JustTV News Archive: November 2004
| CBS
takes Monday, again In what's become the most unsurprising headline of the season (with the exception of "CBS takes Thursday"), CBS won Monday night in a big way, crushing the competition from 9-11pm, lead by "CSI Miami" (22.2mil), which is showing no signs of slowing down and is up some 20% over last season. "Raymond" (19mil) and "Men" (18.1mil) were both at the high end of their season ranges. They only trouble was at 8pm where "Still Standing" (11.1mil) and "Listen Up" (10.5mil) are doing better than how they started the season, but are by no means a smash success. ABC was second on the night, led by football (16.6mil) and the new series "Extreme Makeover: How'd They Do That?" (10.2mil). While the final ratings will likely see that series drop some 2-3 million viewers, that still represents a huge improvement over both "Life of Luxury" and "The Benefactor" which preceeded it. Over on NBC, neither "Fear Factor" (11.3mil) nor "Las Vegas" (11.7mil) were impressive, while Fox did get some good numbers out of "The Swan 2" (8.2mil), which is not really impressive, considering all the promotion the series is getting. But then again, give the number of people who are watching Fox these days, anything over 5 million viewers can be considered a smash hit. "7th Heaven" (7mil) led the WB, while the UPN was experiencing troubles with its sitcom line-up, which averaged just 3.3mil viewers for all new episode.s (November 30) "Men" catching heat CBS's "Two & A Half Men" is becoming the sophmore hit of the season with growing numbers that it surely easing Lez Moonves into letting "Raymond" go. This week, "Men" drew 19.2mil viewers, up from "Raymond"s 18.7mil, and it hit a series high 6.8/15 in adults, up from "Raymond"s 6.2/14. That also represented the series biggest growth yet from its lead-in in adults. "CSI Miami" was also on a tear at 10pm, racking up 22mil viewers and an 8.0/20 in adults. Earlier in the night, "Still Standing" (11.3mil) and "Listen Up" (10.8mil) were second to NBC's "Fear Factor" (12.1mil). NBC ran the finale of "The $25 Million Hoax" at 9:50pm to an improved 8.9mil viewers, although there's no chance in hell that the series will get another shot. On the other networks, ABC was second overall with football (16mil) overall, while Fox took fourth in the 8pm hour with "Trading Spouses" (7.8mil). "7th Heaven" was at a surprizingly strong 7.3mil viewers in the hour, although "Everwood" (5.2mil) slipped back into typical numbers at 9pm. The UPN averaged a low 3.3mil viewers for its sitcom line-up. (November 23) CBS: 4 for 4 There's been 4 nights so far this week, and so far, CBS has won every single one of them, three by big proportions. That margin got even bigger on Thursday as "CSI" hit a series high in viewers (31.5mil), lead-in by a strong episode of "Survivor" (20.6mil) and lead-out by a winning "Without A Trace" (20.2mil). It wasn't even close in any of the timeslots, except for 10pm, where "ER" drew 19.4mil viewers. "Joey" and "Will & Grace" drew an average of 12.2mil viewers at 8pm, while "The Apprentice" was at a typical 16mil viewers at 9pm, behind "CSI" by half. ABC was third overall on the night with better than average numbers from "Extreme Makeover" (7mil) and a two hour edition of "PrimeTime Thursday" (7.7mil). Fox was fourth, although "The OC" (7.5mil) was at a season low and "North Shore" (4mil) hit a series low. "Smackdown" was fifth at 5.5mil viewers, while the WB drew mediocre numbers for the movie "The Whole Nine Yards" (2.6mil). With 4 days down and three to go this week, CBS has an insurmountable lead of 17.7mil viewers to NBC's 12.2mil. ABC has 10.7, Fox 6.7, the UPN 4.6 and the WB 4.3mil. Much of the same is true in the adults race, where CBS leads NBC 6.2 to 4.9. ABC sits at 3.9, Fox 2.9, the UPN 1.9 and the WB 1.8 (November 19) CBS takes big Wednesday The CBS took Wednesday night in a big way as it preempted it's line-up from 8-10pm for the conclusion of "Day of Destruction," which drew 16.8mil viewers overall and a 5.0/13 in adults. But it could only come in second at 8pm as "Lost" (17.6mil) shows few signs of slowing down. My prediction for the next new episode in two weeks? 20 million viewers- this show is just too good, dare I say, even better than "Desparate Housewives." They truly are the two best dramas on the air. Another special at 8pm, "Simple Life" went down in flames with just 5.7mil viewers, down from a dead "That 70s Show" (6.7mil). Combined, they were fourth in the timeslot, behind "LAX" (7mil), but ahead of both "Next Top Model" (5mil) and "Smallville" (4.8mil), both of which continue to duke it out. They actually tied in adults (2.4/6), ranking 4th in the timeslot. At 9pm, after CBS, "The West Wing" (12.5mil) was down from recent highs, but "Nanny 911" (9.8mil) set a new one, coming in second in the timeslot in adults. Hey Fox, why not dump the dud "The Rebel Billionaire" and order a full season of this show? This was the last scheduled one to air. "The Bachelor" sunk to just 9.3mil viewers, giving no doubt as to why it's getting shuttled to Mondays in January. "Kevin Hill" (3.4mil) was fifth, while "Jack & Bobby" (3.1mil) showed some promise in sixth. In the late hour, after "NY," "Law & Order" drew a now typical 13.4mil viewers, but actually remained tied with "Wife Swap" (10.3mil) for second in adults at a 4.4/12. With three new series working so well, ABC has to turn its attention to dead zones like Thursday and Friday, but even Friday started to pick up last week with season high numbers. (November 18) Many, many Tuesday winners The second Tuesday of November sweeps was a very productive one for several networks as they has big numbers for old shows and some specials. the biggest