90120 starting it off with just 1.06 million and a 0.6 18-49 rating, but up two tenths from its season premiere. And Gossip Girl followed with just 780,000 viewers and a 0.4 18-49 rating, on par with its season premiere, which was horrible.

On Tuesday, it was an atypical night with the third debate causing primetime to be not normal, so NBC prevailed in 18-49, with ABC on top in total viewers. Starting with CBS, NCIS was preempted, but a repeat of NCIS: Los Angeles aired instead and did 8.1 million and 1,4 18-49 rating. From 9-10:39pm ET, CBS aired CBS News Campaign 2012: Presidential Debate, which doesn't count in the ratings. From 10:39-11pm, an analysis of the debate did count in the ratings and did 6.99 million and a 1.5 18-49 rating, lower than what Vegas would do at 10. ABC had the live Dancing with the Stars: All-Stars: The Results at 8pm and did 12.92 million and a 2.0 18-49 rating, down two tenths in 18-49 from previous week but that was at 9pm. We said goodbye to Bristol Palin. From 9pm-10:39pm ET, ABC aired ABC News Your Voice Your Vote 2012: Presidential Debate, which doesn't count in the ratings. Look for the season premieres of the hilarious comedies Happy Endings and Don't Trust the B---- In Apartment 23 this Tuesday starting at 9pm. From 10:39pm-11pm ET, an analysis of the debate did count in the ratings and did 9.52 million and a 2.5 18-49 rating, higher than the usual Private Practice at 10pm.  NBC started off solidly with week 6 of The Voice in the 8pm hour doing 12.04 million and a 4.6 18-49 rating, up a tenth in18-49 from previous week. New comedy Go On and fellow new comedy The New Normal were preempted for NBC News Decision 2012: Presidential Debate, which did not count in the ratings. From 10:39pm-11pm, the analysis did count and posted 11.37 million and a 4.0 18-49 rating, MUCH higher than what Parenthood would be at 10pm. NBC benefited the most on this night, as its highest rated show aired at 8 and the other two lower rated hours didn't. Fox started it off with a new Raising Hope at 8pm doing 4.23 million and a 1.7 18-49 rating, which was down a tenth in 18-49 from the previous week. Then week four of Ben & Kate followed doing only 2.7 million and a 1.2 18-49 rating, down three tenths in 18-49 from previous week. Horrible decision to quickly pick up six more episodes. At 9pm,  New Girl and the new comedy The Mindy Project were preempted for Fox's coverage of the Presidential Debate, which doesn't count in the ratings. The analysis from 10:40-11pm ET did, and posted 4.5 million and a 1.8 18-49 rating. The CW aired a new Hart of Dixie at 8pm and did 1.4 million and a 0.6 18-49 rating, which was up a tenth in 18-49 from the previous week. New series Emily Owens MD had its series premiere at 9pm and did 1.67 million and a disappointing 0.5 18-49 rating.

Wednesday it was CBS with the total viewers win, and sneaked a win in 18-49 just getting by ABC, as Fox was haunted by a big rain delay for NLCS Game #3. First, CBS started the night off with week five of Survivor: Philippines at 10.43 million and a 2.8 18-49 rating, on par in 18-49 from previous week. Veteran drama Criminal Minds followed at 9 with 11.81 million and a 3.1 18-49 rating, which is below normal but up a tenth in 18-49 week-to-week. A new CSI at 10 did 10.63 million and a 2.3 18-49 rating, down three tenths in 18-49 from previous week. ABC started off with its Comedy Wednesday comedy block with a new episode of The Middle doing 8.39 million and a 2.5 18-49 rating, up a tenth from previous week. Great episode, too. At 8:30pm, The Neighbors was new at 8:30pm and did 6.53 million and a 1.9 18-49 rating, down a tenth in 18-49 from previous week. Still doing OK and has not tanked. At 9pm, Modern Family was all-new and did 12.28 million and a very good 4.7 18-49 rating, down a tenth in 18-49 week-to-week. At 9:30, the season premiere of Suburgatory posted 7.54 million and a 2.8 18-49 rating. Solid, and I think it will do better in coming weeks. The second episode of Nashville was next at 10pm and posted 6.74 million and 2.0 18-49 rating, down eight tenths from its series premiere the previous week. It needs to do a bit higher to win the timeslot.  Fox had a terrible and unlucky night. First, the MLB NLCS Game which was scheduled for the afternoon was in a rain delay, so Fox decided to start off with repeats of sitcoms in the east coast. A repeat of Ben & Kate at 8:02-8:32pm ET did just 3.46 million and a 1.2 18-49 rating. Rain delay coverage took over at 8:33pm ET for seven minutes before Fox decided to air the new The X Factor episode, which was scheduled to air from 8-10pm. They only aired an hour of it from 8:40-9:47pm ET for some reason and it did 6.34 million and a 2.3 18-49 rating, down a big 1.2 18-49 rating points from previous week's two-hour episode. Then Fox aired 9 minutes of a repeat of The Mindy Project from 9:47-9:56pm ET and did 4.7 million and a 1.7 18-49 rating. Then the game was back from the rain delay and aired from 9:56pm-10:45pm ET. Strange night, as the west coast got a repeat of X Factor from 8-10pm PT instead. NBC opened the night with a new Animal Practice, which is awful by the way, dropping to 3.85 million and a 1.1 18-49 rating, which was on par in 18-49 from previous week and tied a series low. It will be pulled by Nov. 14, so just 3 more left. At 8:30pm, the news wasn't good either but a tad better with new comedy Guys with Kids doing only 4.41 million and a 1.4 18-49 rating, also on par in 18-49 from previous week. Law & Order: SVU was next at 9pm and did just 6.25 million and a 1.6 18-49 rating, down two tenths in 18-49 week-to-week. Time for this show to end. Week two of new dud Chicago Fire followed at 10 and did only 5.85 million and a just a 1.5 18-49 rating, down four tenths from its already horrible series premiere the previous week. The CW had week two of Arrow and it did well with 3.55 million and a 1.3 18-49 rating, on par in 18-49 with its series premiere the previous week. Good news! Week three of Supernatural at 9pm followed and did 2.13 million and a 1.0 18-49 rating, on par in 18-49 from previous week. Wednesday is looking solid for The CW finally!

