NBC flies on Wednesday
     A year ago, NBC got puzzling results for its Wednesday premieres- in particular for "The West Wing." Even though it was down this year, those results aren't so puzzling anymore. "Ed" pulled in 11.1mil viewera at 8pm, "Law & Order" (19.8mil) won at 10pm, while "The West Wing" pulled in a healthy 17.5mil, its best performance since last season's premiere.
     Did it have any competition? Only at 8pm. "My Wife & Kids" averaged nearly 14mil viewers in the hour, down over last season, but winning nevertheless. NBC was second, while "60 Minutes II" (10.2mil) was third. Fox got nowhere on the night with the finale of "Performing As..." (6.4mil). On the little nets, nobody told them that the regular season started, apparently, as "Enterprise" drew just 3.7mil viewers and "Hillary Duff's Birthday Bash" slipped to only 2.0mil.
     At 9pm, after NBC, "The Bachelor" premiered to a less than stellar 10.9mil viewers, just being beat out by the less than stellar finale of "Big Brother" (11.1mil). But the big race came on the mini nets as "Jake 2.0' (2.0mil) finally lived up to its name, tying with a repeat of the equally dead "One Three Hill."
     At 10pm, "The Brotherhood" actually got off to a better than expected 8.1mil, but it was no problem at all for NBC nor "The Bachelor" (13.8mil). (September 25)

"Tree Hill" DOA
     I was predicting a big debut for "One Tree Hill," but the viewers must have been listening to the critics- the show arrived to just 3.3mil viewers, draging "Gilmore Girls" down to 4.7mil viewers, its worst premiere ever. Could the WB's strategy of splitting "Gilmore" and "Smallville" backfire? It's looking increasinly likely.
     Premiere numbers on Tuesdays overall were good, but not overwealming. "8 Simple Rules," of course, was the night's highest rated series, even though "I'm With Her" (13.0mil) couldn't maintain that audience. That still beat out "Navy NCIS" (13.0mil) on CBS, "Whoppi" (9.3mil) and "Happy Family" (9.6mil) on NBC, "Paradise Hotel" (7.0mil) on Fox and the UPN's "One On One" (3.7mil) and "All Of Us" (4.7mil). A few notes in there- "NCIS" is not looking like the new "JAG," NBC's new sitcoms look like they may be hits- if they can hold up under all this, they can hold up under anything, and finally, "All Of Us" held all of its audience from last week, a very encouraging sign.
     Too bad it didn't spill over into 9pm for the UPN. "Rock me Baby" (2.5mil) lost almost 50% from its lead-in, while "The Mullets" just broke 2mil viewers. Aside from the WB's disappointing news, there wasn't a whole lot to talk about in the hour. "Frasier" (14.1mil) won the 9pm hour, though it was down a huge 33% from last season's premiere. Second was "The Guardian" (11.8mil), while "According To Jim" (11.7mil) didn't beat "Frasier" as was expected. "Less Than Perfect" (9.3mil) was third in its slot, but will probably pick up next week when "Miami" is its main competition. 
      Finally, at 10pm, "SVU" (14.0mil) won, but "Judging Amy" (12.6mil) and "NYPD Blue" (10.6mil) were near dead on their season averages from last year. (September 24)

CBS down, but still wins Monday
     CBS was down by double digit numbers on Monday, but it still won with its series premieres. "Yes, Dear" (12.2mil) and "Still Standing" (13.1mil) were down about 2mil viewers from last season, a similar drop seen by "Everybody Loves Raymond" (20.1mil). "Two & A Half Men" debuted to a solid 18.0mil, leading into "CSI Miami" (17.8mil), which was down about 5mil viewers from last season. Over on ABC, "PrimeTime Monday" (8.0mil) may have been weak at 8pm, but football (17.2mil) gave ABC a second place finish on the night.
     NBC actually won the night in adults with a two hour edition of "Fear Factor" (12.9mil) and the strong premiere of "Las Vegas" (13.1mil), but after that, the wins got blurry. The WB was a solid fourth with "7th Heaven" (9.4mil) and "Everwood" (6.7mil), while the UPN was actually fifth, with "Girlfriends" peaking at 4.6mil. Fox was dead last with a President interview (4.5mil) and "Performing As...." (4.1mil). (September 23)

