Ratings

[AgentPat]

"The Shows are The Superstars"

Time Warner Inc.
11/30/2005 5:02:43 PM

November 30, 2005, Burbank, CA - The WB had strong showings from its key series, including a victory in men 18-34 in its time period for SMALLVILLE, which continues to set time period records, while leading a revitalized Thursday lineup, a #13 overall finish for the sweep in women 12-34 for GILMORE GIRLS, a #1 time period finish in women 12-34 for 7TH HEAVEN and outstanding male growth for its time period by SUPERNATURAL.

The WB maintained all, or nearly all, of its November 2004 ratings across the 18-34 and 18-49 demos, plus women 12-34, men 12-34 and total viewers.

Here is a look at The WB’s individual show highlights:

This November, SMALLVILLE continues to excel in its new Thursday timeslot, setting network time period records, bringing incredible growth to the time period and ranking strongly in one of the toughest hours on television. SMALLVILLE ranked #1 in the time period for the sweep in 18-34 (3.3/11), men 12-34 (3.2/11) and male teens (3.0/10) against competition that includes Survivor on CBS, The O.C. on FOX, Joey and Will & Grace on NBC, Alias on ABC and Everybody Hates Chris on UPN. The super drama ranked #2 in the hour among men 18-49 (2.8/8) and finished #3 among persons 12-34 (2.7/8).

SMALLVILLE has improved the time period significantly for The WB, including gains of +111% in total viewers (5.6 million), +125% in persons 12-34, +145% in adults 18-34 (2.7/8) and +118% in adults 18-49 (2.4/6). The show also added nearly half a million total viewers over last November’s Wednesday delivery. SMALLVILLE ranked as The WB’s top rated program across all male demos in November, and was the network’s second highest rated program across the adult demos, finishing just behind Gilmore Girls.

http://webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?SESSIONID=&aId=6281​

*whiff* Hmmm... smells like one helluva renewal to me.

 

[Brainiac 8]

Smallville is sooooo back on top baby!

I really like all this positive press it's getting, it's really making it a force to be reckoned with.

 

[Serene]

*whiff* Hmmm... smells like one helluva renewal to me.

These posts always make me so happy.

I wonder if these kinds of viewing figures are noticed by people outside of the TV industry.. (i.e. Features)?

 

[triplet]

Hey, you gotta know it didn't go unnoticed that Tom was largely responsible for the number of tix sold for The Fog... Maggie Grace nor Selma Blair don't draw like that...

The increased audience for Smallville is icing for his career.... Hopefully he'll have something more worthwhile to occupy his time for next year's hiatus.

 

[The Incredible Hulk]

huzzah!

 

[AgentPat]

I wonder if these kinds of viewing figures are noticed by people outside of the TV industry.. (i.e. Features)?

Well, I'd venture a guess it doesn't go completely *unnoticed*

What I do know though - and you can take this to the bank - SV's 5th season ratings has generated renewed interest in the show as a lucrative franchise, and it apparently is back on Warner's "what-are-our-options-for-the-future" radar.












Has anyone other than All-Star even *noticed* my "spam?" Geeze, you guys are slow sometimes LOL.

 

[NHawk19]

Lets hope this leads to increased budgets when it comes to renewal

 

[AgentPat]

Lets hope this leads to increased budgets when it comes to renewal

Well, they'll have at least one actor's salary they can use, if needed.

 

[RakuMon]

More good news. It seems the ratings behemoth that is American Idol is staying away from Thursday nights!

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/reuters/0,24012,1136404_10_0_,00.html
'Idol' staying put on Tuesdays, Wednesdays
November 30, 2005 01:41:41
'Idol' staying put on Tuesdays, Wednesdays
Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell

By Nellie Andreeva

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - After weeks of speculation about a possible move of "American Idol," Fox has decided to keep its blockbuster talent competition on Tuesday and Wednesday nights when it returns in January.

Fox's midseason schedule, released Wednesday, also has the hit drama "House" remaining in its post-"Idol" 9 p.m. Tuesday slot rather than shifting to Monday as the network had announced at its fall schedule unveiling in May. The new drama "Bones" still will get to ride "Idol's" coattails, but on Wednesday, not Tuesday as previously announced.

