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Stars' Powers Boost TV Ratings
2006-01-26
Apparently, TV viewers aren't particular about their stars. They'll take them dancing, skating or red-carpeting. But most of all, they like them aspiring. American Idol, Dancing with the Stars, Skating with the Celebrities and the Golden Globes comprised six of the top 20 most watched shows for the TV week ended Sunday, according to Nielsen Media Research. Tuesday's Idol season premiere (first place, 35.5 million) led the way in a big way for Fox. Not since the 2004 finale of Friends had so many people tuned into a non-sports (read: non-Super Bowl) telecast, the network said. The mere prospect of Wednesday's Idol (third place, 31.6 million) had ABC offering up a sacrificial Lost repeat (67th place, 6.5 million) at 8 p.m. At 9 p.m., an all-new Lost (ninth place, 19.1 million) returned from hiding only to be given a run for its conch by the premiere of Fox's Skating with Celebrities (12th place, 18.7 million). Skating with Celebrities, featuring the art and artistry of Dave Coulier and Todd Bridges, moved to its regular time slot on Monday. ABC helpfully pointed out that the show "was down substantially" from its Idol-powered debut. According to Nielsen, it averaged an estimated 10.8 million viewers, which is still significantly more than the number of people who watched the significantly more skilled athletes at the U.S. Figure Skating National Championships a week ago on ABC. (Monday's stats--including the promising premiere of CBS' Jenna Elfman sitcom, Courting Alex, which was sampled by 14.9 million--will be reflected in next week's Nielsen rankings.) Dancing with the Stars, meanwhile, continues to kick up its heels. Thursday's competition episode (10th place, 19 million) on ABC kept down NBC's outgoing Will & Grace (56th place, 7.5 million) and its incoming Four Kings (58th place, 7.4 million). At 9 p.m., though, younger viewers were more likely to check out My Name Is Earl (34th place, 10.8 million) than George Hamilton's gimpy knee. On Friday, the Dancing with Stars results episode (18th place, 15.4 million), featuring the unsinkable Master P, hit a season high in viewers. As for the 63rd annual Golden Globes, the NBC telecast (11th place, 18.8 million) was up from the show's 2005 disaster (16.8 million), but, as ABC might have pointed out, still down substantially from its 2004 peak (26.8 million). Elsewhere: The all-new, all-Vegas Miss America Pageant was watched on Saturday night by 3.1 million loyalists, a record high for cable's CMT, a record low for the onetime American rite of passage. Next fall, ABC's Desperate Housewives (fifth place, 25.3 million) will go up against NBC's new Sunday night football package. At least for one Sunday night, the soap held its own against NFL playoff football on Fox (second place, 35.2 million). ABC's Crumbs (29th place, 11.4 million) picked up enough Dancing with the Stars crumbs to defeat NBC's The Office (44th place, 8.7 million). The latter comedy, though, got the last laugh--it scored with younger viewers, and with network executives, who renewed it for another season. Geena Davis won the Golden Globe, but ABC's Commander in Chief (33rd place, 10.8 million) is losing the war. NBC's own Oval Office drama, The West Wing (55th place, 7.7 million), continues to limp along to its finish. NBC aired The Book of Daniel (75th place, 5.8 million), then canceled it. ABC didn't air Emily's Reasons Why Not or Jake in Progress, but axed them anyway. How bad are things for The O.C. (82nd place, 5.4 million)? Fox has resorted to comparing it to Reunion, as in "The O.C. showed substantial gains compared to" the show it canceled because nobody was watching. Overall, American Idol, sorry, Fox won the week in viewers (averaging 19.2 million) and the 18-to-49 demographic. CBS did its thing in total viewers (11.9 million), but fell to third in the race for young viewers behind ABC. ABC, meanwhile, ran third in viewers (11.5 million), followed by NBC (9.6 million). In the battle of the damned, the doomed WB (3.2 million) beat the doomed UPN (2.6 million). 1. American Idol (Tuesday), Fox, 35.5 million viewers 2. NFC Championship Game (Carolina at Seattle), Fox, 35.2 million viewers 3. American Idol (Wednesday), Fox, 31.6 million viewers 4. CSI, CBS, 27.1 million viewers 5. Desperate Housewives, ABC, 25.3 million viewers 6. NFC Championship Game--Gun, Fox, 24.6 million viewers 7. Without a Trace, CBS, 23.1 million viewers 8. Grey's Anatomy, ABC, 21 million viewers 9. Lost, ABC, 19.1 million viewers 10. Dancing with the Stars (Thursday), ABC, 19 million viewers
Davis Awarded As ABC Shelves 'Commander' (2006-05-04)'Commander in Chief' Takes Six-Week Break (2006-02-01)Stars' Powers Boost TV Ratings (2006-01-26)'West Wing' ending its NBC run after seven seasons (2006-01-23)'Housewives,' daring moms scoop Globe TV awards (2006-01-18)
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