'Mentalist' Hits #1 Series for week of 12/1-7/08 - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

nickandmore · 12-10-2008, 10:02 PM

First-year series `Mentalist' tops Nielsen ratings

NEW YORK – Who says network television can't create new hits?

CBS' "The Mentalist" topped the prime-time ratings last week for the first time.

The series with Simon Baker solving crimes using astute powers of observation was seen by 18.74 million people last week, its biggest audience ever, according to Nielsen Media Research.

It was the first time since May 2005 that a freshman series has led Nielsen's weekly prime-time ratings, when "Desperate Housewives" did it for ABC.

The departure of ABC's "Dancing With the Stars," which competed with "The Mentalist," helped drive new viewers to the CBS show. Three CBS dramas were the most-watched programs last week.

Barbara Walters reached Nielsen's top 10 with her annual special focusing on the year's most fascinating people, with President-elect Barack Obama taking the top spot. It was the best showing for this annual special since 2004.

For the week, CBS led with an average of 10.9 million prime-time viewers (6.9 rating, 11 share). ABC had 8.6 million (5.4, 9), Fox 7.7 million (4.7, 7), NBC 7.5 million (4.8, 8), My Network TV 2 million (1.2, 2), the CW 1.7 million (1.1, 2) and ION Television 790,000 (0.5, 1).

Among the Spanish-language networks, Univision led with a prime-time average of 4 million viewers (2.0 rating, 3 share). Telemundo had 1.2 million viewers (0.6, 1), TeleFutura 510,000 (0.3, 0) and Azteca 280,000 (0.2, 0).

NBC's "Nightly News" won the evening news ratings race with an average of 9.4 million viewers last week (6.3 rating, 12 share). ABC's "World News" was second with 8.8 million (5.9, 11) and the "CBS Evening News" had 6.8 million viewers (4.6, 8).

A ratings point represents 1,145,000 households, or 1 percent of the nation's estimated 114.5 million TV homes. The share is the percentage of in-use televisions tuned to a given show.

For the week of Dec 1-7, the top 10 shows, their networks and viewerships: "The Mentalist," CBS, 18.74 million; "NCIS," CBS, 18.52 million; "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," CBS, 17.48 million; "The OT," Fox, 16.22 million; "Desperate Housewives," ABC, 16.09 million; "Grey's Anatomy," ABC, 15.28 million; "60 Minutes," CBS, 13.79 million; "Two and a Half Men," CBS, 13.63 million; NFL Football: Washington at Baltimore, NBC, 13.29 million; "Barbara Walters Presents: The 10 Most Fascinating People of '08," ABC, 13.19 million.

___

ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Co. CBS is owned by CBS Corp. CW is a joint venture of Warner Bros. Entertainment and CBS Corp. Fox and My Network TV are units of News Corp. NBC and Telemundo are owned by General Electric Co. ION Television is owned by ION Media Networks. TeleFutura is a division of Univision. Azteca America is a wholly owned subsidiary of TV Azteca S.A. de C.V.

___

On the Net:

http://www.nielsenmedia.com

Couch Potato 05 · 12-17-2008, 11:55 PM

This is THE only crime drama show I watch! I hope it's around for a long time!

JulieSomoski · 12-19-2008, 06:09 PM

I love The Mentalist - it has easily become one of my favorite shows on TV, and one of the many CBS crime dramas worth watching.

I never really thought the networks could pull out a new hit show, but I was wrong - a first-year drama hitting #1 for the first time in 3 years is amazing.

wew3 · 12-19-2008, 08:13 PM

I read the previews before this show came out and it had a great premise. Then I saw the pilot and I wasn't that impressed. It took a string of episodes to grow on me and I really like it now. I think at this point the other two male cops are pretty useless though.

The only other cop-like shows I watch are Bones and Life as I hate the usual procedural cop shows.

This is the only drama I watch on CBS.

JulieSomoski · 12-22-2008, 05:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wew3

I read the previews before this show came out and it had a great premise. Then I saw the pilot and I wasn't that impressed. It took a string of episodes to grow on me and I really like it now. I think at this point the other two male cops are pretty useless though.

The only other cop-like shows I watch are Bones and Life as I hate the usual procedural cop shows.

This is the only drama I watch on CBS.

yeah, I'm not a fan of cop or procedural shows at all - The Mentalist is the only one I watch. And it isn't just a procedural. Simon Baker really has a special quality about him that makes this show so great.

