Losers get a boost without "Idol"
     In a move that could effect votes (lol), Fox was forced to move "American Idol" back a night to accomodate the president. While that move left Fox reeling (sort of), loser shows on the other nets took advantage and posted some gains. The biggest winner was "One Tree Hill," which virtually sealed its renewal with a series record 5.0mil viewers (double what it premiered to last October, natch), bulding off "Gilmore Girls" (4.8mil) in viewers and adults (2.1/5 to 2.0/6). For those waiting for this show to arrive, it finally has and will be around for a while yet. Another big winner on the night was "Whoppi." the series drew 8.5mil viewers, and it couldn't have come at a better possible time. With the show still "on the bubble" and drawing less than 6mil viewers for recent episodes, this perfomance may be just what pushes the show into the "renewed" column. And finally, another winner was "Rock Me Baby" on the UPN. A new episode at 9:30pm drew 2.9mil viewers, actaully building off its lead-in (a repeat "Half & Half" -2.4mil). Could this show be renewed? I feel that the UPN will be moving more and more towards comedies next season- so it is a definitely possibility. 
       In case you're wondering who will win the week, look no further than Fox. Thanks to "Idol" replacing yet another typically low rated Thursday night for the net, the net should get a boost into the winner's circle. (April 14)

"Trace" nearly beats "ER"
      While NBC's Thursday night problems are less so than they were even three months ago, there is one trouble area: "ER" is losing audience and CBs's "Without A Trace" picking those viewers up. That was the case on Thursday as "ER" hit a near series low 18.5mil to "Trace"s 17.7mil. That means that CBS was behind NBC by only 4% in the hour, the closest margin yet for these two competitors. "WAT" did have a good lean-in with "CSI" (26mil), but then again, so did "ER" with "The Apprentice" (20.6mil). This also represents the first time that "ER" has not built off its lead-in in what, years? Ever? Certainly not good news for the once supreme series. Earlier in the night, the reentry of "Survivor" (21.6mil) lost few viewers in the shuffle over from Wednesdays and soundly beat the second favorite "Friends" (13.9mil) of all time, as well as a new "Will & Grace" (14mil).
      There wasn't a whjole lot left on the night, and ABC picked up quite a bit of it. "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," which, after "The Apprentice," is rapidly turning into a programmers best dream, was third at 8pm with a repeat (7.9mil), while a repeat of the parent series drew 7mil at 9pm. The only problem spot came at 10pm where a news special fell to just 5.6mil. Over on Fox, well, the good news is that "Tru Calling" (5.1mil) is doing better than it was (could this warrant a renewal?) and is now consistantly drawing more than 5mil viewers after a slow start in the 4mil range. The bad news came at 9pm where the newly transplanted "Wonderfalls" dropped to just 3.1mil viewers, which will no doubt lead to its cancellation. That's Fox's worst result of the entire season in the timeslot, and ties the network's worst performance of the season in any timeslot. That honour also goes to "Luis" and last week's "Playing It Straight." Nope, don't expect this series to stick around for long.
      The UPN (4.9mil) was actually fourth on the night, which is normal now, while the WB peaked with the sure-to-be-renewed "Steve Harvey" (3.4mil). (April 2)

NBC, Fox, win Wednesday
      It's almost becoming redundant- another Wednesday, another Fox win. The net was powered by 'That 70s Show" (11mil) and "Idol" (22.3mil), while "The OC" (11.7,ol) won in adults and viewers at 9pm. NBC did win at 10pm with "Law & Order" (18.3mil), but an earlier repeat of "The Apprentice" (5.9mil) was nothing to crow about. Aren't you glad you moved it to Thursdays, NBC? In the middle was "The West Wing" a a series low 10.8mil, also settling a series low in adults at a 3.3/9.
      The other nets weren't totally out of the game on the night, but they weren't exactely in it. "60 Minutes" (10mil), "KOQ" (10.3mil), "The Stones" (7.8mil) and "48 Hours" (9.2mil) were thrid overall on the night, while ABC was fourth, peaking with a repeat "Extreme Makeover," but seeing "Kingdom Hospital" (5.1mil) retain just 5`% of that audience. (April 1)

Cancellation notices
     It'll come as no surprize for either series, btu effective immediatel,y CBS has canned "Century City" and Fox is doing away with "Playing It Straight." "PIS" came very near record lows for Fox on Fridays, drawing only 3.1mil viewers last week, while "Century City" drew in the 7mil viewer range, making it one of CBS's lowest rated series on the season. (April 1)
 

                                 March 2004 News