Rueben's Ramblings

While many can argue that the Nielson ratings are flawed and in desperate need of an overhaul, the industry still greatly relies on their daily tallies. The industry seems to also dwell primarily on the 18 to 34 year-old viewers and cannot seem to get past the fact that those are NOT the only viewers of television programming.

But, before I digress into a soapbox rant, I did my own research on all the programming that aired over the course of this past year. Please note that I do not cover comedies, sports or reality so you are on your own if you wish to learn more about how those genres fared in the overall ratings war.

The details that follow are based strictly on the millions of viewers (not by any age demographic) who tuned into the dramas on the major and cable networks from January to mid-December of this year. Please note these numbers are the overall average of viewers for each show based on early overnight numbers divided by the number of episodes aired within the time frame, as referenced, for each drama.

First of all, the following is a list of all the dramas that aired during the last half of the 2009-2010 TV season, covering January through May (which is known in the industry as mid-season through to the season finales in May):

1. NCIS (CBS) – 18.1 million
2. NCIS: Los Angeles (CBS) – 15.3 million
3. The Mentalist (CBS) – 15 million
4. CSI (CBS) – 14.3 million
5. Criminal Minds (CBS) – 13.2 million
6. The Good Wife (CBS) – 13 million
7. Glee (FOX) – 12.4 million
8. CSI: NY (CBS) – 12.1 million
9. CSI: Miami (CBS) – 11.9 million
10. Desperate Housewives (ABC) – 11.8 million
11. Grey’s Anatomy (ABC) – 11.7 million
12. House (FOX) – 11.6 million
13. Castle (ABC) – 11 million
14. Bones (FOX) – 10 million
15. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (NBC) – 9 million
16. Brothers & Sisters (ABC) – 8.8 million
17. Private Practice (ABC) – 8.6 million
18. Human Target (FOX) – 8.3 million
19. Medium (CBS) – 7.6 million
20. Fringe (FOX) – 6.7 million
21. Chuck and Parenthood [Tie] (NBC) – 6.1 million
23. V (ABC) – 6.0 million
24. The Vampire Diaries (The CW) – 3.4 million
25. Supernatural (The CW) – 2.7 million
26. Justified (FX) – 2.4 million [ran from March to June]
26. Smallville (The CW) – 2.3 million
27. Life Unexpected and One Tree Hill [Tie] (The CW) – 2.1 million
29. Gossip Girl (The CW) – 1.8 million
30. 90210 (The CW) – 1.6 million
31. Breaking Bad (AMC) – 1.5 million [ran from March to June]

Then, as we move into the summer, the following list shows all the dramas that aired from June to August on the cable networks in order of their overall viewers:

1. The Closer (TNT) – 7.3 million
2. Rizzoli & Isles (TNT) – 6.9 million
3. Burn Notice (USA) – 5.7 million
4. Royal Pains (USA) – 5.4 million
5. Covert Affairs (USA) – 5.2 million
6. True Blood (HBO) – 5 million
7. White Collar (USA) – 4.3 million
8. Psych (USA) and Memphis Beat (TNT) [Tie] – 3.6 million
10. In Plain Sight (USA) – 3.4 million
11. Leverage (TNT) and Army Wives (Lifetime) [Tie] – 3.3 million
13. The Glades (A&E) and Hawthorne (TNT) [Tie] – 3.1 million
15. The Secret Life of the American Teenager (ABC Family) – 2.9 million
16. Pretty Little Liars (ABC Family) and Drop Dead Diva (Lifetime) [Tie] – 2.6 million
18. Warehouse 13 (Syfy) – 2.5 million
19. Eureka (Syfy) – 2.4 million
20. Mad Men (AMC) and Dark Blue (TNT) [cancelled] [Tie] – 2.3 million
22. Haven (Syfy) – 1.8 million
23. Huge (ABC Family) 1.7 million [cancelled]
24. Make It or Break It (ABC Family) – 1.6 million
25. Rescue Me (FX) – 1.3 million
26. Unnatural History (Cartoon Network) – 1.2 million [cancelled]
27. Rubicon (AMC) – 1 million [cancelled]

Next, we have the ratings results for all of the dramas that aired on the major networks for the first part of the 2010-2011 TV season, covering September to approximately mid-December:

1. NCIS (CBS) – 19.4 million
2. NCIS: Los Angeles (CBS) – 15.8 million
3. The Mentalist (CBS) – 14.4 million
4. Criminal Minds (CBS) – 14 million
5. CSI (CBS) – 13.7 million
6. Desperate Housewives (ABC) – 12 million
7. The Good Wife (CBS) – 11.8 million
8. Grey’s Anatomy (ABC) – 11.7 million
9. Glee (FOX) – 11.5 million
10. Hawaii Five-0 (CBS) and Blue Bloods (CBS) [TIE] – 11.1 million
12. CSI: Miami (CBS) – 11 million
13. Castle (ABC) – 10.8 million
14. House (FOX) – 10.1 million
15. The Defenders (CBS) – 10 million
16. CSI: NY (CBS) – 9.9 million
17. Bones (FOX) – 9.2 million
18. Brother & Sisters (ABC) – 8.8 million
19. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (NBC) – 8.7 million
20. Private Practice (ABC) – 8.4 million
21. Detroit 1-8-7 (ABC) and Law & Order: Los Angeles (NBC) [TIE] – 8.2 million
23. No Ordinary Family (ABC) – 7.6 million
24. The Event (NBC) – 7.1 million
25. Medium (CBS) – 6.6 million
26. Human Target (FOX) – 5.9 million
27. Lie To Me (FOX) – 5.7 million
28. Chuck (NBC) – 5.6 million
29. Chase (NBC) – 5.5 million
30. Parenthood (NBC) – 5.3 million
31. Fringe (FOX) – 5.2 million
32. The Vampire Diaries (The CW) – 3.3 million
33. Smallville (The CW) – 2.7 million
34. Nikita (The CW) – 2.6 million
35. The Good Guys (FOX) – 2.5 million
36. Supernatural (The CW) – 2.4 million
37. Hellcats (The CW) – 2.2 million
38. 90210 (The CW) – 2 million
39. Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill (The CW) [Tie] – 1.9 million
40. Life Unexpected (The CW) – 1.6 million [cancelled]

