Wednesday, May 23, 2012

The season finale of American Idol received the highest rating on any network since the Oscars. With Criminal Minds in reruns, Revenge rose four tenths and SVU rose thee tenths from last week. America's Next Top Model tied its series low. Deadline has a list of Idol's season finale ratings. For the sixth consecutive year, AI posted its "lowest season finale ever."

rating	show	slot	network	last week	season low	series low
0.4	America's Next Top Model "Highlights"	9pm	CW	0.4	0.4 (2)	0.4 (2)
1.5	Off Their Rockers	8:30	NBC	1.6	1.3
2.0	Law & Order: SVU "Rhodium Nights"	10pm	NBC	1.7	1.6 (3)	1.6 (3)
2.0	The Middle "The Wedding"	8pm	ABC	1.9	1.9 (2)	1.7 (2009)
2.4	Don't Trust the Bitch in Apartment 23 "Shitagi Nashi..."	9:30	ABC	2.3	1.9
2.4	Revenge "Reckoning"	10pm	ABC	2.0	2.0
4.1	Modern Family "Baby on Board"	9pm	ABC	3.9	3.9	2.5 (2009)
6.4	American Idol "Winner Announced"	8-10pm	FOX	4.9	3.9	3.9
0.3	rerun - America's Next Top Model "Jez Smith"	8pm	CW
0.9	rerun - Law & Order: SVU "Father's Shadow"	9pm	NBC	1.8	1.6 (3)	1.6 (3)
1.2	rerun - Two and a Half Men "Not In My Mouth"	8:30	CBS
1.5	rerun - Off Their Rockers "episode 3"	8pm	NBC	1.4	1.3
1.6	rerun - The Big Bang Theory "The Ornithophobia Diffusion"	8pm	CBS
1.6	rerun - Criminal Minds "Unknown Subject"	10pm	CBS	3.6	2.8	2.8
1.6	rerun - Criminal Minds "True Genius"	9pm	CBS	3.6	2.8	2.8
2.1	rerun - Modern Family "Aunt Mommy"	8:30	ABC

sources: spotted ratings and tv by the numbers

Site updates
Added a chart to the Renewed / Canceled Charts.
Updated the List of Series Lows, and made a new series low page for 2011-2012 (yesterday).

Annual Network Averages, 2011-2012

FOX 3.2
CBS 3.0
NBC 2.5
ABC 2.4

Compared to last season, FOX lost three tenths, ABC lost one tenth, CBS added one tenth, and NBC added two tenths.

Spot posted the networks' averages for the last 12 seasons. Deadline has the 18-34 demo numbers and median ages for the 2011-2012 TV season that ended on Wednesday.

Top 10 Primetime Network Programs, 2011-2012

1. Sunday Night Football
2. American Idol
3. The Voice
4. Modern Family
5. The Big Bang Theory
6. Two and a Half Men
7. The X Factor
8. 2 Broke Girls
9. Grey's Anatomy
10. New Girl

Here's the full list

Programming Notes

For years, I've wondered, "Who would buy Fringe?" Today, we have an answer. Not SyFy. Not TNT. Not FX. Not USA. Not Spike. Not A&E. Not ABC Family. Not AMC. Not Lifetime. Not My Network TV. It was The Science Channel. Another WB property, Chuck remains unsold.

Starz will air every episode of Spartacus in order, on Friday nights, 9pm to midnight, June 8 through August 10.

That '70s Show will run on yet another channel, TV Land, starting June 1. The other channels include Nick, ABC Family, MTV, as well as local broadcast stations. It's airing on NickToo as I type this.

The Daytime Emmys will air on HLN, a channel less-watched than CNN. The previous two editions, broadcast on CBS, were time-lease, effectively paid programming.

FOX won May Sweeps, and the season for the 8th consecutive time.

The Daily Show and The Colbert Report return on Monday Tuesday after two weeks off.

Futurama returns on Wednesday, June 20. HBO's The Newsroom premieres on Sunday, June 24. Wilfred and Louie return on Thursday, June 28. Weeds and Episodes return on Sunday, July 1. Here's a giant list of premiere dates for the Summer. Dallas reboots on TNT on Wednesday, June 13. Breaking Bad returns for the first 8 episodes of its final season on Sunday, July 15.

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Excuse of the Day

This year's "Idol" declines, while larger than just about anybody saw coming, are steeper in part because the show saw something of a renaissance last year when it added judges Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler.