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against NBC's 'Friends'
Viewer slump for CBS show. Has burnout set in?
By Kevin Downey
The fall television season is turning out to be nothing like it was supposed to be for CBS.
With its "Survivor" starting the season for the first time, CBS was expected to present a challenge to NBC’s lead in the 18-49 demo so favored by advertisers.
At the very least, media buyers were expecting "Survivor: Africa" to boost CBS's season-to-date ratings.
Neither is happening.
"Survivor" is slumping far below the levels achieved by its predecessor, "Survivor: The Australian Outback"--and well behind NBC's "Friends," which it is pitted against on Thursday night.
Last week some 19.6 million viewers turned to "Survivor," about nine million fewer than viewed a typical episode of "Survivor: The Australian Outback."
Last week's show garnered a 7.9 rating among adults 18-49.
In contrast, "Friends" drew 25.6 million viewers and a 12.2 adult 18-49 rating.
Just why "Survivor" is doing more poorly than widely expected is open to speculation.
Some media buyers believe it's simply a case of viewer burnout, with the show suffering from the same forces that eventually affected ABC's "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" after its initial burst.
Others assume it’s due to a new mood among viewers, who in general are exhibiting less patience with the whole reality genre following the Sept. 11 tragedy and the anthrax scare. As evidence they point to ABC’s decision to put "The Mole 2" on hiatus, after a poor early showing, and to postpone "The Runner."
For its part, CBS blames the slump on the one-hour delay of its premiere for President Bush’s address, which it says disrupted the momentum the show had built up.
Whatever the cause of "Survivor’s" problems, though, CBS’s adult 18-49 rating for the first four weeks of the season is down 2.5 percent, to a 3.9.
NBC is the only major network to post a gain, with a 2 percent increase to a 5.2. It’s by far the No. 1 network so far and has won every week of the season in that demo.
ABC is down nearly 11 percent to a 4.1, Fox is down 23 percent to a 3.4, UPN is up 20 percent to a 2.4, and the WB is down 10.5 percent to a 1.7.
But despite the cooling interest in "Survivor," not everything is going badly for CBS.
The second season of "CSI" is outperforming "Survivor: Africa," which reflects the relative weakness of its competition on NBC on Thursday at 9 p.m. as much as it does the strength of the show.
"CSI" ranked No. 3 in the demo last week and beat NBC’s "Will & Grace" and "Just Shoot Me" by 11.5 percent.
The average rating for the two NBC shows was 36 percent lower than that of "Friends." Also hurting NBC was the audience killer "Inside Schwartz," which lost 43 percent of its "Friends'" lead-in.
CBS’s "Everybody Loves Raymond" was the second-highest-rated sitcom behind "Friends."
And despite having a slew of bottom-feeders like "Ellen" and "Citizen Baines," a number of CBS’s programs have defied predictions for early cancellation.
Perhaps the most surprising of that bunch is "Yes, Dear," which is in its second year and tied for No. 12. It had been singled out last season as a candidate for an early demise but last week improved on its "King of Queens" lead-in and was the sixth-highest-rated sitcom overall.
Still, CBS tied for third place in the 18-49 demo last week with a 3.9 rating.
NBC had a 4.8.
Fox had a 4.0, which is down almost 15 percent from the same week last year. Its ratings have been pulled down by Major League Baseball playoffs. Games four and five ranked No. 10 but league championship games sank as far as No. 95.
ABC had a 3.9.
Meanwhile the WB, which had its third-best 18-49 rating ever with its "Smallville" premiere, had a 2.1, and UPN had a 2.0.
In household ratings, NBC was in first place with an 8.3 rating and 13 share. CBS had an 8.1/13, Fox had a 7.5/12, and ABC had a 6.5/11. The WB had a 3.2/5, which was up 10 percent from the previous week, and UPN had a 2.9/5.
