New shows get lukewarm welcome
Sophomore, first-run efforts nab soft numbers
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In a week that saw Fox once again dominate its rivals thanks to "American Idol," auds continued to largely shun original episodes of young firstrun series.
Sophomore skeins "Notes From the Underbelly" and "October Road" on ABC and "Jericho" on CBS have failed to take advantage of softer than usual competish and look like long shots to continue next season. "Jericho" opened to decent numbers last week but then tumbled in its second try on Tuesday of the current week.
And none of the first-year shows on the current sked -- "Welcome to the Captain" on CBS, "Carpoolers," "Cashmere Mafia" and "Eli Stone" on ABC, and Lipstick Jungle" on NBC -- are really clicking. While "Eli" and "Lipstick" have done decently, there's nothing in their early numbers to suggest that they'll be long-term players.
Overall for the week of Feb. 11-17, according to Nielsen estimates, Fox made it six straight triumphs in the adults 18-49 demo (4.6 rating/12 share), towering over NBC (3.0/8), ABC (2.3/6) and CBS (2.2/6). Univision ran fifth (1.5/4), followed by TNT (1.1/3), USA (1.0/2), TBS (0.9/2) and CW (0.8/2).
Fox also led in adults 25-54 (5.0/12) and persons 12-34 (4.4/12) and enjoyed a big lead as well in total viewers (11.5 million to 8.9 million for runner-up NBC). Net also has overtaken CBS for the season lead in total viewers (11.1 million to 11.0 million), marking the latest point in its history that it has been on top in this category.
Fox claimed the week's top three spots in the program rankings with "American Idol" episodes on Tuesday (12.3/29 in 18-49, 29.96 million viewers overall for a two-hour seg) and Wednesday (9.8/26, 24.75m) and Wednesday's unscripted rookie "The Moment of Truth" (6.0/15, 14.01m).
Net also aired another of the week's most-watched programs, but it aired out of primetime. The 50th running of auto racing's Daytona 500 averaged a strong 17.8 million viewers, up a bit from the previous year.
Elsewhere, Fox placed second in demos Monday with drama tandem "Prison Break" (3.3/8, 7.84m) and "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" (3.5/8, 8.32m) and won Saturday with "Cops" (2.2/8 in 18-49, 6.32m for its hour) and "America's Most Wanted" (2.2/7, 6.42m).
NBC, which has moved into sole possession of second place in 18-49 for the season, was paced by strong numbers for its "Knight Rider" telepic (5.0/12 in 18-49, 12.72m), which is a good candidate to return as a series in the fall (Daily Variety, Feb. 19).
Net also received nice numbers from its unscripted skeins, including Monday's "Deal or No Deal" (4.3/11 in 18-49, 13.15m) and "American Gladiators" (3.7/9, 8.82m) and Thursday's "Celebrity Apprentice" (3.7/10, 9.11m). "Apprentice," as the only unscripted choice in its timeslot, rose week to week and the show continues to pace ahead of last year's "Apprentice 6."
Behind "Apprentice," new drama "Lipstick Jungle" (2.5/7 in 18-49, 6.00m) was down 14% from its OK preem to rank a close second for its hour in 18-49, though it moved to the lead in its second half-hour.
ABC's standouts were Thursday drama "Lost" (5.8/15 in 18-49, 13.76m) and Sunday's two-hour "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" (4.6/11, 13.49m), with the former seeming to get hit by Valentine's Day and dipping some in its third episode.
Not so hot were the net's firstrun scripted skeins, including "Notes From the Underbelly" (1.4/3, 4.15m), "October Road" (1.6/4, 4.00m), "Cashmere Mafia" (2.0/5, 5.31m) and "Eli Stone" (2./7, 7.46m). In its third outing, "Eli" retained less than half of its "Lost" lead-in and dropped in rating by about 20% in its second half-hour.
Top performers for CBS were "Survivor" (4.6/13, 13.18m) and a repeat of "Two and a Half Men" (3.9/9, 9.89m). But it's not getting much production out of "Big Brother," as the reality show's first winter edition settled for an average 2.2 rating/5 share in 18-49 and 6.37 million viewers overall for its first three airings; of course, facing "American Idol" on two of its nights doesn't make it easy.
Monday laffer "Welcome to the Captain" isn't distinguishing itself on Monday (2.6/6 in 18-49, 7.03m), while the return of "Jericho" put up ho-hum numbers on Tuesday (2.6/7, 8.34m) and then fell this week in its second airing (prelim 2.0/5, 5.9 million).
Univision moved up to fourth place for the week in adults 18-34 (1.6/5, ahead of CBS and CW) thanks to weeknight telenovela "Al Diablo con los Guapos" (Down With the Beautiful).
At CW, "One Tree Hill" (1.4/3 in 18-49, 3.16m) again performed well despite facing "American Idol," beating out the timeslot debut of CBS' "Big Brother" among viewers under 35. And Thursday's "Supernatural" (1.2/3, 2.97m) outperformed its previous five episodes in 18-34 rating (1.3/4), retaining nearly all of its female lead-in from "Smallville."
MyNetwork had one of its strongest weeks to date (0.5/1 in 18-49, 1.20 million viewers) thanks to Wednesday spec "Cupid's Funniest Moments" (0.6/2, 1.71m) and improved numbers for Monday's combo of "Celebrity Expose" (0.6/2, 1.41m) and "Paradise Hotel 2" (0.6/1, 1.05m).
TNT moved to the lead among cablers in 18-49 and 18-34 behind Sunday's "NBA All-Star Game" (2.9/7 in 18-49, 6.33m), which was up slightly year-to-year in 18-49 and was strongest in men 18-34 (4.4/12).
USA remained on top in adults 25-54 and total viewers behind Monday's "WWE Raw" (1.9/5 in 18-49, 4.97m from 9 to 11) and Friday dramas "Monk" (1.6/5, 5.60m) and "Psych" (1.5/5, 4.70m).
Bravo's "Project Runway" was cable's top entertainment series in 18-49 (2.0/6), while MTV's "Real World/Road Rules Gauntlet 3" finished on top in 18-34 (2.5/8).
