Brian Damage
02-19-2005, 12:59 PM
As Thursday night kicked off the third week of February sweeps, Joey continued in the unfortunate pattern of breaking its own record for futility. Opposite the heavily hyped premiere of Survivor: Palau, the competition was as tough as ever for the freshman spin-off sitcom. Joey tumbled back below 10 million viewers for the second time in three weeks, setting a new record low for viewership in the process. The eighteenth episode of Joey pulled a 6.6 rating and a 10 share, significantly below last week's 7.4/12. For the first time, Survivor's audience more than doubled Joey's audience, certainly not a good sign for Joey's future in the Thursday night timeslot. With an estimate of just 9.81 million viewers, Joey ranked seventh for the night, as shown by the preliminary ratings.
1. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation: 18.7/28
2. Without a Trace: 13.5/22
3. Survivor: Palau: 13.4/21
4. ER: 11.8/19
5. The Apprentice 3: 9.6/15
6. Will & Grace: 6.8/10
7. Joey: 6.6/10
8. Michael Jackson's Secret World: 6.4/10
With the return of Survivor and a particularly strong CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CBS improved on its already-dominant Thursday night performance, averaging a 15.2/24 that dwarfed NBC's second-place 9.4/15. Joey slipped out of the season-to-date top twenty in January. American Idol and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation have a stranglehold on the top spots, while Joey continues to compete with Will & Grace for the number-three sitcom behind Everybody Loves Raymond and Two and a Half Men. Next Thursday night will begin the final week of February sweeps, as Joey looks unlikely to stop the audience deterioration with one more new episode before several weeks of repeats.
1. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation: 18.7/28
2. Without a Trace: 13.5/22
3. Survivor: Palau: 13.4/21
4. ER: 11.8/19
5. The Apprentice 3: 9.6/15
6. Will & Grace: 6.8/10
7. Joey: 6.6/10
8. Michael Jackson's Secret World: 6.4/10
With the return of Survivor and a particularly strong CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CBS improved on its already-dominant Thursday night performance, averaging a 15.2/24 that dwarfed NBC's second-place 9.4/15. Joey slipped out of the season-to-date top twenty in January. American Idol and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation have a stranglehold on the top spots, while Joey continues to compete with Will & Grace for the number-three sitcom behind Everybody Loves Raymond and Two and a Half Men. Next Thursday night will begin the final week of February sweeps, as Joey looks unlikely to stop the audience deterioration with one more new episode before several weeks of repeats.