Fox's plans for "Idol," which this week announced a new long-term deal with judge Simon Cowell, are said to have influenced NBC's plans for its midseason schedule overhaul, which is expected to be unveiled Thursday. There has been much speculation about NBC moving its hot new comedy "My Name Is Earl," starring Jason Lee as a petty thief who decides to go straight, from its home on Tuesday to Thursday. NBC on Wednesday declined comment on any scheduling matters.

One scenario had NBC reverting to a four-stack of comedies on Thursday and shifting the Donald Trump-hosted edition of "The Apprentice" to another night, possibly Wednesday. However, industry insiders noted that while "Apprentice" viewership may be down from its peak a year ago, the show still commands a respectable audience in the 9 p.m. Thursday berth against primetime's most-watched program, CBS' "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation."

Fox entertainment president Peter Liguori said an "Idol" move was "seriously considered" but ultimately decided against.

"We decided that when you have the top one-hour and half-hour shows on television, it's best to keep them on the nights they're on."

As for keeping "House" behind "Idol" on Tuesday, "'House' is a creative juggernaut, and clearly, behind 'Idol,' it became also a rating juggernaut," Liguori said. "We believe that will continue."

"Idol" will return for a fifth season with a two-hour episode January 17 and a one-hour episode January 18.

On January 18, "Idol" will be followed by the premiere of "Skating With Celebrities," a reality series in the vein of ABC's "Dancing With the Stars," which will move to its regular 8 p.m. Monday slot the next week, making room for "Bones."

Red-hot rookie "Prison Break," which just ended its initial 13-episode run, will take over the "Skating" slot on March 13 with a rebroadcast of its fall finale, leading in "24," which returns to the schedule with four-hour season premiere split between Sunday January 15 and Monday, January 16.

For the preliminary-stages portion of "American Idol," the show will air one-hour episodes from 8-9 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

When the finals begin, like last season, the performance show will air at 8-9 p.m. Tuesday and the results show 9-9:30 p.m. Wednesday. "Bones" is slated to move to 8 p.m. Wednesdays with midseason comedy "The Loop" penciled in to the plum 9:30-10 p.m. slot for now, Liguori said.

Additionally, "That '70s Show" is on the move again, this time to the 9 p.m. Thursday slot where the veteran sitcom will run in combo with its current companion, the low-rated Pamela Anderson starrer "Stacked." The two will replace the canceled drama "Reunion" beginning March 2.

Liguori said the move was prompted by the opportunity Fox executives saw for a comedy hour in the killer 9-10 p.m. Thursday hour against CBS' juggernaut "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" and NBC's "The Apprentice."

"'That '70s Show' has always done well with teens and will be a really good companion to 'The O.C.,"' he said.

Also on the move is Fox's reality series "Trading Spouses," which will take over the 9 p.m. Friday slot on January 6 from canceled freshman drama "Killer Instinct."

Meanwhile, UPN also announced Wednesday premiere dates for its midseason additions to the schedule: the drama "South Beach" and the reality series "Get This Party Started."

"South Beach," which will bridge the fifth and sixth cycles of "America's Next Top Model," will air in the 8-9 p.m. Wednesday slot, beginning with a two-hour series premiere January 11.

"Get This Party Started" will air at 9 p.m. Tuesdays beginning January 24. Starting the next week, the original episode of the series, set in the world of celebrity party planning, will be preceded by a repeat of the previous week's episode.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

 

[Lara]

That's great about American Idol. Yep good news all around.

 

[AgentPat]

Yet another press release from The WB...

THE WB THURSDAY HAS A NOVEMBER TO REMEMBER
Released by The WB
Burbank, CA December 1, 2005

NETWORK SCORES NEW ALL-TIME THURSDAY RECORDS FOR ANY SWEEPS PERIOD IN MEN 18-34 AND MEN 18-49

TOP-RANKED “SMALLVILLE” SETS NEW ALL-TIME TIME PERIOD RECORDS FOR THE WB IN DURING ANY SWEEPS PERIOD AMONG ADULTS 18-34, ADULTS 18-49, MEN 18-34, MEN 12-34, MEN 18-49 AND TOTAL VIEWERS WHILE ACHIEVING THE NETWORK RECORD IN PERSONS 12-34

THE WB ACHIEVES INDUSTRY-LEADING YEAR-TO-YEAR GAINS FOR THURSDAY NIGHT DURING NOVEMBER

The WB's Thursday lineup, which has been acknowledged as the best scheduling move by any network, added to its long list of season-long accomplishments during the November sweep by chalking up a RECORD-BREAKING ratings period.

