'American Idol' is still the reality leader, pulling in more than 24 million viewers in separate segs last week.
'The Bachelor'
It's been a few years since there's been a breakout reality hit on the broadcast nets, but a couple of vets are hitting their stride this season.
While Fox's "American Idol" remains the genre's giant -- and helped the net to another demo victory last week -- it's ABC's "The Bachelor" and NBC's "The Biggest Loser" that are showing gains this winter. And they are doing it with two-hour weekly installments, as auds clearly can't get enough.
Young women are the driving force behind both shows, with "The Bachelor" standing as ABC's No. 3 skein in femmes 18-34 (behind only "Grey's Anatomy" and "Desperate Housewives"), while "Biggest Loser" is the Peacock's No. 3 show in the demo (trailing only "The Office" and "Heroes").
Most impressive has been "The Bachelor," whose 13th season is its highest rated in demos in three years (3.9 rating/9 share) and its best in total viewers in five years (10.6 million) -- up about 30% vs. its most recent cycle. Viewers have taken to the first "single dad" bachelor, Jason Mesnick, who had been one of the jilted players on last year's "The Bachelorette."
"The Bachelor" has hit new highs with each of its last six telecasts, including Monday of the current week, when it posted its best numbers (excluding finales) in five years and won its two-hour slot in 18-49 for the first time this season (4.4/10).
Like "Loser," "The Bachelor" typically moves to the timeslot lead in its final, 9:30 p.m. half-hour, providing a strong lead-in to 10 p.m. programming. The show is performing so well on Mondays that ABC may be sorry to see it replaced by "Dancing With the Stars" in a few weeks.
Another pleasant surprise for ABC is that "The Bachelor" has performed surprisingly well among upscale auds, indexing at 131 among 18-49 viewers in homes earning $100,000 or more (100 is the national average). This makes it the season's No. 2 reality show in this category behind only CBS' "Amazing Race."
The Alphabet should expect a big Nielsen number when "The Bachelor" wraps March 2. And with the last three editions of the show now topping the previous one in the ratings, a 14th edition of the Mike Fleiss-produced skein is a lock.
NBC's "Biggest Loser," meanwhile, is off to a strong start with its seventh edition, despite facing Fox's "American Idol" for at least one hour every week.
Bowing just three weeks after the sixth edition wrapped in December, "Biggest Loser: Couples" opened Jan. 6 with the show's best-ever premiere scores and has remained hot ever since.
In the five weeks since "American Idol" has returned to the primetime sked, "Loser" is up 19% in 18-49 and 27% in total viewers (9.3 million vs. 7.9 million) vs. the same time a year ago. At the same time, "Idol" is down 17% in the demo and 12% in total viewers.
Also a strong performer among upscale auds, "Loser" has indexed at about a 112 this season among viewers in households earning $100,000 or more.
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Looking at the week of Feb. 9-15, Fox led behind a two-hour "American Idol" on Wednesday (9.5/23 in 18-49, 24.82m) and a regular one-hour seg of the megahit Tuesday (9.2/24, 24.94m).
Nielsen estimates that Fox averaged a 3.9 rating/10 share in adults 18-49 for the week, comfortably ahead of its rivals but down 15% year to year. CBS (2.8/8) and ABC (2.7/7) were in a tight race for second -- and both up vs. the same frame a year ago -- while NBC was a distant fourth (2.1/6) and well off its year-ago pace.
Fox also finished on top in adults 25-54 (4.4/11) and persons 12-34 (3.1/10), but CBS still prevailed in total viewers (11.4 million).
Fox didn't have a whole lot happening beyond "Idol," with only Tuesday drama "Fringe" (4.1/10, 9.83m) and Sunday comedy "Family Guy" (3.8/9, 7.41m) also in the top 20.
Friday saw a decent start for drama "Dollhouse" (2.0/6 in 18-49, 4.76m), which ran second in its timeslot and grew on the half-hour, giving Fox its best series perf in the 9 o'clock hour this season.
At CBS, "Survivor" ranked 10th for the week with its 18th-season premiere on Thursday (4.4/13 in 18-49, 13.63m), leading into the net's top show of the week, "CSI" (4.9/12 in 18-49, 17.94m), which won its tough hour in adults 25-54 (6.4/14).
Of note on Monday were record highs for a special 9:30 p.m. episode of laffer "The Big Bang Theory" (4.5/10 in 18-49, 12.72m), which held on to most of its "Two and a Half Men" lead-in (4.8/11, 15.00m).
In total viewers, Tuesday's "The Mentalist" (4.2/10, 19.70m) hit a high, standing as the week's most-watched scripted program.
ABC claimed the week's top two scripted telecasts among young adults with Thursday's crossover episodes of "Grey's Anatomy" (5.9/15 in 18-49, 15.16m) and "Private Practice" (5.7/15, 14.10m). Latter hit series highs while drawing the best demo score for a regular 10 o'clock drama on any net since "Without a Trace" on CBS had its crossover night with "CSI" in November 2007.
Vets "Desperate Housewives" (4.9/12 in 18-49, 14.01m) and "Lost" (4.4/10, 9.82m) also made the top 10 in 18-49, and "The Bachelor" moved up to No. 12 (4.2/10, 11.59m).
And Diane Sawyer's report on children living in poverty in Appalachia drove Friday's "20/20" (3.5/11 in 18-49, 10.99m) to its largest overall aud on the night in 4½ years.
NBC delivered strong numbers with a news telecast as well, as Tuesday's Ann Curry interview with the mother of octuplets notched "Dateline's" highest ratings (4.0/10 in 18-49, 11.26m) since June 2007.
Also in the top 10 for NBC was Thursday laffer "The Office" (4.6/12, 9.00m), while "30 Rock" ranked 17th with some of its best numbers of the season (3.8/9, 7.68m).
TNT moved ahead of USA to top cable for the week in 18-49 thanks to Sunday's NBA All-Star Game (3.4/9 in 18-49, 7.62m) as well as spec "NBA All-Star Saturday Night" (3.1/10, 6.55m). USA, though, still finished on top in adults 25-54 and total viewers behind "WWE Raw," "Burn Notice" and "Monk."
Contact Rick Kissell at
rick.kissell@variety.com