Ratings Review of This Season So Far

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Mum's the Word on "Alias"
By Joal Ryan
E! Online

When ABC announced it was moving Alias to Thursdays, it looked like curtains for Sydney Bristow. One month into the season, it looks like curtains for Sydney Bristow.


As the anchor of ABC's notoriously must-not-see night, the five-season-old spy adventure sank to 70th place (7.2 million) for the TV week ended Sunday, per Nielsen Media Research.


Even worse, in its first half-hour, the show ran behind NBC's world-famous Joey (68th place, 7.4 million) among coveted 18-to-49-year-old viewers.


And in the most ominous sign yet--if press releases can be considered signs--Alias was programa non grata in ABC's weekly ratings recap released Tuesday.


The network that found something nice to say about Supernanny (71st place, 7 million) couldn't bring itself to spin mother-to-be Sydney. In this instance, silence most likely is deadly.


Other ABC shows rating unmentionable status: Alias' Thursday partners in obscurity, Night Stalker (83rd place, 5.1 million) and Primetime (86th place, 4.5 million), not to mention every Friday series, save for the vaunted Supernanny. The formerly sturdy According to Jim (60th place, 7.8 million) was only noted in passing, as in "Rodney [57th place, 8 million] built on its According to Jim lead-in."


So far, ABC has yet to cancel or renew any series. But when Commander in Chief (ninth place, 16.2 million) gets three paragraphs' worth of glowing press-release ink, Freddie (45th place, 9.4 million) gets two, and Alias gets none, SD-6 intelligence is not required to determine which shows are bound for glory.

Or not.

Elsewhere:

It's probably nothing, but since starting its second season before a whopping 28.4 million, Desperate Housewives has slipped an itty-bitty bit in each successive week, down to a whopping 25.8 million (second place) on Sunday night.
In case you were wondering, CBS' CSI (first place, 28.3 million) doesn't slip.
NBC is "excited" not to have to cancel another new show, reupping Surface (35th place, 10.4 million) for a full season's worth of underwater antics.
CBS' Out of Practice (24th place, 12.3 million) closed in on NBC's My Name Is Earl (23rd place, 12.6 million) for bragging rights as TV's most-watched new comedy, but hasn't yet closed on a season-long renewal.
Break out the Australian Shiraz! Martha Stewart's Apprentice (72nd place, 6.9 million) was up almost 10 percent from last week's not-good ratings.
Last year, Judging Amy averaged 10.6 million for CBS in the 10 p.m., Tuesday hour. Its reward: Cancellation. This fall, Jerry Bruckheimer's latest crime drama, Close to Home (39th place, 10.1 million), is averaging 7 percent fewer viewers in the same time slot. Its reward: The jury's still out.

To date, the WB has lost more viewers this fall, as compared to last, than any other network--down 11 percent. This, despite big-time showings by Gilmore Girls (76th place, 6.2 million), Smallville (77th place, 5.9 million) and Supernatural (78th place, 5.5 million). This, because of little-time showings by Twins (109th place, 2.2 million), Blue Collar TV (108th place, 2.3 million) and Related (105th place, 2.5 million).
Oh, and nobody watched What I Like About You (111th place, 2 million), but you already knew that.

Overall, CBS notched its first double-double of the season, winning total viewers (averaging 13.4 million) and the 18-49 demo.


ABC (10.7 million) claimed second in both categories. NBC ran third in the demo, and fourth in viewers (9.6 million).


Minus the soap opera that was last season's Boston Red Sox, Fox's baseball playoff ratings are down, but the network isn't out. The games were still enough to boost the network to third place in viewers (10.5 million).


The surging UPN (3.7 million) closed the gap with the slumping WB (3.8 million).


Here's a look of the 10 most watched prime-time shows for the week ended Sunday, according to Nielsen Media Research:


1. CSI, CBS, 28.3 million viewers
2. Desperate Housewives, ABC, 25.8 million viewers
3. Lost, ABC, 21.7 million viewers
4. Without a Trace, CBS, 20.6 million viewers
5. CSI: Miami, CBS, 18.5 million viewers
6. Grey's Anatomy, ABC, 18.3 million viewers
7. Survivor: Guatemala, CBS, 17.8 million viewers
8. NCIS, CBS, 16.8 million viewers
9. Commander in Chief, ABC, 16.2 million viewers
10. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, ABC, 16.1 million viewers