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TV MEDIA INSIGHTS
Friday, December 23, 2011

Today in TV History
The long defunct DuMont Network aired the first televised NFL championship game in 1951 for a reported $75,000. Also on this day: Radar (Gary Burghoff) writes home to his beloved mother on MASH in 1975; and Buntz (Dennis Franz) goes undercover with Belker (Bruce Weitz) after temporarily losing his sight on Hill Street Blues in 1986. Six months after Hill Street Blues concluded, Franz reprised his role on short-lived 1987-88 dramedy Beverly Hills Buntz. Peter Jurasik was also back as Sidney “Sid the Snitch” Thurston.

In Today’s Issue

NETWORK
-Metered Market Thursday Ratings Update
-Above Average Saturday Night Live
-Daytime Network Talk Show Update

CABLE
-Record Ratings for American Horror Story Season-Ender

SYNDICATION
-Updated Magazine Ratings

SCHEDULE BOX
-On the Air This Weekend

TRIVIA CHALLENGE
-Final Question of 2011
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Note: TV Media Insights will be on hiatus next week. We return on Monday, January 2, two days before the start of the Winter Television Critics Association Press Tour in Pasadena, California. Wishing everyone a great holiday and a Happy New Year.
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NETWORK

Metered Market Thursday Ratings Update
Fox’s The X Factor Concludes on a Dominant Note

Thursday 12/22/11

Household
Rating/Share
Fox 8.2/14
CBS 5.2/ 9
NBC 2.7/ 4
ABC 2.1/ 4
CW 0.7/ 1

-Percent Change from the Year-Ago Evening (Thursday 12/23/10):
Fox: +156, NBC: +42, CBS: + 4, CW: -22, ABC: -43

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-Winners:
The X Factor (Fox)

-Honorable Mention:
The Big Bang Theory R (CBS)

-Losers (excluding repeats):
Who’s Still Standing (NBC), Prime Suspect (NBC)

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-Ratings Breakdown:
It was all about Fox last night, no doubt, care of The X Factor two-hour season-ender, which averaged a dominant 8.2 rating/14 share from 8-10 p.m. While this was no American Idol, The X Factor concluded season one with its best overnight performance since its debut (8.7/14 on Wednesday 9/21/11). Here is the half-hour breakdown:

The X Factor (Fox)
8:00 p.m.: 7.3/12
8:30 p.m.: 8.1/13
9:00 p.m.: 8.5/14
9:30 p.m.: 8.9/15

Congratulations, Melanie Amaro. As a reminder, American Idol with Jennifer Lopez, Steven Tyler and Randy Jackson all intact returns for season 11 with a two-hour opener on Wednesday, Jan. 18. The second weekly telecast of Idol airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. beginning on Jan. 19 and into Bones spin-off The Finder. Based on The Locator book series, an outspoken former military man (Geoff Stults) who can find anyone is the focus of The Finder.

In episode four news, NBC game show Who’s Still Standing?, which airs in the Monday 8 p.m. hour beginning next week, scored a typically uneventful 3.2/ 6 in the overnights at 8 p.m. Comparably, that placed third in the time period. The four consecutive night test of Who’s Still Standing was not a success for NBC.

Who’s Still Standing? led into repeats of The Office (#4: 1.7/ 3) and Whitney (#4: 1.6/ 3) from 9-10 p.m., with another burn-off episode of canceled Prime Suspect at a second-place 3.2/ 6 at 10 p.m.

Elsewhere, No. 2 CBS fill the evening with encore telecasts of The Big Bang Theory (#2: 5.7/10), soon-to-depart Rules of Engagement (#2: 45.2/ 7), Person of Interest (#2: 5.3/ 9) and The Mentalist (#1: 5.4/10). As a reminder, upcoming CBS Rob Schneider comedy Rob!, which features the former Saturday Night Live star as a lifelong bachelor who marries into a tight-knit Mexican-American family, opens on Thursday, Jan. 12 at 8:30 p.m. out of The Big Bang Theory.

