All posts tagged American Idol

TV MEDIA INSIGHTS
Thursday, April 12, 2012

On the Road with TVMI: We head to Las Vegas this Sunday where we will be reporting live from the 2012 NAB (The National Association of Broadcasters) Show. Stay tuned!

Today in TV History:
Police themed 21 Jump Street, the first drama to air on Fox, debuted in 1987. One of the stars, of course, was a young Johnny Depp. Also on this day was the 100th episode of TV’s most talkative horse, Mister Ed, in 1964.

In Today’s Issue

NETWORK
-Wednesday Metered Market Ratings
-ABC Renews General Hospital
-Fox to Fill Saturday With Sports
-ABC’s Body of Proof – To Renew or Not Renew?
-Hawaii Five-O and NCIS: Los Angeles Cross Paths
-Renewal Scorecard
-Remembering Cleo Smith

CABLE
-Spike TV Announces May Start Dates for Non-Scripted Duo
-New Disney XD Sitcom to Combine Live Action with Puppetry
-Top 20 Rankings – Tuesday 4/10/12

SCHEDULE BOX
-On the Air Tonight

TRIVIA CHALLENGE
-Don’t Kiss My Grits
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NETWORK

Metered Market Wednesday Ratings
Fox Wins; Modest Start for The B____ in Apartment 23 on ABC

Wednesday 4/11/12
Metered Market Results

Household
Rating/Share
Fox 11.3/18
CBS 6.9/11
ABC 5.1/ 8
NBC 3.2/ 5
CW 1.0/ 1

-Percent Change from Year-Ago Evening – Wednesday 4/13/11
NBC: +19, ABC: +11, CBS: – 3, Fox: – 9, CW: -33

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-Winners:
American Idol (Fox), Survivor: One World (CBS), Modern Family (ABC), Criminal Minds (CBS), CSI (CBS)

-Losers (excluding repeats):
BFF (NBC), Rock Center With Brian Williams (NBC), America’s Next Top Model: British Invasion (CW)

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-Ratings Breakdown:
Fox remains the network to beat on Wednesday, with an 11.3 rating/18 share in the overnights for diluted American Idol from 8-10 p.m. Year-to-year, Idol slipped by 24 percent (versus a 14.8/23 on 4/13/11). And, yes, there is every reason to believe there will be more erosion next season. American Idol is 11-years old, after all.

CBS finished in the distant No. 2 spot overall, followed by ABC, NBC and, as always, The CW.

In series-premiere news, ABC sitcom Don’t Trust the B____ in Apartment 23 got off to a modest start with a third-place 5.0/ 8 in the overnights at 9:30 p.m. Comparably, this was six percent below the debut of year-ago occupant Happy Endings (5.3/ 8 on 4/13/11), with retention out of Modern Family (#2: 7.5/11 at 9 p.m.) of 67 percent. Considering the mountain of promotion, this is a disappointing start for Don’t Trust the B____ in Apartment 23. Expect erosion of 10 to 20 percent in week two.

Earlier in the evening on ABC was always reliable The Middle at a third-place 4.9/ 8 in the overnights at 8 p.m., followed by expected-to-be renewed freshman comedy Suburgatory at a 4.5/ 7 (#3) at 8:30 p.m. Comparatively, Suburgatory built from failed year-ago occupant Better With You (3.4/ 5 on 4/13/11) by 32 percent.

At 10 p.m. on ABC was a clips edition of Revenge, themed Revenge From the Beginning, at a third-place 4.3/ 7. Revenge returns with an original episode next week.

On CBS, a deadly dull edition of Survivor: One World still resonated with a second-place 6.4/10 at 8 p.m. Comparatively, that was right on par with the year-ago Redemption Island themed edition. For Douglas Pucci’s review of Survivor, click on the following: http://tinyurl.com/7oxzv28. Douglas’ grade this week was a C-, and I completely agree.

