Episode 1 a success in the ratings! Dominate!

[Pavan]

Although it was expected ABC would get some mileage out of the debut of new comedies 8 Simple Rules For Dating My Teenage Daughter and Life With Bonnie, a whopping 13.0/21 for 8 Simple Rules followed by a 12.2/18 for Life With Bonnie at 8:30 p.m. (both a solid first in their time periods) is better than anyone might have imagined. Look at the facts:

-The combination of 8 Simple Rules and Life With Bonnie outdelivered season premiere episodes of Fox's That'70s Show (#2: 6.4/10) and Grounded For Life (#4: 5.5/ 8) by a considerable 113 percent.

-Compared to the one-hour Dharma & Greg season premiere in this time period on Sept. 25, 2001 (8.7/13), the ABC sitcom duo was up by a hefty 45 percent.

-Compared to CBS (JAG R #3: 5.9/ 9) and NBC (the first hour of repeat special The Cosby Show: A Look Back: 6.1/10), 8 Simple Rules and Bonnie beat the two shows combined by five percent.

Although Life With Bonnie moves to its less cushy Tuesday
9 p.m. time period (opposite NBC's Frasier) next week, 8 Simple Rules is a definite show to keep an eye (or two) on this season.

Less impressive for ABC, but still first in its time period, was the Tuesday 9 p.m. preview of Push, Nevada, which scored a 9.3/14. Although the reality/drama beat the second half of NBC's Cosby Show: A Look Back repeat (#2: 8.4/12) by 11 percent, a loss of 11 percent in rating and two share points in the second half hour (9.8/15 to 8.7/13) is a potential kiss of death. Push, Nevada debuts in its regularly scheduled 9 p.m. Thursday time period tomorrow.

On an additional That'70s Show/Grounded For Life note, season number five may not be the charm for That'70s Show, which was down 17 percent from its fourth season opener on Sept. 25, 2001 (7.7/12). Although Grounded for Life was off 17 percent from the debut of former (and failed) time period occupant Undeclared (6.6/10 on Sept. 25, 2001), last night's third season premiere was actually up six percent from the second season opener on Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2001 (5.2/ 8).

Elsewhere, repeats of The WB's Gilmore Girls (#5: 3.0/ 5) and Smallville (#5: 3.8/ 6) perked up considerably in anticipation of their season premieres next Tuesday. On UPN, repeats of Buffy, the Vampire Slayer (#6: 2.6/ 4) and Enterprise (#6: 2.1/ 3) remained out of the competitive loop with repeats on PAX (The Weakest Link 1.1/ 2, the two-hour pilot of Just Cause 1.3/ 2) remaining in the distant number seven spot.

At 10 p.m., a repeat of CBS's Judging Amy (6.8/11, up 24 percent over a repeat of lead-in The Guardian: #4: 5.5/ 8) took the hour with an eight percent advantage over ABC special Regis & Kelly in Primetime (6.3/10) and an average 15 percent lead over repeats of NBC's Frasier (#1: 6.7/10) and Just Shoot Me (#3: 5.1/ 9). Stick to daytime Regis & Kelly.

[IheartMoonlighting]

I think this is great news. It goes to show you that John still has a lot of fans out there. But of course, this is premature, remember those great Watching Ellie and Leap of Faith ratings.

We need to wait until all of the other shows settle into their regular timeslots. I think 8 simple things will survive, but life of Bonnie is another story.

[Madness]

Yeah, that is great news! Hopefully it will remain #1 in that timeslot this season. I always knew John could draw in viewers again and I'm glad he's back.

[Swimfan85]

yah I am pleased about the ratings!!! cuz I watched and it was a good show!

[Sean Snow]

Woah!!! That's great! I knew the ratings would be good, but not that good! Hopefully 8 Simple Rules maintains those ratings for the rest of this season.

[Pavan]

Official ABC Release:

ABC is the Most-Watched Network on Tuesday
“8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter” Opens Big, Ranking as the No. 1 Television Program on Tuesday Night and Giving ABC its Largest Comedy Premiere Audience in the Time Slot in at Least 5 Years
“Life With Bonnie” Wins its Time Period with Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, Building on its Lead-in in Several Key Demos
“Push, Nevada” Gets Large Sampling in Tuesday Preview,
Winning the Hour with 12 Million Viewers
Tuesday (8:00-11:00 p.m.)