ABC also traveled the repeat route care of holiday specials Prep & Landing (#4: 2.6/ 4) and Prep & Landing 2: Naughty vs. Nice (#4: 2.2/ 4) from 8-9 p.m., I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown at 9 p.m. (#3: 2.3/. 4) and a 10 p.m. edition of Grey’s Anatomy (#3: 1.8/ 3). The CW closed the evening with encore telecasts of The Vampire Dairies (#5: 0.8/ 1) and The Secret Circle (#5: 0.6/ 1).

Source: Nielsen Media Research data

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Above Average Saturday Night Live
The December 17 edition of NBC’s veteran Saturday Night Live, hosted by Jimmy Fallon and featuring musical guest Michael Buble, rose to its largest audience (7.3 million viewers) since the season-finale on May 21, 2011. Results among adults 18-49 (2.5 rating/10 share) were also its best since last May.

Daytime Network Talk Show Update
Based on the Live Plus Same Day ratings for the week of Dec. 12, The View on ABC, of course, remained the most-watched of the three network daytime talk shows with a typically solid 3.58 million viewers. Results demographically were a 1.5 rating/10 share among women 25-54 and a 1.1/ 7 in women 18-49. Recently introduced The Chew on ABC had a 20 percent advantage over CBS’ revamped The Talk in total viewers at an improved 2.50 million (versus 2.08 million for The Talk), with The Chew also beating it demographically as follows:

Women 18-49:

The Chew (ABC): 0.8/ 5, The Talk (CBS): 0.7/ 4

Women 25-54:

The Chew (ABC): 1.1/ 7, The Talk (CBS): 0.9/ 6

Women 18-34:

The Chew (ABC): 0.5/ 3, The Talk (CBS): 0.4/ 2

As for The Chew versus former time period occupant All My Children, the gap has been narrowed with The Chew actually delivering 57,000 more viewers (versus 2.43 million viewers for All My Children the week of 12/13/10). The two tied among women 18-49 (0.8/ 5 each) and women 18-34 (0.5/ 3 each), with All My Children holding an 18 percent advantage among women 25-54 (1.3/ 8 vs. 1.1/ 7).

Source: Nielsen Media Research data

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CABLE

Record Ratings for American Horror Story Season-Ender
The season one finale of scripted drama American Horror Story on FX closed with a record 3.22 million total viewers in the Wednesday 10 p.m. hour. Comparably, that ranked as basic cable’s top program (based on Live Plus Same Day data) for the night in adults 18-49 (2.19 million), adults 25-54 (1.9 million) and adults 18-34 (1.25 million). Once DVR usage is released, American Horror Story is expected to top the 5-million viewer mark.

Moving forward, American Horror Story will remain an anthology series, with every future season featuring a new story, new setting, new theme and new cast members. Some of the actors from the just concluded season could return playing entirely new characters.

Based on nine weeks of available Live Plus 7 Day data, American Horror Story is averaging 4.4 million viewers, 3.3 million adults 18-49 and 2.0 million adults 18-34. It is currently tied with Falling Skies on TNT as the most-watched new series among adults 18-49 (3.3 million).

Source: Nielsen Media Research data
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SYNDICATION

Updated Magazine Ratings
Next up in our ongoing look at season to-date ratings in syndication is the household and target women 25-54 demo results for the magazine genre. Ratings are based on the gross average audience (GAA), which is the estimated TV viewing for the average minute of a selected program and/or its repeat airings. The date range is through December 11 (with change versus the comparable year-ago period in parentheses).

Granddaddy Entertainment Tonight from CBS Television Distribution leads the pack of six, as always, but underrated Inside Edition, also from CBS, is a solid second with year-to-year gains of seven percent in households and 13 percent among women 25-54. ET is down by minor proportions. Bottom-ranked Extra from Warner Bros. is on the single-digit downside, with Inside Edition, Access Hollywood and TMZ all close to year-ago levels. Male-driven TMZ tops the demos in men 18-34 (0.8) and men 18-49 (1.0), trailing ET by one-tenth of a rating point among men 25-54 (1.1 vs. 1.2).

