"Hospital" hits new low
     Remember three weeks ago when "Kingdom Hospital" premiered to 14.1mil viewers and nearly knocked off "Law & Order" ? Remember how I proclaimed it as ABC's next big hope? Well, defeat is a bitter pill, but I'm ready to swallow. Steven King's mini-series (a series, but mini, not a mini series in the movie sense. Got it? Anyway....) drew just 5.7mil viewers on Wednesday night, getting crushed by both "L&O" (15.1mil) and a repeat "CSI" (10.0mil). That makes it losses since its premiere stand at an amazing 60%, 59% in adults, leaving many to wonder how long ABC will leave it on the schedule for. It would be incredibly bad business to yank it (King still makes occasional movies for ABC, his exclusive network, and they do draw well), but leaving this on the air is not only hurting ABC's rep (like it matters now, anyway), but also King's as he's never really had a failure of this magnitude.
     So why did it hit rock bottom, anyway? Well, a special "Extreme Makeover" lead into it with a healthy 10.3mil viewers, so that isn't it. The competition wasn't particularly fierce, "L&O" was down considerably for what it usually draws for new episodes this season. Couldit have been the "CSI" repeat? Who knows?
     The winner on Wednesday was obviously Fox, but CBS was no slouch. In fact, Fox only won first place with "Idol" (20.3mil); "That 70s Show" (11.7mil) and "The OC" (11.3mil), although strong, were both second in their slots. CBS actually took the 8pm hour overall with "Survivor" (16.5mil), though it was second in adults, as usual. At 9pm, "King of Queens" (12.9mil) tied a season high in adults (5.0/12), while "The Stones" (9.3mil) picked up considerable steam at 9:30pm, though it's no "Becker." "The West Wing" (11.4mil) pulled out the overall win at 9pm in viewers by the slightest of margins (100K viewers over Fox and 300K over CBS), though at a 3.4/8 in adults, it tied a series low set last month.
(March 25)

Without "CSI," NBC takes Thursday
     NBC has finally won a Thursday night in total viewers, and all it took was coverage of NCAA Basketball on CBS to do it. "Friends" (15.5mil), "Will & Grace" (15.4mil), "The Apprentice" (17.2mil) and "ER" (12.8mil) won each of their timeslots as the net beat out second place CBS (10.2mil) by a considerable margin. CBS's loss was alos a gain to virtually everybody else as ABC, Fox, the UPN and the WB all grabbed their highest ratings in weeks, if not months. ABC was a close third on the night with a repeat "Home Edition" (8.0mil), a new "Makeover" (9.3mil) and "PrimeTime" (11.3mil), while was actually second in its timeslot. The UPN averaged 5.4mil viewers on the night, but Fox had an okay night with "Tru Calling" (5.6mil) grabbing its highest ratings yet and a repeat "Wonderalls" (5.0mil) drawing Fox's best average in the timeslot in weeks. The WB alas, while up, was still out of the game with just 3mil viewers overall. 
(March 19)

"Frasier" hits rock bottom
     A few years ago, there was a visitor to this website who who get very upset when I said anything bad about "Frasier." I don't know if she's still visiting, but even she, an aredent "Frasier" supporter who argued that the series would not simply "fade out" (as I had suggested) would not be able to denfend the series latest numbers. With only a handfull of episodes left in its run, "Frasier" drew its worst numbers ever on Tuesday, bringing in a paltry 8.3mil viewers and a scant 2.6/6 rating in adults, for a new epsisode. This eclipses "Frasier"s old recod low of just 9.3mil viewers and a 3.4 rating in adults by considerable proportions. So how did the show stack up in the hour? Well, "American Idol" (26.5mil) did own the night, but "Frasier" was still fourth, behind the weak premiere of "Century City" (9.1mil) and "According To Jim" (8.4mil) over on ABC. Things got even worse at 9:30pm where "Scrubs" dipped to a depressingly low 6.7mil viewers, another series low, losing third to "Less Than Perfect" (7.5mil). Detractors will say that "Frasier" was airing opposite of "American Idol," so of course it's ratings would be low. But this low? For a once huge series that is about to end? "Model" was fifth in the hour with 5.8mil viewers, while the WB was last.
      Of course, not helping NBC is the fact that it's 8-9pm shows suck. "Whoppi" (7.1mil) and "Happy Family" (5.9mil) were both skirting series lows, settling for fourth behind Fox, CBS and ABC (7.1mil avg). "Nacy NCIS" is worth noting, however. The show is seemingly uneffected by "Idol," coming up with 13.3mil viewers and a suprizingly second place finish in the hour in adults. See networks? Younger is not necessarily better. The UPN was fifth, with the WB last.
      At 10pm, "SVU" (10mil) was again a repeat, leaving "Judging Amy" (11.7mil) to win the hour while "Blue" (9.5mil) was last. (March 17)