Survivor led into Criminal Minds (#2: 7.6/12 at 9 p.m.), which slipped by 11 percent year-to-year (versus an 8.5/13 on 4/13/11), followed by veteran CSI at a dominant 6.7/11 at 10 p.m. Survivor, Criminal Minds and CSI will all be returning next season.

Over at NBC, new Wednesday anchor Betty White’s Off Their Rockers dipped by 18 percent in the overnights from its week ago time period debut, but a 4.2/ 7 at 8 p.m. is still a notable improvement over recent occupant Whitney. Week two of lead-out BFF, however, dipped to a mere 2.1/ 3 at 8:30 p.m. (#4, down 22 percent from the already DOA week-ago debut), followed by relocated Rock Center With Brian Williams at an embarrassing 2.0/ 3 at 9 p.m. (#4). The return of veteran Law & Order” SVU perked up to a second-place 4.4/ 8 at 10 p.m.

Last, and very least was an encore telecast of America’s Next Top Model: British Invasion (0.8/ 1 at 8 p.m.) leading into an original installment at a 1.2/ 2 at 9 p.m. Comparably, the 9 p.m. edition of Top Model was only nine percent above year-ago fiasco Shedding For the Wedding (1.1/ 2 on 4/13/11).

Source: Nielsen Media Research data

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OTHER NETWORK ITEMS

ABC Renews General Hospital
After months of speculation that long-time daytime drama General Hospital would follow the same path as canceled All My Children and One Live to Live, ABC has issued a renewal for 2012-13, marking the soap’s 50th anniversary. Recent struggling talk show entry The Revolution, however, has been canceled and will depart in the beginning of July. An afternoon edition of Good Morning America, tentatively titled GMA in the Afternoon, will step in for The Revolution for nine weeks until General Hospital moves into the weekday 2 p.m. hour in early September.

Most recent ratings for The Revolution – 1.32 million viewers and a 0.6 rating/4 share among key women 25-54, were half of year-ago occupant One Life to Live.

Fox to Fill Saturday With Sports
With Cops on the downside, America’s Most Wanted now on Lifetime, and recent entry Q’Viva! The Chosen DOA, Fox was in need of something to fill Saturday with. So, effective this Saturday, April 14 through December 8, the network will offer more than 100 hours of primetime sports programming. The package will include Major League Baseball, college football, NASCAR and UFC, and it comes right on the heels of an expected launch by Fox of a new national sports network.

Cops, which concluded for the season last Saturday, will return in 2012-13, but with a reduced number of episodes.

ABC’s Body of Proof – To Renew or Not Renew?
It is that time of year again when the actors and staff of questionably rated series fail to retrieve their mail for fear one of the items might be pink. One such series, Body of Proof on ABC, picked up steam at exactly the right time with a dominant 10.17 million viewers and a 1.9 rating/5 share among adults 18-49 for the season (or series) finale in the Tuesday 10 p.m. hour, according to the fast affiliate ratings. And that, according to ABC, was its second most-watched telecast this season, with retention out of the 9:30 p.m. portion of lead-in Dancing With the Stars (Viewers: 13.47 million; A18-49: 2.3/ 6) of a not-so-terrible 76 percent in total viewers and 83 percent in the demo.

So why is Body of Proof “on the fence”?

The answer is simple: it skews older, as do the majority of dramas of a crime solving nature. And that automatically could be a death sentence for shows like Body of Proof, Harry’s Law and veteran CSI: NY which attract the unwanted 50+ demo. If temporarily relocated Private Practice on ABC jumpstarts the adult 18-49 demo in place of Body of Proof (where it begins on April 17 for four weeks), Dana Delany and company could be investigating their own demise. But since new drama Scandal out of Grey’s Anatomy (the former home of Private Practice), is unlikely to hold up, Body of Proof could earn a renewal. With other more pressing concerns for ABC (Sunday night, in particular), why cancel a series that still has an audience?