Thursday it was CBS with the win for the fourth straight week, as Fox suffered again with MLB NLCS. ABC opened the night with week four of Last Resort doing 7.06 million and a 1.7 18-49 rating, up a tenth in 18-49 from previous week. So it did go up with the whole line-up back. Grey's Anatomy returned at 9pm and did 9.69 million and a 3.4 18-49 rating, which is a bit below normal. At 10pm, Scandal returned as well and did 6.17 million and a 1.9 18-49 rating. Very good episode, too! CBS opened with a new The Big Bang Theory at 15.73 million and a 4.8 A18-49 rating, up three tenths in 18-49 from previous week. Bested Modern Family by a tenth this week for #1 comedy in 18-49. Week four of Two and a Half Men on a new night and time followed with 13.6 million and a 4.0 18-49 rating, up a surprising five tenths in 18-49 from previous week. A season high. Then Person of Interest returned at 9pm and did 13.93 million and a 2.8 18-49 rating, which was second to the ABC drama. At 10pm, a new Elementary posted 10.91 million and a 2.3 18-49 rating, which could be better. Fox had to preempt The X Factor and Glee for NLC Game #4 and posted 6.04 million and a 1.6 18-49 rating, which is much below what Fox Thursday usually does. NBC was still in the familiar fourth place with a new 30 Rock doing 3.04 million and a 1.2 18-49 rating only, again down a tenth in 18-49 from previous week. Ouch, a series low. A new Up All Night followed and did only 2.99 million and a 1.3 18-49 rating, oddly up two tenths in 18-49 week-to-week. Still not good at all. Then The Office returned at 9pm and did just 4.28 million and a 2.1 18-49 rating, tying a series low. At 9:30pm Parks & Recreation did just 3.46 million and a 1.6 18-49 rating, close to terrible territory. At 10pm, Rock Center with Brian Williams posted 3.47 million and a 0.9 18-49 rating, as we continue to wonder why is this still on the air. The CW's big gun Vampire Diaries had a new airing and did 2.91 million and a 1.3 18-49 rating, down three tenths in 18-49 from its season premiere, the previous week. Hmm, Arrow could be the top show soon on this network?  New series Beauty & the Beast was next at 9pm and did 2.0 million and a 0.7 18-49 rating, which is down five tenths in 18-49 from previous week...concerning.

Now, final numbers for Friday and Saturday are not available, but ABC took the top spot again on Friday. ABC won the 8pm hour and the night with week fix of Shark Tank having a series high in both total viewers and 18-49, while CBS was very low with its dramas like CSI: NY at 9pm. NBC had to settle for second at 9pm with Grimm, as ABC's WWYD took the top spot at 9, while ABC also got by at 10pm beating CBS' Blue Bloods. Fox didn't have Fringe but it actually did better with MLB NLCS Game #5 than its normal Friday line-up.
Saturday numbers had ABC win the night with College Football, as Fox's college football game did nothing like CBS and NBC's encores.

Tonight are new episodes for ABC Sunday (AFV, Once Upon a Time, Revenge and 666 Park Avenue). Look for a solid night and Once will be up from previous week and the top series on the night excluding NFL. ABC should be third tonight. NBC will do well with the NFL with Steelers and Bengals, which will win them the night and maybe the week again (unless CBD does big with the overrun tonight). CBS has a new Amazing Race following 60 Minutes, and The Good Wife at 9pm leading into The Mentalist at 10pm. Looks like a second place finish with the NFL overrun. Fox preempts its animation block for MLB NLCS Game #6, should be good for #4 for the night, though.

As for the week (week 4), CBS will win in HH, viewers but 18-49 is going to be a battle with NFL on CBS and NBC. Can CBS make the push for a win to dethrone NBC? Or will NBC make it four weeks in a row thanks to the NFL? For sure they will be first or second in 18-49, though. ABC will finish second likely in HH/viewers, followed by NBC and Fox. In 18-49, CBS and NBC will battle for first, then ABC should be third in 18-49, while Fox is a distant fourth. As for the coming week (week 5), look for another debate tomorrow night, but it is the last one! No more weird nights until the Election night. Season premieres of Happy Endings and Apartment 23 are this Tuesday at 9/8c! Can you believe November sweeps will start on Thursday (Oct. 25)?  Here we go again with a fast season...

Week 4 How the Sitcoms Did

Last Sunday Sitcoms (counts for Week 3 -- Oct. 8-14)

Monday Sitcoms

Tuesday Sitcoms

Thursday Sitcoms