Bad news for new series on Wednesday
     First year series took a beating on Wednesday as everything appearned to be lackluster, well all except for Fox. "That 70s Show" (11.7mil) and "Idol" (22.2mil) both overwealming won their slots in viewers and adults, while the second episode of "Cracking Up" had to settle for a weak 10mil viewers, third in its timeslot.
      So what about those new shows? Well, the UPN's next great hope "Game Over" debuted to appropriate numbers- just 2mil viewers, while the return of "The Mullets" was even worse at 1.7mil viewers, making them both the UPN's worst original episodes results of the season and a stark contrast to Tuesday, which is flying high. Word is that next season the network has a spin off of "One On One" and a Queen Latifah series in the cards. Do we smell a all comedy Friday line-up?
        Well, it's a good thing that ABC has got one that's working, because the new drama "Kingdom Hospital" is clearly not. Just one week after nearly knocking of "Law & Order" and winning most demos, the second episode came up with only 8.5mil viewers, rather shocking numbers considering the amount of promotion that ABC is giving it. But that's right- nobody is watching ABC anymore, so why does promotion even matter? "MyWife & Kids" opened the night up with 8.5mil viewers, while "Extreme Makeover" came up with a good 10.7mil for a special 9pm episode. Over on NBC, "Law & Order" (13.5mil) was first at 10pm and third at 9pm (10.4mil), while nothing on CBS is worth mentioning. (March 11)

"The Practice" collapses
     First it looked like a lock for next season, and now not: ABC has officially cancelled the 8 year old series after barely renewing it for this season. ABC will, however, do a new show with James Spader, moving to a new law firm. He came in the show this season after the massive cast burn-off last season and has provided the few sparks of life to be seen. (March 11)

Reality flies high post-sweeps
     "Survivor" and "The Apprentice," Thursday's most prominant reality series, could have taken a hit when their respective networks went into repeats on Thursday, but they did. "Survivor" opened the night to 23.2mil viewers and an 8.7/23 in adults, while "The Apprentice" remained hot at 9pm with 20.3mil viewers and a 9.9/24 in adults. Both series were up in both categories versus last week "Friends" (17.1mil) and "'Will & Grace" (15.5mil) were second at 8pm in both categories, while a repeat "CSI" (22.7mil) took the 9pm hour in viewers, but fell behind in adults at a 7.4/18. At 10pm, "Without A Trace" (17.5mil) won in viewers, but "The Secret Diana Tapes" (16.9mil) won in adults. 
       On the other networks, ABC was topped by "PrimeTime" (9.3mil), while the PUN was fourth overall with 5mil viewers. Fox averaged just 3.9mil viewers with repeats of "Tru Calling," while the WB was out of the game with just 3.1mil viewers overall. (March 5)

WB beats out UPN in sweeps
     What was the most interesting story of this otherwise boring February sweeps period? The WB and the UPN with their constant neck and neck battles. Well, in the last night of sweeps, the WB pulled out the final win, beating out the UPN 3.96mil viewers to 3.91. In adults, however, the UPN won with a 1.66 rating versus the WB's 1.60. CBS overwealmingly won the sweeps period, with NBC, ABC & Fox following. In adults, NBC managed to pull out a big win, while Fox beat out CBS for second 4.35 to 4.18. ABC was fourth.  (March 4)