12-19-2008, 06:09 PM	#3
JulieSomoski Roseanne Reboot - March 27! Forum Veteran Join Date: Nov 06, 2004 Location: Michigan Posts: 7,558	I love The Mentalist - it has easily become one of my favorite shows on TV, and one of the many CBS crime dramas worth watching. I never really thought the networks could pull out a new hit show, but I was wrong - a first-year drama hitting #1 for the first time in 3 years is amazing.
	__________________ Click here to view some great articles written by my husband and I! All views are appreciated! Watch: Medium, Fridays at 9pm, on CBS! Big Bang Theory, Mondays at 9:30pm, on CBS! The Mentalist, Thursdays at 10pm, on CBS! Old Christine, Wednesdays at 8pm, on CBS! ABC's Comedy Lineup, Starting Wednesdays at 8:30pm, on ABC!

12-10-2008, 10:02 PM	#1
nickandmore Member Frequent Poster Join Date: May 30, 2005 Posts: 132	'Mentalist' Hits #1 Series for week of 12/1-7/08 First-year series `Mentalist' tops Nielsen ratings NEW YORK – Who says network television can't create new hits? CBS' "The Mentalist" topped the prime-time ratings last week for the first time. The series with Simon Baker solving crimes using astute powers of observation was seen by 18.74 million people last week, its biggest audience ever, according to Nielsen Media Research. It was the first time since May 2005 that a freshman series has led Nielsen's weekly prime-time ratings, when "Desperate Housewives" did it for ABC. The departure of ABC's "Dancing With the Stars," which competed with "The Mentalist," helped drive new viewers to the CBS show. Three CBS dramas were the most-watched programs last week. Barbara Walters reached Nielsen's top 10 with her annual special focusing on the year's most fascinating people, with President-elect Barack Obama taking the top spot. It was the best showing for this annual special since 2004. For the week, CBS led with an average of 10.9 million prime-time viewers (6.9 rating, 11 share). ABC had 8.6 million (5.4, 9), Fox 7.7 million (4.7, 7), NBC 7.5 million (4.8, 8), My Network TV 2 million (1.2, 2), the CW 1.7 million (1.1, 2) and ION Television 790,000 (0.5, 1). Among the Spanish-language networks, Univision led with a prime-time average of 4 million viewers (2.0 rating, 3 share). Telemundo had 1.2 million viewers (0.6, 1), TeleFutura 510,000 (0.3, 0) and Azteca 280,000 (0.2, 0). NBC's "Nightly News" won the evening news ratings race with an average of 9.4 million viewers last week (6.3 rating, 12 share). ABC's "World News" was second with 8.8 million (5.9, 11) and the "CBS Evening News" had 6.8 million viewers (4.6, 8). A ratings point represents 1,145,000 households, or 1 percent of the nation's estimated 114.5 million TV homes. The share is the percentage of in-use televisions tuned to a given show. For the week of Dec 1-7, the top 10 shows, their networks and viewerships: "The Mentalist," CBS, 18.74 million; "NCIS," CBS, 18.52 million; "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," CBS, 17.48 million; "The OT," Fox, 16.22 million; "Desperate Housewives," ABC, 16.09 million; "Grey's Anatomy," ABC, 15.28 million; "60 Minutes," CBS, 13.79 million; "Two and a Half Men," CBS, 13.63 million; NFL Football: Washington at Baltimore, NBC, 13.29 million; "Barbara Walters Presents: The 10 Most Fascinating People of '08," ABC, 13.19 million. ___ ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Co. CBS is owned by CBS Corp. CW is a joint venture of Warner Bros. Entertainment and CBS Corp. Fox and My Network TV are units of News Corp. NBC and Telemundo are owned by General Electric Co. ION Television is owned by ION Media Networks. TeleFutura is a division of Univision. Azteca America is a wholly owned subsidiary of TV Azteca S.A. de C.V. ___ On the Net: http://www.nielsenmedia.com

12-17-2008, 11:55 PM	#2
Couch Potato 05 Night Owl! Frequent Poster Join Date: Jul 31, 2005 Location: California Posts: 392	This is THE only crime drama show I watch! I hope it's around for a long time!

12-19-2008, 08:13 PM	#4
wew3 Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Mar 03, 2003 Posts: 166	I read the previews before this show came out and it had a great premise. Then I saw the pilot and I wasn't that impressed. It took a string of episodes to grow on me and I really like it now. I think at this point the other two male cops are pretty useless though. The only other cop-like shows I watch are Bones and Life as I hate the usual procedural cop shows. This is the only drama I watch on CBS.