Primetime Ratings: Fox Wins Sunday Night With Reruns
CBS' '60 Minutes' was most-watched program with 7.9 million viewers
By David Tanklefsky -- Broadcasting & Cable, 7/13/2009 2:14:10 PM EDT
CBS nabbed Sunday night’s most-watched programs with 60 Minutes pulling in 7.9 million viewers and Big Brother being the highest-rated hour at 8 p.m. with a 2.0/7, but Fox’s two-hour comedy block in reruns won out on the night.At 7 p.m. ABC’s America’s Funniest Home Videos tied 60 Minutes with a 1.0/4, though 60 Minutes easily had the most viewers for the hour. NBC with a Great American Road Trip rerun and Fox with ‘Til Death and American Dad reruns tied at 0.7/3. The CW was fifth at 0.2/1 for Valentine, Inc.
CBS took sole possession of first at 8 with Big Brother at 2.0/7. Fox was next at 1.6/5 for reruns of The Simpsons (1.8/6) and King of the Hill (1.5/5). A rerun of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition turned in a 1.3/4 for ABC. NBC was next at 0.9/3 for Merlin. The first hour of basketball flick Hoosiers earned a 0.3/1 on the CW.
At 9, Fox took first with reruns of Family Guy (2.1/6) and The Simpsons (1.9/5) drawing a 2.0/6. A rerun of Cold Case on CBS drew a 1.1/3, followed by the first hour of the first installment of NBC’s two-part miniseries Meteor at 1.0/3. ABC’s Desperate Housewives rerun tallied a 0.7/2. The second hour of Hoosiers pulled a 0.3/1 on the CW.
The second hour of Meteor gave NBC first at 10 p.m. with a 1.2/4. CBS’ Without a Trace rerun earned a 1.1/3. A rerun of Brothers & Sisters on ABC came in at a 0.6/2.
Fox won the night with a 1.5/5, while CBS was second (1.3/4) but first in viewers with 6.6 million. ABC and NBC tied for third at 0.9/3. The CW was fifth with a 0.3/1.
Talkback
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There was absolutely nothing remotely redeeming about "Meteor." The acting and direction were both about as awful as it gets. The special effects were cheap, and there was absolutely no attempt made at scientific accuracy. Bad enough for you? Well, how about that SCRIPT? According to USA Today, the screenwriter for "Meteor" was one Alex Greenfield, whose last major writing credit was for "WWF Smackdown," if you can believe that. And BOY, did it show. The script for this film was so laughably, eye-rollingly BAD that for the first time in my life I felt geniunely ashamed of myself for tuning in to watch a TV program.
What could NBC possibly have been thinking in airing this? My guess is the only thing that mattered was the advertising revenue. Some corporate suit probably said, "It doesn't matter if the program is bad. What only matters is that we make more money off it than we invested." Are these the depths to which network television has sunk? If so, and especially if next Sunday's conclusion to this execrable film draws similar ratings, I see absolutely NO hope for human civilization.'>USA Today gave "Meteor" a pretty scathing 1-star review. So I thought to myself, "How bad could it possibly be?" Well, as it turns out, GLARINGLY bad. EMBARRASSINGLY bad. SO bad, in fact, that it made me downright ANGRY that one of the venerable "Big Three" broadcast networks would actually air it ... and in this era of Reality TV, that's really saying something.
There was absolutely nothing remotely redeeming about "Meteor." The acting and direction were both about as awful as it gets. The special effects were cheap, and there was absolutely no attempt made at scientific accuracy. Bad enough for you? Well, how about that SCRIPT? According to USA Today, the screenwriter for "Meteor" was one Alex Greenfield, whose last major writing credit was for "WWF Smackdown," if you can believe that. And BOY, did it show. The script for this film was so laughably, eye-rollingly BAD that for the first time in my life I felt geniunely ashamed of myself for tuning in to watch a TV program.
What could NBC possibly have been thinking in airing this? My guess is the only thing that mattered was the advertising revenue. Some corporate suit probably said, "It doesn't matter if the program is bad. What only matters is that we make more money off it than we invested." Are these the depths to which network television has sunk? If so, and especially if next Sunday's conclusion to this execrable film draws similar ratings, I see absolutely NO hope for human civilization.
Chuck Anziulewicz - 7/13/2009 3:21:38 PM EDT
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