Broadcast Networks

It was a holiday week filled with specials and repeats and thus this will be another abbreviated edition of the Weekly Ratings Roundup. Just the numbers and a minimum of analysis.  A pair of Ghost Whisperer repeats on CBS performed well for the day after Christmas.  On December 25th, a repeat of Supernatural actually beat a repeat of Smallville.  Impressive?  Or were all the Smallville fans who would regularly watch a repeat out enjoying the holiday?  And if the preliminary numbers hold up, the most recent repeat of Jericho on The CW will have seen its audience increase over the previous episode.

   Ghost Whisperer (8PM Repeat)     7,790,000
   Ghost Whisperer (9PM Repeat)     6,510,000
   Fringe (Repeat)                  4,220,000
   Supernatural (Repeat)            1,600,000
   Smallville (Repeat)              1,330,000
   Jericho (CW Repeat)                947,500 [Preliminary]

SCI FI Channel (Two-Week Delay, December 8th through December 14th)

It was the week before Christmas and, as usual, Ghost Hunters sat atop the SCI FI chart with a 1.9 coverage rating (meaning 1.6% of households with access to SCI FI).  Sanctuary came in second with a 1.4 rating, an improvement over its series-low the previous week, while Stargate: Atlantis held steady at a 1.2 rating, good enough for fourth.

   Sanctuary Season One
   "Sanctuary for All"              2.2
   "Fata Morgana"                   1.6
   "Folding Man"                    1.6
   "Kush"                           1.4
   "Nubbins"                        1.5
   "The Five"                       1.5
   "Edward"                         1.4
   "Requiem"                        1.2
   "Warriors"                       1.4

   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
   "First Contact (1)"              1.1
   "The Lost Tribe (2)"             1.5
   "Outsiders"                      1.2
   "Inquisition"                    1.2
   "The Prodigal"                   1.2
   "Remnants"                       1.3
   "Brain Storm"                    1.2
   "Infection"                      1.2
   "Identity"                       1.2

New reality shows Estate of Panic and CHA$E were both outside the Top Ten; ECW ranked fifth with a 1.2.  The rest of the Top Ten was filled with theatrical repeats and made-for-TV movies.

Syndication (Two-Week Delay, December 8th through December 15th)

After seven weeks and eight new episodes, Legend of the Seeker entered its first batch of repeats and did quite well.  A repeat of the first episode (“Prophecy (1)”) pulled a 1.9 Nielsen rating, down from a 2.1 rating for the previous week (when a new episode aired) but tied with the sixth episode (“Elixer”).  The fact that a repeat could do as well as a first-run episode is a good sign — and it indicates that perhaps new viewers are giving the show a chance.

   Legend of the Seeker (First-Run Syndication, Saturday Airdates)
   "Prophecy (1)"                   Nov.  1st, 2008   4.0
   "Destiny (2)"                    Nov.  1st, 2008   4.0
   "Bounty"                         Nov.  8th, 2008   2.9
   "Brennidon"                      Nov. 15th, 2008   2.0
   "Listener"                       Nov. 22nd, 2008   2.1
   "Elixer"                         Nov. 29th, 2008   1.9
   "Identity"                       Dec.  6th, 2008   2.1
   "Prophecy (1)" (R)               Dec. 13th, 2008   1.9

And the latest episode of Lost in syndication sank to a new low — a 0.8 rating.  I’d like to take this time to point out that I don’t actually know what episode of Lost is being aired each week.  I’m just assuming a new episode is airing each week.

   Lost (Off-Network Syndication, Week of Airdates)
   "Pilot (1)"                      Sep.  8th, 2008   1.1
   "Pilot (2"                       Sep. 15th, 2008   1.1
   "Tabula Rasa"                    Sep. 22nd, 2008   1.1
   "Walkabout"                      Sep. 29th, 2008   1.1
   "White Rabbit"                   Oct.  6th, 2008   1.2
   "House of the Rising Sun"        Oct. 13th, 2008   1.1
   "The Moth"                       Oct. 20th, 2008   1.0
   "Confidence Man"                 Oct. 27th, 2008   0.9
   "Solitary"                       Nov.  3rd, 2008   0.9
   "Raised by Another"              Nov. 10th, 2008   1.0
   "All the Best Cowboys Have ..."  Nov. 17th, 2008   1.0
   "Whatever the Case May Be"       Nov. 24th, 2008   1.1
   "Hearts and Minds"               Dec.  1st, 2008   1.0
   "Special"                        Dec.  8th, 2008   0.8

Conclusion

On the networks the key word these days is repeat.  Yawn.  SCI FI Channel will be entering a new phase in mid-January when new episodes of Battlestar Galactica (the final run) top of a Friday evening filled with repeats.  And in syndication, there’s still not enough information to discuss how well Legend of the Seeker is performing.  If it comes back from four weeks of repeats at the same level it went in with, that alone would be good news.

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
Syndicated ratings from SCI FI Wire/Zap2it/Broadcasting & Cable

All Nielsen Ratings Copyright Nielsen Media Research

Broadcast Networks

This will be an abbreviated edition of the Weekly Ratings Roundup.  Just the numbers and a minimum of analysis.

