ABC wins in total viewers with help from 'Chief'
'Chief' wins brawl
SepT 29, 2005
The new television season is still young, but the battle for every tenth of a rating point seems to be getting more intense by the night.
Tuesday amounted to a four-way brawl among the Big Four, particularly in the 9 p.m. hour. ABC's Geena Davis drama, "Commander in Chief," got off to a good start in the Nielsen polls in that killer time slot, while the second outing of NBC's comedy "My Name Is Earl" held up pretty well and CBS' "The Amazing Race" enjoyed a solid turnout for the launch of its eighth round-the-world adventure.
When the dust settled, "Chief," which stars Davis as the first female president of the U.S., won the hour in total viewers by a wide margin, but the adults 18-49 demo victory went to Fox's incumbent drama "House." The one casualty of the night was the debut of UPN's "Sex, Love and Secrets," which couldn't even muster 2 million viewers in the time slot against the firepower of the Big Four nets and WB Network's promising newcomer "Supernatural."
"Chief" impressed by growing significantly from its 8:30 p.m. "According to Jim" lead-in to finish with 16.4 million viewers and a 4.3 rating/10 share in the adults 18-49 demographic, according to Nielsen Media Research. "Chief's" constituency grew throughout its time slot, and it tied "House" for No. 1 in the hour in the adults 25-54 demo (5.8/13). "Chief" may have an opportunity to gain more favor with the high-end drama audience during the next month because "House" will take at least a three-week break starting next week to make room for Fox's coverage of Major League Baseball's playoffs and World Series.
NBC's "Earl" (11.4 million, 5.1/13) fell 23% in the key demo and nearly 4 million viewers from its opening-night numbers last week, but it nonetheless won its time slot in 18-49 by a nose over the first half of "House."
At 9:30 p.m., however, the peacock's fortunes sagged with "The Office" (7.1 million, 3.5/8), which allowed Fox's "House" (13.4 million, 5.2/12) to wind up winning the 9 p.m. hour in the demo by a solid margin. Also in the scrum was "Amazing Race," which finished out its 9-11 p.m. premiere with an average of 10.6 million viewers and a 4.4/11 in the key demo. In its first hour, "Race" was in a three-way tie for second place in adults 18-49 with "Chief" and NBC's comedies (which averaged 4.3/11 for the hour).
On the other end of the spectrum, the 9 p.m. premiere of UPN's ensemble drama "Sex, Love & Secrets" (1.4 million, 0.6/1) barely had a pulse coming out of a repeat of "America's Next Top Model" (3 million, 1.3/4).
At 10 p.m., NBC pulled ahead of the pack with "Law & Order: SVU" (15.3 million, 5.2/13). ABC's "Boston Legal" (12.4 million, 3.4/9) had a hard time hanging onto "Chief's" coattails in its sophomore-season premiere.
At the start of the night, CBS' drama "NCIS" (15.1 million, 3.4/10) once again took on all comers to win the hour outright in both key measures. Fox's new drama "Bones" (7.9 million, 3.1/9) squeaked past NBC's "The Biggest Loser" (7.4 million, 3.0/9) for the No. 2 spot. WB was in solid shape with "Gilmore Girls" (5.5 million, 2.4/7) leading into 9 p.m.'s "Supernatural" (5 million, 2.2/5), which held up well against the heat of the Big Four competition.
For the night, "Earl" and "SVU" allowed NBC to elbow past CBS and Fox for No. 1 in adults 18-49 (NBC's 4.2/11 to Fox and CBS' 4.1/11). ABC's "Chief" gave the network a roughly 200,000-viewer edge over CBS for bragging rights in total viewers (ABC's 12.3 million to CBS' 12.1 million).
Tuesday amounted to a four-way brawl among the Big Four, particularly in the 9 p.m. hour. ABC's Geena Davis drama, "Commander in Chief," got off to a good start in the Nielsen polls in that killer time slot, while the second outing of NBC's comedy "My Name Is Earl" held up pretty well and CBS' "The Amazing Race" enjoyed a solid turnout for the launch of its eighth round-the-world adventure.
When the dust settled, "Chief," which stars Davis as the first female president of the U.S., won the hour in total viewers by a wide margin, but the adults 18-49 demo victory went to Fox's incumbent drama "House." The one casualty of the night was the debut of UPN's "Sex, Love and Secrets," which couldn't even muster 2 million viewers in the time slot against the firepower of the Big Four nets and WB Network's promising newcomer "Supernatural."
"Chief" impressed by growing significantly from its 8:30 p.m. "According to Jim" lead-in to finish with 16.4 million viewers and a 4.3 rating/10 share in the adults 18-49 demographic, according to Nielsen Media Research. "Chief's" constituency grew throughout its time slot, and it tied "House" for No. 1 in the hour in the adults 25-54 demo (5.8/13). "Chief" may have an opportunity to gain more favor with the high-end drama audience during the next month because "House" will take at least a three-week break starting next week to make room for Fox's coverage of Major League Baseball's playoffs and World Series.
NBC's "Earl" (11.4 million, 5.1/13) fell 23% in the key demo and nearly 4 million viewers from its opening-night numbers last week, but it nonetheless won its time slot in 18-49 by a nose over the first half of "House."
At 9:30 p.m., however, the peacock's fortunes sagged with "The Office" (7.1 million, 3.5/8), which allowed Fox's "House" (13.4 million, 5.2/12) to wind up winning the 9 p.m. hour in the demo by a solid margin. Also in the scrum was "Amazing Race," which finished out its 9-11 p.m. premiere with an average of 10.6 million viewers and a 4.4/11 in the key demo. In its first hour, "Race" was in a three-way tie for second place in adults 18-49 with "Chief" and NBC's comedies (which averaged 4.3/11 for the hour).
On the other end of the spectrum, the 9 p.m. premiere of UPN's ensemble drama "Sex, Love & Secrets" (1.4 million, 0.6/1) barely had a pulse coming out of a repeat of "America's Next Top Model" (3 million, 1.3/4).
At 10 p.m., NBC pulled ahead of the pack with "Law & Order: SVU" (15.3 million, 5.2/13). ABC's "Boston Legal" (12.4 million, 3.4/9) had a hard time hanging onto "Chief's" coattails in its sophomore-season premiere.
At the start of the night, CBS' drama "NCIS" (15.1 million, 3.4/10) once again took on all comers to win the hour outright in both key measures. Fox's new drama "Bones" (7.9 million, 3.1/9) squeaked past NBC's "The Biggest Loser" (7.4 million, 3.0/9) for the No. 2 spot. WB was in solid shape with "Gilmore Girls" (5.5 million, 2.4/7) leading into 9 p.m.'s "Supernatural" (5 million, 2.2/5), which held up well against the heat of the Big Four competition.
For the night, "Earl" and "SVU" allowed NBC to elbow past CBS and Fox for No. 1 in adults 18-49 (NBC's 4.2/11 to Fox and CBS' 4.1/11). ABC's "Chief" gave the network a roughly 200,000-viewer edge over CBS for bragging rights in total viewers (ABC's 12.3 million to CBS' 12.1 million).
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