Pigskin, rad preem fuel Fox
Murdoch net scores with NFL, 'That '80s' premiere
According to Nielsen, the Murdoch net topped its rivals in adults 18-49 and 18-34 for the week of Jan. 21-27 behind coverage of one of the National Football League's conference championship games on Sunday and a big premiere for new laffer "That '80s Show" on Wednesday.
Fox, which also received some of its best ratings perfs in weeks for dramas "Ally McBeal" and "24" as well as some of its comedies, captured Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday in adults 18-49.
The only other time this season Fox captured a week was during the frame that included the decisive seventh game of the World Series in early November. Net, which airs the Super Bowl on Sunday, is guaranteed to return to the winner's circle next week as well.
NBC, meanwhile, moved to the top of the heap in both adults 25-54 and total viewers, edging out CBS in the latter. Most of the top-rated series at the Peacock and the Eye aired in repeats.
ABC edged out CBS for third in adults 18-49, thanks to a rosy ratings start for "Stephen King's Rose Red." Mini's 9.6 rating in the demo is the best for any movie on any net in more than 2½ years (Daily Variety, Jan. 29).
A repeat of NBC's "Friends" ranked as the week's No. 1 primetime program in both total viewers (22.99 million) and 18-49 (11.3/29) -- its demo score matching the highest for any repeat show in nearly three years.
None of the month's premiering series that have aired more than once looks like anything special, meanwhile.
Fox's "The Chamber" has already been benched, ABC's own new gamer "The Chair" fell more than 20% in week two, the WB's "Glory Days" has struggled and CBS' "First Monday" -- despite screaming network promos labeling it a "super smash hit!" -- appears to be only a modest improvement to the Eye's frail Friday.
The WB's sketch-comedy show "The Jamie Kennedy Experiment" exhibited signs of life in its third try Sunday, again getting a ratings bump when not facing Fox's comedies.
Monday
A strong second night of mini "Rose Red" (18.65m, 8.2/19 in A18-49) powered ABC to victory on Jan. 28. It was down 14% in the demo vs. its Sunday premiere, but grew every half-hour to finish with a stronger score than all but one of the net's "Monday Night Football" games this season.
CBS was sent to a rare third-place finish in 18-49 (4.4/12) as "King of Queens" was in repeat and "Everybody Loves Raymond" (7.1/16) was below par with an original seg.
NBC continues to improve on the night, as "Fear Factor" hit a season high in its regular slot (6.5/16 in 18-49) and "Third Watch" hit a season high for a second straight week (4.8/11).
Sunday
With events like the NFL playoffs and mini "Rose Red" bringing extra viewers to the broadcast nets, shows airing at 8 received a ratings boost: NBC's "Weakest Link" delivered its best scores since October (11.34m, 3.9/9 in A18-49), Fox's "The Simpsons" (7.5/18 in 18-49) and "Malcolm in the Middle" (7.1/16) hit season highs, and CBS' "The Education of Max Bickford" drew its largest overall aud since its premiere (12.24m).
Fox won the night, with ABC -- behind "Rose Red" -- a strong second.
Saturday
Fox's reality series are starting to perform better, leading the net to victory in adults 18-49 (3.4/10), while repeat hours of the three "Law & Order" series moved NBC up to second with its second best average of the season (3.1/9). NBC also won the night in viewers and adults 25-54.
At 10, "Law & Order: SVU" easily topped CBS' "The District" in all key measures, delivering the highest adults 18-49 rating for any series on any net in the hour (4.2/12) since the October 2000 series premiere of "The District."
Friday
While NBC's "Law & Order: SVU" (16.76m, 5.7/17 in A18-49) keeps making it look easy at 10, the rest of the night is still up for grabs.
A repeat of "America's Funniest Home Videos" scored ABC's strongest delivery in the 8 o'clock hour (3.4/11 in 18-49) this season, topping NBC's "Providence" (3.3/11) for the first time.
CBS' "First Monday" scored a narrow victory in total viewers at 9 but fell to third in 18-49 (2.2/7) and 25-54 (3.1/8). Its two-week 18-49 average on Friday (2.5 rating) is a 13% improvement over "That's Life's" firstrun average there earlier this season (2.2).
With a repeat of "The Net," UPN moved up to fourth in adults 18-34 (1.3/5), ahead of CBS and the WB.
Thursday
NBC rolled with an all-repeat lineup while CBS edged ahead in total viewers and was a strong second in demos behind two hours of "CSI" and a stronger perf for up-and-down "The Agency" (11.44m, 3.9/10 in A18-49).
Fox's "Temptation Island 2" picked up some steam as it nears a finale, matching its best 18-49 rating (3.4/8) since its Thursday preem in November.
Wednesday
Fox's "That '80s Show" (11.40m, 6.2/17 in 18-49) rocked in demos, while ABC's competing "My Wife and Kids" was the most-watched comedy (Daily Variety, Jan. 25).
NBC News spec "The Bush White House" won at 8 in adults 25-54 (5.8/14) with the net's strongest score since last March. It seemed to affect CBS newsmag "60 Minutes II," which slid to sixth in adults 18-49 (2.0/5).
Tuesday
Fox, which won the night in 18-49, got a hint of what "24" might do if it could get away from "NYPD Blue." Airing opposite a repeat of the ABC drama, "24" grabbed its best score in the demo (4.6/11) since its preem.
Actually, a repeat "Blue" also helped the other nets: CBS' "The Guardian" won the hour in viewers with its largest aud since October (13.64m) and NBC's "Frasier" had its best 18-49 rating (6.6/15) since November, winning its slot in the demo.
And without comedy competish, Fox's "That '70s Show" (6.1/16) and "Undeclared" (4.4/11) grabbed their best 18-49 scores since November.
CBS won the night in adults 25-54 and viewers, with both "JAG" and "Judging Amy" winning their hours.
Monday
"Fear Factor" and "Crossing Jordan" ruled their timeslots Jan. 21, leading NBC's highest Monday 18-49 average since last July. CBS won the night in adults 25-54 and viewers.
