The Live+7 ratings for premiere week were released today, and they confirm what we already know: that people are time-shifting their TV viewing more than ever. For instance, an unprecedented three programs added at least 4 million viewers between Live+Same Day and Live+7, led by ABC’s Modern Family, which added 4.7 million and 4.6 million viewers, respectively, to the tally of its two-episode season premiere. CBS’ Two And A Half Men followed with 4.1 million. Modern Family was the champ in net gain both in total viewers and adults 18-49 (a 2.4 demo rating lift), where it also was followed by Two And A Half Men (2.3). The CW’s Supernatural topped the chart of the shows with the largest percentage gain with 63%, followed by CW’s America’s Next Top Model (57%) and Fox’s Fringe (53%). NBC’s struggling Harry’s Law got a much needed boost, up 42% in the demo, while the 38% lift for NBC’s canceled The Playboy Club came too late. The CW, whose target demo is on average the most digitally savvy, dominated the top of the percentage-gain rankings with six of the top 10 shows. That translated into a big lift for the CW in the network standings for premiere week, doubling the closest network in percentage gains. Among the Big 4, CBS posted the largest net and percentage gain in both 18-49 and total viewers. Here are the network rankings as well as lists of the Top 10 Programs in adults 18-49/total viewer net increase and 18-49 percentage growth for premiere week:
Adults 18-49 (rating) Total Viewers (in 000)
L+SD L+7 %Gain L+SD L+7 %Gain
Fox 3.4 4.0 18% CBS 12,122 14,223 17%
CBS 3.1 3.8 23% ABC 9,871 11,383 15%
ABC 2.8 3.4 21% Fox 8,365 9,677 16%
NBC 2.6 3.0 15% NBC 7,495 8,419 12%
CW 0.7 1.0 43% CW 1,642 2,169 32%
Top 20 Series By Net Ratings Increase In 18-49
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L+SD L+7 Net Gain % Gain
1 Modern Family SP ABC 6.2 8.6 2.4 39%
2 Modern Family ABC 6.0 8.3 2.3 38%
3 Two and a Half Men CBS 10.7 12.5 1.8 17%
4 Grey’s Anatomy ABC 4.1 5.8 1.7 41%
5 The Office NBC 3.9 5.4 1.5 38%
6 New Girl FOX 4.8 6.3 1.5 31%
7 Big Bang Theory SP CBS 5.1 6.5 1.4 27%
8 Big Bang Theory CBS 4.9 6.3 1.4 29%
9 CSI CBS 3.2 4.5 1.3 41%
10 Glee FOX 4.0 5.3 1.3 33%
11 NCIS CBS 4.3 5.5 1.2 28%
12 Hawaii Five-0 CBS 3.4 4.6 1.2 35%
13 Criminal Minds CBS 4.1 5.2 1.1 27%
14 Up All Night NBC 2.4 3.5 1.1 46%
15 HIMYM SP CBS 5.2 6.3 1.1 21%
16 2 Broke Girls CBS 7.1 8.1 1.0 14%
17 Family Guy FOX 4.1 5.1 1.0 24%
18 Law And Order:SVU NBC 2.4 3.4 1.0 42%
19 The Mentalist CBS 2.8 3.8 1.0 36%
20 Pan Am ABC 3.1 4.1 1.0 32%
Top 20 Series By % Ratings Increase In 18-49
L+SD L+7 Net Gain % Gain
1 Supernatural CW 0.8 1.3 0.5 63%
2 America’s Top Model CW 0.7 1.1 0.4 57%
3 Fringe FOX 1.5 2.3 0.8 53%
4 Nikita CW 0.6 0.9 0.3 50%
5 Up All Night NBC 2.4 3.5 1.1 46%
6 Ringer CW 0.9 1.3 0.4 44%
7 Secret Circle CW 0.9 1.3 0.4 44%
8 90210 CW 0.7 1.0 0.3 43%
9 Law And Order:SVU NBC 2.4 3.4 1.0 42%
10 Harry’s Law NBC 1.2 1.7 0.5 42%
11 Vampire Diaries CW 1.2 1.7 0.5 42%
12 Grey’s Anatomy ABC 4.1 5.8 1.7 41%
13 Community NBC 1.7 2.4 0.7 41%
14 CSI CBS 3.2 4.5 1.3 41%
15 Modern Family SP ABC 6.2 8.6 2.4 39%
16 The Office NBC 3.9 5.4 1.5 38%
17 Modern Family ABC 6.0 8.3 2.3 38%
18 Parenthood NBC 2.1 2.9 0.8 38%
19 The Playboy Club NBC 1.6 2.2 0.6 38%
20 Body Of Proof ABC 2.2 3.0 0.8 36%
Top 20 Series By Net Viewership Increase (in 000)
L+SD L+7 Net Gain % Gain
1 Modern Family SP ABC 14,524 19,226 4,702 32%
2 Modern Family ABC 14,542 19,173 4,631 32%
3 Two and a Half Men CBS 28,743 32,833 4,090 14%
4 Hawaii Five-0 CBS 12,188 15,789 3,601 30%
5 Grey’s Anatomy ABC 10,378 13,921 3,543 34%
6 CSI CBS 12,737 16,237 3,500 27%
7 The Mentalist CBS 13,555 16,993 3,438 25%
8 NCIS CBS 19,958 23,303 3,345 17%
9 Criminal Minds CBS 14,137 17,186 3,049 22%
10 Glee FOX 9,210 12,213 3,003 33%
11 Body Of Proof ABC 9,462 12,335 2,873 30%
12 Blue Bloods CBS 12,058 14,912 2,854 24%
13 Big Bang Theory SP CBS 14,939 17,770 2,831 19%
14 New Girl FOX 10,280 13,089 2,809 27%
15 Unforgettable CBS 14,113 16,908 2,795 20%
16 Castle ABC 13,278 16,053 2,775 21%
17 Person Of Interest CBS 13,333 16,087 2,754 21%
18 Pan Am ABC 11,063 13,769 2,706 24%
19 Big Bang Theory CBS 14,298 16,977 2,679 19%
20 The Office NBC 7,641 10,095 2,454 32%
What’s great is how the OVERNIGHTS are still the most important thing in the goddamn world to the nets. They care about the +7’s info only after they’ve already had panic attacks about low overnights or put out press releases rewarding high overnights. Which is dumb, because, hello, you KNOW the +7’s are going to be coming in eventually, which could change things a bit (maybe not much, but I mean are these good indicators anyway? See below* for more on that). Anyway, an interesting thing about this whole +7 situation is that it basically means no advertisers are having their commercials viewed during any of the above shows. People fastforward through the commercials on their DVRs and TIVOs, so, I mean, I guess this really doesn’t help the advertisers at all, either.