Ghost Whisperer                 10,180,000
Heroes                           7,870,000
Terminator: TSCC                 5,070,000
Fringe (Repeat)                  4,820,000
Smallville (Repeat)              2,130,000
Supernatural (Repeat)            2,070,000
Jericho (CW Repeat)                910,000

Ghost Whisperer was able to top ten million again after slipping to 9.7 million for its last episode (“Pieces of You,” December 5th) while the midseason finale of Heroes managed to pull a 3.7/9 Nielsen rating in the adults 18-49 demographic, its highest since October 27th (“Eris Quod Sum”).  Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, also in its midseason finale, stayed steady at roughly five million viewers and a 1.9/5 A18-49 rating.

A repeat of Fringe did as well as can be expected while The CW performed quite well with repeats of Smallville and Supernatural both topping two million viewers.  The latest repeat of Jericho on The CW improved a hair over last week’s episode (910,000 viewers versus 880,000).

SCI FI Channel (Two-Week Delay, December 1st through December 7th)

Ghost Hunters returned to the top of the SCI FI charts with a 1.8 coverage rating (meaning 1.6% of households with access to SCI FI).  ECW was second with a 1.3, the latest Saturday movie was third with a 1.2 and Stargate: Atlantis and Sanctuary came in fourth and fifth, also with 1.2 ratings.  That is the lowest rating for Sanctuary to date.

   Sanctuary Season One
   "Sanctuary for All"              2.2
   "Fata Morgana"                   1.6
   "Folding Man"                    1.6
   "Kush"                           1.4
   "Nubbins"                        1.5
   "The Five"                       1.5
   "Edward"                         1.4
   "Requiem"                        1.2

   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
   "First Contact (1)"              1.1
   "The Lost Tribe (2)"             1.5
   "Outsiders"                      1.2
   "Inquisition"                    1.2
   "The Prodigal"                   1.2
   "Remnants"                       1.3
   "Brain Storm"                    1.2
   "Infection"                      1.2

New reality shows Estate of Panic and CHA$E were sixth and ninth, respectively, with 1.0 and 0.9 ratings.

Syndication (Two-Week Delay, December 1st through December 7th)

Legend of the Seeker jumped back up to a 2.1 rating with its seventh episode.

Legend of the Seeker (First-Run Syndication, Saturday Airdates)
"Prophecy (1)"                   Nov.  1st, 2008   4.0
"Destiny (2)"                    Nov.  1st, 2008   4.0
"Bounty"                         Nov.  8th, 2008   2.9
"Brennidon"                      Nov. 15th, 2008   2.0
"Listener"                       Nov. 22nd, 2008   2.1
"Elixer"                         Nov. 29th, 2008   1.9
"Identity"                       Dec.  6th, 2008   2.1

The latest Lost repeat dropped slightly to a 1.0 rating, still very much in line with the show’s performance to date.

Lost (Off-Network Syndication, Week of Airdates)
"Pilot (1)"                      Sep.  8th, 2008   1.1
"Pilot (2"                       Sep. 15th, 2008   1.1
"Tabula Rasa"                    Sep. 22nd, 2008   1.1
"Walkabout"                      Sep. 29th, 2008   1.1
"White Rabbit"                   Oct.  6th, 2008   1.2
"House of the Rising Sun"        Oct. 13th, 2008   1.1
"The Moth"                       Oct. 20th, 2008   1.0
"Confidence Man"                 Oct. 27th, 2008   0.9
"Solitary"                       Nov.  3rd, 2008   0.9
"Raised by Another"              Nov. 10th, 2008   1.0
"All the Best Cowboys Have ..."  Nov. 17th, 2008   1.0
"Whatever the Case May Be"       Nov. 24th, 2008   1.1
"Hearts and Minds"               Dec.  1st, 2008   1.0

Conclusion

It was another good week for Ghost Whisperer and very little else.  Heroes and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles finished the first half of their seasons with middling ratings at best.  On SCI FI, although new reality shows appear to be doing well, Sanctuary dropped to its lowest rating of its first season.  In syndication, Legend of the Seeker rebounded from last week’s series-low and topped a 2.0 rating once again.

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
Syndicated ratings from SCI FI Wire/Zap2it/Broadcasting & Cable

All Nielsen Ratings Copyright Nielsen Media Research

Broadcast Networks

As was the case last week, there was little of note on the broadcast networks during the second week of December.  NBC’s Knight Rider was once again preempted, as was CBS’s Ghost Whisperer.  FOX’s Fringe and The CW’s Smallville and Supernatural were repeats.

For the first time in ages, Heroes was the most-watched science fiction, fantasy or horror program for the week with 7.72 million viewers for the penultimate episode of Volume Three: Heroes.  That was down slightly from the previous week (7.99 million viewers) while holding steady in the adults 18-49 demographic (3.6/9 Nielsen rating).

31   Heroes                      7,720,000

A repeat of Fringe did well, all things considered, with almost seven million viewers while Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles lost almost 600,000 viewers from its previous episode (5.82 million on December 1st) and tumbled to a 1.9/5 A18-49 rating (down from a 2.2/6 the previous week).

42   Fringe (Repeat)             6,950,000
60   Terminator: TSCC            5,250,000

Repeats of Smallville and Supernatural performed at expected levels for The CW on Thursday, with Smallville hitting 2.5 million viewers.

87   Smallville (Repeat)         2,500,000
88   Supernatural (Repeat)       1,980,000

And on Sunday, a repeat of the third episode of Jericho on The CW could only muster 880,000 viewers.

