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May 24, 2012
 

The Sked: WEDNESDAY RATINGS May 23 — The End of the May Sweep and the Broadcast Season

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Written by: Mitch Metcalf
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American Idol ended its season down a third from last year’s finale, but still over a 6 rating — enough to win the night handily and put the May Sweep away.  Look for a Sweep ratings update posting soon.

Nightly Primetime Average: Adult 18-49 Rating (Live+Same Day)
Wednesday ABC CBS NBC FOX
05.23.2012 2.6 1.5  1.4  6.1  This Week
05.16.2012 2.3 2.8 1.3 4.9 Last Week
05.25.2011 2.3 1.6 1.0 9.2 Last Year

 

FOX ended its season with the two-hour finale of American Idol, averaging a preliminary 6.1 rating with Adults 18-49 (probably going up to a 6.2 and maybe even a 6.3 in the official nationals).  The finale certainly kicked up from recent episodes which were in the high-4 rating range but not quite to the season premiere level above a 7 rating.  The show started at a 5.1 rating last night in the 8:00 half hour and built to a 6.8 rating from 9:30-10:00.  Last year on this night, American Idol aired for two hours (9.2).  If last night’s official rating is a 6.2, it will be down 33% from last year’s finale, a pretty standard decline for the show this season.

Season Last Six Episodes
FOX Wednesday High Low 4.18 4.25 5.02 5.09 5.16 5.23
American Idol 7.4 4.5 4.8 4.8 4.7 4.5 4.9 6.1*
Mobbed 3.0 2.8
Touch 3.9 3.9
X Factor 4.4 2.5
I Hate My Teenage Daughter 2.8 1.8

 

On ABC, the entire night rebounded a bit from last week, finishing the season finale night three tenths of a rating point above the same night last year.  Season finales of The Middle and Modern Family finished just above their season lows, while Don’t Trust the B- and Revenge perked up to their best rating in six weeks.  Revenge contributed a lot to ABC’s gain versus the same night last year, when low-rated comedy filled the 10 pm hour.  Last year on this night:  The Middle (2.2), Modern Family repeat (1.9), Modern Family (4.2), Cougar Town 9:30 (2.0) and 10:00 (2.0) and Happy Endings (1.7).

Season Last Six Episodes
ABC Wednesday High Low 4.18 4.25 5.02 5.09 5.16 5.23
The Middle  3.2 1.9 1.3r 1.3r 2.0 1.9 1.9 2.0*
Suburgatory 3.4 1.8 2.0 1.4r 2.0 2.1 1.8
Modern Family 6.1 3.9  4.1 2.2r 4.1 4.4 3.9 4.0*
Don’t Trust the B 2.9 1.9 2.6 2.0 2.3 2.3 1.9 2.5*
Happy Endings 3.5 1.7
Revenge 3.4 2.0 2.3 2.1 2.1 2.2 2.0 2.4*

 

CBS edged NBC with all repeats from 8-11 pm:  Big Bang Theory (1.5), Two and a Half Men (1.2) and Criminal Minds at 9 and 10 pm (each 1.6 rating).  Last year on this night: Big Bang Theory repeats 8:00 (1.3) and 8:30 (1.6), Criminal Minds repeat (1.4) and Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior (1.8).

Season Last Six Episodes
CBS Wednesday High Low 4.18 4.25 5.02 5.09 5.16 5.23
Survivor 3.6 2.6 2.8 2.7 2.6 2.8
Criminal Minds 4.1 2.8 1.7r 1.8r 3.0 2.9 3.6 1.6r*
CSI 3.3 2.3 1.5r 1.5r 2.3 2.4

 

NBC remained stuck in fourth place on Wednesday despite original episodes at 8:00 (Betty White’s Off Their Rockers, 1.5 rating) and 10 pm (1.9 rating).  The real problem was 9 pm, where a repeat SVU only scored a 0.9 rating.  Every time the audience is served SVU at 9 pm on NBC, it says no thank you.  Perhaps they will acquire a taste for the show at the earlier hour this fall as scheduled, but it’s not likely.  Last year on this night:  Minute to Win It repeat (0.8), Minute to Win It repeat (1.0) and Law & Order: LA repeat (1.3).

Season Last Six Episodes
NBC Wednesday High Low 4.18 4.25 5.02 5.09 5.16 5.23
Up All Night  2.4 1.5
Free Agents 1.3 1.0
Whitney 2.1 1.4
Chelsea 2.3 1.2
Off Their Rockers 1.8 1.3 1.6 1.7 1.3 1.5 1.4 1.5*
Best Friends Frvr 1.2 0.8
Bent 1.0 0.7 0.8 0.8
Harry’s Law 1.4 1.1
Rock Center 1.1 0.5 0.6 0.9 1.0 0.7
L&O SVU 2.4 1.6 1.6 1.7 1.9 1.8 1.7 1.9*

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About the Author

Mitch Metcalf
MITCH METCALF has been tracking every US film release of over 500 screens (over 2300 movies and counting) since the storied weekend of May 20, 1994, when Maverick and Beverly Hills Cop 3 inspired countless aficionados to devote their lives to the art of cinema. Prior to that, he studied Politics and Economics at Princeton in order to prepare for his dream of working in television. He has been Head of West Coast Research at ABC, then moved to NBC in 2000 and became Head of Scheduling for 11 years.