NBC On Top Once Again
Posted: November 26, 2001 @ 2:38 PM C
Source: Hollywood
Reporter
NBC picked up speed heading into the homestretch of the November sweep,
which ends on Wednesday.
With preliminary numbers for Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday
factored in, NBC won Tuesday through Friday among adults 18-49 and took
the lead for the sweep in the key demo from Fox. Through Saturday, NBC's
sweep demo average is projected at 5.1 rating/13 share. Fox is a close
second with a 4.9/13 and is expected to erase some of the NBC lead with
the premiere of "Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace"
last night. CBS (4.5/12) is third, followed by ABC (3.8/10).
CBS continues to lead the pack in total viewers (13.5 million),
followed by NBC (12.8 million), Fox (11.8 million) and ABC (10.2
million). The standings are not expected to change when final numbers
for Wednesday through Saturday are released today.
NBC has to thank its established Thursday hits "Friends,"
"Will & Grace (news - Y! TV)" and "ER" for its
sound Thanksgiving victory. Back-to-back episodes of
"Friends," including a first-run starring Brad Pitt at 8 p.m.
(24.1 million, 11.0/31), an hour-long "Will & Grace"
guest-starring Debbie Reynolds and Beau Bridges at 9 p.m. (17.9 million,
8.8/23) and a new episode of "ER" (23.6 million, 10.9/29)
averaged a night-winning 21.5 million viewers and a 10.1/27 in adults
18-49, according to preliminary numbers from Nielsen Media Research.
CBS was the only network to challenge NBC's dominance as "CSI:
Crime Scene Investigation (news - Y! TV)" (22.6 million, 8.4/22)
won the 9 p.m. hour in total viewers and came in close second in the
demo. A repeat of the hit sophomore drama at 10 p.m. (14.8 million,
5.3/14) improved CBS' performance in the period with "The
Agency," while "Survivor" at 8 p.m. (17.9 million,
6.5/18) was no match for the potent double dose of "Friends."
Meanwhile, ABC (5.3 million, 1.6/4), which aired the Mick Jagger
special "Being Mick" to an underwhelming 3.9 million viewers
and a 1.5/4 in adults 18-49, and Fox, which premiered Adam Sandler's
movie "The Wedding Singer" (4.4 million, 1.5/4), were out of
contention for the night.
NBC won Friday night on the strength of its regular lineup, averaging
12.8 million viewers and a 3.4/11 in adults 18-49, while Fox was a close
second in 18-49 with the broadcast premiere of Sandler's "Big
Daddy" (7.6 million, 3.3/11).
The season premiere of "America's Funniest Videos" at 8
p.m. (9.7 million, 3.0/10) gave ABC its largest audience and
second-highest adult 18-49 delivery in the hour, while
"Thieves" slipped to 6.9 million, 2.1/7 at 9 p.m.
CBS didn't get a lot of traction with the premiere of "The
Rugrats Movie" (6.1 million, 1.6/5) and the 'N Sync (news - web
sites) concert special (7.7 million, 2.7/9). The special of the teen
heartthrobs still built significantly on to its "Rugrats"
lead-in and finished second in the hour, beating ABC's "Once &
Again."
"Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" once again came through
for CBS in a big way. A rerun of the children's classic at 8 p.m. (13.2
million, 4.6/15) ranked as the No.1 program on Saturday in total viewers
and adults 18-49, according to preliminary data. CBS, which followed up
with strong showings from "Touched by an Angel" and "The
District," won the night, averaging 13.1 million viewers and 4.2/12
in adults 18-49.
On the longevity of another classic, Frank Capra's "It's a
Wonderful Life," NBC was second (7.8 million, 3.0/9).
On Saturday, fewer people found the rerun of Fox's "24,"
which regularly airs on Friday. The repeat at 9 p.m. (5.3 million,
2.1/6) slipped from its "Cops 2" lead-in (8.3 million,
3.2/10).
The numbers for NBC's Wednesday lineup grew every half hour, peaking
to 17.9 million viewers and a 6.3/19, according to preliminary data. The
only hour the peacock network wasn't in control was at 8 p.m. where
Fox's and ABC's comedies duked it out for the demo lead (3.6/11 for Fox
vs. 3.5/11 for ABC) , while CBS' "60 Minutes 2" (11.1 million)
was No.1 in viewers.
Fox's new comedy "The Bernie Mac Show" at 9 p.m. (9.3
million, 3.9/11) cooled off in its second airing, but still ranked a
respectable second in its half-hour behind NBC's "The West Wing
(news - web sites)" (15.9 million, 5.5/16), beating ABC's veteran
"The Drew Carey Show" (8.5 million, 3.5/10). "Bernie
Mac" was also the highest rated show for the night in teens.
CBS saw the second Garth Brooks live concert special at 10 p.m. (9.6
million, 3.7/11) improve a little vs. the first one (8.4 million,
3.4/9).
Jennifer Lopez didn't generate too much heat for NBC on Tuesday with
her 8-9 p.m. "Jennifer Lopez in Concert" special (11.8
million, 4.5/12), which came in second in viewers in the hour to CBS'
"JAG" (15.5 million, 4.1/11) and was beaten from 8-8:30 p.m.
in the 18-49 demo by Fox's "That '70s Show" (8.8 million,
4.5/13), according to Nielsen data. The peacock still won the night in
the adults 18-49 demo on the strength of sitcoms "Frasier"
(16.4 million, 6.5/16) and "Scrubs" (12.3 million, 5.5/13),
which won the 9 p.m. hour. ABC's "NYPD Blue (news - Y! TV)"
ran second with 12.9 million viewers and 4.9/12 in 18-49. At 10 p.m.
"Philly" (10.0 million, 3.9/11) posted its best adult 18-49
number in seven weeks, but still was a distant third for the hour.
CBS won the night in total viewers with big turnouts for
"JAG" and "Judging Amy (news - Y! TV)" (15.7
million).
Fox's new real-time drama "24" (8.2 million, 4.1/10) built
on its "Undeclared" lead-in (6.6 million, 3.5/9).
For the night, NBC averaged 5.2/13 in 18-49 while CBS weighed in with
14.3 million viewers.
|