Here are the results:

-Households:
Entertainment Tonight (CBS Television Distribution): 3.8 rating (- 5), Inside Edition (CBS): 3.1 (+ 7), Access Hollywood (NBCUniversal) and TMZ (Warner Bros.): 1.9 each (no change), The Insider (CBS): 1.7 (- 6), Extra (Warner Bros.): 1.6 (- 6)

-Women 25-54:
Entertainment Tonight (CBS Television Distribution): 2.2 (- 8), Inside Edition (CBS): 1.7 (+13), TMZ (Warner Bros.): 1.4 (+ 8), Access Hollywood (NBCUniversal): 1.3 (+ 8), The Insider (CBS) and Extra (Warner Bros.): 1.0 (- 9 each)

Source: Nielsen Media Research data

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SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES ARE AVAILABLE AT TV MEDIA INSIGHTS

Contact Joel Spicola at joel@tvmediainsights.com or 720/323-4055 for more information.

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SCHEDULE BOX

Friday, December 23

ABC
8:00 p.m. Shrek the Halls (R)
8:30 p.m. Phineas and Ferb Christmas Vacation (R)
9:00 p.m. Prep and Landing 2: Naughty vs. Nice (R)
9:30 p.m. Kung Fu Panda Holiday Special (R)
10:00 p.m. 20/20

CBS
8:00 p.m. A Gifted Man (R)
9:00 p.m. CSI: NY (R)
10:00 p.m. Blue Bloods (R)

NBC
8:00 p.m. Chuck
9:00 p.m. Grimm (R)
10:00 p.m. Dateline

Fox
8:00 p.m. Kitchen Nightmares (R)
9:00 p.m. Fringe (R)

CW
8:00 p.m. Oliver the Other Reindeer (R)
9:00 p.m. Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer (R)

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Saturday, December 24

ABC
8:00 p.m. Movie: The Sound of Music (R)

CBS
8:00 p.m. Blue Bloods (R)
9:00 p.m. 48 Hours Mystery (two hours)

NBC
8:00 p.m. Movie: It’s a Wonderful Life (R)

Fox
8:00 p.m. Terra Nova (R)
9:00 p.m. Terra Nova (R)

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Sunday, December 25

ABC
7:00 p.m. NBA: Chicago at LA Lakers
8:00 p.m. Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas (R)
8:30 p.m. Movie: Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas (R)

CBS
7:00 p.m. 60 Minutes
8:00 p.m. CSI (R)
9:00 p.m. The Good Wife (R)
10:00 p.m. CSI: Miami (R)

NBC
7:00 p.m. Football Night in America (90-minutes)
8:30 p.m. Sunday Night Football (Chicago at Green Bay – Flex Week)

Fox
7:00 p.m. Bob’s Burgers (R)
7:30 p.m. The Cleveland Show (R)
8:00 p.m. The Simpsons (R)
8:30 p.m. The Cleveland Show (R)
9:00 p.m. Family Guy (R)
9:30 p.m. American Dad (R)
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As a reminder, TV Media Insights will be on hiatus next week. We return on Monday, January 2, two days before the start of the Winter Television Critics Association Press Tour in Pasadena, California.
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TRIVIA CHALLENGE
Final Question of 2011

Which one of the following series debuted on New Year’s Day?

a) All in the Family
b) Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman
c) Happy Days
d) Malcolm in the Middle
e) Moonlighting

Yesterday’s answer was…

Prior to Dallas, Larry Hagman was known for his five-season stint on sitcom I Dream of Jeannie. But Hagman was not the only person being considered for the role of Capt. Tony Nelson. Who else was?

a) Ken Berry
b) James Brolin
c) Robert Conrad
d) Mike Connors
e) Burt Reynolds

Is: c) Robert Conrad, who ended up on CBS western The Wild, Wild West. Happy Holidays everyone and a Happy and Healthy New Year!

Todays Trivia All-Stars:
Matthew Berriman, Gerry Bixenspan, Larry Collins, Tom Condosta, Mark Cosenza, Maureen Goldman, Ed Griffis, Bob Ingersoll, David Jackino, Tom Joyce, Mary Kinoshita, Synda Kollman, Marie Lefevre, Rick Locke, Tony Naldrett, Ken Penney, Gordon Purcell, Colleen Roth, Ken Stowe