TV Jots

Every TV blogger should get behind at least one show each season, and I’m giving all of my support to Life right now. Last night’s installment was nothing less than fantabulous, and I hope that the show’s ratings breakout yesterday continues upward and onward. If you haven’t checked out Life yet, please do so as soon as you can. You won’t regret it. Now on to the rest of the results.

8pm: ABC’s whimsical newcomer Pushing Daisies started the night in first place, with an audience of 8.8 million viewers and a 3.1 rating/9 share. CBS’ underwhelming reality series Kid Nation was second (7.53m, 2.4/7), almost head-to-head with the Fox sitcom pair Back to You (7.3m, 2.5/7) and ‘Til Death (7.36m, 2.7/7). NBC’s magic show Phenomenon (6.16m, 2.0/6) pulled in at fourth, with The CW’s popular fashion-minded reality series America’s Next Top Model (5.34m, 2.6/7) right at its tail.

9pm: CBS pulled ahead in the next hour when the FBI procedural Criminal Minds lured 15.71 million viewers and earned a 4.3/11, making it the night’s top series for adults between the ages of 18 and 49. The night’s second highest-rated series in that demographic, ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy spinoff Private Practice, also had the second largest number of total viewers in the 9–10pm time slot, 11.45 million. Fox’s hot Gordon Ramsay reality series Kitchen Nightmares was third (6.98m, 3.2/8), even as NBC’s formerly hot rookie series Bionic Woman continued to decline on both measures (6.3m, 2.5/6). The fall’s first freshman series to get a coveted order for a full season, namely The CW’s Gossip Girl, ranked fifth with 2.9 million viewers and a 1.4/4.

10pm: CBS’ rule continued in the last hour with CSI: NY (13.04m, 3.8/10), followed by ABC’s naughty Dirty Sexy Money (8.1m, 2.9/8) at third and NBC’s engaging cop drama Life (6.94m, 2.5/7) posting its best results yet, as previously described.

Overall: The results are pretty straightforward. CBS was tops overall (12.09m) and for the 18–49 demo (3.5/9), with ABC second on both measures (9.47m, 3.4/9), Fox third (7.15m, 2.9/8), NBC fourth (6.67m, 2.3/6), and The CW a healthier than customary fifth (4.12m, 2.05).

DATA EXPLANATION: In the households figure 6.4/11, 6.4 is the household RATING that indicates what average percentage of U.S. households tuned into a particular show (6.4%), while 11 is the household SHARE that refers to what average percentage of televisions in use were tuned into a particular show (11%).

Tags: November Sweeps, ratings, television, tv