The big story of the night was the return of American Idol (sans Paula) and how well NCIS fared at 8pm.

American Idol opened its 9th season with very solid (and almost identical) ratings, pulling an 11.7 (18-49) rating between 8-10pm and averaging 29.8 million viewers. Versus last year this was just a tick down in the key demo (0.1) and just a small drop in audience size (just 200,000 viewers)

NCIS performed roughly level with its last new airing, remarkably pulling a 4.3 (18-49) rating and 20.7 million viewers against way stiffer competition. It was NCIS: LA that was really affected by Idol’s return, pulling just a 3.0 (18-49) rating and 15.5 million viewers – a season low. Good news for The Good Wife though, which was up in the key demo (3.0 vs. 2.8) and in total viewers (13.9 vs. 13.4).

As usual, NBC’s The Biggest Loser was solid against heavy competition, pulling a 3.3 rating and 8.2 million viewers between 8 and 10pm. Leno (and the late night controversy) were up again to a 1.9 rating and 6.2 million viewers.

ABC opened the night with reruns of Scrubs (0.8, 2.5 million) and Better Off Ted (0.8, 2.2), both of which are surely dead. New episodes the the shows returned at 9, with Scrubs posting a 1.2 (18-49) rating and Better Off Ted pulling just a 1.0. the forgotton was again sub par, pulling just a 1.3 (18-49) rating and 4.4 million – why did they pick up additional episodes?

The CW went with repeats of 90210 and Melrose Place which averaged a 0.3 (18-49) rating and 0.7 million viewers overall.

Full Breakdown:

8:00 – FOX – American Idol (premiere) – 10.8 (18-49) rating – 27.9 million viewers
CBS – NCIS – 4.3 - 20.7 million
NBC – The Biggest Loser – 3.1 – 7.9 million
ABC – Scrubs (repeat) - 0.8 - 2.5 million
CW – 90210 (repeat) – 0.3 - 0.8 million

8:30 – ABC – Better Off Ted – 0.8 - 2.2 million

9:00 FOX American Idol (premiere) 12.7 (18-49) rating - 31.7 million viewers
NBC – The Biggest Loser – 3.4 -  8.3 million
CBS – NCIS: LA – 3.0 – 15.5 million
ABC – Scrubs – 1.2 - 2.7 million
CW – Melrose Place (repeat) – 0.3 - 0.7 million

9:30 – ABC – Better Off Ted – 1.0 -  2.5 million

10:00 – CBS – The Good Wife – 3.0 (18-49) rating - 13.9 million viewers
NBC – The Jay Leno Show - 1.9 – 6.2 million
ABC - the forgotten – 1.3 - 4.4 million

On a night where all networks other than ABC were strong, it was NBC’s Sunday Night Football that took the win.

NBC’s Sunday Night Football saw the Carolina Panthers in an unlikely victory over my Minnesota Vikings, which averaged a solid 5.6 (18-49) rating between 8.30 and 11pm to lead NBC to victory. A NFL overrun on FOX helped them to second place, averaging a 4.4 rating even though they were in repeats from 8-10pm.

The Survivor: Samoa finale posted solid numbers for CBS, averaging a 4.2 (18-49) rating between 8-11pm. At 7, 60 minutes posted a 2.4 rating and 13.1 million viewers.

ABC had a dismal night with America’s Funniest Home Videos (1.7), Movie: Santa Clause 3 (2.0) and Desperate Housewives (1.3)

Winners:
Sunday Night Football (NBC)
NFL Overrun (FOX)
Survivor: Samoa (CBS)
FOX animation reruns

Losers:
ABC reruns
60 Minutes (CBS)

Full Breakdown:  

7:00 – FOX – NFL overrun – 7.1 (18-49) rating - 19.6 million
CBS – 60 Minutes – 2.4 - 13.1 million
NBC – Football Night In America - 2.1 – 6.3 million
ABC – America’s Funniest Home Videos (repeat) – 1.7 - 6.9 million

8:00 - NBC – Football Night In America - 4.2 (18-49) rating – 12.5 million viewers
CBS – Survivor: Samoa (finale) - 4.2 - 14 million
FOX - The Simpsons (repeat) – 3.8 - 8.2 million
ABC – Santa Clause 3 (movie) – 1.8 – 6.7 million

8:30 – NBC – Sunday Night Football (8.30 – 11pm) - 5.6 (18-49) rating – 15.8 million viewers
FOX The Cleveland Show (repeat) 2.8 7 5.917

9:00 – CBS – Survivor: Samoa (finale) - 4.5 (18-49) rating – 14.3 million viewers
FOX – Family Guy (repeat) - 3.1 - 6.3 million
ABC – Santa Clause 3 (movie) – 2.1 - 7.3 million

9:30 – FOX – American Dad (repeat) – 2.5 - 5.1 million

10:00 – CBS – Survivor: Samoa (special) - 3.9 (18-49) rating – 13.3 million viewers
ABC - Desperate Housewives (repeat) – 1.3 - 4 million

On another quiet Friday night it was CBS and The Ghost Whisperer which won the night as Smallville hit season highs in viewers.