|
PRIMETIME AVERAGES BY NETWORK |
|||||||||
|
|
HOUSEHOLDS |
PERSONS 2+ |
ADULTS 18-49 |
||||||
|
Net |
Rtg |
(000) |
SHR |
Rtg |
(000) |
SHR |
Rtg |
(000) |
SHR |
|
NBC |
8.3 |
8720 |
13 |
4.5 |
12160 |
12 |
4.8 |
6060 |
13 |
|
CBS |
8.1 |
8530 |
13 |
4.5 |
12050 |
12 |
3.9 |
4980 |
10 |
|
FOX |
7.5 |
7870 |
12 |
4.1 |
11050 |
11 |
4.0 |
5030 |
11 |
|
ABC |
6.5 |
6900 |
11 |
3.6 |
9820 |
9 |
3.9 |
4950 |
10 |
|
WB |
3.2 |
3400 |
5 |
1.8 |
4850 |
4 |
2.1 |
2660 |
5 |
|
UPN |
2.9 |
3110 |
5 |
1.8 |
4740 |
4 |
2.0 |
2580 |
5 |
|
PAX |
0.9 |
950 |
1 |
0.5 |
1260 |
1 |
0.3 |
430 |
1 |
|
Source: Nielsen Media Research |
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|
SEASON-TO-DATE |
|||||||||
|
|
HOUSEHOLDS |
PERSONS 2+ |
ADULTS 18-49 |
||||||
|
Net |
Rtg |
(000) |
SHR |
Rtg |
(000) |
SHR |
Rtg |
(000) |
SHR |
|
NBC |
8.8 |
9260 |
14 |
4.8 |
13050 |
13 |
5.2 |
6650 |
14 |
|
CBS |
8.2 |
8630 |
13 |
4.5 |
12130 |
12 |
3.9 |
4980 |
10 |
|
ABC |
6.9 |
7280 |
11 |
3.9 |
10390 |
10 |
4.1 |
5160 |
11 |
|
FOX |
5.6 |
5900 |
9 |
3.1 |
8360 |
8 |
3.4 |
4350 |
9 |
|
UPN |
3.2 |
3420 |
5 |
2.0 |
5290 |
5 |
2.4 |
3000 |
6 |
|
WB |
2.7 |
2840 |
4 |
1.5 |
4100 |
4 |
1.7 |
2160 |
4 |
|
PAX |
0.9 |
990 |
2 |
0.5 |
1330 |
1 |
0.3 |
440 |
1 |
|
Source: Nielsen Media Research |
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|
NETWORK TV |
||||||||
|
|
|
|
HOUSEHOLDS |
PERSONS 2+ |
||||
|
# |
PROGRAMS |
Net |
Rtg% |
Shr |
(000) |
# |
Rtg% |
(000) |
|
1 |
E.R. |
NBC |
17.6 |
28 |
18551 |
1 |
9.9 |
26707 |
|
2 |
FRIENDS |
NBC |
16.0 |
25 |
16894 |
2 |
9.5 |
25581 |
|
3 |
CSI |
CBS |
14.1 |
21 |
14889 |
3 |
8.5 |
23043 |
|
4 |
WEST WING |
NBC |
13.7 |
21 |
14471 |
5 |
7.7 |
20787 |
|
5 |
EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND |
CBS |
13.5 |
20 |
14275 |
4 |
8.0 |
21630 |
|
6 |
LAW AND ORDER:CRIM INT-S(S) |
NBC |
12.9 |
21 |
13627 |
7 |
7.2 |
19319 |
|
7 |
FOX MLB LCS: GMS 4&5(S) (Az vs Atlanta/Seattle vs NY) |
FOX |
12.3 |
19 |
12940 |
8 |
7.0 |
18761 |
|
8 |
JAG |
CBS |
11.6 |
18 |
12213 |
10 |
6.4 |
17272 |
|
9 |
BECKER |
CBS |
11.4 |
16 |
11981 |
9 |
6.5 |
17484 |
|
9 |
JUDGING AMY |
CBS |
11.4 |
18 |
11992 |
12 |
6.0 |
16059 |
|
9 |
SURVIVOR: AFRICA |
CBS |
11.4 |
18 |
12033 |
6 |
7.3 |
19592 |
|
12 |
PRACTICE, THE |
ABC |
10.8 |
17 |
11353 |
11 |
6.1 |
16337 |
|
13 |
LAW AND ORDER:SVU |
NBC |
10.5 |
19 |
11090 |
15 |
5.7 |
15441 |
|
14 |
WILL & GRACE |
NBC |
10.4 |
15 |
11014 |
12 |
6.0 |
16260 |
|
15 |
60 MINUTES |
CBS |
10.3 |
17 |
10857 |
20 |
5.5 |
14796 |
|
15 |
GUARDIAN, THE |
CBS |
10.3 |
15 |
10903 |
17 |
5.6 |
15077 |
|
17 |
FRASIER |
NBC |
10.2 |
15 |
10752 |
15 |
5.7 |
15480 |
|
18 |
INSIDE SCHWARTZ |
NBC |
9.9 |
15 |
10408 |
17 |
5.6 |
15088 |
|
18 |
NFL MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL (Washington vs Dallas) |
ABC |
9.9 |
16 |
10393 |
20 |
5.5 |
14735 |
|
20 |