ABC’s Tuesday night, which included the series premiere of “8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage
Daughter” and the series previews of “Life with Bonnie” and “Push, Nevada”, made ABC the mostwatched
network of the evening (12.2 million). ABC attracted a larger audience than Fox’s lineup,
which included the season premieres of “That ‘70s Show” and “Grounded for Life” and the special
“World’s Funniest Movie Outtakes.” ABC also won the night with Adults 25-54 (5.1/13).
· ABC posted its highest Adults 18-49 rating (4.3/12) on Tuesday in 9 months (since 1/15/02), while
drawing the Network’s largest Tuesday night audience in 4 months.
“Everyone at ABC is absolutely delighted with last night’s outstanding performances of ‘8 Simple
Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter,’ ‘Life with Bonnie’ and ‘Push, Nevada,’” stated Susan Lyne,
President, ABC Entertainment. “A lot of hard work went into this, and our strategy of premiering early
for advanced audience sampling worked. Despite being very distinct shows that appealed to different
core audiences, they each performed -- which is a testament to our marketing, publicity and companywide
synergy efforts. They really made a difference, banging the ABC drum loudly enough to bring in
viewers even in the face of the Network’s limited promotional reach this summer.”
“8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter” (8:00-8:30 p.m.)
“8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter” premiered at the top of its time period, delivering
16.9 million viewers and 6.0 rating, 18 share in Adults 18-49, making the series rank as the No. 1
program of the night in both Nielsen measures. In addition, the John Ritter comedy outperformed the
highly promoted 5th season premiere of Fox’s “That ‘70s Show” by 7.3 million viewers (16.9 million vs.
9.6 million) and by 20% among Adults 18-49 (6.0/18 vs. 5.0/15).
· “8 Simple Rules” attracted the time period’s largest audience in 17 months (since 4/10/01) and saw
its strongest Adult 18-49 rating in nearly 2 years (since 11/14/00), with series programming.
· Compared to 8:00-9:30 p.m. time period performance of the “Dharma & Greg” season premiere last
year (9/25/01), “8 Simple Rules…” improved the time period by 5.9 million viewers (16.9 million
vs. 11.0 million) and 36% among Adults 18-49 (6.0/18 vs. 4.4/13).
· “8 Simple Rules” netted ABC’s largest audience for a comedy premiere since at least 1997.
“Life With Bonnie” (8:30-9:00 p.m.)
The series preview of “Life with Bonnie” won its half-hour with 15.8 million viewers and a 5.9 rating,
16 share with Adults 18-49. The family sit-com ranked as the No. 2 program of the evening in both
Nielsen measures, behind the premiere of “8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter”.
Additionally, the series outdelivered the 3rd season opener Fox’s “Grounded for Life” by 7.3 million
viewers (15.8 million vs. 8.5 million) and by 31% among Adults 18-49 (5.9/16 vs. 4.5/12).
· “Life with Bonnie” posted the time period’s largest audience in 15 months (since 6/12/01) and saw
its highest Adult 18-49 rating in 1-1/2 years (since 2/27/01) with series programming.
· Compared to the 8:30-9:00 p.m. performance of the “Dharma & Greg” season premiere last year
(9/25/01), “Life with Bonnie” bettered the time period by 2.7 million viewers (15.8 million vs. 13.1
million) and 5% among Adults 18-49 (5.9/16 vs. 5.6/14).
· “Life With Bonnie” showed strong retention among the key adult demo. The series retained 98% of
its Adults 18-49 lead-in (5.9 vs. 6.0) and built on its lead-in with Adults 18-34 (4.8 vs. 4.6) and in
each of the female demos: Women 18-49 (7.4 vs. 6.9), Women 18-34 (6.1 vs. 5.6) and Women 25-
54 (8.8 vs. 8.1).
“Push, Nevada” (9:00-10:00 p.m.)
The series preview of “Push, Nevada” saw solid sampling, as the series made ABC the most-watched
network in the hour (12.0 million). The drama also won its time period among Adults 25-54 (5.2/12).
· The preview of “Push, Nevada” posted ABC’s second-best performance in the time period in Total
Viewers and Adults 18-49 (4.2/11) for a series in 6 months (since 3/19/02), behind the season finale
of “NYPD Blue” (5/21/02).
· Demonstrating strong male appeal, “Push Nevada” won its hour among Men 25-54 (5.0/12) and
placed second among Men 18-49 (4.1/11). In both demos, “Push, Nevada” scored the time period’s
second-best rating for a series in 6 months (since 3/19/02), behind the season finale of “NYPD Blue”
(5/21/02).
“Regis and Kelly in Primetime” (10:00-11:00 p.m.)
“Regis and Kelly in Primetime” placed second in its hour among Adults 18-49 (2.8/8) and Adults 18-34
(2.3/7). The primetime special won the hour with Men 18-34 (2.0/6).
Source: Nielsen Media Research (Affiliate Ratings) 9/17/02.