98   Jericho (The CW Repeat)       880,000

That was down 250,000 viewers from the previous week and 340,000 from the pilot episode (on November 30th).  Still, that’s better than any of the four original installments of In Harm’s Way, which never broke 800,000 viewers.  However, if the ratings for these Jericho repeats continue to fall, there will come a point when The CW decides to try something else.

SCI FI Channel (Two-Week Delay, November 24th through November 30th)

Due to the Thanksgiving holiday it was an atypical week for SCI FI.  The cable channel’s usual #1 show, Ghost Hunters, was a repeat and its Friday originals, Stargate: Atlantis and Sanctuary were pre-empted for a Mork & Mindy marathon.  The top rated program was Steven King’s Desperation with a 1.6 coverage rating (meaning 1.6% of households with access to SCI FI) while the aforementioned Ghost Hunters ranked fourth with a 1.3.  ECW was fifth, also with a 1.3.  The rest of the Top Ten was filled with made-for-TV movies and feature films.

Syndication (Two-Week Delay, November 24th through November 30th)

Legend of the Seeker dropped below a 2.0 rating for the first time with its sixth episode (“Elixer,” originally broadcast the weekend of November 29th/30th, 2008) drawing a 1.9 rating.

Legend of the Seeker (First-Run Syndication, Saturday Airdates)
"Prophecy (1)"                   Nov.  1st, 2008   4.0
"Destiny (2)"                    Nov.  1st, 2008   4.0
"Bounty"                         Nov.  8th, 2008   2.9
"Brennidon"                      Nov. 15th, 2008   2.0
"Listener"                       Nov. 22nd, 2008   2.1
"Elixer"                         Nov. 29th, 2008   1.9

The latest Lost repeat drew a 1.1 rating, the best performance for the series since the week of October 13th.

Lost (Off-Network Syndication, Week of Airdates)
"Pilot (1)"                      Sep.  8th, 2008   1.1
"Pilot (2"                       Sep. 15th, 2008   1.1
"Tabula Rasa"                    Sep. 22nd, 2008   1.1
"Walkabout"                      Sep. 29th, 2008   1.1
"White Rabbit"                   Oct.  6th, 2008   1.2
"House of the Rising Sun"        Oct. 13th, 2008   1.1
"The Moth"                       Oct. 20th, 2008   1.0
"Confidence Man"                 Oct. 27th, 2008   0.9
"Solitary"                       Nov.  3rd, 2008   0.9
"Raised by Another"              Nov. 10th, 2008   1.0
"All the Best Cowboys Have ..."  Nov. 17th, 2008   1.0
"Whatever the Case May Be"       Nov. 24th, 2008   1.1

Conclusion

The winter repeat “season” is in full swing, with many shows already in repeats and most others soon to be.  It will be several months before new episodes, new shows and returning mid season shows begin rolling out.  NBC’s Heroes concluded this past Monday (December 8th) and won’t be back until February 2nd, 2009.  During the second half of Volume Three: Villains, the show finally bottomed out at around 7.7 million viewers and a 3.6/9 A18-49 rating.  Those aren’t good numbers by any means but for NBC they’ll do.  If the show continues to drop when Volume Four: Fugitives premieres, a full fourth season will become much less likely.

FOX’s Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles is in the same boat.  It moves to Fridays in February and needs to at the very least hold its current audience to have any chance of a third season.  Fringe, on the other hand, will probably benefit from its American Idol lead-in.  There is a new episode of Ghost Whisperer this Friday and then the series will be in repeats for four weeks.  It will be interesting to see how the show fares when it returns.  It dropped an alarming amount with its last new episode (broadcast December 5th) and a four week break isn’t going to help.

As for SCI FI Channel, Stargate: Atlantis wraps up in January along with the first season of Sanctuary, which has seemingly settled at an acceptable level.  The final ten episodes of Battlestar Galactica may or may not recapture some of the show’s earlier ratings glory but either way the show is ending.  SCI FI really needs to work on its scripted fare.  In syndication, the steady performance of Lost is hardly surprising given that the show’s hardcore fanbase will follow it anywhere.  The future of Legend of the Seeker is hardly set in stone.  Falling from a 4.0 to a 1.9 rating in only six episodes would not be acceptable in any other venue; in syndication, if enough individual stations see ratings gains there could be a chance for a second season.

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
Syndicated ratings from SCI FI Wire/Zap2it/Broadcasting & Cable

All Nielsen Ratings Copyright Nielsen Media Research

Broadcast Networks

The first week of December was a slow one for the networks.  As usual, the most watched science fiction, fantasy or horror program was CBS’s Ghost Whisperer but the series was off considerably from its previous outings.  Due to the Thanksgiving holiday last week, CBS aired two repeats of Ghost Whisperer and that may have helped to kill the momentum the series had been gathering.  The ninth episode of the fourth season drew 9.7 million viewers, down 1.6 million from the last episode (“Heart & Soul,” 11.3 million viewers on November 21st).

28   Ghost Whisperer             9,710,000

That was actually down from the ninth episode of the third season (“All Ghosts Lead to Grandview,” 9.98 million viewers on November 23rd, 2007).  On FOX, the news was positive for Fringe, which saw an increase of 840,000 viewers from the previous episode (7.7 million on November 25th).  It also jumped to a 3.6/9 Nielsen rating in the A18-49 demographic compared to a 3.4/9 rating for the previous episode.

