Friday, November 03, 2006

Overnight TV Ratings -- "The OC" Is DOA

It looks like the fourth season of "The OC" will be its last. In a killer timeslot -- Thursday at 9 p.m. opposite "CSI" and "Grey's Anatomy" -- the show could barely improve on the weak lead-in of the FOX sitcoms "Til Death" and "Happy Hour." Meanwhile, "Shark" is right on the heels of "ER" (stepping in nicely for "Without A Trace" and proving Thursday at 10 p.m. opposite that powerhouse is now -- shockingly enough -- a good place to launch new shows for CBS. If ABC gets its act together and puts something new on at 10 p.m., things could change. But right now, when NBC switches to "Scrubs" and "30 Rock," "ER" is gonna take a hit and "Shark" will move into first. And NBC definitely overplays "Deal" but doesn't it look impressive, improving on its lead-in depsite such massive competition?The overnights, per MediaWeek's Marc Berman:

8 p.m.
1. Survivor: Cook Islands (CBS) -- 15.56 million viewers
2. Ugly Betty (ABC) -- 13.72 mil
3. My Name Is Earl (NBC) -- 9.57 mil/The Office (NBC) -- 8.87 mil
4. Smallville (CW) -- 4.93 mil
5. Til Death (FOX) -- 4.31 mil/Happy Hour (FOX) -- 3.18 mil

9 p.m.
1. Grey's Anatomy (ABC) -- 20.96 mil
2. CSI (CBS) -- 20.53 mil
3. Deal Or No Deal (NBC) -- 13.09 mil
4. (tie) The OC (FOX) -- 3.38 mil/Supernatural (CW) -- 3.38 mil

10 p.m.
1. ER (NBC) -- 13.77 mil
2. Shark (CBS) -- 13.17 mil
3. Six Degrees (ABC) -- 7.59 mil

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I cannot wait for the OC to be cancelled

Michael in New York said...

Well, I think it will run the whole season (perhaps getting moved soon, though Thursday is a disaster in general for Fox and they have no new shows they'd want to sacrifice to the Grey's Anatomy/CSI juggernaut. Probably the most you can hope for is an almost certain no-renewal for next season. Maybe they'll announce mid-season this will be the final year to let the writers build to a big finale.

Michael in New York said...

Scratch that -- "The OC" is running away to Wednesdays and they're throwing animated repeats on Thur.