*Here’s what needs to happen. TV Networks need to be able to have their shows work like YouTube videos, so they can see the ACTUAL number of views. Put them on any time, and just see how many “hits” they get; it’s a firm way to decide if the shows should stay on the schedule.
Everything, really, should be run like Hulu. Advertisements that you’re forced to watch tacked onto programs that you get to watch whenever you choose, and the networks/advertisers get to see the actual amount of views (hits) the shows are getting.
That’s all well and good but, not everyone has an internet connection, and unless you can wire up everyone in the US it’s not going to happen. Not everyone is going to watch Television on a computer monitor, and the amount of households that have internet ready TV is still small.
In a nutshell not going to happen.
Same thing was said about radio sets, about television antennas and about cable penetration. Most TV will eventually be watched via the Internet, and that day is approaching quickly. Just look at the music, book and newspaper industries to see how transformative the Web is.
“In a nutshell not going to happen.”
Internet schminternet. I like my rabbit ears!
Man, try to keep up with the times. The iPhone 4s had it’s BIGGEST pre-sales ever. Times are changing. Might be time to drop the 56k, old timer.
You wrote, NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. I take you to believe that the way we get our content now is NEVER GOING TO CHANGE.
That’s just ignorant.
A lot of shows in the first few weeks lose a lot of live viewers that fall under the category of religious Jews due to the way the holidays have fallen during the week.
Jews account for less than half a million people in all of the population of North America, not sure what percentage of those is so Orthodox that they would stop watching TV altogether during the holidays.
You seriously think that whatever that percentage is of less than 500,000 people will affect the TV ratings that much.
That has got to be the weirdest argument for TV viewership loss I have ever heard.
Sorry meant six million, not half a million. I’ll never get used to typing on my phone.
Wonder how much “Supernatural” and “Fringe” would go up if they weren’t on against each other? Not everyone bothers to record shows, and their audiences probably have a lot of crossover…
Glad to see Harry’s Law getting up tick in viewers. I’m a college student (so in the coveted demo) but go to school at nights so most of my veiwing is on DVR. Really enjoyed the first three eps of the season.
Can’t believe they canceled Playboy Club only to have it go up by 38% in DVR, meaning it did better than Harry’s Law and Prime Suspect! Censorship by Parents Television Council or just dumb NBC.
Can someone do me a big favor and explain this “Live+” system to me…using laymans terms? Much appreciated.
The REAL story here is that the first cancelled show of the new season, “THE PLAYBOY CLUB”, had a 38% uptick in the key demo, giving it higher demo numbers that other NBC shows like Harry’s Law and Prime Suspect. And all the while up against MNF, Castle, and Hawaii 5-0. More evidence that broadcast networks rely on antiquated ratings system as the final meter for a show’s performance. DVR ratings are being counted, but do they count????
NBC doesn’t get paid for L+7 ratings, but for C3 viewers and C3 often comes very close to the Live+SD numbers. Besides, this was the premiere week. Wait for the DVR numbers for the next weeks and see how the numbers for Playboy Club are declining. Personally, I would expect overall DVR usage to go down a bit when every viever has settled on their new favorite shows.
@briguyx: You’re absolutely right. There are a number of shows that have similar “hooks” and/or appeal to similar demographics that are pitted against each other — seems like a 5-yr-old would do a better job of scheduling …
I’m so sick of the goddamn demo. Last week, up against the top three watched shows of the night, HARRY’S LAW still managed a very respectable 8,000,000 in total viewers. Shows that skew older are never going to do well in 18-49, but the nets still ignore their most faithful viewers while chasing the age group that just doesn’t watch much TV.
The ratings system is so confusing. All I know is that Supernatural is the best show on tv today!I have direct tv so I do not get the cw channel. :( But I watch every episode the minute they are posted on the cw’s site! :)
@briguyx You’re absolutely right. The FOX president was stupid to shift Fringe over so it was on opposite Supernatural–and then to publicly diss Supernatural like it wasn’t worth a single thought. Well, Fringe’s ratings dropped to 3 million–which is dismal on a big network like Fox and TVBN is already predicting it will be pulled before its 22-episode order is completed. (I hope for the sake of Fringe fans they at least get a proper ending.) Meanwhile, Supernatural is still on top of the heap on the CW, just behind The Vampire Diaries and The Secret Circle–in spite of the fact it is in its seventh season, is on Fridays and it is up against a similar genre show on a much, much bigger network.