35   Fringe                      8,540,000

Heroes also gained viewers, crossing eight million viewers for the first time since October 27th (technically, there were only 7.995 million viewers).  And it grew slightly in the A18-49 demographic, from a 3.5/8 to a 3.6/9.  At this point, any growth is positive for the series.  Also on Mondays, and also gaining viewers, was FOX’sTerminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, which added 1.25 million viewers from its series-low performance last week (4.57 million viewers).  And it saw a large increase in the A18-49 demographic, drawing a 2.2/6 — its best performance since October 6th.

43   Heroes                     8,000,000
64   Terminator: TSCC           5,820,000

Repeats of The CW’s Smallville and Supernatural did quite well on Thursday, with both shows crossing the two  million mark.  And on Sunday, a repeat of the second episode of Jericho on The CW fell slightly, from 1.22 million viewers to 1.13 million viewers, while holding steady in the A18-49 demographic with a 0.4/1 rating.  Although low, these numbers are still better than what The CW was drawing with its former Sunday line-up.

89   Smallville (Repeat)         2,290,000
91   Supernatural (Repeat)       2,000,000
98   Jericho (The CW Repeat)     1,130,000

SCI FI Channel (Two-Week Delay, November 17th through November 24th)

Ghost Hunters topped the SCI FI Channel charts, once again, with a 2.2 rating (meaning 2.2% of households with access to SCI FI).  That was a nice increase from the previous week (a 1.7 rating).  The latest SCI FI Saturday movie, Lost City Raiders, ranked second with a 1.7 rating.  By comparison, the last Saturday movie also drew a 1.7 rating (Yeti on November 8th).  Third was Sanctuary with a 1.4 rating, down from the previous week.

   Sanctuary Season One
   "Sanctuary for All"              2.2
   "Fata Morgana"                   1.6
   "Folding Man"                    1.6
   "Kush"                           1.4
   "Nubbins"                        1.5
   "The Five"                       1.5
   "Edward"                         1.4

Stargate: Atlantis was fifth with a 1.2, followed by new reality series Estate of Panic and ECW (also at 1.2 ratings).  Last week, the premiere of Estate of Panic drew a 1.0 rating.  The rest of the Top Ten was filled with made-for-TV movies.

   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
   "First Contact (1)"              1.1
   "The Lost Tribe (2)"             1.5
   "Outsiders"                      1.2
   "Inquisition"                    1.2
   "The Prodigal"                   1.2
   "Remnants"                       1.3
   "Brain Storm"                    1.2

Syndication (Two-Week Delay, November 17th through November 24th)

I’m revising my numbers for Legend of the Seeker.  Previously I was under the impression that the two-part premiere drew a 2.9 Nielsen rating but now I’m thinking it actually had a 4.0 rating.  That shifts all the numbers down a peg and makes the drop from the first two episodes to the third episode more severe.  However, the slight increase from the fourth to fifth episodes is a positive.

Legend of the Seeker (First-Run Syndication, Saturday Airdates)
"Prophecy (1)"                   Nov.  1st, 2008   4.0
"Destiny (2)"                    Nov.  1st, 2008   4.0
"Bounty"                         Nov.  8th, 2008   2.9
"Brennidon"                      Nov. 15th, 2008   2.0
"Listener"                       Nov. 22nd, 2008   2.1

Meanwhile, Lost repeats continues to hold steady at a 1.0 rating.

Lost (Off-Network Syndication, Week of Airdates)
"Pilot (1)"                      Sep.  8th, 2008   1.1
"Pilot (2"                       Sep. 15th, 2008   1.1
"Tabula Rasa"                    Sep. 22nd, 2008   1.1
"Walkabout"                      Sep. 29th, 2008   1.1
"White Rabbit"                   Oct.  6th, 2008   1.2
"House of the Rising Sun"        Oct. 13th, 2008   1.1
"The Moth"                       Oct. 20th, 2008   1.0
"Confidence Man"                 Oct. 27th, 2008   0.9
"Solitary"                       Nov.  3rd, 2008   0.9
"Raised by Another"              Nov. 10th, 2008   1.0
"All the Best Cowboys Have ..."  Nov. 17th, 2008   1.0

Conclusion

Three of the four network shows that aired new episodes this week — Heroes, Fringe and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles saw increases from last week.  For NBC, if Heroes has finally hit rock bottom or even rebounded, that’s good news.  After weeks of constant drops in the ratings, even the smallest increase could be seen as a sign things are changing.  However, this week’s episode dropped slightly in total viewers, so maybe things aren’t changing after all.

For Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, the numbers for the last few episodes to air on Monday really aren’t important.  The future of the series already looks grim and if the Nielsen ratings for its Friday airings (which start in February of 2009) are disappointing, it’ll be game over for Sarah Connor & Co.  And Fringe is getting American Idol as a lead-in when new episodes return next year.  As for Ghost Whisperer, after three weeks in a row above ten million viewers (and two weeks above eleven million) a drop of over 1.5 million viewers is worrying.  Have viewers tired of the new direction the series is taken?

As for SCI FI Channel, an increase for the second episode of reality series Estate of Panic is positive, as is the large increase for the latest episode of Ghost Hunters.  On the scripted side, Sanctuary matched its previous series-low with a 1.4 rating while the numbers for Stargate: Atlantis truly don’t matter anymore.  And finally, it is still far too early to make any predictions about the future of Legend of the Seeker in syndication.

