Lower Decks

Weekly Ratings Roundup
Week 2 of the 2008-2009 Television Season
Monday, September 29th, 2008 – Sunday, October 5th, 2008

Broadcast Network

For many shows, the second week of the 2008-2009 television season was a disappointing one.  Fringe, with 9.91 million viewers, grew slightly from the previous week (9.42 million viewers on Tuesday, September 23rd) but was still down considerably from the huge audience for its second episode (13.27 million on Tuesday, September 16th).  Its 4.2/11 Nielsen rating in the adult 18-49 demographic was also up from the previous week (4.2/11 vs. 4.1/10) but also down from the second episode (5.1/13).  If this is true audience growth for Fringe not connected with its lead-in, House, FOX may have a solid performer on its hands.

   22   Fringe                      9,910,000

NBC has less to be happy about with the latest ratings for Heroes.  The third episode of the third season hit a series low with 9.5 million viewers (the previous low was 9.9 million viewers, for Season Two’s “Out of Time” on November 5th, 2007).  Its 4.5/11 rating in the A18-49 demographic still placed it in the Top Ten for the week, but year-to-year Heroes is down considerably (the third episode of Season Two, “Kindred,” had a 5.1/12 rating).  On CBS, the fourth season premiere of Ghost Whisperer drew 9.45 million viewers and a 2.5/9 rating in the A18-49 demographic, both up from its Season Three Premiere (8.72 million and a 2.4/9 rating for “The Underneath,” aired Friday, September 28th, 2007).

   25   Heroes                      9,500,000
   27   Ghost Whisperer             9,450,000

The second episode of Knight Rider saw a small increase in viewers (7.77 vs. 7.4 million) but a small drop in the demographic (2.4/7 vs. 2.5/7).  Holding steady is good news.

   39   Knight Rider                7,770,000

On Monday, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles fell to a series low with just 5.37 million viewers and a 2.0/5 rating in the A18-49 demographic.  Unsubstantiated rumors about the imminent cancellation of the series abound.  Although the competition on Monday evenings has become quite fierce this season, there is really no way for FOX to spin these numbers in a positive manner.

   61   Terminator: TSCC            5,370,000

A pair of Knight Rider repeats on Saturday underwhelmed, but if they push 500,000 new viewers to the series, the poor Saturday ratings will be worth it.  On The CW, both Smallville and Supernatural did well on Thursday, although Smallville has continued to drop each week of the new season, both in total viewers and in the A18-49 demographic.  Supernatural, however, saw gains in both categories (3.510 vs. 3.2 million, 1.4/3 vs. 1.3/3 A18-40 demographic).  Smallville was The CW’s highest-rated program while Supernatural was third (behind America’s Top Model).

   72   Knight Rider (Sat. Repeat)  4,270,000
   75   Smallville                  4,050,000
   82   Supernatural                3,510,000
   83   Knight Rider (Sat. Repeat)  3,420,000

SCI FI Channel (Two-Week Delay, September 15th through September 21st)

All five of the highest-rated programs on SCI FI Channel were original programs (although only two were scripted).  Ghost Hunters once again topped the chart with a 1.8 rating (meaning 1.9% of households with access to SCI FI).  Eureka was second with a 1.7 rating, up from the previous week, and Destination Truth, ECW and Stargate: Atlantis rounded out the Top Five each with a 1.2 rating.

Eureka Season Three
"Bad to the Drone"               2.1
"What About Bob?"                1.9
"Best in Faux"                   1.9
"I Do Over"                      1.8
"Show Me the Mummy"              2.0
"Phased and Confused"            1.5
"Here Come the Suns"             1.7

Stargate: Atlantis Season Five
"Search and Rescue (1)"          1.3
"The Seed"                       1.1
"Broken Ties"                    1.2
"The Daedalus Variations"        1.3
"Ghost in the Machine"           1.2
"The Shrine"                     1.2
"Whispers"                       1.1
"The Queen"                      1.3
"Tracker"                        1.2

Season-to-date, Eureka is averaging a 1.8 rating, compared to a 1.7 rating for the first seven episodes of Season Two.  As for Stargate: Atlantis, the first nine episodes of the fifth season are averaging a 1.2 rating, compared to a 1.0 rating for the first nine episodes of the fourth season.  In more recent SCI FI Channel news, the two-hour premeire of Sanctuary drew a 2.2 rating and some 2.7 million viewers.  According to this SCI FI Channel press release, that makes Sanctuary the “highest rated original series premiere since Eureka made Channel history in July 2006. ”

Conclusion

After the disappointing performances of original series The Dresden Files and Flash Gordon, SCI FI Channel is understandably happy with the ratings for the premiere of Sanctuary.  The numbers of the second episode, however, will be telling.  Still, SCI FI is doing quite well with its stable of original dramas, reality programs, telefilms and repeats.

On the broadcast networks, CBS has the most to crow about with the Season Five premiere of Ghost Whisperer, which unlike many returning shows actually showed growth year-to-year.  The CW, facing disappointing performances for many of its shows, has to be happy with its Thursday line-up of Smallville and Supernatural. But both NBC and FOX saw mixed returns this week: with Heroes and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles sinking fast while Fringe and Knight Rider either held steady or saw small improvements.

Sources

Program rankings from ABC Medianet
Household Nielsen ratings and adults 18-49 demographic from the Sitcoms Online message boards
SCI FI Channel ratings from SCI FI Wire

All Nielsen Ratings Copyright Nielsen Media Research