'Chris' rock-solid in UPN bow
Laffer lights up weblet Thursday
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High-profile comedy, kicking off a revamped night for the net, placed second in key categories and proved that UPN could indeed open a show.
CBS still dominated Thursday overall despite some declines, while NBC now finds itself between a Rock and a hard place on the night, suffering significant setbacks in each hour.
According to national estimates from Nielsen, "Everybody Hates Chris" averaged a 3.2 rating/9 share in adults 18-49 and 7.78 million viewers overall in the 8 o'clock half-hour -- finishing ahead of NBC comedy "Joey" in 18-49 (3.0/9 for the half-hour) and placing second only to CBS' "Survivor: Guatemala."
Yes, the net of "Must-See TV" Thursday finished behind UPN in premiere week. The comedy based on the life of comedian Chris Rock generated the highest 18-49 rating for a scripted UPN series since the net preem of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (formerly a WB series) in October 2001. It's also the most-watched comedy episode in UPN's history.
Launch was significant for UPN because it showed that the net, which had opened "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and various versions of the "Star Trek" franchise to good numbers, could launch a homegrown series.
Net poured millions into marketing the show, especially in New York, and an appearance by Rock on Thursday's "Oprah Winfrey Show" also helped.
In Gotham, "Chris" earned a big first-place 6.3 rating in adults 18-49, according to Nielsen People Meters, which is nearly double its national rating (3.2). Show also led its timeslot in San Francisco and Washington, D.C.
"Chris" skewed a bit older than the typical UPN series with a 3.2 rating in 25-54 and a third-place 3.0 in the net's target demo of 18-34.
UPN was unspectacular the rest of the night, with new 8:30 laffer "Love, Inc." (1.9/5 in 18-49, 4.61m) at least getting some sampling. But "Chris" gives the net an anchor as it looks to rebuild a night that had been home to wrestling for many years.
As for CBS, it won each hour of prime, paced by the sixth-season preem of "CSI" at 9 (10.2/25 in 18-49, 29.02m), which crushed the competish -- more than doubling in demos the preem of NBC's fourth edition of "The Apprentice" (4.6/11 in 18-49, 9.94m). Latter show continues to fade after a hot start in early 2004.
"Survivor: Guatemala" (6.1/17 in 18-49, 16.98m) easily led at 8, with NBC's one-hour "Joey" a distant second for the hour (3.3/9, 7.81m). Peacock must be contemplating changes, especially if "Joey" doesn't pick up this week when "Will & Grace" rejoins the sked.
And at 10, a special premiere of "Criminal Minds" (6.5/17 in 18-49, 19.57m) edged past NBC's 12th-season premiere of "ER" in 18-49 (6.4/16, 14.37m), although the latter moved ahead in the demo at 10:30. "ER" was television's highest-rated drama in 18-49 for each of its first 10 seasons, but it has slid the past couple of seasons and is no longer getting much support from its skedmates.
"Criminal Minds" moves this week to its regular Wednesday-at-9 slot, where it will be playing for second opposite ABC's hot "Lost."
CBS beat NBC by 61% in 18-49 (7.6/20 vs. 4.8/12) and more than doubled the Peacock in total viewers (21.9 million to 10.7m) -- the biggest margin of victories for an opening Thursday in net history. Eye was down 14% year-to-year, but the Peacock pratfalled an alarming 41%.
Fox ran third with "The OC" (3.0/8 in 18-49, 6.46m) and "Reunion" (2.4/6, 5.19m); latter's 80% retention in 18-49 is OK, especially since it was preempted the previous week by President Bush's speech. And ABC saw a slight bump but was nothing special at 9 with the results show of its "Dancing With the Stars: Dance-Off" (2.6/6, 10.49m).
Overall, it was something of a soft night for the broadcast nets, whose combined 53 share in 18-49 was down from last year's 60. Key series including ABC's "Alias" and the WB's "Smallville" should strengthen Thursday next week when they make their season premieres.
CBS' drama lineup captured Friday in 18-49 with a preliminary 2.8/9 share to ABC's 2.4/8, and the Eye also led easily in adults 25-54 (3.8/10) and total viewers (10.4 million).
Psychic drama "Ghost Whisperer" looked good in its bow for CBS (prelim 2.9/10 in 18-49, 11.4 million viewers overall), winning its hour and rising 21% ahead of last season's "Joan of Arcadia" opener (2.4/9).
And "Threshold" (prelim 2.6/8 in 18-49, 9.0 million) was on par with its week-earlier score in the 9 o'clock hour, in a virtual three-way tie for the 18-49 lead with ABC's special "Supernanny" (prelim 2.5/8, 6.8m) and NBC's premiering "Three Wishes" (prelim 2.5/8, 8.7 million).
ABC was on top in 18-49 at 10 with "20/20" (prelim 3.0/9, 8.5 million), with CBS' "Numbers" preem second in 18-49 (2.8/9, 10.7 million) and No. 1 in 25-54 and total viewers. NBC was sluggish out of the gate with new drama "Inconceivable" (prelim 2.2/7, 6.4 million).
Fox ran fourth in Friday prelims with an hour of "Bernie Mac" (1.7/6 in 18-49, 3.8 million) and new drama "Killer Instinct" (1.8/5 in 18-49, 5.2 million); latter at least held or matched its lead-in in key categories.
NBC, with the unlikely repeat combo of "Shrek" (2.1/7 in 18-49, 5.8 million) and "Law & Order: SVU" (2.8/9, 7.7 million), edged past Fox for Saturday's preliminary 18-49 lead (2.3 to 2.2). An all-crime lineup of drama repeats and newsmag "48 Hours" kept CBS in the running for the night's 25-54 lead, and the net drew the most viewers overall (7.8 million).