During the latest week, both Heroes and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles saw drops while Fringe went into repeats.

Broadcast Networks

The broadcast rankings I usually use when compiling this roundup were not released for the past week, so I’ll just be listing shows in order of viewers with no rankings.  The CW’s Smallville and Supernatural are currently on hiatus, with repeats airing until January.  And due to the Thanksgiving holiday, CBS aired two repeats of Ghost Whisperer on Friday, November 28th.  Knight Rider was pre-empted on Wednesday in favor of “Rosie Live.”

On FOX, last week’s episode of Fringe ran from 9:08PM to 10:07PM because of an extra long episode of House.  The episode sank a series-low in total viewers, with 7.7 million tuning in.  The previous low (“In Which We Meet Mr. Jones,” originally broadcast November 11th, 2008) was 8.61 million viewers.  The episode also sank to the lowest Nielsen rating in the adults 18-49 demographic since the premiere (a 3.4/9 versus a 3.2/9).

NBC’s Heroes continued its slow decline, shedding another 550,000 viewers and dropping to a series-low 7.51 million viewers as well as a series-low 3.5/8 A18-49 rating.

Fringe                                7,700,000
Heroes                                7,510,000

A pair of Ghost Whisperer repeats did as well as can be expected for CBS.

Ghost Whisperer (8PM Repeat)          6,130,000
Ghost Whisperer (9PM Repeat)          5,890,000

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles lost half a million viewers and hit a new series-low (down from 5.1 million viewers on November 17th) and also fell to a new series-low in the A18-49 demographic, a 1.8/5 (down from a 1.9/5 on November 17th).

Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles   4,570,000

On Thursday, repeats of Smallville and Supernatural came close, but couldn’t quite top two million viewers.

Smallville (Repeat)                   1,810,000
Supernatural (Repeat)                 1,710,000

And on Sunday, a repeat of the first episode of Jericho drew 1.22 million viewers for The CW.  That may not sound like much, but it was an increase of half a million viewers from the previous week (when a repeat of the now-canceled In Harm’s Way was broadcast).

Jericho (The CW Repeat)               1,220,000

SCI FI Channel (Two-Week Delay, November 10th through November 16th)

It was business as normal for SCI FI Channel two weeks ago, with Ghost Hunters topping the cable channel’s weekly chart with a 1.7 rating (meaning 2.0% of households with access to SCI FI).  Sanctuary came in second with a 1.5 rating (holding steady) and Stargate: Atlantis was third with a 1.3 rating (up slightly).

   Sanctuary Season One
   "Sanctuary for All"              2.2
   "Fata Morgana"                   1.6
   "Folding Man"                    1.6
   "Kush"                           1.4
   "Nubbins"                        1.5
   "The Five"                       1.5

   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
   "First Contact (1)"              1.1
   "The Lost Tribe (2)"             1.5
   "Outsiders"                      1.2
   "Inquisition"                    1.2
   "The Prodigal"                   1.2
   "Remnants"                       1.3

ECW ranked fifth with a 1.2 rating and new reality series Estate of Panic drew a 1.0, good enough for sixth place.

Syndication (Two-Week Delay, November 10th through November 16th)

I’m still not entirely sure what’s going on with the ratings for Legend of the Seeker, but once again I will defer to Broadcasting & Cable:

On the weekend, Disney-ABC’s Legend of the Seeker climbed 5% to a 2.1, pulling in just over three million viewers.

For now, I’m going to stick with B&C’s numbers but they may be a week behind.  At the moment, I’m just not sure.

Legend of the Seeker (First-Run Syndication, Saturday Airdates)
"Prophecy (1)"                   Nov.  1st, 2008   2.9
"Destiny (2)"                    Nov.  1st, 2008   2.9
"Bounty"                         Nov.  8th, 2008   2.0
"Brennidon"                      Nov. 15th, 2008   2.1

Also, the latest repeat of Lost rose slightly to a 1.0 rating.

Lost (Off-Network Syndication, Week of Airdates)
"Pilot (1)"                      Sep.  8th, 2008   1.1
"Pilot (2"                       Sep. 15th, 2008   1.1
"Tabula Rasa"                    Sep. 22nd, 2008   1.1
"Walkabout"                      Sep. 29th, 2008   1.1
"White Rabbit"                   Oct.  6th, 2008   1.2
"House of the Rising Sun"        Oct. 13th, 2008   1.1
"The Moth"                       Oct. 20th, 2008   1.0
"Confidence Man"                 Oct. 27th, 2008   0.9
"Solitary"                       Nov.  3rd, 2008   0.9
"Raised by Another"              Nov. 10th, 2008   1.0

Conclusion

It was a bit of an unusual week due to the Thanksgiving holiday which meant usual ratings winner Ghost Whisperer was in repeats.  Otherwise, the news was bleak.  NBC’s Heroes and FOX’s Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and Fringe all fell to new series-lows in total viewers.  And both Heroes and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles also fell to series-lows in the A18-49 demographic.  With every passing week, the impending move to Fridays looks bleaker and bleaker for Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

The news is better for SCI FI Channel, which may have launched another successful reality series (Estate of Panic), while also seeing continued stabilization for its latest scripted drama (Sanctuary).  And in syndication, Legend of the Seeker rose slightly which is always good news.