"Survivor" down, but not out
    The premiere of the 7th edition of "Survivor" was down, yes, bt it was not out. The 90 minute episode drew 21.3mil viewers from 8-9:30pm, overweamingly winning the timeslot, although it was the weakest premiere of a "Survivor" yet. So what does this bode for the series? Probably continuing slippage in the ratings, though at 20mil viewers, its still one fo the highest rated shows on tv. Last's seasons number one "CSI" scored a merely okay 13.8mil from 9:30 to 11pm, probably lower than what CBS would have liked. 
     NBC was second on the night, though it was a very far back. "Friends" (12.3mil) and "Will & Grace" (12.4mil) were a solid second in their slots, though "ER" (8.0mil) at 10pm couldn't really get anything going, falling to third, behind ABC's "PrimeTime Thursday" (10.2mil). ABC was third behind the okay premieres of "Threat Matrix" (7.7mil) and "Extreme Makeover" (8.7mil), which drew probably above what ABC was expecting. The UPN was fourth behind "Smackdown!" (5.4mil), while Fox languished in fifth with "That 70s Show" (5.0mil avg) and "Temptation Island" (3.8mil). The WB was dead last, peaking with the promising "Steve Harvey" (3.4mil) at 8pm, and falling to just 2.3mil for "Run Of The House" at the end of the night. (September 19)

NBC's Tuesday reality
    Week two of new programs is usually less than what the network were hoping for (unless you're "The OC"), and that was certainly the case for NBC's new Tuesday sitcoms "Whoppi" and "Happy Family." The duo scored 11.8mil and 10.2mil viewers, down 22% and 30% from their hot premieres, respectively. This is obviously not a good sign, considering most of their series competition was in repeats. An ABC special on John Ritter won the hour with 14.2mil viewers, with NBC coming in second. "Big Brother" (10.0mil) was third, while Fox's "Performing As..." (5.1mil) is looking less and less likely for a second go of it. The UPN actually had some really good news with the premiere of "All Of Us" (4.5mil), but "One On One" (3.5mil) tookm a big dip on the night. and it looks like it's back to the drawing board for the network at 9pm with "Rock Me Baby" (2.9mil) and "The Mullets" (2.4mil) not really coming up with anything at all.
     ABC won again at 9pm with two episodes of "According To Jim" (10.1mil avg), while CBS's "Cupid" (9.5mil) hit is best numbers yet for its finale, probably enough to give CBS pause about a second season. "The OC" (8.8mil), after 7 episodes, finally dipped in viewers, though it was down only marginally from last week. NBC was fourth, though "Good Morning Miami" (6.6mil) continues to drop a huge portion of "Frasier"s (9.1mil) audience. A repeat of "Gilmore Girls" (2.9mil) was last.
    Finally, at 10pm, NBC won the hour with "SVU" (10.3mil), while "Judging Amy" (7.1mil) and "NYPD Blue" (6.9mil) lagged. (September 17)

New programming wins Monday
    With the new fall season only 6 days away, some season premieres on Monday and football carried the night off. Football hit a season high of 20.3mil viewers, trouncing the competition, while "PrimeTime Monday" debuted to a solid 10.3mil viewers at 8pm. That led ABC to a win of every timeslot on the night, far and above second place CBS, which had a solid outing with "Yes, Dear" (8.4mil), "Still Standing" (9.0mil), "Raymond" (14.0mil) and "CSI Miami" (13.0mil).
      But the UPN and the WB also had great Monday returns with new episodes of their own. "7th Heaven" (9.0mil) was actually second at 8pm, beating "Fear Factor" (8.1mil), CBS and Fox's repeat of "The OC" (5.1mil). The UPN wasn't too far behind that with new episodes of "The Parkers" (4.6mil) and "Eve" (5.2mil).
      At 9pm, "Everwood" slipped back to 3rd place, but it still beat out "Third Watch" (5.1mil) and "Paradise Hotel" (5.8mil), while "Girlfriends" (4.9mil) and "Half & Half" (4.4mil) had their best premieres yet. At 10pm, "Third Watch" increased to 5.8mil, but that was still less than half of "CSI"s audience, and less than a third of football's. (September 16)

