FOX & ‘American Idol’ Tops Thursday.
It was a FOX evening as The Animal Network of Broadcast blew the roof off of Thursday with something old, ‘American Idol’ and something new, ‘Rake’. At 8P, ‘American Idol’ drew 12.098 million viewers and finished with an 8 rating and 12 share, which was 16% down from last season. At 9P, the new legal drama, ‘Rake’, starring Greg Kinnear drew 7.056 million viewers for a 4.5/7 which finished #2 in the time slot. It matched last season’s ‘Glee’ which followed ‘American Idol’. However with the drop in ‘Idol’ this season, Kinnear’s program never had the possibility of drawing more than ‘Glee’. And that is a shame. This is one of the most unusual programs any network has presented this season. First, the very popular Kinnear plays a down and out lawyer who steps in everything he touches. That’s not good. But he handles it in an optimistic manner that endears the character. And the lawyer is no bafoon. When he is hung over, or beaten up, his mind is quick and sharp. So much so you look forward to seeing what will come of him next week. Imagine this: He’s at a bar, gets beaten up in the men’s room, meets a girl, goes to a party, gets into a game of poker and wins only to discover the guy doesn’t have any money, drive her home to a house which he is staying in as a guest with his former college buddies, you get to meet the man and woman of the house who state, ‘we will have a conversation’ (which may become the line of the year), goes out to pick up the paper and discovers his car has been towed away, borrows the family SUV to take the kids to school but is pulled over for a broken tail light and has no drivers license (it has been 2 years since it should have been renewed), gets to court after discovering one of his clients has paid him with a frozen tuna instead of $15,000 and all of that is in the first 15 minutes of the first episode of ‘Rake’. Yes. It is a must see on demand. Kinnear is unforgetable.
Greg Kinnear stars in FOX’s ‘Rake’.
CBS being CBS felt it could run another entire evening with reruns. This time it failed. Another network had programming that people would rather watch then old reruns. WE’VE SEEN THEM BEFORE. That is why CBS finished #2 on a night they own. At 8P, despite rerun fever, ‘The Big Bang Theory’, the top comedy in the nation which regularly pulls in 20 million viewers, drew 12.779 million and finished with an 8.1/13 to win its time period (vs 7.6/12 for ‘Idol’). At 830P, a rerun of ‘The Millers’ drew 8.831 million viewers and a 5.4/8 good for #2. At 9P, another rerun of ‘The Big Bang Theory’ again regained the #1 position with 9.75 million viewers and a 6.0/9 while at 930P, it was a rerun of ‘The Crazy Ones’ drawing a disappointing 6.124 million viewers and a 3.8/6 that lost the evening for The Tiffany Network. At 10P, a rerun of ‘Elementary’ drawing 7.621 million viewers and a 4.8/8 pulled the network back to #1 in the time slot but not enough to take the evening. A real problem may have showing up during the past few weeks. ‘The Crazy Ones’ may not be a funny as it should or could be. David Kelley is a master writer and has one of the great talents of our time as the star. But the wit and banter of Kelley is not always there to bring drop dead, funny episodes week after week. These failures in reruns prove it. Also, during first run programming, this program is slipping behind other new series. It probably will be renewed but someone should kick Kelley and Williams in the butt and tell them laurels are for old people who are retired. One additional thought: during this all-rerun week on CBS, look for ABC to win Friday, as the complete CBS schedule for Friday will be reruns.
The rest of broadcast was a mess. ABC disappointed everyone. At 8P-10P, ‘The Taste’ drew only 3.939 million viewers and a 3.0/5. At 10P, a rerun of ‘Shark Tank’ drew 3.926 million viewers and a 2.7/5. The Alphabet Network is not competitive on Thursdays.