At 8pm, Ghost Whisperer took the nights top honours in A18-49 with a 2.0 rating and just over 8 million viewers. Law & Order took second with a 1.7 rating and 7.5 million viewers, just down from last week. Supernanny was up slightly vs. last weeks 1.3 taking third. House was fourth on FOX, pulling a tick vs. last week (1.1 - 1.2). Smallville hit season highs in viewers with 2.7 million and a 1.2 rating. 

Medium kept CBS in the lead, pulling a 1.9 rating and 8.2 million viewers. That beat out Dateline which was level with last week (1.7, 7.32 million). Ugly Betty was third for ABC, pulling a 1.3 rating and just under 4.5 million viewers, slightly up vs. last week. A Bones rerun was fourth for FOX, but still outdrew Dollhouse by 50%. An America’s Next Top Model encore pulled just a 0.6 and 1.4 million viewers.

20/20 took over for ABC at 10, pulling a 1.9 rating and 6.8 milion viewers, down from the 2.7 the Rhianna episode posted last week. Numb3rs was level with last week, drawing 8.2 million viewers and a 1.8 rating beating out Leno (1.2, 4.69 million).

Thursday nights ratings saw FlashForward fall to new lows and NBC’s 8pm comedies rise in the key demo but once again it was Grey’s Anatomy that took the win for ABC.

Survivor: Samoa won the 8pm hour (3.5, 12.3 million) for CBS beating out FlashForward on ABC which pulled its lowest figures to date (2.5, 8.6 million) even though there was a death storyline. Bones was third for FOX with a 2.5 rating and 8.4 million viewers, down from it’s last fresh episode. Community was fourth on NBC, up .3 from last week as was Parks & Rec which posted a 2.2 rating, up .2 from last week. The Vampire Diaries was level with last weeks 2.0/4.2 million.

At 9, Grey’s Anatomy took a firm lead for the alphabet, drawing 13.5 million viewers and a 5.0 rating, roughly level vs. last week. CSI took second for CBS, pulling a 3.4 rating and just over 15 million viewers. A combo of The Office (3.9) and 30 Rock (2.9) also had a 3.4 rating but only had 7 million viewers between them. Fringe also plunged to new lows this week, drawing under 5 million viewers and a 1.7 (eek!) rating. Supernatural was fourth for The CW, pulling 2.7 million viewers and a 1.2 rating, steady with last week.

At 10, Private Practice just kept hold of the lead with a 3.5 rating and 9.2 million viewers, ahead of The Mentalist, which drew a 3.4 rating and 15.3 million viewers. Leno was last (i’m getting sick of writing that, I may start to leave Leno off) with a 1.6 rating and 4.7 million viewers.

So, it’s Tuesday and time to look at what’s transpired in the world of television renewals and cancellations.

In an update from last week, the Trauma production team have been told that they’re done once the 13 episodes that have been produced have aired. Also, cancelled WB series ‘Southland’ was picked up by TNT and will start airing on January 12. Scrubs (Dec 1) season 9 and Better Off Ted season 2 (Dec 8) were given premiere dates (it’ll be interesting to see how they do) and NBC ordered 6 more episodes of ‘Chuck’, taking its total to 19 (we still don’t believe it’s going to start airing in March though).

This week i’m starting with an endangered species, ABC’s Ugly Betty. I know that ABC has a pretty strong schedule this year and thus there was no choice but to move Betty to Friday’s, which was a big mistake. In its first 3 hour long episodes the show, now in its fourth season, has averaged just a 1.4 rating (that;s Jay Leno territory) and just under 5 million viewers. The problem is that this show has quite a large cast and therefore probably quite a large pay packet to cover. The show is made by ABC studios so it has to directly cover these costs which I can’t see them wanting to do for much longer. In comparison, it was averaging a 2.2 rating last year….
My Prediction: Gone by the end of the season. With those numbers, even on a Friday ABC can’t justify keeping it around…

Three Rivers – My prediction was again wrong. CBS was mostly in repeats last week but Three Rivers wasn’t. It AGAIN averaged just a 1.7 rating which is not good enough (even for NBC!) but it lived to see another day. CSI and The Mentalist reruns out-rated it last week by around 40%!  I’m not sure if they’re just burning off episodes but this show is definitely gone by Christmas.
My Prediction: Cancelled by Christmas.