CBS wins Thursday as new series premiere
    Behind two episodes of "CSI" (11.0mil, 15.7mil) and "Without A Trace" (12.7mil), CBS had no problem winning Thursday depite a slew of series premieres that really didn't have an effect at all. "Steve Harvey" (4.0mil) did get off to a big start, but "What I Like About You" (2.9mil), "Run of The House" (2.5mil) and "The Mullets" (3.4mil) were all nearly invisible, not boding well for their chances this season. "Mullets" lost a huge chunk of "WWE Smackdown"s audience, which drew 5.1mil viewers at 8 to 9:30pm.
    Over on NBC, "Friends" (11.5mil) hit a summer high, while "Will & Grace" (10.3mil) held onto a good chunk of that audience. A repeat of "Whoppi" did surprizingly well with 9.4mil viewers, while "ER" finished the night with 8.7mil. In the battle between ABC & Fox for third place, there was no contest. With two episodes of "Extreme Makeover" (6.8mil, 7.8mil) and "PrimeTime" (7.3mil) ABC almost doubled Fox's performance with "Anything For Love" (2.8mil, 3.1mil) and "Temptation Island" (5.0mil). (September 12)

John Ritter dies
    In what is the most shocking news I've seen from the tv world in months, John Ritter died on the set of "8 Simple Rules" on Thursday, September 11th after collapsing because of a previously unknown heart condition, reports ew.com. ABC is said to be heartbroken with the news- not only because he's one fo the network's most recognizable stars and has been for more than 20 years, but "8 Simple Rules" is probably now kaput, as Ritter was the central character. No word yet if ABC will do a tribute, which is extremely likely considering his importance to the network. (September 12)

CBS, "Lopez" heating up Wednesdays
    CBS may not be a young viewer magnet, but it's certainly doing well this summer with the fourth edition of "Big Brother" anchoring its line-up. Demonstrating just how important the series to CBS's summer line-up, the show drew 10.8mil viewers on Wednesday, its best results of the summer, lifting "60 Minutes II" to a summer high 10.3mil, while "48 Hours Investigates" drew 8.3mil at 10pm.
    Over on ABC, it's having its own success story with "The George Lopez Show." Though the 8:30pm edition of the show dipped below "My Wife & Kids" (7.8mil vs. 7.3mil), a 9pm installment zoomed to 8.6mil, helping "The Drew Carey Show" to 7.2mil viewers. In adults, the repeat drew a 3.5 rating, giving it third place, but only a hair shy of "Big Brother" (3.8) and Fox's "Paradise Hotel" (3.6- 6.8mil viewers). This is obviously good news for ABC, which is using "Lopez" to kick of TGIF in just two weeks. 
      Elsewhere on the night, "Law & Order" (11.5mil) was the highest rated series, while "Ed" (5.7mil) returned with a thud, averging only a 1.7 rating in adults. Over on the UPN, the premiere of "Jake 2.0" did a much better than expected 4.5mil viewers, though "Enterprise" (4.7mil) was down over last season. (September 11)

"Passions" grows as "Days" drops
    It's no big secret that the soaps are having alot of troubles attracting viewers this summer, but at least NBC is having some good news.... and some really bad news. The good news? Well, "Passions," the 9th rated soap overall in viewers, tied for first last week in women 18-34 with a 2.3/15 rating, the first time it has ever been in the number one position. The bad news? the number one position was a consequence of "Days Of Our Lives" declining so steeply. This time last year, "Days" was at a 3.9/25 rating in that demo, making the drop an astounding 42% in just one year. "Days" has won this demo in all but two weeks in the last 9 years, so this has to have NBC worried. 
    "Passions" was also gold for NBC in some other demos. It was 7th overall in women 18-49 (1.8/12), but recorded first place finishes in women 18-24 (2.8/18) and females 12-17 (0.5/8). So those rumours about NBC dropping "Passions" after this season can effectively be put to rest, I do believe, seeing as how, in its fourth season, it's finally standing on its own two feet. (September 11)