In the current week, Heroes finally stopped its free-fall and drew its best numbers in total viewers since October 27th while also managing to increase slightly in the A18-49 demographic.  Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles had its best outing in terms of total viewers since September 22nd and its best A18-49 rating since October 6th.  Fringe rebounded nicely from its series-low last week, but I am still worried that it seems to be consistently gaining or losing between half a million and a million viewers a week.

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
Syndicated ratings from SCI FI Wire/Zap2it/Broadcasting & Cable

All Nielsen Ratings Copyright Nielsen Media Research

Broadcast Networks

Ghost Whisperer stumbled a negligible amount this week, dropping from 11.57 million viewers to 11.28 million viewers and from a 2.9/10 Nielsen rating in the adults 18-49 demographic to a 2.7/9 rating.  Through the first seven episodes of the season, Ghost Whisperer is averaging 10.2 million viewers and a 2.6/9 A18-49 rating, thanks to strong performances these past few weeks.  Last season, the series averaged 9.25 million viewers and a 2.5/9 A18-49 rating.  In other words, the show is doing quite well in its fourth year on the air.

23   Ghost Whisperer            11,280,000

FOX’s Fringe improved on its series low performance the previous week (8.6 million viewers, 3.8/9 A18-49) with 9.18 million viewers and a 4.1/10 A18-49 rating.  That’s the best showing for the series since September 30th (9.91 million viewers, 4.2/11 A18-49).  NBC’s Heroes, on the other hand, hit yet another series low, dropping for the fourth episode in a row.  It did manage to stay even in the A18-49 demo with a 3.6/8 rating.

35   Fringe                      9,180,000
46   Heroes                      7,650,000

Knight Rider seems to have bottomed out at just over 5 million viewers and a 1.5/4 A18-49 rating.  The series shed two million viewers between its fifth and sixth episodes (October 22nd and November 5th).  Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles also seems to have stabilized at around five million viewers and a 2.0/5 A18-49 rating.  But the performance of both shows is disappointing.

 69   Knight Rider               5,200,000
 72   Terminator: TCC            5,090,000

After being hit by pre-emptions last week (due to sports) last week, The CW’s Smallville and Supernatural rebounded nicely, with Smallville increasing from a 1.4/4 to a 1.7/5 A18-49 rating and Supernatural from a 1.2/3 to a 1.4/3 rating. A Saturday repeat of Knight Rider barely registered with a 0.6/2 A18-49 rating.

 78   Smallville                 4,180,000
 83   Supernatural               3,340,000
 88   Knight Rider (Repeat)      2,480,000

SCI FI Channel (Two-Week Delay, November 3rd through November 9th)

Yet again, Ghost Hunters topped the SCI FI Channel charts this week with a 2.0 rating (meaning 2.0% of households with access to SCI FI.  The cable channel’s latest Saturday movie, Yeti, ranked second with a 1.7 rating and Sanctuary came in third with a 1.5 rating, a slight improvement.

   Sanctuary Season One
   "Sanctuary for All"              2.2
   "Fata Morgana"                   1.6
   "Folding Man"                    1.6
   "Kush"                           1.4
   "Nubbins"                        1.5

Stargate: Atlantis was fifth with a 1.2 rating, holding steady, and ECW came in seventh with a 0.9 rating.

   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
   "First Contact (1)"              1.1
   "The Lost Tribe (2)"             1.5
   "Outsiders"                      1.2
   "Inquisition"                    1.2
   "The Prodigal"                   1.2

Syndication (Two-Week Delay, November 3rd through November 9th)

I’ve seen conflicting information about Legend of the Seeker.  Last week I linked to a Broadcasting & Cable article that said the two-hour premiered averaged a 2.9 household Nielsen rating and drew over 4.1 million viewers.  According to Marc Berman’s Programming Insider, the premiere had a 4.1 household rating and 5.8 million viewers.  This week, Broadcasting & Cable reported the following:

National ratings for the second week of Disney-ABC’s Legend of the Seeker were down 31% to a 2.0 following the highly anticipated two-hour premiere, with three million viewers tuning in. Week two of Seeker‘s ratings was based on measuring the one-hour show in double runs as opposed to week one when the show’s entire two-hour premiere was measured. While the show was down overall, it was up in many big cities, including a 200% gain in Kansas City, 50% in Dallas and 37% in Orlando.

For now, I’m going to stick with B&C’s numbers but they may be a week behind.  At the moment, I’m just not sure.

Legend of the Seeker (First-Run Syndication, Saturday Airdates)
"Prophecy (1)"                   Nov.  1st, 2008   2.9
"Destiny (2)"                    Nov.  1st, 2008   2.9
"Bounty"                         Nov.  8th, 2008   2.0

In other syndicated news, the latest repeat of Lost stayed even with a 0.9 rating.

Lost (Off-Network Syndication, Week of Airdates)
"Pilot (1)"                      Sep.  8th, 2008   1.1
"Pilot (2"                       Sep. 15th, 2008   1.1
"Tabula Rasa"                    Sep. 22nd, 2008   1.1
"Walkabout"                      Sep. 29th, 2008   1.1
"White Rabbit"                   Oct.  6th, 2008   1.2
"House of the Rising Sun"        Oct. 13th, 2008   1.1
"The Moth"                       Oct. 20th, 2008   1.0
"Confidence Man"                 Oct. 27th, 2008   0.9
"Solitary"                       Nov.  3rd, 2008   0.9

Conclusion

I hate sounding like a broken record, but once again Ghost Whisperer on CBS is the standout performer on the broadcast networks, with The CW’s Smallville and Supernatural also doing well and FOX’s Fringe showing growth.  Heroes, Knight Rider and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles continue to underwhelm and, in the case of Heroes, disappoint.

