TV Ratings (March 19-21, 2008)

As I noted in a quick post last weekend, regular updates on Televisionista will resume on Wednesday, March 25 (for the remainder of the TV season). In the meantime, here are the ratings for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday night. Weekend ratings (plus Monday) will be posted on Tuesday afternoon.

"Survivor: Micronesia" helped CBS perk up on Wednesday night, but the additional eye balls weren't too crazy about sticking around for the pointless "Big Brother." Then on Thursday and Friday the network's coverage of NCAA Basketball was about 2 million viewers softer than the previous year.

In the battle of ABC's "Cashmere Mafia" and NBC's "Lipstick Jungle" the latter female-centric series is an undisputed winner. In addition to getting less negative critical reviews, the season (or series) finale of the Candace Bushnell dramedy pulled in about 2 million viewers more than the finale of "Mafia" and eclipsed its own season average. But is that enough to save the show from cancellation?

Meanwhile, ABC's "Lost" was once again the hottest show on a reruns-filled Thursday night despite bleeding to a new season low (11.28 million), now almost 5 million viewers weaker than its 4th season premiere on January 31 (16.05 million). What would have happened is CBS aired an all-new CSI? Can a month-long hiatus and the new post-Grey's Anatomy time slot stop the show's descent?

What happened to the CW? The two shows that ruled its airwaves over the past year ("Smallville" and "America's Next Top Model") and used to pull in over 5 million viewers now both average fewer than 3.5 million viewers.

Some of the erosion may be contributed to higher DVR penetration, but the shows have clearly lost some steam. Or perhaps its fans are not aware new episodes are on air. Ironically, the network's hottest show is now wrestling, which will be switching to MyNetworkTV come fall.

WEDNESDAY:

ABC:
8:00pm Wife Swap (5.82 million)
9:00pm Supernanny (6.87 million)
10:00pm Men in Trees (5.83 million)

CBS:
8:00pm Survivor: Micronesia (11.34 million)
9:00pm Big Brother 9 (6.73 million)
10:00pm CSI: NY (R) (6.24 million)

NBC:
8:00pm Law & Order: CI (R) (5.63 million)
9:00pm Law & Order: CI (R) (6.78 million)
10:00pm Law & Order (10.45 million)

Fox:
8:00pm Moment of Truth (10.66 million)
9:00pm American Idol (25.53 million)

CW:
8:00pm America's Next Top Model (3.71 million)
9:00pm Pussycat Dolls Present: Girlicious (1.75 million)


THURSDAY:


ABC:
8:00pm Miss Guided (6.34 million)
8:30pm Miss Guided (6.34 million)
9:00pm Lost (11.28 million)
10:02pm Eli Stone (7.54 million)

CBS:
8:00pm NCAA Basketball (8.45 million)

NBC:
8:00pm Deal or No Deal (10.21 million)
9:00pm Celebrity Apprentice (8.62 million)
10:01pm Lipstick Jungle (7.09 million)

Fox:
8:00pm Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? (7.34 million)
9:00pm Don't Forget the Lyrics! (8.51 million)

CW:
8:00pm Smallville (3.41 million)
9:00pm Reaper (2.95 million)


FRIDAY:


ABC:
8:00pm Grey's Anatomy (R) (4.14 million)
9:00pm 20/20 (6.61 million)

CBS:
8:00pm NCAA Basketball (8.30 million)

NBC:
8:00pm Amnesia (5.15 million)
9:00pm Dateline (6.32 million)

Fox:
8:00pm 'Til Death (R) (3.35 million)
8:30pm Jezebel James (3.11 million)
9:00pm House (R) (5.48 million)

CW:
8:00pm Friday Night Smackdown! (4.22 million)


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