Primetime Ratings: Fox’s Canterbury's Law Doesn’t Pass Ratings Bar
Debut of Drama Finishes Last Among Big Four Networks Monday Night
By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 3/11/2008 1:28:00 PM
The good news is that ratings for the debut of Fox's critically praised new drama, Canterbury's Law, grew from its first half-hour to its second. The bad news is that the show couldn't crack a 2 rating from 8 p.m.-9 p.m. and came in fourth among the Big Four networks with a 1.7 rating/5 share in the 18-49 demo behind a pair of reality shows and a pair of repeats.
It was a fairly tight race for not a lot of viewers in broadcast primetime Monday night. No network could muster a 3 rating average, although CBS came close with a 2.9 rating/8 share in the 18-49 demo, led by a repeat of Two and a Half Men (3.8/10), which was the night's top-rated show, beating not only the premiere of Canterbury's Law but the two-hour finale of October Road and a host of other new episodes of reality, games and dramas on the competition.
NBC was second with a 2.7/7, topped by Deal or No Deal from 9 p.m.-10 p.m. with a 3/8.
ABC and Fox tied for third with a 2.1/6. Fox's top show (of the two it aired) was new drama New Amsterdam, which averaged a 2.5/6 in the demo for third place from 9 p.m.-10 p.m. ABC got its best performance of a new episode of The New Adventures of Old Christine (3.3/8), which tied for first from 9:30 p.m.-10 p.m. with the second half of Deal.
The CW was fifth with a 0.6/2, led by Pussycat Dolls with a 0.8/2.