On SCI FI Channel, Sanctuary may have stabilized at around a 1.5 rating, which would make it a solid performer for the network in the scripted department, although it continues to be handily beaten by unscripted Ghost Hunters.  And in syndication, the confusion surrounding Legend of the Seeker makes it hard to draw any conclusions, but I can say it appears to have dropped quite a bit after a strong premiere.  However, if enough individual stations see solid increases, it may stick around.

During the current week, Heroes, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and Fringe all dropped to new series lows, with Heroes hitting a 3.5/8 A18-49 demographic, Terminator: The Sarah Connors Chronicles falling to a 1.8/5 A18-49 rating and 4.6 million viewers, and Fringe dropping to 7.7 million viewers and a 3.4/9 A18-49 rating (as disappointing as that number is, it still tops the 3.2/9 rating for the premiere).  Bad news all around.

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
Syndicated ratings from SCI FI Wire/Zap2it/Broadcasting & Cable

All Nielsen Ratings Copyright Nielsen Media Research

Broadcast Networks

Ghost Whisperer hit another season-high (and then some) last week, proving that even if fans are concerned over the latest plot twists, viewers are watching in droves. The 11.57 million viewers who watched “Threshold” (broadcast Friday, November 14th) was the highest-rated episode of Ghost Whisperer since March 3rd, 2006 (“Demon Child,” 12.4 million viewers) during the show’s first season.

22   Ghost Whisperer            11,570,000

On FOX, Fringe returned from a short hiatus down only a few hundred thousand viewers (the previous episode aired on Tuesday, October 21st).  NBC’s Heroes, returning from a one-week hiatus, slipped to a new series low in both total viewers and the adults 18-49 demographic (a 3.6/8 Nielsen rating).  Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

36   Fringe                      8,610,000
46   Heroes                      7,850,000

NBC’s Knight Rider improved slightly in total viewers from the previous week (5.12 million viewers on November 5th) but fell to a series low 1.5/4 rating in the A18-49 (the previous episode had a 1.6/4 rating).  Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles fell an almost minuscule amount (from 5.17 million viewers to 5.15 million viewers) and stayed stable in the A18-49 demographic (a 2.0/5 rating).

66   Knight Rider                5,340,000
68   Terminator: TSS             5,150,000

The CW’s Smallville and Supernatural, hit by pre-emptions in a major market, hit season lows.  It was the least-watched episode of Smallville since March 20th, 2008 and the least-watched episode of Supernatural since May 8th, 2008.  And on Saturday, a repeat of Knight Rider drew 3.1 million viewers.  At this rate, new episodes will soon be only slightly better off than the repeats.

82   Smallville                  3,560,000
85   Knight Rider (Repeat)       3,100,000
87   Supernatural                2,940,000

SCI FI Channel (Two-Week Delay, October 27th through November 2nd)

Not one but two episodes of Ghost Hunters topped the SCI FI Channel charts this week, with the regular Wednesday installment first with a 2.0 rating (meaning 2.0% of households with access to SCI FI) and the special “Ghost Hunters Live” telecast (aired Friday, October 31st) second with a 1.7 rating.  ECW was fourth with a 1.2 and Scare Tactics sixth with a 0.9 rating.  The rest of the Top Ten was filled with made-for-TV movies and feature film repeats.

Syndication (Two-Week Delay, October 27th through November 2nd)

According to Broadcasting & Cable, the first two hour-long episodes of Legend of the Seeker, broadcast over the November 1st/2nd weekend, averaged a 2.9 Nielsen rating (for live +same day viewing) and more than 4.1 million viewers.

Legend of the Seeker (First-Run Syndication)
"Prophecy (1)"                   Nov.  1st, 2008   2.9
"Destiny (2)"                    Nov.  1st, 2008   2.9

By comparison, the latest repeat of Lost, falling slightly for the third week in a row, could only manage a 0.9 rating:

Lost (Off-Network Syndication)
"Pilot (1)"                      Sep.  8th, 2008   1.1
"Pilot (2"                       Sep. 15th, 2008   1.1
"Tabula Rasa"                    Sep. 22nd, 2008   1.1
"Walkabout"                      Sep. 29th, 2008   1.1
"White Rabbit"                   Oct.  6th, 2008   1.2
"House of the Rising Sun"        Oct. 13th, 2008   1.1
"The Moth"                       Oct. 20th, 2008   1.0
"Confidence Man"                 Oct. 27th, 2008   0.9

Conclusion

Although fans may not agree with the direction the series is going these days, the only question for CBS and the producers is whether Ghost Whisperer can maintain its impressive ratings.  Next week’s episode will be a good indication.  Heroes just can’t stop shedding viewers while Knight Rider may be bottoming out.  Fringe is doing well but could use slightly better consistency and has yet to prove it can stand alone without the benefit if House.  I assume both Smallville and Supernatural will rebound this week without major market pre-emptions.

