Ratings News - 22nd March 2012 *Full Tables Added*

We'll have the full tables and updated Cancellation Chart online shortly. Check the Twitter feed for updates.



Metered Market Wednesday Ratings
Bent DOA on NBC

Wednesday 3/21/12
Metered Market Results

Household
Rating/Share
Fox 11.6/19
CBS 7.3/12
ABC 3.5/ 6
NBC 2.4/ 4
CW 1.3/ 2

-Percent Change from Year-Ago Evening – Wednesday 3/23/11
CBS: +26, CW: - 7, ABC: -24, Fox: -26, NBC: -37

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-Winners:
Survivor: One World (CBS), Criminal Minds (CBS), CSI (CBS)

-Losers (excluding repeats):
Whitney (NBC), Are You There, Chelsea? (NBC), One Tree Hill (CW), Bent (NBC), Happy Endings (ABC), America’s Next Top Model – British Invasion (CW), Rock Center With Brian Williams (NBC)

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-Ratings Breakdown:
American Idol led Fox to more Wednesday overnight victory, with a 4.3 rating point advantage over second-place CBS. In the distant No. 3 spot was ABC, followed by lowly NBC and, of course, The CW.

Beginning with series premiere news, two episodes of sitcom Bent on NBC was DOA with a mere 2.2 rating/4 share in the overnights at 9 p.m., and an even weaker 2.0/ 3 at 9:30 p.m. Both half-hours finished a very distant fourth in their time periods; the 9 p.m. installment dipped by 12 percent from already barely visible lead-in Are You There, Chelsea? (#4: 2.5/ 4 at 8:30 p.m.); and the two episodes, on average, declined by 28 percent from a repeat of Law & Order: SVU on the year-ago evening. Tick, tock…the cancellation clock is already ticking.

The deadly double dose of Bent did not benefit lead-out Rock Center With Brian Williams, which finished a distant third at 10 p.m. with a 2.5/ 4 in the overnights. Earlier in the evening on NBC was on the fence Whitney at a fourth-place 3.1/ 5 at 8 p.m. Next Wednesday will feature the season (or series) finales of Whitney and Are You There, Chelsea?

All in all, this was one of the lowest rated Wednesdays in the history of NBC.

American Idol led Fox to victory, of course, with an 11.6/19 from 8-10 p.m. While any network would be pleased with an overnight performance of this caliber, keep in mind that Idol year-to-year declined by 26 percent (versus a 15.7/24 on 3/23/11). Here is the half-hour breakdown:

American Idol (Fox)
8:00 p.m.: 10.7/18 (#1)
8:30 p.m.: 11.7/19 (#1)
9:00 p.m.: 11.9/19 (#1)
9:30 p.m.: 12.2/19 (#1)

Over at CBS, Survivor: One World finished a comfortable second in the 8 p.m. hour, with a 6.6/11 (which was equal to the year-ago Redemption Island edition). Next was always reliable Criminal Minds (#2: 7.9/13 at 9 p.m.), followed by long-running CSI at a dominant 7.5/13 at 10 p.m. All three CBS series have been renewed for next season.

Now, some comments about Survivor…SPOILER ALERT: If you have not seen Survivor yet, you may want to skip the rest of this paragraph. “Karma is a bitch,” that is what comes to mind when I think of last night’s episode of Survivor: One World. While the combination of heroes and villains is what keeps this ongoing must see reality competition afloat, Colton was just plain mean spirited and he set the tone for an addictive yet difficult to watch season. While I personally wish no one harm, the game will be a better one now that he exited due to a medical issue. And watching appalling Alicia now scramble is an added bonus.

For Douglas Pucci’s review of last night’s episode, click on the following: http://tinyurl.com/8yooe8r.

Elsewhere, ABC traveled the repeat route from 8-9:30 p.m. last night with encore telecasts of The Middle (#3: 3.6/ 6), Suburgatory (#3: 3.1/ 5) and Modern Family (#3: 3.9/ 6). An original installment of Happy Endings was not so happy at 9:30 p.m. with a distant third-place 3.1/ 5, followed by a repeat of the pilot episode of Missing at a 3.7/ 6 at 10 p.m. (#2). Why ABC would waste an original installment of Happy Endings on an otherwise all encore night is a mystery.

Last, and very least, was CW duo One Tree Hill (1.4/ 3 at 8 p.m.), which concludes with a two-hour installment on Wednesday, April 4, and America’s Next Top Model: British Invasion (1.2/ 2 at 9 p.m.).

Source: Nielsen Media Research data

Source: Marc Berman@TVMediaInsights