Ratings Clack – Talkin’ baseball… Carew and Michael Westen

Okay, I did edit the original “Talkin’ Baseball’ lyrics just a bit for the title, for context. While the All-Star game was the big deal in ratings this week, there was some great news over on cable for Michael and the gang. And really, most of the exciting stuff, where ratings are concerned anyway, was on cable this week. Warehouse 13 had a strong second outing, TNT had premieres for Leverage and Dark Blue, and HBO dusted off Entourage for another go. There was even a Potter sighting. With the networks, it was baseball, and a lot more of the same.

FOX - As is the usual case with the FOX summer, there isn’t a lot to report. But what there is, is pretty good news. On the strength of the All-Star Game (14.6m/4), the network took 5 of 7 nights in the demo. The kids from So You Think You Can Dance chipped in, doing their part on Wednesday (6.85m/2.6) and Thursday (7.05m/2.5). The small drop Thursday is a bit curious, considering there was no competition, but the show remains a solid summer hit. Wrapping up, 5th Grader (4.88m/1) and Mental (3.7m/.9) continue to plug along on the FOX Friday.

CBS - The other big winner for the week, CBS was the most watched network on 4 of 7 nights. That, despite the fact that the only new programming to speak of was Big Brother on Sunday (6.76m/2), Tuesday (6.26m/2.2), and Thursday (5.57m/1.9). I’m still not sure I understand the thinking behind the CBS Summer schedule, but it’s hard to argue with the results.

ABC - Taking the completely opposite approach, ABC continues to throw all manner of programming at the wall. Unfortunately, very little of it is sticking. One of the bright spots continues to be The Bachelorette (7.91m/2.7). The show is now firmly in control of Mondays, in both demo and viewers. That led to reasonable numbers for the Here Come The Newlyweds (4.99m/2) finale. Wipeout (7.66m/2.6) was down just a bit, but remains strong, and I Survived A Japanese Game Show (4.41m/1.7) did show small gains. Elsewhere, it’s just not pretty. The Superstars (3.77m/1.2) were stuck in the cargo net going up against the All-Star Game, but actually look successful compared to Better Off Ted (2.57m/1). And things wrap up with the FRI/SAT disaster of Surviving Suburbia (2.62m/.7), The Goode Family (1.63m/.5), and Dirty Sexy Money (2.15m/.6).

NBC - Things didn’t get off to a very good start with the premiere of the latest disaster mini-series, Meteor (5.04m/1.1). Of course, that’s still much better than the show’s Sunday night partner, Merlin (3.65m/.9). And a new night didn’t do anything for Great American Road Trip (3.3m/.9) on Monday. Fortunately, NBC does have America’s Got Talent. The show was actually up on Tuesday (13.17m/3.6), despite facing baseball. Then, on Wednesday (11.38m/2.9), it was the most watched show and had the highest demo for the  night. It’s just too bad that NBC has nothing to pair it with. Despite that boost, The Philanthropist (4.35m/1.1) was still in last place at 10. In a curious turn of the numbers, The Listener (3.86m/1.2) numbers were up, after NBC officially canceled it. Finally, the week ground to a halt with Chopping Block (2.28m/.7) on Friday, and Kings (1.57m/.4) on Saturday. Yep, Kings… it’s no Goode Family… Seriously, WTF?

CABLE - There were lots of fun numbers on cable this week. We’ll start with an oldie, since we missed it last week. The return of Eureka (2.6m) was solid. The show actually grew in the demos from the semi-finale last September, so it looks like this whole Friday thing could work out. The network had more good news from the second week of Warehouse 13 (3.4m). It managed to keep a whopping 97% of the premiere audience.

Things are also looking good over at HBO. True Blood (3.9m) hit another high, and that paved the way for a great Entourage (3.4m) premiere. That is more than double the audience for the premiere of the previous season. Hung (3.6m) was up, as well.

The hits keep on coming, as TNT and USA battle for scripted cable supremacy. USA had a stellar Thursday with Burn Notice (6.7m) and Royal Pains (6.2m). That’s a series high for Burn Notice. Staying in the race, TNT looks to have a solid third night of programming, with Leverage (3.9m) and Dark Blue (3.5m). That Leverage premiere number is 24% above the season one average.  Hawthorne (3.2m) remains steady as well.

Cable also got in on the All-Star Game fun. The Home Run Derby (8.25m) on ESPN was the most watched program of the night, broadcast or cable. The celebrity softball game that followed was also on the board, with 3.61m viewers. Elsewhere on cable, Deadliest Catch (3.6m) remains a hit for Discovery, while Miami Social (.65m) doesn’t seem to be one for Bravo. And finally, it was a good week to be in the Harry Potter business.  Despite the fact that all of the movies have aired countless times on various networks, a Sunday telecast of Goblet Of Fire on ABC Family was still good for over 4 million viewers.

Clacked by Brett Love
on Jul 20, 2009 @ 14:00 EST5EDT