Tuesday was not a great night for the networks as many shows tumbled in their second week. Many blame the surging use of DVRs as the reason as many shows enjoyed huge gains as DVR use is factored in a few days later. Will this have an impact on the prime-time schedule? We shall wait and see.
Here are Tuesday’s highlights as follows. Remember, all numbers are adults 18-49, unless otherwise noted:
– CBS’ NCIS ruled the first hour of primetime as usual with a 3.6/11 and 18.50 million viewers, topping clip show editions of The Voice (2.9/9) and Dancing With The Stars (1.3/4). Fox’s season premiere of Raising Hope (1.7/5) and Ben & Kate (1.6/5) were disappointments.
– In the second hour of primetime, NCIS: Los Angeles won with a 3.1/8 and 14.87 million viewers. Next up was Fox’s New Girl with a 2.8/7, but drew just five million viewers. Is Zooey Deschannel the next coming of Jenny McCarthy? Egads! Following New Girl was The Mindy Project with a 1.9/5, down 32 percent from its lead-in. Mindy barely topped NBC’s just-renewed New Normal, at 1.7/5 which was down 19 percent from its Go On (2.1/6) lead-in. The hour will even be more crowded with comedies when ABC’s Happy Endings and Don’t Trust The B___ in Apartment 23 return with new seasons. Not sure if three one-hour comedy blocks featuring six look-alike single-camera sitcoms is a good idea. This setup likely won’t last long as Fox and/or ABC would make a move by January.
– The Dancing results show earned a 2.1/6 and 11.8 million viewers. Gone is former N’SYNC Joey Fatone, who now hosts My Family Recipe Rocks! on the Live Well Network digital subchannel (man, what a career downgrade – its just as bad as working beside White Sox announcer Hawk Harrelson.)
-FX won the final hour of primetime among adults 18-49 with Sons Of Anarchy with a 2.8 rating and 4.6 million viewers, easily clearing CBS’ Vegas (2.1/6), NBC’s Parenthood (1.7/5) and ABC’s Private Practice (1.6/4.) Vegas was down 16 percent from last week’s premiere.
– Finally, The CW had a 0.7/2 for the season premiere of Hart of Dixie, followed by The Next at a 0.3/1. The CW can’t be happy with the WPIX-Cablevision feud in New York, keeping the station off homes in 40 percent of the market. First cracks in the plaster in the CW-Tribune relationship? It won’t get any better from here.