[Pavan]

Updated release:

ABC is the Most-Watched Network on Tuesday
- “8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter” Opens Big,
Ranking as the No. 1 Television Program on Tuesday Night and Giving ABC Its Most-Watched 8:00 p.m. Comedy Debut in at Least 11 Years
- “Life With Bonnie” Wins its Time Period with Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, Building on its Lead-in in Several Key Demos
- “Push, Nevada” Gets Large Sampling in Tuesday Telecast,
Winning the Hour with 12 Million Viewers Tuesday (8:00-11:00 p.m.)

ABC’s Tuesday night, which included the series premiere of “8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter” and the series previews of “Life with Bonnie” and “Push, Nevada”, made ABC the mostwatched network of the evening. ABC attracted 3.2 million more viewers (12.3 million vs. 9.1 million)
than Fox’s highly promoted lineup, which included the season premieres of “That ‘70s Show” and “Grounded for Life” and the special “World’s Funniest Movie Outtakes.” ABC also won the night with Adults 25-54 (5.1/13).

· ABC posted its highest Adults 18-49 rating (4.4/12) on Tuesday in 9 months (since 1/15/02), while
drawing the Network’s largest Tuesday night audience in 4 months.

“Everyone at ABC is absolutely delighted with last night’s outstanding performances of ‘8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter,’ ‘Life with Bonnie’ and ‘Push, Nevada,’” stated Susan Lyne, President, ABC Entertainment. “A lot of hard work went into this, and our strategy of premiering early for
advanced audience sampling worked. Despite being very distinct shows that appealed to different core audiences, they each performed -- which is a testament to our marketing, publicity and company-wide synergy efforts. They really made a difference, banging the ABC drum loudly enough to bring in viewers
even in the face of the Network’s limited promotional reach this summer.”

“8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter” (8:00-8:30 p.m.)
“8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter” premiered at the top of its time period, delivering 17.3 million viewers and 6.1 rating, 19 share in Adults 18-49, making the series rank as the No. 1 program of the night in both Nielsen measures. In addition, the John Ritter comedy outperformed the highly promoted 5th season premiere of Fox’s “That ‘70s Show” by 7.3 million viewers (17.3 million vs. 10.0 million) and by 17% among Adults 18-49 (6.1/19 vs. 5.2/16).
· “8 Simple Rules” attracted the time period’s largest audience in 17 months (since 4/10/01) and saw its strongest Adult 18-49 rating in nearly 2 years (since 11/14/00) with series programming.
· Compared to 8:00-9:30 p.m. time period performance of the “Dharma & Greg” season premiere last year (9/25/01), “8 Simple Rules” improved the time period by 6.3 million viewers (17.3 million vs. 11.0 million) and 39% among Adults 18-49 (6.1/19 vs. 4.4/13).
· “8 Simple Rules” netted ABC’s largest audience in the time slot for a Tuesday night comedy season premiere in 6 years – since the season opener of “Roseanne” (9/17/96). In fact, “8 Simple Rules” ranks as ABC’s most-watched comedy debut on any night in the 8-8:30 p.m. time-slot in at least 11 years.

“Life With Bonnie” (8:30-9:00 p.m.)
The series preview of “Life with Bonnie” won its half-hour with 16.1 million viewers and a 6.0 rating, 16
share with Adults 18-49. The family sitcom ranked as the No. 2 program of the evening in both Nielsen
measures, behind the premiere of “8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter”. Additionally, the
series outdelivered the 3rd season opener Fox’s “Grounded for Life” by 7.2 million viewers (16.1 million
vs. 8.9 million) and by 28% among Adults 18-49 (6.0/16 vs. 4.7/13).
· “Life with Bonnie” posted the time period’s largest audience in 15 months (since 6/12/01) and saw its
highest Adult 18-49 rating in 1-1/2 years (since 1/30/01) with series programming.
· Compared to the 8:30-9:00 p.m. performance of the “Dharma & Greg” season premiere last year
(9/25/01), “Life with Bonnie” bettered the time period by 3 million viewers (16.1 million vs. 13.1
million) and 5% among Adults 18-49 (6.0/16 vs. 5.6/14).
· “Life With Bonnie” showed strong retention among young adults. The series retained 98% of its
Adults 18-49 lead-in (5.9 vs. 6.0) and 100% of its Adults 18-34 lead-in (4.7). The sitcom built on its
lead-in in each of the female demos: Women 18-49 (7.5 vs. 7.1), Women 18-34 (6.1 vs. 5.7) and
Women 25-54 (9.1 vs. 8.4).
· “Life With Bonnie” attracted ABC’s largest audience in the 8:30-9:00 p.m. time period for a Tuesday
night comedy season premiere in 5 years (9/30/97).
“Push, Nevada” (9:00-10:00 p.m.)
The series preview of “Push, Nevada” saw solid sampling, as the series made ABC the most-watched
network in the hour (12.0 million). The drama also won its time period among Adults 25-54 (5.2/12).
· The preview of “Push, Nevada” posted ABC’s second-best performance in the time period in Total
Viewers and Adults 18-49 (4.2/11) for a series in 6 months (since 3/19/02), behind the season finale of
“NYPD Blue” (5/21/02).
· Demonstrating strong male appeal, “Push Nevada” won its hour among Men 25-54 (5.0/12) and
placed second among Men 18-49 (4.1/11). In both demos, “Push, Nevada” scored the time period’s
second-best rating for a series in 6 months (since 3/19/02), behind the season finale of “NYPD Blue”
(5/21/02).
“Regis and Kelly in Primetime” (10:00-11:00 p.m.)
“Regis and Kelly in Primetime” placed second in its hour among Adults 18-49 (2.8/8) and Adults 18-34
(2.4/7). The primetime special won the hour with Men 18-34 (2.0/6).

[¤I Love Clay Aiken¤]

Way to go!!! I love John!! Yes, even though I watched That 70s Show -Hey! It was a tough choice, Ive been watching since day one! But next week, Im. DEF. taping 8SR upstairs!!!!

[SBTB Geek]

I'm not surprised.

I'm glad that ABC is making a comeback.

[Pavan]

#4 for the week of Sept 16-22--not too shabby!

Top 20 Network Primetime Report

RANK PROGRAM NET DAY TIME HOUSEHOLD VIEWERS
RATING/
SHARE AUDIENCE
1 EMMY AWARDS(S) NBC Sun 8:00PM 13.5/21.0 14,397,000 19,987,000
2 SURVIVOR: THAILAND-SP(S) CBS Thu 8:00PM 13.2/22.0 14,127,000 23,047,000
3 NFL MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL ABC Thu 9:07PM 11.8/21.0 12,631,000 17,829,000
4 8 SIMPLE RULES ABC Tue 8:00PM 11.0/18.0 11,703,000 17,294,000
5 LIFE WITH BONNIE SP-9/17(S) ABC Tue 8:30PM 10.5/17.0 11,233,000 16,116,000
6 LAW AND ORDER NBC Wed 10:00PM 10.3/18.0 10,943,000 14,870,000
7 CSI-MON CBS Mon 9:59PM 9.5/16.0 10,116,000 13,523,000
7 NFL MONDAY SHOWCASE ABC Mon 9:00PM 9.5/15.0 10,124,000 14,447,000
9 CSI CBS Thu 10:00PM 9.3/16.0 9,930,000 13,970,000
9 FRIENDS NBC Thu 8:00PM 9.3/15.0 9,901,000 13,170,000
11 BIG BROTHER 3-THU CBS Thu 9:01PM 9.0/14.0 9,588,000 14,572,000
12 EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND CBS Mon 8:59PM 8.8/13.0 9,391,000 13,288,000
12 WILL & GRACE NBC Thu 9:00PM 8.8/14.0 9,390,000 12,476,000
14 60 MINUTES CBS Sun 7:00PM 8.3/15.0 8,907,000 12,112,000
15 E.R. NBC Thu 10:00PM 8.1/14.0 8,680,000 12,034,000
16 PUSH, NEVADA SP-9/17(S) ABC Tue 9:00PM 7.8/12.0 8,344,000 11,995,000
17 MISS AMERICA(S) ABC Tue 8:00PM 7.5/14.0 8,013,000 12,020,000
17 MY WIFE AND KIDS SP-9/18(S) ABC Wed 9:00PM 7.5/12.0 7,988,000 11,322,000
19 BECKER CBS Mon 9:29PM 7.1/11.0 7,536,000 10,711,000
19 LAW AND ORDER:SVU NBC Fri 10:00PM 7.1/13.0 7,629,000 10,261,000