DISQUS

The charts had data from September and October of 2007, so it would have been when almost everything was airing new episodes.

Bill,

Thanks for the info. I was taking my numbers from the study in this article:
http://www.marketingcharts.com/television/dvr-u...

I have no idea what their criteria was, whether they included cable and/or daytime, etc.

avschamp,

These numbers include same day DVR viewing. Robert and Bill also post the Live+7 day DVR viewing, but we only get data on the top 20 overall DVRed shows and the 20 shows that with the highest percentage of DVR viewers.

While there is obviously a difference between numbers Live, Live+Same Day, and Live+7, for the majority of shows, it is not significant enough to call the Live or Live+SD results "skewed". Live+7 ratings are only (on average) 15% higher than Live. For scripted shows, around 40% of that is same day viewing (which is included in the daily ratings); for "reality" shows, that goes up (American Idol had around 70% of its DVR numbers counted in the Live+Same Day).

Granted, part of that was apparently because they only wanted SAG actors, but it's still funny.

"FOX beat CBS this season because they know what viewers want. CBS does not."

Yep, the Super Bowl and American Idol, neither of which were affected by the strike.

"what's wrong with the mole?"

It gets horrible ratings.

Wow, you know it's summer when less than 350,000 DVR users puts you on the top 20 list.

Is this round usually shown in primetime?

I'm sure we'll see partial numbers for USA and Lifetime for last night (L&O: CI, In Plain Sight, and Army Wives). At least those two networks will wipe the floor with the CW, and possibly be competitive with FOX and CBS.

Regarding CBS's numbers: the Tony's need to move to cable. The numbers were nearly identical last year and it's not going to get any better.

Polly,

I see your point, and during the regular season you would be right. In a regular (non-strike) season, I can see there being a "CSI-repeat threshold" where if a new show can't do better than CSI/crime show repeats could do in that spot, it gets canceled. There's a limit to that though, especially in summer when there are already a lot of reruns. Unless CBS wants to run 8 hours of CSI like NBC did with L&O, they need something else. If Swingtown can hold the 2.3 demo (which I doubt), CBS will be content: not ecstatic, but not unhappy either.

Also, since their other shows for summer include "Big Brother with dogs" and "Jingles," it's not like they have a lot of options (though they could give Flashpoint a better timeslot than Fridays at 10).

Bill,

If I recall correctly, the STD numbers provided by Nielsen's include all in-slot reruns. Especially with the strike, that makes a huge difference in the season average. There were only a few shows (Kid Nation, Cane, Shark, the Friday shows) that got below a 2.5 in the demo for a new show more than once or twice.

That said, 2.3 is still decent for a summer show.

The really sad thing is that we have another 3 months of these boring ratings to look forward to. The good summer shows are all on cable, and, aside from the Olympics, nothing worth noticing will happen on the networks until September.

I know I shouldn't bother, but..


Gwen,

Moonlight lost viewers from Ghost Whisperer in EVERY single one of the 22 airings that ML followed GW, loosing an average of 1.46 million viewers. It lost in the demo in all but 2 of those airings (beating it by .1 in the premiere and tying it once), loosing an average of .3. Reruns only, it lost in EVERY one of the 5 times they both had reruns, loosing an average of 1.4 million viewers and .3 in the demo. Of the three times a Moonlight rerun went against Dateline, it lost ALL THREE TIMES.

In order for Moonlight to have beaten Dateline, it would have had to IMPROVE on its lead-in in viewers (something it has NEVER done at all) by more than 1 million viewers and improve by .6 in the demo (MATCHING the demo for the finale).

You liked the show and you're pissed it was canceled. We get that. It sucks when a show you like gets canceled, but there is absolutely no evidence to support your claim that a rerun of Moonlight could have beaten a new Dateline. Insisting that it would or that CBS is going to collapse because it canceled one of its lowest rated shows doesn't reflect badly on CBS, it reflects badly on Moonlight fans.

Given the quality of these reality shows, are we really surprised that more people want to watch reruns of scripted shows?

Both Gusar and Kay have a point. Moonlight didn't air during this week, but it didn't appear on this list when it did air either.

The only way a Moonlight rerun would have beaten Dateline is if it got nearly 1 million viewers more than its highest-rated rerun. Since summer reruns almost invariably get lower ratings than in-season reruns, I just don't see that happening. In-season, Moonlight reruns have gone against Dateline three times (twice in December and once in April), it lost by over 1 million viewers each time. It is unreasonable to claim that summer reruns would suddenly beat it.

Katie,

Maybe, but not by much. Last year around this time, Numb3rs repeated on a Saturday with around 4 million viewers. Its summer Friday reruns were getting around 7 mill. Since Moonlight only averaged around 5 mill for in-slot, regular season reruns, it would have been hard-pressed to hit 3.5 on a Saturday in summer. While that would be marginally better than this movie did, CBS has a dozen shows that would get better ratings for a Saturday rerun.

Viewers and advertisers should believe the optimistic press release spin...errr...objective news reports. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.

BTW, when a rerun of Moonlight aired against Dateline, Moonlight lost by 2 million viewers.

Let's see... Moonlight was the second lowest rated hour-long on the network, it lost viewers and demo from GW each and every airing, was the weakest link of the night, and now you think reruns of a canceled show would suddenly "save" Friday night for CBS? Seriously? GW at 9 last night got more viewers than any rerun of Moonlight and was only .1 behind in the demo from the highest rated Moonlight rerun.

Despite of the number of vitriolic posts Moonlight fans write on various websites, the fact is, it got mediocre ratings and was never going to be a hit. In fact, if CBS were bemoaning a mistake, it would be canceling Close To Home for Moonlight.

Anyone else find it interesting that the 55 and up crowd is more likely to watch video on their computer than the 35-54 group? I know it's not a big difference, but still.

This sounds like a great idea (viewers have to endure fewer ads, advertisers don't have to worry as much about viewers fast forwarding as much), but I'm not so sure it will work, especially with high-cost shows like these are likely to be.

caroline,

I'm talking about the fans of Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, and all the other female-skewing relationship dramas that ABC is so in love with (ABC needs to diversify too). Personally, I'm not a fan of prime time soaps, but they get a LOT of 18-34 female viewers, so they get a lot of ad dollars. CBS does really well with their crime procedurals, but they need a couple of good serials and a couple of strong reality shows. That's why they picked up the Ex-List and Harpers Island.

Assuming that ABC's viewers can find a relationship drama on CBS, ABSOLUTELY. Moonlight's ratings were mediocre at best (consistently the lowest rated scripted hour-long on the network), so if The Ex-List doesn't do better (particularly in audience retention from GW) it will be pulled quickly. Still, I think they made the right decision. CBS needs to diversify and a female-skewing relationship drama is an important part of that. Vampires or not, Moonlighting was just another procedural (yes, I watched a number of episodes and yes, it had serial elements, but so does CSI). While CBS retreated to safer territory with The Mentalist and Eleventh Hour, this was a risk they needed to take.

What happened to including the Live+SD numbers?