Programming Buzz from Zenith: Tuesday 10/11/11 – ABC Debuts Last Man Standing, But CBS Dramas Still Win

Tuesday 10/11/11 – ABC Debuts Last Man Standing, But CBS Dramas Still Win

Four weeks into the 2011-2012, a couple of the broadcast networks shook up their programming a bit. While CBS, NBC and The CW rolled our their usual Tuesday night fare, FOX ran with its annual MLB Playoff coverage and ABC debuted another of its freshman series.

Seemingly the picture of consistency, CBS delivered the largest A18-49 Live audience for the fourth consecutive week, as the network’s airings of NCIS (3.08 A18-49 Live Rating), NCIS: LA (2.80) and Unforgettable (2.17) reported slight drops from their previous episodes, with the latter continuing to control its competition during the 10pm hour.

Kicking off its night with the return of Tim Allen to ABC, freshman comedy Last Man Standing (2.98) debuted to impressive results with A18-49 viewers at 8pm, as the one-hour premiere bested last week’s Dancing with the Stars special by 83%, while also improving 12% from last year’s timeslot premiere of No Ordinary Family on 09/28/10. Retaining 96% of its stronger lead-in, the network’s 9pm Dancing with the Stars Results (2.87) reported growth of 18% from its previous airing, though the network lost a bit of steam at 10pm, as Body of Proof (1.60) dropped 10% from last week, dropping to third in the hour.

As the MLB Playoffs advanced into the League Championship Series, FOX began its annual ritual of post-season baseball coverage, with last night featuring Game 3 of the 2011 ALCS between the Detroit Tigers and Texas Rangers. Landing the network in third place for the evening, FOX’s telecast reported a 2.39 A18-49 Live Rating, a 7% drop from TBS’ ALCS Game 3 coverage between the New York Yankees and Texas Rangers last year, but an 11% increase from FOX’s ALCS Game 3 featuring the Yankees and Los Angeles Angels two years ago.

Unfortunately for NBC, sticking with its normal Tuesday night schedule resulted in the same story for the network among A18-49. Though the 2-hour airing of The Biggest Loser (1.69) at 8pm and Parenthood (1.80) at 10pm kept the network in fourth place throughout the evening, both programs held relatively steady to week ago viewing levels, with the latter even showing a slight 3% improvement with A18-49 viewers.

Benefiting from less scripted competition on FOX, The CW’s Primetime lineup of 90210 (0.51) and Ringer (0.59) bounced back with double-digit percent growth from their lowest A18-49 audience levels last week, with the former growing 19% and latter experiencing a 28% viewership increase among A18-49.

Source: Nielsen, based on Live data

posted by Strategic Resources @ Zenithmedia at 4:50 PM