winner was perhaps CBS, which had a series high for "NCIS" (14.4mil) and the biggest premiere yet for "The Amazing Race 6" (12.3mil). "TAR" was up 30% over the two hours from the network's usual performance in viewers and a huge 104% in adults. Yes, this was the right time to bring the show back and the perfect timeslot. CBS, which has been stagnant in viewers this season, is showing big leaps in adults, and this will only help. Another big winner was NBC, whose "Biggest Loser" (10.5mil) continues to get stronger, along with "SVU" (16.3mil), which obviously benefited from not having "Judging Amy" in the timeslot. "Scrubs" was in the middle (9mil), but drew somewhat disappointing numbers. The UPN was another big winner, drawing 5.5mil viewers for the Vibe awards, while the WB saw 5.9mil viewers come for "Gilmore Girls," although "One Tree Hill" (4.2mil) dropped to season low numbers. The losers? ABC, for one. The sitcoms drew a weak 9mil viewers from 8-10pm, lead by "According To Jim" (10.3mil), while "NYPD Blue" (9.1mil) is fading into oblivion as it nears its series finale. It also set a series low in adults (2.9/7). Fox was also on the lost side with "The Billionaire" (5.4mil) continuning to come up with crappy numbers, although "House" (7mil) increased off of that. (November 17) ABC renews sitcoms Despite weak ratings, ABC has renewed both "Complete Savages" and "Rodney" for a full season. This all but dashes my hopes that ABC will cancel "Rodney" and move "Less than Perfect" back to Tuesdays. ABC, don't let LTP die! I implore! "Rodney" ranks 40th on the season in viewers, 35th in adults. "Savages" sits considerably further down in 80th, 89th in adults. (November 17) ABC also made an announcement as to what it will air on Mondays after football. The declining "Bachelor" will move to 9pm, followed by the new series "Supernanny" and preceeded by "Extreme Makeover: How'd They Do That?" which drew solid numbers as a special just two weeks ago. "Alias" will also be back, but on Wednesdays after "Lost." Can ABC wrap up second on the season? It's possible, but Monday will have to work. Having the "EM" series on the night is an excellent idea, and supercheap. We'll see. (November 17) "CSI Miami" red hot With CBS basically holding the line from a very successful last season, one of the success stories of this season has been "CSI Miami," which shows no signs of letting up. The show drew 22.1mil viewers on Monday and a huge 8.3/20 in adults, beating out both football (16.4mil overall) and NBC's dud "The $25 Million Hoax" (6.1mil) by huge proportions. Also on the night, CBS was first at 8pm with "Standing" (11.4mil) and "Listen Up" (11.2mil), and also first at 9pm with "Raymond" (18.1mil) and "Men" (17.6mil). Men drew a best yet 6.5/15 in adults, up a record 7% from its lead-in (6.1/14). Unlike NBC with "Friends," CBS is ready to replace "Raymond." At 8pm, second was "Fear Factor" (11mil), while Fox's "Trading Spouses" (7.5mil) coming in third. "7th Heaven" (6.5mil) was fourth, with ABC's filler "Life Of Luxury" (5.2mil) coming in fifth. The UPN was last with 3.5mil viewers. At 9pm, ABC moved up to second with "Las Vegas" (11.5mil) slipping to third. "The Swan" (7.3mil) may be grotesque, but it's still holding fourth, while "Everwood" (4.7mil) beat up the UPN's comedies by 1 million viewers. (November 16) "Summerland" to return As "The Mountain" tanks and "Jack & Bobby" is drowning, the WB has set a start date for "Summerland." The smash from last summer will go in a yet to de determined timeslot in January. Bets are Wednesdays at 9pm. CBS has also gone ahead and given a full season order to "Listen Up" and has ordered additional episodes of "Centre Of The Universe." Neither show is setting the world on fire, but "Center" is actually proving promising on Wednesdays. (November 16) "Joey" continues to flounder Will "Joey" get picked up for a second season? The answer is not as simply as you may think. The show drew just 11.7mil viewers on Thursday and a 5.3/14 in adults, and while that is better than NBC's average, the real test will come in the spring when 8pm shows typically decline because of daylight savings time. If "Joey" can hold the line from what it's doing right now, it has a shot at a second season. If it drops anymore, the first season will likely be the last. "Will & Grace" (12.0mil) followed it up in the hour, but both were easily crushed by "Survivor" (20.4mil), which is finally getting interesting after a whole season of dud episodes so far. At 9pm, "CSI" (30.4mil) continues to be red hot, while "The Apprentice" (16.1mil) is where it typically is. An hour later, a "special" "ER" managed to draw 19.8mil viewers, but was still second to "Without A Trace" (20.5mil). On the other networks, ABC was a abnormally solid third with the movie "Saving Private Ryan" (9.2mil), although, keep in mind that the movie was cleared in only 65% of the country because of affiliate willies over the violence, so those numbers include that for "SPR" and the alternative "Return to Mayberry" as well. Veterans would be rolling over in their graves if they only knew. Fox was fourth with "The OC" (8.1mil) holding up well, despite "North Shore" (4.2mil) not holding up at all. The UPN was fifth (4.6mil), while the WB got 2.8mil viewers out of "Save The Last Dance"- 800,000 more than it did last week with regular programming. Why don't you just turn the night over already, WB? "Blue Collar" to Fridays, 1/2 hour "Steve Harvey" to Fridays, repeats of dramas Sunday at 7pm.... (November 12) "West Wing," ABC
picking up steam "OC" does okay on
Thursday "Lost" heats up,
as does "Wing" Fox unveils fall
line-up to limited
results Updated series news
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