Eastwick – This week Eastwick was up a tick in the key ad demo and total viewers but it still isn’t good enough. ABC might want to pretend that they’re happy with this shows performance but who are they kidding. This show was also outrated by a few of CBS’s reruns and one night of Leno last week which is simply not good enough. I know that they probably just want to burn off episodes (like  Three Rivers…) and get the show out of there quietly without too much fuss. They’re leaving it on through sweeps simply because any reruns they could put off would rate lower than the freshman show
My Prediction: Santa comes, Eastwick goes.   

The Forgotton - wins! Well not really. It did win the 10pm hour for ABC last week but was only up against The Good Wife (rerun) and Leno. It pulled a solid 2.0 rating in the key demo (18-49) and 8.5 million viewers (which itself is not terrible). I think that this show will stay on the air until christmas also, but only because of the same reason as Eastwick, there’s notthing to replace it and we’re in sweeps. ABC’s having a better development year this year so I can’t see them being massviely bothered by this not grabbing the 4.0 rating the network is searching for.
My Prediction: Same as Eastwick and Three Rivers

Cold Case - This show has been a solid performer for CBS but after the way that the ratings have dipped this season I wouldn’t expect to see it back next season. The show pulled just a 1.5 rating on Sunday night, which is over 33% down on where it was at the end of last season. In fact, I think that this show is now the lowest rated scripted programming that they have on the air. It’s had a good run but it’s time to say goodbye…
My Prediction: End of its 22 episode season.

The Others -

- Fringe - Didn’t air this week due to the World Series. Needs to improve or gone after 22.

- Hank - replaced by Charlie Brown this week which led The Middle to its best ratings since its series premiere. Hasn’t got a chance of a back 9 pickup.

- Trauma - 13 Episodes. NBC has pulled the plug.

- Dollhouse – Replaced by a House rerun which outrated it by 33%. 13 and out.

- Brothers - Didn’t air due to a House rerun which also outrated it by over 33%. Possibly run until the end of the season.

- Law and Order – Apparently NBC are talking about ordering an extra 4 eps this season? Still looks bleak. 18 and Out.

- Gary Unmarried/ New Adventures of Old Christine – In reruns last week. Similar to last season. Possible 2010 pickup.

- Heroes - A 2.5 isn’t enough to save this expensive show. Gone after 18.

So the first Friday of November sweeps saw House substitued in for Dollhouse on FOX and Smallville hit season highs on The CW.

Ghost Whisperer won the 8pm hour for CBS, bringing in 8.3 million viewers and a 2.0 rating. Law & Order was second for the peacock, pulling a 1.4 rating and 7 million viewers beating out Supernanny on ABC, which drew just under 5 million viewers and a 1.3 18-49 rating. Smallville posted season highs in both viewers (2.6 million) and adults 18-49 (1.2) for The CW. A rerun of House was last in the hour, bringing in 3.4 million viewers and a 1.1 rating, which is still over 30% more than the Fox’s Friday 8pm average.

At 9pm, Medium took over for the eye, bringing in 7.7 million viewers and a 1.8 rating. NBC’s Dateline was second, pulling just under 8 million viewers and a 1.7 18-49 rating. A second ‘House’ rerun was third in the 9pm hour for FOX, out-rating the ratings challenged ‘Dollhouse’ By over 50% compared to last week. An America’s Next Top Model encore was last for the CW, pulling a 0.5 rating and just under 1.3 million viewers.

CBS continued to win at 10 with Numb3rs, which pulled a 1.8 rating and 7.7 million viewers to end the night. 20/20 was second for the alphabet, with a 1.6 rating and just under 7 million viewers. The Jay Leno Show posted series lows for NBC (1.2 rating, 5 million viewers) , who may be regretting this move already.

To view the latest What’s Next To Be Cancelled #6, Click Here

So, it’s Monday again and time to look at what’s transpired in the world of television renewals and cancellations.