TVMI Prediction: Body of Proof will return next season (but probably at a reduced number of episodes). And it could be in midseason.

Hawaii Five-O and NCIS: Los Angeles Cross Paths
Remember the classic days of crossover appearances? Let’s see…The Donna Reed Show and Dennis the Menace; The Beverly Hillbillies, Petticoat Junction and Green Acres; The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Rhoda and Phyllis; Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley and Mork & Mindy; Dallas and Knots Landing; The Golden Girls, Empty Nest and Nurses; Murder, She Wrote and Magnum P.I.; Cheers and St. Elsewhere; Seinfeld and Mad About You; Everybody Loves Raymond and The King of Queens; Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice and, of course, the Law & Order and CSI franchises. The list is endless.

The latest crossover are CBS crime-solvers Hawaii Five-O and NCIS: Los Angeles when the two team up to battle a suspect on the loose who threatens to release a deadly virus. The storyline begins on Monday, April 30 on Hawaii Five-O with guest stars Chris O’Donnell and LL Cool J, and concludes on Tuesday, May 1 on NCIS: Los Angeles with special guests Scott Caan and Daniel Dae Kim.

Renewal Scorecard
Here is the latest update on the confirmed series renewals for next season. New on this chart are the pick-ups of Fox’s Tuesday combination of Glee, New Girl and Raising Hope. As a reminder, the broadcast networks officially unveil their line-ups in New York the week of May 14.

ABC
Nothing confirmed yet

CBS
The Amazing Race, The Big Bang Theory, Blue Bloods, CSI, Criminal Minds, 48 Hours Mystery, The Good Wife, How I Met Your Mother, Hawaii Five-O, The Mentalist, Mike & Molly, NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles, Person of Interest, 60 Minutes, Survivor, 2 Broke Girls, Two and a Half Men, Undercover Boss

NBC
Football Night in America, Grimm, Smash, Sunday Night Football

Fox
American Dad, Bob’s Burgers, Bones, The Cleveland Show, Family Guy, Glee, Kitchen Nightmares, New Girl, Raising Hope, The Simpsons, The X Factor

CW
America’s Next Top Model

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Remembering Cleo Smith
Cleo Smith, the beloved cousin of Lucille Ball (who was reared as Lucy’s sister), passed away on Monday, April 9. She was 93. Born on May 12, 1919 in Jamestown, New York, Cleo was the producer of Lucy’s third sitcom, Here’s Lucy, and the executive in charge of production for the 1966 CBS special Lucy in London. Cleo was married for 45 years to journalist and renowned theatre and television critic Cecil Smith, who died in 2009, is survived by three children – Scott Morgan of Portland, Oregon; Tina Smith of Carpentaria, California; and Marcus Smith of Morro Bay, California; and grandchildren Amanda Morgan and Joshua Smith.

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CABLE

Spike TV Announces May Start Dates for Non-Scripted Duo
World’s Wildest Police Videos, which was revived by Spike TV 11 years after Fox canceled it, will return with new episodes on Monday, May 7 at 8 p.m. ET. One day later, Spike will introduce Undercover Stings, a new reality half-hour from the producers of Cops that will showcase the dangerous world of undercover police work. Locations will include Kansas City, Las Vegas, Palm Beach and Savannah. It debuts on Tuesday, May 8 at 10:30 p.m. ET.


New Disney XD Sitcom to Combine Live Action with Puppetry
Disney XD, which is targeted to boys 6-14, will introduce a new live action comedy – with puppetry — called Crash & Bernstein. It tells the tale of a 14-year old boy named Wyatt Bernstein, the only son among four kids, whose dream of having a loud-mouthed brother happens when his puppet, Crash, comes to life. The multi-camera sitcom will begin production in May for a Fall 2012 premiere. Emmy-nominated puppet master and filmmaker Tim Lagasse (Sesame Street, Between the Lions) will star as Crash.