The new-and-improved Thursday lineup of SMALLVILLE and EVERWOOD set NEW ALL-TIME WB NETWORK THURSDAY NIGHT RECORDS FOR ANY SWEEPS PERIOD in men 18-34 (1.7/6) and men 18-49 (1.5/4).

SMALLVILLE, which has smashed several network records this season, continued its string in November as it notched ALL-TIME SWEEPS RECORDS for The WB in its time period among adults 18-34, adults 18-49, men 18-34, men 12-34, men 18-49 and total viewers. SMALLVILLE also equaled the all-time sweeps record for its time period in persons 12-34 (2.2/7).

Year-to-year, The WB Thursday scored the greatest gains on the night of any network compared to the previous November. In fact, The WB was the only network on television to achieve across-the-board gains compared to November 2004. The WB Thursday, which placed #3 on television among men 18-34 (2.1/7) and men 12-34 (2.1/7) was up significantly in every key demos including +67% in adults 18-34 (2.0/6), +67% in persons 12-34 (2.0/6), +90% in adults 18-49 (1.9/5) and +88% in total viewers (4.7 million).

SMALLVILLE continues to bring incredible growth to the time period and ranks strongly in one of the toughest hours on television. SMALLVILLE ranked #1 in the time period for the sweep in 18-34 (3.3/11), men 12-34 (3.2/11) and male teens (3.0/10) against competition that includes Survivor on CBS, The O.C. on FOX, Joey and Will & Grace on NBC, Alias on ABC and Everybody Hates Chris on UPN. The super drama ranked #2 in the hour among men 18-49 (2.8/8) and finished #3 among persons 12-34 (2.7/8).

SMALLVILLE has improved the time period significantly for The WB, including gains of +111% in total viewers (5.6 million), +125% in persons 12-34, +145% in adults 18-34 (2.7/8) and +118% in adults 18-49 (2.4/6). The show also added nearly half a million total viewers over last November's Wednesday delivery.

EVERWOOD also improved the time period sharply over November 2004. The family drama was up by +62% versus year ago time period in total viewers (3.8 million), up +30% in adults 18-49 (1.3/3), up +42% in women 18-49 (1.7/4), up +36% in teens (1.9/6), up +22% in female teens (2.2/7), up +8% in persons 12-34 (1.4/4) and up +11% in men 12-34 (1.0/3).

http://www.thefutoncritic.com/cgi/pr.cgi?id=20051201wb01​

 

[NHawk19]

That's great news. I'm thinking any rocky ground the show was on in terms of being back next year is gone.

But it may mean the other Nets will put up tougher more "guy-oriented" materials on Thursday as well. Hopefully WB knows not to just sit back and allow SV to sit there and got back to a FOTW style show.

 

[avidreader]

Woohoo!! :d

 

[Max]

Did you also know that they yanked "Joey" from the Thursday night lineup and moved "Alias" to Wednesday?

 

[Pickle-El]

My Name Is Earl and The Office are moving to Thursdays.....I don't know what time though.

 

[LarryLegend]

They moved Joey? Wow. Poor Matt LeBlanc, all he's got is a wackload of $$$$.

 

[Max]

My Name Is Earl and The Office are moving to Thursdays.....I don't know what time though.

9:00pm / 9:30pm.

 

[AgentPat]

NBC's new Thursday night comedy line-up will preem Jan 5. The sked will be as follows:

8:00: Will & Grace
8:30: Four Kings (new)
9:00: My Name is Earl
9:30: The Office

NBC entertainment pres Kevin Reilly said he'll consider Earl a success on Thursday if it maintains or dips just slightly from its current Nielsen average (5.5/13 in adults 18-49).

I don't think SV will be directly effected by Grace or 4K's. That is to say, not too many fans of SV are going to ditch SV for those shows. Everybody Loves Chris, on the other hand, will probably drop, which means The WB *should* do better in the 8-9pm slot than UPN, its most direct competitor. I don't know how much Earl will effect Everwood. I believe Everwood skews female and Earl male, so the demos will probably stay status quo. We'll know soon enough though.

