shark-tank ABC

Winners and Losers From The Last 7 Days

WINNERS

SHARK TANK: Wow, a tough week all round for network and cable. There were so many losers this week I’m actually struggling to find any good news!

Still here’s a little sliver of hope for ABC who had a mixed week overall – Friday night’s Shark Tank was up 25% to a strong-for-Fridays 5.3 million viewers and a 1.5 18-49 share. That’s better then fellow unscripted shows like What Would You Do and Kitchen Nightmares – and costly scripted series Friday Night Lights, Chaos and Fringe.

Of course it wasn’t all good news for ABC! The 2-hour Brothers And Sisters special on Sunday night performed well below expectations and proved conclusively that the show is on its last legs (6.47 million and a 1.8 18-49 share). Meanwhile new Wednesday night comedy, Happy Endings, premiered with just 7.3 million and a 2.8 18-49 share – a count that will doubtless fall in the weeks to come. But the real problem for ABC lies earlier in the evening – check out struggling newcomer Better With You which this week managed just 4.84 million and a 1.5 youth share. Ouch!

Love and Hip Hop

VH1’S MONDAY NIGHT SHOWS: We’ve taken quite a few potshots at Vh1 over the weeks here at the Ratings Roundup – but finally we have some ‘slightly’ good news for the former music network.

Yep, after a non-stop series of busts (Money Hungry, Scream Queens 2, Dance Cam Slam) the network’s new Monday night offerings are doing okay. Not great – but at least passable. Love And Hip Hop, a sort of urban Real Housewives, attracted 896,000 viewers this week while outrageous hairdressing salon show, Beverly Hills Fabulous, hit 911,000. Okay so no-one’s going to be popping the champagne corks quite yet – but considering some of the network’s recent numbers, it’s at least some sign of improvement…

LOSERS

Seriously where do I start this week!

THE PAUL REISER SHOW: Okay, I had a feeling Resier’s new show was going to bomb… but even I had no idea just how badly it would do!

Premiering on Thursday night as part of NBC’s comedy block, The Paul Reiser show pulled in just 3.37 million viewers and a 1.1 18-49 share – the lowest rating EVER for an NBC sitcom launch in season. Guess there weren’t that many Mad About You fans still out there.

The problem for NBC though is that the news wasn’t all that great across the rest of the night either. The Office DID get a nice boost from the arrival of Will Ferrell (7.87 million and a great 4.0 youth share) and in turn lifted much of the rest of the evening – but can NBC really be happy that Parks And Recreation barely cracks 5 million, 30 Rock scored 4.45 million (and Tina Fey was everywhere last week) and Outsourced managed just 3.49 million – and all three shows were UP!

Oh and in case you were wondering Community was down for the night with 3.48 million. I can’t think of a clearer example of the loosening grip of the broadcast networks than the decline of NBC’s Must See TV…

law-and-order-los-angeles

LAW AND ORDER – LOS ANGELES: It was in fact a terrible week for NBC this week as the network witnessed some truly awful ratings across the board.

On Sunday Celebrity Apprentice is doing well but check out the figures for America’s Next Great Restaurant – 3.51 million and a 1.2 18-49 share.

The news doesn’t get better on Monday… Chuck at 4.02 million (and a season low 1.3 demo) led into the premiere on Law And Order: Los Angeles, the rebooted procedural which stumbled out of the gate with 6.1 million viewers and a 1.5 18-49 rating…

And then on Tuesday and Wednesday, Biggest Loser is down, Parenthood is still struggling and Minute To Win It can’t seem to get any traction.

Summer – and America’s Got Talent – just can’t come soon enough for the network!

CBS MONDAY NIGHT COMEDIES: Hmm, a rare bit of bad news for CBS this week too! Normally the Eye network is fairly bulletproof but with Two And A Half Men now in re-runs thanks to Charlie Sheen, the CBS Monday Night comedy block is starting to crumble.

How I Met Your Mother – a show that’s never really been all that big a hit – managed 6.7 million (and a 2.7 18-49 share), followed by outright bomb Mad Love with 5.47 million (1.9) and criminally unfunny freshman series Mike and Molly 7.90 million (2.5).

And the low ratings are even hurting Hawaii Five-0, widely perceived to be a hit, but at 9.54 million and a 2.5 demo, actually on the lower end for CBS. Maybe the network isn’t so bulletproof after all…