Thursday’s Numbers [10.30.2008]
By fred | October 31, 2008
The main event last night as of course the season premiere of 30 Rock, finally, and so if you’re a fan of the show you’ll be delighted to hear that it did well, it did very well. In fact, it was a new series high for Tina Fey’s hilarious little comedy with 8.53 million viewers and a 4.1 on the demo ! That is an improvement of 16% in total viewers and 21% on the demo compared to last season’s premiere (7.3 million viewers, 3.4 on the demo) and a very good retention out of its new lead-in on the demo : 95%
Of course, Tina Fey being talked about like crazy in these election days with her Sarah Palin impressions probably helped and it will be interesting to see how this show does in the next weeks, but the show’s great, the episode was hilarious, and to help the promo they still have many guests coming up like Jennifer Aniston, Steve Martin or Oprah, so I’m sure it will be fine.
Okay, so let’s go back at 8.00, where Ugly Betty was down again, with 8.55 million viewers and 2.6 on the demo. On NBC a new My Name Is Earl did the same thing that last episode had done : hit a new series low, this time with only 6.17 million viewers and 2.4 on the demo. Seems Earl might not recover all that well from his coma after all…
The latest Kath & Kim somehow got more viewers than a week ago, which to me in completely unexplainable. Still, 460 000 more viewers and 5.46 million viewers and a 2.3 on the demo. What the Hell ? Meanwhile on The CW Smallville continued to be very stable with 4.24 million viewers and 1.7 on the demo.
At 9.00 things were back to normal, CSI winning the slot with 18.64 million viewers - which is actually a season low, down 600 000 viewers from last week - while Grey’s Anatomy, with 15.05 million viewers, up 800 000 viewers, took the demo with 5.6 (vs 4.7 for CSI)
On NBC The Office went up 1.6 million viewers to a season high of 9.32 million viewers, and 4.7 on the demo (which isn’t as good as the season premiere, 4.9 with 100 000 less viewers), leading into a successful season premiere of 30 Rock. Fun fact: maybe 30 Rock isn’t considered a hit, but it performed better than Heroes, which still is, did this Monday (8.15 million and 3.9 for Heroes, vs 8.53 million and 4.1 for 30 Rock).
On The CW the boys of Supernatural had 200 000 more viewers with 3.53 million viewers and 1.5 on the demo. And I shall say this again : Supernatural is one of the best show on television right now, if you’re not you really should start watching!
Finally at 10.00 Eleventh Hour won the slot - despite losing 700 000 viewers - with 11.48 million viewers and 2.9 on the demo, a series low. Life On Mars went up a little (+300 000 viewers) with 8.41 million viewers and 2.7 on the demo, dead last on the slot.
On NBC things were good for E.R. with 9.12 million viewers, up 400 000 viewers, and a nice 3.4 on the demo, making the medical drama winner of the slot among adults 18-49. And now at NBC, people are starting to turn this into not the last season of E.R. after all…
All numbers of the night below :
| Thursday, October 30th | ||
| Show | Network | Viewers (18-49) |
| 8.00 | ||
| Survivor | CBS | 13.14 M (4.2) |
| Ugly Betty | ABC | 8.55 M (2.6) |
| My Name Is Earl | NBC | 6.17 M (2.4) |
| Kath & Kim [8.30] | NBC | 5.46 M (2.3) |
| Smallville | The CW | 4.24 M (1.7) |
| Kitchen Nightmares (R) | Fox | 3.64 M (1.5) |
| 9.00 | ||
| CSI | CBS | 18.64 M (4.7) |
| Grey’s Anatomy | ABC | 15.05 M (5.6) |
| The Office | NBC | 9.32 M (4.7) |
| 30 Rock [9.30] | NBC | 8.53 M (4.1) |
| Kitchen Nightmares (R) | Fox | 3.98 M (1.8) |
| Supernatural | The CW | 3.53 M (1.5) |
| 10.00 | ||
| Eleventh Hour | CBS | 11.48 M (2.9) |
| E.R. | NBC | 9.12 M (3.4) |
| Life On Mars | ABC | 8.41 M (2.7) |
| Global | Adults 18-49 | ||
| CBS | 14.42 M | CBS | 3.9 |
| ABC | 10.67 M | ABC | 3.6 |
| NBC | 7.95 M | NBC | 3.4 |
| The CW | 3.88 M | Fox | 1.6 |
| Fox | 3.81 M | The CW | 1.6 |
Posted in Numbers/Ratings
Shows: 30 Rock, CSI, E.R., Eleventh Hour, Grey’s Anatomy, Kath & Kim, Life On Mars, My Name Is Earl, Smallville, Supernatural, The Office, Ugly Betty