In an update from last week, Community, Parks and Recreation and Mercy were given back 9 pickups by NBC. The Vampire Diaries was given a full season and Melrose were given an extra 5 episodes. What does this say about the chance of a the others? Find out below.

So we’ll again start with Three Rivers. My prediction was wrong. It lived to see another day… I can’t really see how much longer CBS are willing to put up with these numbers, especially seeing CSI and The Mentalist reruns out-rate it last week. I haven’t yet seen the numbers from last night but I predict that they’ll be lower than last week.
My Prediction: I’m puzzled. Although with November sweeps coming up I believe cancellation is imminent.

Eastwick – Last week ABC released a statement that they’re happy with Eastwick and will continue showing it and I believed them, to an extent. I believe that they’re happy with the content and creative direction that the show is going but there isn’t a chance in hell that I believe that they’re happy with the numbers. I will concede that this show isn’t going to get cancelled before Christmas but will not be picked up for a back 9. Judging by last weeks ratings which were steady with the week before at a (1.7 18-49), there’s no way that advertisers are happy with the performance.  
My Prediction: End after 13 episodes.  

The Forgotton - I was slightly surprised that this show actually bounced back slightly from last weeks ratings low and posted a 2.0 A18-49 rating. I know that NBC’s comedies Parks and Recreation and Community were picked up with similar numbers last week but still. This isn’t NBC, it’s ABC. They expect more from their shows and aren’t just trying to make the best of a bad situation.
My Prediction: Gone after 13 Eps

Fringe - Unfortunately Fringe has made it into the main list this week. This isn’t because it’s a bad show or it’s numbers are at Three Rivers levels but because it’s down so much from last season. The problem is the shows timeslot. It’s clear to see that FOX went with counter-programming when finding this show a slot. They’ve put it against two of the most successful shows of the last decade in CSI and Grey’s Anatomy along with demo powerhouse The Office & 30 Rock. They could’ve had a better response if they put something like Glee or So You Think You Can Dance in this slot.
My Prediction: Full 22 and who knows? I can’t imagine it’s a cheap show so it needs to get to at least a 2.5 for next year consideration.

The Others -

- Eastwick - Stayed the same this week. Their unlucky number is 13

- Hank - Pulled a season low 1.5 rating this week and really hasn’t got a chance of a back 9 pickup.

- Trauma - Although it wasn’t mentioned when P&R, Community and Mercy got picked it, the lack of a mention said more than if it was…13 Episodes. ‘Nuff Said.

- Dollhouse – Pulled a 0.8 rating and 2.2 million viewers this week. Don’t get too attached. 13 and out.

- Brothers - a 0.8 again this week, no rerun on Sunday. Possibly run until the end of the season.

- Law and Order – Say goodbye after 20 prosperous seasons.

- Gary Unmarried/ New Adventures of Old Christine – Similar to last season. Possible 2010 pickup.

- Heroes - A 2.5 isn’t enough to save this expensive show. Gone after 18.

UPDATE: Melrose Place encores have just been pulled from Wednesday Nights and are to be replace by The Vampire Diaries encores – sound move.

What do you think’s next to go? Sound off below!

ABC took the ratings crown last night beating out CBS which was in repeats throughout primetime. FOX was third due to House being replaced by So You Think You Can Dance. NBC took fourth and The CW posted its best numbers for a while but still finished 5th.

Dancing With The Stars won the 8pm slot, pulling a 3,4 18-49 and just over 17 million viewers. In second place was How I Met Your Mother (repeat) pulling in a 2.6 rating and just over 7 million viewers. 3rd was an out of timeslot So You Think You Can Dance, also pulling a 2.6 rating and just under 6 million viewers. Fourth was Heroes on NBC, pulling a 2.5 rating, even with the past 2 weeks. One Tree Hill posted a season high 18-49 rating (1.3) and viewers (2.7 million). Accidentally on Purpose (repeat) pulled a 2.1 rating and 6 million viewers at 8.30.

At 9, Dancing continued to lead pulling a 4.0 rating and just under 18.5 million, a large improvement over the first hour. A Two and a Half Men/ Big Bang Theory for CBS pulled an average 3.5 rating and 10.8 million viewers to take second. Third was Lie To Me for FOX which was down over 10% vs. last week (but had a House lead in last week) pulling a 2.5 rating and just over 6 million viewers. Trauma was up a tick to 1.9 (rating) this week, taking 4th for NBC. The CW rounded out its night with a 1.2 rating and 2.3 million viewers with Gossip Girl. 