KING OF QUEENS |
CBS |
9.5 |
15 |
10003 |
17 |
5.6 |
15052 |
|
20 |
YES, DEAR |
CBS |
9.5 |
14 |
10061 |
14 |
5.8 |
15716 |
|
22 |
JUST SHOOT ME |
NBC |
9.2 |
14 |
9728 |
22 |
5.1 |
13860 |
|
23 |
LAW AND ORDER:CRIM INTENT |
NBC |
9.1 |
13 |
9568 |
23 |
4.8 |
13058 |
|
24 |
CROSSING JORDAN |
NBC |
8.9 |
14 |
9367 |
25 |
4.6 |
12471 |
|
25 |
FOX MLB NL DIV SRS GM 5(S) (Oakland vs Yankees) |
FOX |
8.4 |
13 |
8819 |
32 |
4.3 |
11670 |
|
25 |
NFL MONDAY SHOWCASE |
ABC |
8.4 |
13 |
8829 |
27 |
4.5 |
12229 |
|
Source: Nielsen Media Research |
||||||||
|
CABLE TV |
|||||
| BASIC CABLE | |||||
|
House- |
House- holds |
Persons 2+ |
|||
|
# |
PROGRAM NAME |
Net |
(000) |
Rtg % | (000) |
|
1 |
NFL REGULAR SEASON |
ESPN |
5622 |
5.3 |
7916 |
|
2 |
WWF ENTERTAINMENT |
TNN |
3858 |
3.7 |
5843 |
|
3 |
WWF ENTERTAINMENT |
TNN |
3617 |
3.4 |
5529 |
|
4 |
BUSH PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS |
CNN |
3292 |
3.1 |
4406 |
|
5 |
MLB - PLAYOFFS |
FAM |
3283 |
3.1 |
4231 |
|
6 |
HALLOWEENTOWN II: KALABAR |
DSNY |
3245 |
3.1 |
6088 |
|
7 |
ASHCROFT PC/AMRCA WAR BRF |
CNN |
3200 |
3.0 |
3817 |
|
8 |
MLB - PLAYOFFS |
FAM |
3154 |
3.0 |
3956 |
|
9 |
AMERICA STRIKES BACK |
CNN |
3096 |
2.9 |
3756 |
|
9 |
AMERICA STRIKES BACK |
CNN |
3096 |
2.9 |
3872 |
|
11 |
FLEISCHER PC/AMERICAS WAR |
CNN |
3024 |
2.9 |
3634 |
|
12 |
COLL FTBALL-SAT PRIME |
ESPN |
2972 |
2.8 |
4307 |
|
13 |
BUSH-COLUMBUS DAY ADDRESS |
CNN |
2967 |
2.8 |
3810 |
|
14 |
NFL PRIME TIME |
ESPN |
2920 |
2.8 |
4176 |
|
15 |
RUMSFELD PC/AMRCA NEW WAR |
CNN |
2868 |
2.7 |
3740 |
|
PAY CABLE |
|||||
|
House- |
House- holds |
Persons 2+ |
|||
|
# |
PROGRAM NAME |
Net |
(000) |
Rtg % |
(000) |
|
1 |
BAND OF BROTHERS |
HBO |
4107 |
3.9 |
6433 |
|
2 |
SOPRANOS, THE |
HBO |
2713 |
2.6 |
3769 |
|
3 |
MEET THE PARENTS |
HBO |
2240 |
2.1 |
3022 |
|
4 |
BOXING:TYSON VS. NIELSEN |
SHOW |
1978 |
1.9 |
2791 |
|
5 |
CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM |
HBO |
1931 |
1.8 |
2936 |
|
*Coverage area ratings are within each cable network's universe. |
|||||
|
SYNDICATION |
||||
|
|
Households |
Households |
||
|
# |
PROGRAM NAME |
Syndicator |
Rtg % | (000) |
|
1 |
WHEEL OF FORTUNE |
KIN |
8.8 |
9290 |
|
2 |
JEOPARDY |
KIN |
7.3 |
7742 |
|
3 |
FRIENDS-SYN (AT) |
WB |
6.7 |
7087 |
|
4 |
SEINFELD (AT) |
CTS |
6.1 |
6477 |
|
4 |
ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT(AT) |
PRM |
6.1 |
6456 |
|
6 |
OPRAH WINFREY SHOW (AT) |
KIN |
5.9 |
6258 |
|
7 |
JUDGE JUDY (AT) |
PRM |
5.3 |
5630 |
|
7 |
ESPN NFL REGULAR SEASON |
ESP |
5.3 |
5572 |
|
9 |
SEINFELD-WKND (AT) |
CTS |
5.2 |
5527 |
|
10 |
EVRYBDY LVS RAYMOND-SYN |
KIN |
4.3 |
4583 |
|
Source: Nielsen Media Research |
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October 24, 2001 © 2001 Media Life
-Kevin Downey is a staff writer for Media Life.
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