Monday, January 15, 2007

Overnight TV Ratings: "60 Minutes" Beats "24"

It's hard to compare because of football overruns and the like, but Bush on "60 Minutes" and "Desperate Housewives" both beat the season premiere of "24." This isn't scary news: "60 Minutes" had a massive football lead-in and "24" only had a reun, while "DH" is in its regular timeslot. "24" hit about 16 million viewers and has two more episodes tonight on its regular night. Personally, I found "24" fun but a little sloppy. Since when does killing the head of a terrorist cell organization mean the org will collapse? Isn't that the point of terrorist cells: they operate independently and finding or defeating one doesn't automatically spread to the others. Plus, the show is getting almost silly -- every time I see Jack Bauer in some impossible situation, I just giggle, knowing it's only a matter of time before he starts wrecking havoc. I'll save my final first impressions until I've seen all four hours. Meanwhile, "Grease" is failing and Donald Trump's "The Apprentice" was in fourth place. Go to MediaWeek's Marc Berman for a complete ratings rundown.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Who says network television is in decline? At 9:00 p.m. there were approx. 61.3 million viewers watching the 5 webs. If it's of quality, people will tune in. Also, how many were watching the premiere of Rome? I was alternating between that and the Housewives...glad to see the Apprentice on the decline...

Michael in New York said...

Yes, and networks definitely do better with smart counterprogramming rather than just running from hits. There's plenty of room for two hits in any timeslot. Grey's Anatomy and CSI are both top 5 hits. And as you say, Sunday night was a wealth of different offerings from Bush and football to 24 and Desperate Housewives and Rome. I didn't watch Rome but I did tape Extras. Was Rome good?