After a blockbuster fall (in which viewership rose 4 percent), many prime-time series took a dive that can't be blamed solely on the power of Fox's American Idol. Still, some networks fared better than others. Here, who scored despite the dip — and who buckled under the pressure.
CBS
Season average: 12.5 million weekly viewers
WHAT WORKED
Crime procedurals still pay: Criminal Minds (14.2 million viewers, up
1.6 million) stared down even Idol. And the Eye gained 30 percent on
Sunday with the bold pairing of Cold Case (14.4 million) and Without a Trace (14.7 million). ''It's good flow,'' says scheduling chief Kelly
Kahl. Though not good enough to keep: Trace returns to Thursdays next
fall.
WHAT DIDN'T
ABC's Thursday lineup hampered CBS standbys Survivor (15.3 million) and
CSI (20.5 million), causing a 19 percent decline (though CBS still won
in total viewers). And CBS' attempts at getting younger (The Class, 8.4
million) and buzzier (Jericho, 9.5 million) failed. The latter, Kahl
says, simply ''never built momentum.''
FOX
Season average: 10.3 million weekly viewers
WHAT WORKED
Well, there's this American Idol show (30.4 million), which also
happened to help launch the breakout game show of the season, Are You
Smarter Than a 5th Grader? (12.7 million), finally giving Fox a fighting
chance on Thursdays. Says programming VP Preston Beckman, ''That's the
big shocker for us.''
WHAT DIDN'T
Fox's fall curse continues: RIP Happy Hour (3.9 million), Standoff (6.1
million), Vanished (5.5. million), Justice (5.6 million)...So what's the
plan to save this September? More reality, and fewer baseball
pre-emptions (14, down from 26)! ''We're much cleaner,'' Beckman says,
''and that's going to help us strategize differently.''
ABC
Season average: 9.9 million weekly viewers
WHAT WORKED
Dancing With the Stars (19.2 million) waltzed to the top, bested only by
Idol and CSI. The net scored with estro-friendly pairings like Grey's Anatomy (19.5 million) and Ugly Betty (11.3 million) on Thursdays and
Desperate Housewives (17.5 million) and Brothers & Sisters (11 million)
on Sundays — a strategy echoed in fall's girly-drama-heavy lineup.
WHAT DIDN'T Old-guard comedies like According to Jim (6.3 million) faltered, while new ones like The Knights of Prosperity (5 million) fared even worse. And the later hours were not kind to complicated new dramas The Nine(8.1 million) and Six Degrees (8.3 million). ''We just weren't as strong at 10 p.m.,'' says ABC chief of research Larry Hyams.
NBC
Season average: 8.9 million weekly viewers
WHAT WORKED
In one all-too-appropriate word, Heroes (14.4 million). The show's
superpowers included materializing viewers from thin air (NBC's down 9
percent overall but up on Mondays) and luring evasive young male
viewers. The only other uptick came courtesy of another group of power
players: Sunday Night Football(16.5 million).
WHAT DIDN'T
NBC's fictionalized football didn't do as well, but, thankfully, Friday
Night Lights (6.1 million) will live to play again next season. Alas,
Studio 60 (8.5 million) and Kidnapped (5.6 million) joined the
serialized scrap heap. ''Once you don't get viewers for those shows,''
laments NBC scheduling president Vince Manze, ''they're never coming.''
THE CW
Season average: 3.2 million weekly viewers
WHAT WORKED
Network suits were psyched just to get the WB-UPN mash-up off the
ground. ''It's more difficult than people think,'' says Kahl, who also
oversees The CW's schedule. But the network change didn't faze crown
jewels America's Next Top Model (5.4 million) or Beauty and the Geek (4
million). Both shows will be key anchors next season.
WHAT DIDN'T
Several previous ratings and critical darlings showed their age, from
7th Heaven (3.3 million) to Gilmore Girls (3.7 million) to the
now-canceled Veronica Mars (2.5 million). ''Veronica and Gilmore were
[supposed to be] the emblematic pairing,'' Kahl says. ''It was frustrating
that we couldn't make it into something bigger.''