Cold last night of sweeps
     The weather may be getting warmer outside, but it's not so for the networks who saw their collective fortunes slide on Wednesday. Fox pulled out the win overall with "That 70s Show" (10.6mil) and "American Idol" (19.6mil) winning at 8pm, although both were down significantly over recent results. "60 Minutes II" (11.3mil) was a typical second at 8pm, while ABC was third with an hour of "My Wife & Kids" (9.3mil). "The Apprentice" (6.5mil_ was fourth, while "Smallville" (5.6mil) and "Enterprise" (4.0mil) both saw their highest ratings in more than two months.
      At 9pm, it was all ABC.The premiere of "Kingdom Hospital" drew a very solid 14.1mil, winnnig the two hour block, beating out NBC, which recorded season lows for "The West Wing" (11mil) and "Law & Order" (14.7mil). In fact, that number for "The West Wing" was a series low, althoug at a 4.0/10 in adults, it was up over recent weeks. CBS was a very strong third with "King of Queens" (12.1mil) and a repeat "Raymond" (12.6mil), while "The OC" (10.6mil) was fourth. In fifth was "Angel" (4.2mil) with one of its final original episodes, while "Model" was last in the hour with just 3mil viewers. At 10pm, after NBC and ABC, a repeat "CSI" was third with 11.4mil, CBS's best performance of the season with non-event programming. (March 4)

"Perfect" builds for the first time
     For some, the big news on Tuesday might have been that "American Idol" (25.9mil) took the night by storm once again, but that story is getting old. For me, the real news is that "Less Than Perfect" built on it's "According To Jim" for the first time this season. The show did accomplish the feat a few times last summer. It drew 8.8mil at 9:30pm, up a bit over "Jim" (8.5mil), which inexplicably hit its worst numbers for a new episode this season. "Jim" was fourth in its timeslot, behind "The Guardian" (11.3mil), "Frasier" (10.3mil) and "Forever Eden" (10.5mil), but "Perfect" notched a 3rd place finish, beating out "Scrubs" (8.4mil) on NBC. In adults, "Perfect" was at a 3.6/9, one tenth of a point behind "Jim." It tied with "Scrubs" for second place in the timeslot in the demo. Why do I keep flogging this show? It's actually good, although recent episodes have been a bit disappointing. Also in the hour, "Model" backed down a bit from last week's record high, but still settles for a solid 6.7mil, while "One Tree Hill" (4.1mil) is a lock for next season.
      At 8pm, after "Idol," "Navy NCIS" drew a typical 12.8mil, while ABC settled for third with weak performances from "8 Simple Rules" (8.6mil) and "I'm With Her" (7.3mil), although the latter series was up a bit from recent weeks. NBC was third with the once promising "Whoppi" (6.8mil) abd "Happy Family" (5.8mil) (should have kept that one at 9:30pm, NBC, and benched "Scrubs" until "The Apprentice" ended. Then you could have pumped that show with two original airings a week). "Gilmore Girls" (4.7mil) was third, while "One On One" (3.1mil) and "All Of Us" (4.1mil) settled for sixth. At 10pm, it was "SVU" (12.5mil) just over "Amy" (12mil), although the gap in adults was huge. "NYPD Blue," alas, got no support on the night and finished in third (9.5mil). (March 3)

CBS takes last Monday of sweeps
      Despite assaults on both sides of the night, CBS was still powerful enough to take the last Monday night of the 2004 February sweeps period. It won from 9-11pm with "Raymond" (17.2mil) and the growing "Two & A Half Men" (16.5mil) both drawing low-ish numbers, while "CSI Miami" (20mil) was spot on its sweeps average, winning the hour in viewers, but tying in adults with the finale of "Average Joe" (15.1mil, 7.3/18 in adults). CBS did not win, however at 8pm and was third in the hour with "Yes, Dear" (10.7mil) and "Still Standing" (11.1mil) both obviously affected by yet another "Idol" special (18.8mil). "Fear Factor" (12.8mil) was sedond, though below its season average. In the middle, "Las Vegas" was second at 9pm with 12.3mil viewers, while the premiere of "Forever Eden" on Fox was third with 11.5mil viewers, not to promising considering its huge lead-in. ABC was fourth ovrall with the movie "Natalie Wood" (10mil).
      In the race for fifth, "7th Heaven" (5.4mil) continues to see ratings slide, while a repeat (3.8mil) was also fifth at 9pm. The UPN drew a low 3.4mil for its sitcoms. (March 2)
                                February 2004 News