A CSI Miami rerun took first place for CBS at 10, roughly level with last weeks new episode….and beating a brand new Castle on ABC (2.8, 11 million) and The Jay Leno Show on NBC (1.3, 4.5 million).  

Against a repeat lineup on CBS, ABC took the night, though impressively CBS managed second place both in overall viewers and adults 18-49. NBC is now famously on record that it thought The Jay Leno Show would fare better against repeats. I was on record early saying that repeats of CSI: Miami would still best Jay, even in repeats. But I’m not sure I expected the beat down to be so bad. Last night at 10pm a rerun of CSI: Miami averaged a 3.1 rating with adults 18-49, while The Jay Leno Show averaged a 1.3 rating. Castle averaged a 2.8 rating, though that might get adjusted down a touch in the final numbers due to Dancing With the Stars overrun (also, in the Philadelphia market, Monday Night Football aired on the ABC affiliate and is counted in the numbers below, and that might have been the case in the Washington, D.C. market as well — that will be adjusted out in the finals). The real story to me though isn’t Leno’s ratings, it’s how great CBS Monday lineup does in repeats. This isn’t a new trend, but it still impresses me. Aided perhaps by CBS repeats, Dancing With the Stars had stronger legs and turned in a much better performance than last week. An out of normal time slot So You Think You Can Dance won the 8pm hour with adults 18-34. Heroes seems to have stabilized and the good news for NBC is that Trauma was up a tick versus last week. The bad news is that only got it to a 1.9 adults 18-49 rating.

A NFL overrun on FOX combined with the ALCS Game won the night, beating out NBC’s Sunday Night Football for the top spot- a seasons first.

The NFL overrun on FOX lasted until the start of the Angels-Yankees game averaging 21 million viewers and a 7.8 rating from 7-8pm. The AlCS game averaged a 5.2 rating and 15.5 million viewers for the rest of FOX’s night, giving them a 5.5 18-49 average and 15.8 million viewers, the best of the night.

NBC’s Football Night in America (2.0 rating, 5.5 million viewers) and Sunday Night Football (13 million, 5.0 rating) between the hours of 8-11pm (incuding 1/2 hour of Football Night in America) was good enough for second spot.

ABC ran with America’s Funniest Home Videos at 7, pulling a 2.3 rating and 8.4 million viewers, up slightly from last week. At 8, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition drew a 3.0 rating and 10.6 million viewers, also slightly up from last week. At 9, Desperate Housewives drew 13.6 million viewers and a 4.6 rating – roughly level with last week. At 10, Brothers and Sisters brought in around 10 million viewers and a 3.3 rating which was also up vs. last week.

CBS’ lineup was actually not affected by a NFL overrun this week (thank God!). 60 minutes at 7pm pulled a 2.1 rating and 12.1 million viewers which cannot be compared to last week because of the NFL overrun. At 8, The Amazing Race was level with last week, pulling a 3.2 and 10.9 million viewers, also level with last week. At 9, Three Rivers averaged a 1.7 which is equally as bad as last week but did gain a couple of points in the viewers (7.9 million). Cold Case seems to be heavily affected by its lead in, pulling just a 1.7 and 8.8 million viewers to round out the night for CBS.

The critics were all raving about last nights episode of Dollhouse but it didn’t help them in the ratings, pulling just a 0.8 rating and 2.25 million viewers.

CBS won the night with their regular lineup of Ghost Whisperer (2.1, 8.5 million viewers), Medium (2.2, 8.5 million and the shows season to date best) and Numb3rs (1.8, 8 million).

At 8 on FOX, Brothers and Til Death posted numbers similar to last week, pulling around 2.1 million viewers and a 0.8 rating. At 9, Dollhouse’s numbers looked, well, buh-leak.

ABC showed the season premiere of Supernanny (1.1 rating, 4.7 million viewers) at 8, followed by Ugly Betty which was down 20% in adults 18-49 with a 1.2 rating and 4.6 million viewers. At 10, 20/20 drew the nets highest rating (1.6) and 5.6 million viewers.

NBC started the night with a new Law and Order, posting 1.5 and 7.2 million viewers for the peacock. At 9, Dateline posted the networks best numbers of the night with a 1.8 rating and just under 8 million viewers. Leno was up a couple of ticks from the same slot last week pulling a 1.4 rating and just over 6 million viewers.

The CW went with Smallville (1.1, 2.5 million) which was level with last week and a America’s Next Top Model encore which pulled a 0.5 rating and just over a million viewers.