 

[triplet]

NBC's new Thursday night comedy line-up will preem Jan 5. The sked will be as follows:

8:00: Will & Grace
8:30: Four Kings (new)
9:00: My Name is Earl
9:30: The Office

Thank God My Name is Earl is moving away from Supernatural on Tuesdays! I actually like the show and I don't really like sitcoms much anymore. Not like I did when I was younger, anyway...

I've only seen it a handful of times since it's against both House and Supernatural but Jason Lee is charming and funny as the buffoonish Earl...

Excellent.

 

[AgentPat]

Interesting run down of November sweeps here:

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051207/ENT02/512070359/1034

Here's an excerpt:

...Rounding off the list are UPN, which placed fifth among networks and the WB, which placed sixth. You can attribute UPN's minor success (UPN had 3.7 million viewers on average versus the WB's 3.6) to its hit sitcom "Everybody Hates Chris" and runway reality show "America's Next Top Model."

Although the WB has its top-rated comic-book drama "Smallville" and surprise ghouls and goblins drama "Supernatural," the one-time froggy network needed a few more hits to top UPN. Well, there's always February.​

With Will & Grace moving into the 8pm slot in January, I think EHC may come down a few notches due to competition from the sitcom crowd. I'd venture a guess it won't hurt SV too much, if at all. So if SV can help to move the WB into the #5 position after February sweeps, they'll be fools to not renew the show for a 6th season.

 

[NHawk19]

They'd be fools to do it anyway. EHC is new and already has a following. If SV is dropped UPN could pick up some SV crowd and WB would be stuck trying to sell a lineup with little to offer male viewers unless Supernatural really steps it up a notch.

WB needs SV just to prop up its lineup

 

[AgentPat]

They'd be fools to do it anyway. EHC is new and already has a following. If SV is dropped UPN could pick up some SV crowd and WB would be stuck trying to sell a lineup with little to offer male viewers unless Supernatural really steps it up a notch.

WB needs SV just to prop up its lineup

Well, no argument there. We just don't know what their ROI is for SV. I'm sure they're making a nice profit, but when inexpensively produced shows like 7th Heaven (which was doing quite well in the ratings) get canceled after 10 years on the air because they can't afford the actor's salaries anymore , I have to wonder where their heads are. LOL

 

[The Incredible Hulk]

Easiest way to explain the 7th Heaven/Smallville difference is an expense/revenue analysis:

For 7th Heaven, expense wise you had a show with a huge cast (comparatively), that is on their 3rd or even 4th contracts by now, which means all cast was making pretty close to the top of their salary ranges. The show is also shot in California which is pretty expensive comparatively. From a revenue standpoint, I believe they were on Mondays and Sundays for most of their run which arent exactly the high ad revenue nights during a week. They've syndicated to ABC Family but thats about all I can find. The show also has little to no merchandising, and DVD sales arent very high either. (You can only buy the first 2 seasons on DVD anyway, and I dont see any plans for further releases on the Net).

Compare that to Smallville expenses where yes, the production values are higher, but you've got a cast who's still working on their first contracts (even years 6 + 7 are "optioned" into that meaning they'll get a raise but it's been pre-negotiated). The show is also filmed in Canada which is a heck of a lot cheaper than a CA shoot. Now from a revenue standpoint this is where Smallville has always excelled. They've been on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and now Thursdays. The 3 most expensive nights a week to advertise on (especially Weds and Thurs) and they generally pull the same or bigger audience than 7th but have a much higher male demographic which equates to higher ad rates for them. Smallville has syndicated to ABC Family since season 2, and they have deals in place for further syndicating it from what I understand. The more episodes they have in the can, the more they can make on that. Then you take into account Smallville merchandising sales which are solid (books, mags, clothes, etc), and their DVD's are always one of Amazon's top sellers and go on sale about 4 months after each previous season ends because the demand is so great.

 

[AgentPat]

^ Well done, Hulk!! Bravo!

 

[RakuMon]

Smallville has syndicated to ABC Family since season 2, and they have deals in place for further syndicating it from what I understand.

I believe Smallville's already in syndication. In my television market, they've been airing repeats through Vortex late at night on the weekends. Granted, the channel is a WB affiliate, but it's still syndication.