CBS’ red-hot Tuesday dramas cooled off a bit, but the network still won the night in convincing fashion.
Some quick highlights from the third Tuesday of the new season:
— On CBS, "NCIS" (4.2/12, 19.84 million, , "NCIS: Cool J" (3.6/9, 16.13 million) and "The Good Wife" (2.9/8, 13.37 million) all fell from last week’s levels in adults 18-49, declining 13 percent, 12 percent and 9 percent, respecitvely.
But "NCIS" and "Good Wife" won their timeslots in viewers and the demo, while "Cool J" scored a win in viewers (but not the demo; see below). And "Good Wife" was remarkably stable in viewers, attracting the exact same size audience as last week.
There’s no doubt CBS will pick up more episodes of "Cool J" and "Good Wife."
— Tuesday continues to be cools-day for NBC. "Biggest Loser" (3.6/10, 9.1 million) was virtually even vs. last week, but the sweet part for the Peacock: The reality franchise ranked first in the 9-10 p.m. timeslot, beating "Cool J".
Year-to-year comparisons for "Loser" are tricky since last year’s episode on the same night was just an hour, and "Loser" builds substantially in its second hour. That said, two-hour "Loser" brought in 16 percent more adults 18-49 than one-hour "Loser."
The Jay Leno/Future of Television Watch Sponsored by Maureen Dowd: 2.1/6. 6.2 million viewers. Second in timeslot, demo-wise.
— Fox continues to do well with "Hell"… "Hell’s Kitchen," that is. The Fox franchise (3.2/9, 7.3 million) was up 3 percent in the demo and 11 percent in viewers vs. last week as it prepares for a two-hour finale next week.
At 9, "So You Think You Can Dance" (2.5/6, 5.5 million) was up 4 percent in the demo and managed to tie ABC’s "Dancing with the Stars" among adults 18-49.
Overall, Fox was the only network up week to week, despite what some moronic blogger Tweeted this morning (OK, that would be me. Sorry, Fox!)
— ABC once again paid the price for giving Mark Burnett’s "Shark Tank" (1.5/4, 5.42 million) time to find an audience. That cost: "DWTS" (2.5/6, 11.8 million) fell 7 percent over last week and tied Fox for third place in the hour.
Maybe doing a short-term deal with Paula Abdul wouldn’t be such a bad idea? Or perhaps subbing in some comedy repeats at 8 in place of "Shark Tank," whose ratings continue to bite?
— Looks like CW’s "Melrose Place" upticked to a 1.0 in the adults 18-34 demo at 9 p.m., from a 0.9 last week. At 8 p.m., "90210" was also up a notch to a 1.6 in the demo. Full seasons for both shows!
Corrected 1:40 p.m. CDT to fix CBS timeslot wins