As for NBC, they insist on continuing and renewing programs that are clearly part of future star contracts and they are shooting themselves in their feet. The Peacock Network presented what they think are comedies. At 8P, ‘Community’ drew 3.047 million viewers and a 2.2/3. At 830P, ‘Parks & Recreation’ drew 2.963 million and a 2.3/3. at 9P, ‘The Michael J Fox Show’ drew 2.24 million viewers and a 1.6/3 while at 930P, ‘Sean Saves The World’ drew 2.595 million viewers and a 1.9/3. Finally, at 10P, ‘Parenthood’, a respectable series, drew 4.252 million viewers and a 2.9/5. But with that kind of lead in, how can ‘Parenthood’ draw anything?
Univision’s ‘Que Pobres Tan Ricos’ Finished strong on Thursday at 10P.
Univision’s strongest program was at 10P as ‘Que Pobres Tan Ricos’ tied NBC’s ‘Parenthood’. It tied for 1st in A18-49 with a 1.3.
The CW had at 8P, ‘The Vampire Diaries’ with 2.677 million viewers and a 1.9/3 which led into ‘Reign’ at 9P, which drew 1.767 million viewers and a 1.4/2. Shockingly, this was an 8% increase over last year on the comparable day.
Cable had a big night as The History Channel led the way with the two top programs. At 930P, ‘Pawn Stars’ pulled in 5.170 million viewers and at 9P, another episode of ‘Pawn Stars’ drew 4.711 million viewers.
TNT featuring NBA basketball with the Los Angeles Lakers losing to the Miami Heat drew 2.651 million viewers at 8P.
Late Night Results: At 1130P, NBC’s ‘The Tonight Show with Jay Leno’ won the evening with a 2.8/7; CBS’s ‘Late Show with David Letterman’ came in second with a 2.4/6; while ABC’s ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ came in last with a 2.2/6. From 12:35A, NBC’s ‘Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” (1.6/5 in metered-market households) beat ABC’s ‘Nightline’ which averaged a 1.3/4 and CBS’s ‘Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson’ pulled in only 1.2/4. At 1:35A, NBC’s ‘Last Call with Carson Daly’ averaged a 0.9/4 .
Jay Leno, star of NBC’s ‘The Tonight Show’ will be featured on CBS’ ’60 Minutes’ this Sunday.
Big New This Weekend: He said he felt like a jilted lover. “Tonight Show” host Jay Leno says that when he learned he was going to be replaced by Conan O’Brien, it felt like he’d been dumped by a girlfriend. “I was blindsided … (NBC executives said) ‘You’re out … ’ and I went, ‘OK’,” Leno explains on this Sunday’s edition of ’60 Minutes’ on CBS.
For the record: FOX was #1 with 9.577 million viewers and a 6.2 rating with a 10 share of the available audience, down 1.6 million from last season. CBS finished #2 with 8.787 million viewers and a 5.5/9, down 400,000+ viewers from last year. ABC was next with 3.934 million viewers and a 2.9/5, 2.76 million down from last year on the comparable day. NBC drew 3.225 million viewers on average and finished with a 2.3/5, down 400,000+ from last year. The History Channel finished with an average of 3.068 million viewers as the top cable channel on Thursday evening. USA Network averaged 2.652 million viewers while TNT drew 2.651 million viewers on Thursday evening. Univision had a 1.7/3. The CW drew 2.222 million viewers and a 1.6/3, down 54,000 from last year. Telemundo had a 0.8/1. Broadcast networks were down 5.2+ million viewers on Thursday vs a year ago on the comparable day. Where did all the viewers go? Was it a sign of the times or was it bad programming by the networks? Do we really want to see a continual run of reruns when we know the Olympics are a few weeks away? The top 17 cable channels on Thursday in prime time drew 27.232 million viewers. The top six broadcast networks drew 30.810 million viewers during prime time on Thursday.
BREAKING NEWS: Former “Mork & Mindy” stars Robin Williams and Pam Dauber will appear together in an upcoming episode of CBS sitcom “The Crazy Ones.” In the episode, Dauber will play a free-spirited author who goes on a date with Williams’ Simon Roberts soon after his faith in love is shaken by the break-up of a couple near and dear to him. The airdate is to be determined.
Robin Williams & Pam Dauber To Reunite on ‘The Crazy Ones’ on CBS.