Top 20 Rankings – Tuesday 4/10/12
What follows are the 20 most-watched shows on basic cable for Tuesday, April 10:

Deadliest Catch (Discovery, 9 p.m.): 3.14 million, The Big Bang Theory (TBS, 10 p.m.): 2.92, The Big Bang Theory (TBS, 10:30 p.m.): 2.84, NBA Regular Season (ESPN, 9:41 p.m.): 2.83, The Big Bang Theory (TBS, 9:30 p.m.): 2.83, The Big Bang Theory (TBS, 8:30 p.m.): 2.79, The O’Reilly Factor (Fox News Channel, 8 p.m.0: 2.69, Justified (FX, 10 p.m.): 2.66, The Big Bang Theory (TBS, 9 p.m.): 2.60, Jessie (Disney Channel, 9 p.m.): 2.39, The Big Bang Theory (TBS, 8 p.m.): 2.35, The Game (BET, 10 p.m.): 2.26, Supersmackdown Live (Syfy, 8 p.m.): 2.25, Hannity (Fox News Channel, 9 p.m.): 2.19, Deadliest Catch (Discovery, 10:01 p.m.): 2.17, Shake It Up (Disney Channel, 8:30 p.m.): 2.13, American Dad (Adult Swim, 10:30 p.m.): 2.11, Austin & Ally (Disney Channel, 8 p.m.): 2.00, So Random (Disney Channel, 9:30 p.m.): 1.93, Law & Order: SVU (USA, 10 p.m.): 1.90

Source: Nielsen Media Research data
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SCHEDULE BOX
On the Air Tonight

Thursday, April 12

ABC
8:00 p.m. Missing
9:00 p.m. Grey’s Anatomy
10:00 p.m. Scandal

CBS
8:00 p.m. The Big Bang Theory (R)
8:30 p.m. Rules of Engagement
9:00 p.m. The Big Bang Theory (R)
9:30 p.m. 2 Broke Girls (R)
10:00 p.m. Person of Interest (R)

NBC
8:00 p.m. Community
8:30 p.m. 30 Rock
9:00 p.m. The Office
9:30 p.m. Up All Night (season or series finale)
10:00 p.m. Awake

Fox
8:00 p.m. American Idol
9:00 p.m. Touch

CW
8:00 p.m. The Vampire Diaries (R)
9:00 p.m. The Secret Circle (R)

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TRIVIA CHALLENGE
Don’t Kiss My Grits

In the final episode of sitcom Alice, grumpy Mel gives each of the three waitresses…Alice, Vera and Jolene…a bonus after selling the diner. Who much was that bonus?

a) $10
b) $50
c) $500
d) $1,000
e) $5,000

The answer to yesterday’s question…

Remember the episode of I Love Lucy when Lucy and Ethel go into business making salad dressing based on the recipe from Lucy’s aunt? What was the first name of that aunt?

a) Anne
b) Hilda
c) Martha
d) Matilda
e) Rose

…Is: Martha, as in Aunt Martha’s Old-Fashioned Salad Dressing.

Todays Trivia All-Stars:
Barbara Berman, Gerry Bixenspan, Elvis Bussard, Brian Carney, D.C. Carter, Mark Cosenza, Audrey Davis, Darlene Dorman, Phyllis Epstein, John Ferlazzo (2x), Serri Ferrante, Susan Nessanbaum-Goldberg, Maureen Goldman, Ed Griffis, Jacqueline Hague, Julie Hurwitz, Bob Ingersoll, Synda Kollman, Charmaine Leary, Marie Lefevre, Jody McIntyre, Lee McMichael, Marc Miller, Tony Naldrett, Barbara Oates, Alan Perris, David Primuth, Gordon Purcell, Susan Rogers, Anthony Salerno, Mark Simmons, Michelle Stanton, Joanne Stern, Ken Stowe, Joe Swaney, Ronnie Tallant, Ralph Tobias, Linda Weeks