On the network’s menus for Thanksgiving Eve: heaping platters of series lows. (It should probably be noted that the reason it made sense for 3 networks to air new episodes last night, despite the anticipated lack of available viewers, is that Black Friday retailers and studios with new holiday movies still created demand for commercials for whomever was watching.)
NBC: WHITNEY and GUYS WITH KIDS both fell to new-low 1.1s (down 0.3 and 0.2) in their second week together, but given the low overall viewership on Wednesday, it’ll be another week before we know how badly they really stand. SVU was down to 1.3 (down 0.3), and CHICAGO FIRE to 1.4 (down 0.2).
CBS: The Eye won every hour of the night, although its numbers were down as well: SURVIVOR to 2.3, CRIMINAL MINDS to 2.7 (both down 0.3 from last week), and CSI to 2.3 (down 0.2).
FOX: Even taking into consideration the reduced viewership for the evening, THE X FACTOR was down an ugly 0.7 to 2.2.
ABC: The night started with a 2.2 for A CHARLIE BROWN THANKSGIVING, 39 years old and still capable of almost carrying its timeslot (it was up a healthy 0.4 from last year). Reruns of MODERN FAMILY and SUBURGATORY were at 1.7 and 1.1, but it turned out to be a terrible idea to fill the Nashville slot with an off-night episode of PRIVATE PRACTICE, resulting in a rotten 1.0 that wasn’t even competitive in the hour (it was a particular bummer for regular viewers who missed the episode, since it had a major–if predictable– plot development in the closing minutes).
CW: A holiday-eve punt with a run of PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES was considerably below the network’s typical Wednesday with 0.5.
Tonight, the networks greet the holiday with a grab-bag of strategies. NBC will win the night with its New York Jets vs. New England Patriots NFL FOOTBALL game (go, Jets! Or at least cover!), while FOX has its regular X Factor/Glee line-up, ABC airs Spike Lee’s music documentary about the making of Michael Jackson’s Bad, and CBS and CW both go the rerun route.
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