“Mork & Mindy,” a spin-off from “Happy Days,” aired on ABC from 1978-82. Topping the charts in season one (at No. 3 overall for the season behind “Laverne & Shirley” and “Three’s Company,” and tied with “Happy Days”) a move from Thursday at 8 p.m. to Sunday at 8 p.m. in season two (opposite “Archie Bunker’s Place” on CBS) was costly, sending wounded “Mork & Mindy” back to its original time period in January 1980. By the time Jonathan Winters arrived a “baby” Merth in the 1981-82 season, it was too little too late.
FOX Acquires 80% Of YES Network From Yankees.
FOX acquires majority stake in YES (Yankees Entertainment & Sports Network. http://www.facebook.com/overtheshouldermlb
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Across The Pond:
ITV’s ‘Birds Of A Feather’ Topped All In The UK on Thursday.
ITV at 830P presented ‘Birds Of A Feather’ and it was Thursday’s most watched after the soaps last night with 6.51 million viewers and a strong 28.0% share of available audience. It was up about 5% from last week. And to make it an even better evening for ITV, at 9P, ‘Benidorm’ pulled in 4.79 million viewers (19.6%), for a strong #2 in its time slot, strong enough to bring ITV top honors on Thursday.
BBC One at 8P ‘Hidden Kingdom’s’ drew 3.52 million viewers (15.5%) and at 9P had ‘Silent Witness’ which pulled in a strong 5.24 million viewers (21.4%), tops for its time period.
BBC Two at 8P had ‘Restoration Home: One Year On’ brought in 2.17 million viewers (9.6%). at 9P, it was followed by ‘Winterwatch’ with 1.92 million (7.8%). At 10P, Charlie Brooker’s ‘Weekly Wipe’ drew 1.06 million viewers (5.6%).
Channel 4 at 8P had ‘Supersize vs Superskinny’ drew 1.41 million (6.2%). At 9P, ‘The Undateables’ drew 1.89 million viewers (7.7%). At 10P ‘What Happens in Sunny Beach’ had only 947,000 (5.7%).
Channel 5 at 9P, ‘Celebrity Big Brother’ brought in 1.94 million viewers (7.9%). At 10P, ‘Botched Up Bodies’ finished with 839,000 (4.8%).
E4 at 830P had ‘The Big Bang Theory’ which drew 1.51 million (6.5%). At 9P, ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ pulled in way less at 629,0000 viewers (2.6%).
Down Under:
Network Nine’s ‘Nine News’ took top honors in total viewers on Thursday evening as 1.152 million viewers. ‘News Nine 630’ came in second with 1.139 million. No one was surprised when Channel Nine extended its 6pm Sydney news service to an hour during last year’s bushfires. But when the crisis abated, the extended bulletin remained. It seems as though it was a good call. #2 isn’t all that bad. For the balance of the schedule, ‘A Current Affair’ came in #4 with 963,000 viewers. ‘Hot Seat’ came in #8 with 676,000 viewers. ‘Gateway’ was #10 with 610,000 viewers.
Network Seven’s ‘Seven News’ took third in total viewership with the only other million plus program on Thursday as it drew 1.074 million. Seven’s Tennis, ‘2014 Australian Open’ finished a distant #5 with only 926,000 viewers. Interesting how fan favorite, Andy Murray being defeated in the semi’s can affect the turnout in viewership for the national crown and the first leg of Tennis’ famed Grand Slam. ‘Today Tonight’ came in #6 with 885,000 viewers.
‘Seven News’
But the big rumor is this: Will ‘Seven News’ expand to one hour this Monday? Seven has recently been broadcasting a 40 minute news service. What will this mean to ‘Today Tonight’? which dominates Perth and Adelaide.
ABC1’s ‘ABC News Evening’ was the network’s biggest draw of the evening with 796,000 viewers.
Network Ten’s ‘Ten Eyewitness News’ was #9 with 649,000 viewers. ‘Cricket: T20 Big Bash League Game 30 – Session 2’ came in #11 with 592,000 viewers.
As you can see, no matter where people were watching television, they were…
Switching Channels!
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