Legend of the Seeker is off to a fantastic start, I would say, but numbers for future episodes could plummet if viewers weren’t impressed with what they saw.  I can’t explain why Lost repeats continue to drop in syndication aside from the fact that they’re also available on DVD, on ABC.com (I believe) and have been airing on SCI FI Channel recently and viewers may only be tuning in when they have the chance.

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
Syndicated ratings from SCI FI Wire/Zap2it/Broadcasting & Cable

All Nielsen Ratings Copyright Nielsen Media Research

Broadcast Networks

As has been the case lately, there were some pre-emptions this week.  On Monday, in lieu of Heroes, NBC broadcast its “SNL Presidential Bash 2008 which drastically outperformed rapidly declining Heroes.  Due to the election on Tuesday, Fringe was also pre-empted.  Otherwise, it was business as normal.  On Friday, Ghost Whisperer rebounded from its season low in the adults 18-49 demographic (a 2.2/8 on October 31st) and grew to a season high 2.8/9 while also hitting a season high in total viewers.

As was the case with the previous season high in both categories (“Save Our Souls,” originally broadcast October 24th, 2008), this was the most-viewed and highest-rated episode of Ghost Whisperer since the February 16th, 2007 episode during the show’s second season.  Through the first six episodes of the season, Ghost Whisperer is out-performing its third season by roughly 650,000 viewers.

   23   Ghost Whisperer            10,890,000

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles returned after a one-week absence and actually showed slight growth from its previous outing (5.02 million viewers on October 20th, 2008).  It stayed stable in the A18-49 demographic (a 2.0/5 rating).  NBC’s Knight Rider, however, also returning after a one-week absence, fell to a season low, down over two million viewers from the previous episode (7.23 million viewers on October 22nd, 2008).  The episode drew a lowly 1.6/4 A18-49 rating, compared to a 2.2/6 rating for the previous episode.

   70   Terminator: TSS             5,170,000
   71   Knight Rider                5,120,999

On Thursday, The CW’s Smallville climbed to a season high in both total viewers and the A18-49 demographic, while Supernatural fell slightly from the previous week but still performed well.  And on Saturday, a repeat of Knight Rider drew 2.7 million viewers.  The first-run episode only managed to draw twice that many viewers.

   77   Smallville                  4,460,000
   83   Supernatural                3,240,000
   87   Knight Rider (Repeat)       2,700,000

SCI FI Channel (Two-Week Delay, October 20th through October 26th).

Ghost Hunters may have hit a series high, drawing a 2.3 rating (meaning 2.3% of households with access to SCI FI) to top the SCI FI Channel chart.  After two weeks holding stable with a 1.6 rating, the fourth episode of Sanctuary fell to a 1.4 and ranked second.  According to a cable ratings report from Magna, available here from TV by the Numbers, Sanctuary has fallen steadily ever episode, including a drastic drop in the A25-54 demographic (from a 1.16 national rating for the premiere to a .73 rating for the fourth episode).

   Sanctuary Season One
   "Sanctuary for All"              2.2
   "Fata Morgana"                   1.6
   "Folding Man"                    1.6
   "Kush"                           1.4

ECW was fourth with a 1.3 rating while Stargate: Atlantis held steady with a 1.2 rating, ranking 6th.  Made-for-TV movies rounded out the rest of the Top Ten.

   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
   "First Contact (1)"              1.1
   "The Lost Tribe (2)"             1.5
   "Outsiders"                      1.2
   "Inquisition"                    1.2

Syndication (Two-Week Delay, October 20th through October 26th)

There has been no additional news on the performance of new fantasy action/adventure series Legend of the Seeker past what was included in last week’s roundup.  Meanwhile, in its seventh episode in weekend syndication, Lost fell to a 1.0 Nielsen rating, its lowest performance to date.

Lost (Off-Network Syndication)
"Pilot (1)"                      Sep.  8th, 2008   1.1
"Pilot (2"                       Sep. 15th, 2008   1.1
"Tabula Rasa"                    Sep. 22nd, 2008   1.1
"Walkabout"                      Sep. 29th, 2008   1.1
"White Rabbit"                   Oct.  6th, 2008   1.2
"House of the Rising Sun"        Oct. 13th, 2008   1.1
"The Moth"                       Oct. 20th, 2008   1.0

Still, given that these syndicated airings are probably not costing the distributor much, aside from distribution and perhaps some promotion to local affiliates, even a 1.0 rating in syndication could mean a lot of advertising money.

Conclusion

As always, Ghost Whisperer on CBS and Smallville and Supernatural on The CW are performing strongly.  Not much else is.  Knight Rider has already been picked up for a full season by NBC and is being rebooted with several cast members being written out.  So, despite disastrous ratings last week, NBC seems intent on sticking with the show through the end of the season.  Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles is being shifted to Fridays in February of 2009, where the network hopes it will have a better chance at attracting an audience.  I doubt it.

On SCI FI, Sanctuary‘s continuing downward spiral is unfortunate news, given the channel’s dirth of solid scripted programming once Stargate: Atlantis and Battlestar Galactica.  SCI FI already has far too much non-scripted/reality shows on its schedule.  If Sanctuary fails, it will be the fourth failed drama series for the channel (after The Dresden Files, Painkller Jane and Flash Gordon).

And, in syndication, there is little to say.  Until more information about Legend of the Seeker is released, there is nothing to discuss.

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
Syndicated ratings from SCI FI Wire/Zap2it/Broadcasting & Cable

All Nielsen Ratings Copyright Nielsen Media Research