"Whoppi" pays off for NBC
    Critics will be moaning this morning- NBC took a chance and debuted the maligned "Whoppi" early and it got sparking- no amazing results. "Whoppi" (14.6mil) and "Happy Family" (14.5mil) both debuted to the best results that NBC's has in that slot in years, winning the period by 5 million viewers and a wide margin in adults. Nothing even came close. "Big Brother" (9.3mil) didn't take a hit, but ABC's sitcoms did, with "8 Simple Rules" (5.7mil) slipping to tis worst result of its run. "Jim" followed that up with 6.3mil viewers. Fox's "Performing As..." (5.1mil) slipped in its fourth outing, with "Gilmore Girls" (2.8mil) and the UPN's "One On One" (2.5mil) bringing up the rear.
    At 9pm, "Frasier" (10.2mil) may have won in the early timeslot, but "The OC" did it again. It reached 9.4ml viewers, up for its sixth straight week, in what I believe is a record for any new network series. "Good Morning Miami" (7.0mil) is what cost NBC the hour, while "Cupid" (7.5mil) tied with ABC's sitcoms (8.0mil, 7.0mil) for third in the hour. "Smallville" (3.0mil) was fifth, while the UPN's "Funky Flubs" were funky- they drew only 2mil viewers.
     Finally, "SVU" (10.4mil) had no problems at 10pm- "Judging Amy" (6.0mil) and "Blue" (5.8mil) didn't even come close. (September 10)

Ellen gaining audiences
    Suddenly, Ellen DeGeneres has a hit show on her hands. Well, "hit" may not be the right term to use, but her new talk show is making a splash. Her show drew a 2.0/6 rating for its Monday premiere, but increased to a 2.2/7 on Tuesday, obviously a great signal of things to come. The Tuesday episode was up 22% from last season and 16% from its lead-in. The news was no so good for "Starting Over," at a 1.0/5, it'll be wishing it could start over pretty soon. (September 10)

More "OC"
    As it goes without saying, "The OC" is offically the first new series to recieve a full season order. Fox made the announcment on Tuesday, which was kind of a no-brainer.  (September 10)

"Money" goes out big
    NBC drew its summer Monday night line-up to a close with tis biggest numbers yet as "For Love Or Money" aired it finale to a huge 13.1mil viewers, second from 9-11pm, beat out only by ABC's football coverage (19.0mil). Earlier in the night, "Fear Factor" drew a solid 9.1mil. CBS's line-up couldn't even come close as "Yes, Dear" (8.5mil), "Still Standing" (9.4mil), "Raymond" (11.6mil) and "King Of Queens" and "CSI Miami" (10.2mil each) were all solid, but third nevertheless.
     Over on Fox, "The OC" (5.1mil) continues to entice viewers with repeat episodes, while "Paradise Hotel" (6.1mil) remains a solid summer alternative. The WB peaked with "7th Heaven" (4.3mil), while "Girlfriends" (3.6mil) did it for the UPN. (September 9)

ABC takes a huge Thursday
    As the new season draws closer, viewers are starting to tune back in. Certianly helping things on Thursday was the kickoff of the new NFL season. The show drew 18.1mil from 9-11pm, with the kick off concert drawing a time-slot winning 12.1mil. That handed ABC the night by a huge margin over CBS, which hadn't lost a Thursday this summer previous to this week. Two episodes of "CSI" (11..0mil, 14.4mil) were at normal levels, but "Without A Trace" (10.7mil) seemed to take a hit opposite the football coverage.
     NBC had a good start to the night with "Friends" hitting 10.4mil and a summer high, but "Will & Grace" (9.5mil), "Scrubs" (7.7mil) and "ER" (7.0mil) were on a downward spiral for the rest of the night. But that was still a whole lot better than Fox, which couldn't get started at all. "Stupid Behavior" (4.6mil, 5.1mil) was poor at 8pm, and "Temptation Island" (5.0mil) didn't make things better. The UPN was actually 4th on the night (5.3mil), while the WB sunk to sixth. (September 5)

                          August 2003 News