NOTE: There were several new dramas (such as Lone Star, Undercovers and The Whole Truth) that were introduced in the fall, but were quickly pulled from the schedule and not given a full season order by their respective networks; therefore, I did not include those shows in the above list.

Lastly, the cable networks aired some of their summer shows during the fall or debuted new and or returning series during the fall, competing against the major networks. The following is a list of how those shows performed over the course of September to mid-December as applicable:

1. The Closer (TNT) – 5.7 million
2. The Walking Dead (AMC) – 5.3 million
3. Burn Notice (USA) – 4.3 million
4. Boardwalk Empire (HBO) – 3.5 million
5. Sons of Anarchy (FX) – 3.2 million
6. Psych (USA) – 2.9 million
7. Men of a Certain Age (TNT) – 2.3 million
8. Dexter (Showtime) – 2 million
9. Sanctuary (Syfy) – 1.5 million
10. Glory Daze (TBS) – 1.4 million
11. Stargate Universe (Syfy) [cancelled] and Tower Prep (Cartoon Network) [TIE] – 1.2 million
13. Terriers (FX) – 700,000 (average) [cancelled]

NOTE: Full ratings for the 3-part Sherlock mini-series that aired on PBS this fall, the 6-part mini-series Luther that aired on BBC America this fall and the season 2 run of Being Erica that aired on SOAPnet earlier in the year have been nearly impossible to locate online; therefore, none of those dramas can be reflected in these listings.

ADDITIONAL NOTE: Leverage aired 3 episodes in December on TNT with an average of 2.4 million viewers. Both Eureka and Warehouse 13 aired holiday-themed episodes on Syfy in December, which earned 1.9 million and 2 million viewers respectively.

The final analyses of all ratings listed above for the major and cable networks are as follows:

1. Once again, CBS is the number one most watched network, having the top 3 shows – NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles and The Mentalist – in fact the two NCIS shows have seen their numbers go up from last season with a slight drop in the overall numbers for The Mentalist from last season to this season;

2. CBS can also claim the top two new shows out of the fall season, those being Hawaii Five-0 and Blue Bloods (with the shows running virtually neck-and-neck in the overall ratings);

2. The top drama for ABC for the entire calendar year is Desperate Housewives followed closely by Grey’s Anatomy and Castle;

3. Just like last year NBC is sorely lacking in any successful show (new or returning) in terms of top ratings; but for both seasons (2009-2010 and 2010-2011), Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is the network’s top show; but the network is consistently placing 3rd behind CBS and ABC respectively;

4. While House was once the top rated show for FOX, it has now been surpassed by Glee (for both seasons). House has fallen considerably in the ratings, losing 1.5 million viewers from last season to this season;

5. The top news show for ABC is Detroit 1-8-7, while Nikita is the top new show for The CW and Law & Order: Los Angeles is the top new show for NBC;

6. The Vampire Diaries has consistently been the number one series on The CW for both seasons (2009-2010 and 2010-2011), faltering in the ratings only slightly from last season;

7. Medium on CBS, Fringe on FOX and Chuck and Parenthood, both on NBC, have taken the steepest hits in the ratings from last season to this season. Medium lost 1 million viewers, Fringe lost 1.5 million, Chuck lost 500,000 viewers and Parenthood lost 800,000 viewers;

8. The Closer is the number one cable show for the summer out of all the summer dramas that aired on the various cable networks. The Closer also sustained its number one status during its fall airing as well;

9. Burn Notice is the number one cable drama on the USA Network for the summer; while Warehouse 13 is the number one cable series on Syfy (followed very closely by Eureka) and The Walking Dead is the number one cable series on AMC; and,

10. Summer shows from the cable networks that aired in the fall in direct competition with the major networks is proving to be a bad move by their respective networks; namely because the ratings for both Psych and Burn Notice (just as examples) are down significantly for both shows.

FINAL NOTE: I did not include any DVR ratings, online viewership or the like in the above ratings results, as those numbers – while helpful in knowing just how a particular show is watched by the viewing audience – hold no barring on the future outcome of a show. The advertisers who make each and every show possible are only concerned with the ratings from live viewings because that is when their advertising is viewed by the TV audience. The networks are at the mercy of their advertisers; therefore, the live ratings are the only ratings that can truly make a difference.

What have been the shows that you have enjoyed the most this year? Do you feel a particular show’s ratings should be higher (or possibly) lower than they appear above? Do you wish a fan favorite would get more attention from viewers? Please share.