After a summer of wondering what the result of NBC just giving up on the 10 PM hour would be, we now have our first look at the numbers. Jay Leno started with a bang (over 18 million viewers), and then quickly started the slow grind to reality. The week also saw the premieres of One Tree Hill, Gossip Girl, Biggest Loser, The Beautiful Life, SNL: News, Parks & Rec, The Office, Community, Bones, and Fringe. Some of those were more successful than others. Read the rest of this entry »

Finally. The weather turned to complete crap in my little burg this weekend, which can only mean one thing: Fall TV premieres are on the horizon! Next week we’ll have numbers for the new seasons of 90210, Melrose Place, Next Top Model, So You Think You Can Dance, Glee, Vampire Diaries, and Supernatural(!). Until then, we have one last reality-heavy week to look at. There is a small bonus though … we did get our first look at Glee, Fringe, and Medium in their new time slots. They were repeat airings, but interesting just the same. Over on cable, more records as Bravo and Food had great months, and the NFL scored for ESPN. Read the rest of this entry »

Seriously, what the heck is going on with True Blood? Where do all of these people keep coming from? The show managed to set another series high this week, with 5.3 million viewers. That alone is cause for celebration. Even better, the DVDs continue to sell like hotcakes. In its 13th week of release, the season was still the number one TV show. That set has now racked up over $40 million in sales. It’s crazy. But that was just one of the many stories from cable last week. We also saw huge numbers for the Wizards of Waverly Place movie, records for Warehouse 13 and Burn Notice, and new seasons announced for Leverage and Drop Dead Diva. Over at the networks … well, we’re getting close to the fall premieres. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s another week where the ratings news from cable is much more interesting than anything happening on the networks. The big story was the premiere of Project Runway (finally) on Lifetime, but there was plenty more fun to be had. Also getting in on the premiere game was Mad Men, Kourtney and Khloe, Hoarders, Ghost Hunters, and Flipping Out. There were also finales for Hawthorne, and Saving Grace. All that, plus records for True Blood, and the Degrassi kids. The networks countered with Octomom, and Shaq Vs. But not Shaq vs. Octomom, although I wouldn’t rule that out at this point. Read the rest of this entry »

The big news in ratings this week wasn’t another series high for True Blood, the further decline of Defying Gravity, or even the return of Millionaire. Instead, it was the announcement that several big media and advertising companies are joining forces to create an alternative to Nielsen. My kneejerk reaction? The announcement is full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. Well, then again, I suppose it signifies that the networks are pissed about shrinking audiences. Unfortunately, finding a new way to measure shrinking audiences won’t do anything to fix the problem. Read the rest of this entry »

My God, when will it end? I can’t take much more of these reruns. Hell, I’m starting to wish for a fresh episode of According to Jim just to get some new material! I. Need. New. Episodes!

• Well, CBS may not have much in the way of new material, but at least they’re reliable. For instance, tonight features a repeat of NCIS, a new Big Brother, and a repeat of Medium; same as the last few weeks. By the way, Kurtwood Smith returns as FBI agent Edward Cooper.
• The CW gives us two hours of 90210. In the first, something happens, then something else happens, then Silver makes some kind of sex tape for class. In the second hour we find out why Silver is acting crazier than Paula Abdul did on an average airing of American Idol.
• NBC gives us a rebroadcast of last Wednesday’s America’s Got Talent, at 8:00 pm. After that, it’s another two hours of AGT. No wonder no one likes the network anymore.
• It’s Science Tuesday on PBS, starting with a rebroadcast of Nova that focuses on the worst airline crash in history — two colliding 747s that killed almost 600 people. Then, at 9:00 pm, Nova ScienceNow focuses on leeches and SETI. So, good times all around.
• Hey, if you happen to still have the waste of bandwidth called My TV, you can catch two episodes of Street Patrol starting at 8:00 pm, followed by Jail at 9:00 pm. If you want to know what these shows are about, please call your cable company. Don’t worry too much if they don’t know what the shows are about, either.

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The repetitive nature of the summer ratings have me so looking forward to the return of full schedules in the fall. Remember what that’s like? When CBS runs more than Big Brother, and The CW offers more than one burn-off episode of Easy Money. It was another week very much like so many of the previous weeks. Each of the big four networks has its summer reality tent-pole, and not a lot more. Meanwhile, over on cable, more good news for True Blood, Warehouse 13, and the Real Housewives. Read the rest of this entry »