Ratings Roundup – 15th Jan

Winners and Losers From The Last 7 Days

The Ratings Roundup is back and we’ve got lots to talk about from the first two weeks of 2011. If anyone ever doubted the rising power of the cable networks – and the falling influence of the broadcast networks the last fortnight has proven conclusively that seismic shifts are underway within the industry…

WINNERS

JERSEY SHORE: By now it’s become predictable to see Jersey Shore in our winners’ column but let’s not undersell just how fantastic the ratings have been for the guido gangs first two shows of 2011. Last week Jersey Shore returned with an amazing 8.44 million viewers to rank as the highest rated cable show of the week, barring sports. To put that in perspective that’s over 2 million higher than the audience who tuned in for the second season finale back in October – 6.1 million viewers. And those October figures were already stunning!

But there’s more… this week Jersey Shore did even BETTER – rising a notch to 8.56 million viewers and a colossal 4.4 18-49 share. Those demo numbers are better than EVERY single show on broadcast TV for the night, including Grey’s Anatomy, which managed a 4.3 share. Still think the Jersey Shore case are overpaid… trust me, they’re ‘worth’ every cent!

THE GAME: While Jersey Shore’s ratings may be predictable – our next show certainly isn’t! Remember The Game – the middling sitcom that the CW cancelled back in 2009 after three seasons on the air? When the show was cancelled it was averaging just 1.5 million viewers on a Friday night.

But fast-forward two years and The Game lives again. After two years of repeats and building interest the comedy drama premiered on Tuesday night on BET and pulled in 7.7 million viewers. Yep, that’s not a typo! Those are jaw droppingly good figures. In fact that’s bigger than ANY show EVER aired by The CW (including Top Model and The Vampire Diaries). And once again BET is a cable channel and The CW is a broadcast network… stunning!

BEYOND SCARED STRAIGHT: I had a feeling A&E’s sensational new series would pull in big ratings – and they sure did. Beyond Scared Straight, an update of the original 1978 special clocked up an impressive 3.67 million viewers and a 1.7 18-49 share, to rank as A&E’s most watched series debut ever. I enjoyed the 90-minute season opener but I wonder how the series will hold up in future weeks. All the yelling and screaming could get real old, real fast…

NCIS: Lots of great news for cable but there was one big bit of good news for one of the broadcast networks – CBS. On Tuesday night, long running procedural NCIS delivered the biggest ratings in its history – 21.93 million viewers and a 4.5 18-49 share. Wow! Considering NCIS is now into its eighth series, a point at which most shows are in terminal decline, these figures are sensational. It’s also proof that the big networks can still command big audiences – a cable show couldn’t manage these kind of figures. And with American Idol back next week and Dancing With the Stars later in the Spring the networks aren’t down and out quite yet.

LOSERS

THE BROADCAST NETWORKS: Here we go again! We’re only two weeks into the New Year and already there’s plenty of bad news to go around among all the Big Five!

CBS thought they were onto a winner with their Paula Abdul helmed competition Live To Dance. The rest of us knew the show would struggle (see my Coming Soon piece for more) – and sure enough, after initially decent figures Dance is in freefall, heading towards So You Think You Can Dance levels. Wednesday’s episode pulled in 6.7 million and a 1.5 18-49 share – cancellation worthy figures for CBS. Is anyone really surprised?

Then there’s ABC. The premiere of the much publicized Off The Map debuted on Wednesday to just 7.56 million viewers and a 2.3 18-49 share. That’s about 50% of what Grey’s Anatomy pulls in on a good week. To be fair to Off The Map, Obama’s Tucson speech did disrupt the schedules for the night (though Map still started on time) and an encore screening on Thursday after Grey’s did almost as well so it may be too early to write the show off… but the powers that be sure can’t be too happy at this stage…

Also on ABC, their new Tuesday ‘sci’fi’ block is hardly bringing in out of this world figures. No Ordinary Family continues to struggle, managing just 5.33 million viewers while an hour later V’s second episode was watched by just 5.77 million. You have to wonder why V even came back in the first place. Don’t expect to see either show again after the end of their respective seasons.

NBC’s The Cape premiered better than I expected – pulling in 8.45 million and a 2.6 18-49 share. But I’m expecting drop offs in the weeks to come. And NBC spent a fortune on advertising the show.

Finally, over on Fox, Million Dollar Money Drop is starting to turn around after a sluggish start last year (I’m pleased – it’s a good format) and new animation Bob’s Burgers premiered very well (with 9.38 million viewers and a terrific 4.5 18-49 share) – but the rest of the network is just repeats or burn off shows. And frankly when a Glee repeat does almost as well as an original Lie To Me you know you’re in trouble! Let’s just hope the revamped Idol does the business next week.