Nielsen Ratings (Through 10/13/02) - Friends Isn't the Number-One Show Anymore

Well, this is it. :( For the first time since November 29, 2001, Friends is not the number-one show on television anymore. The way things are going, last week may end up being the last time Friends was able to claim the position as the number-one show on television until possibly next May. CSI's lead is currently just a 0.1 rating ahead of Friends, but it appears it will continue to grow in the coming weeks. ER, the closest other competitor at number three, is a full 2.0 rating behind.

Top 20 Network Primetime Series Season-to-Date (10/07/02 - 10/13/02)

RANK ... PROGRAM ... RATING/SHARE 1 ... CSI ... 18.3/28.0 2 ... FRIENDS ... 18.2/28.0 3 ... ER ... 16.3/26.0 4 ... EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND ... 14.1/21.0 5 ... WILL & GRACE ... 13.5/20.0 6 ... LAW & ORDER ... 13.4/23.0 6 ... CSI: MIAMI ... 13.4/22.0 8 ... SCRUBS ... 12.4/19.0 8 ... SURVIVOR: THAILAND ... 12.4/19.0 10 ... NFL MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL ... 11.9/20.0 11 ... WEST WING ... 11.5/18.0 12 ... GOOD MORNING MIAMI ... 11.1/17.0 12 ... STILL STANDING ... 11.1/16.0 14 ... FRASIER ... 11.0/17.0 15 ... JUDGING AMY ... 10.6/18.0 16 ... LAW & ORDER: SVU ... 10.4/19.0 17 ... WITHOUT A TRACE ... 10.3/17.0 17 ... JAG ... 10.3/16.0 19 ... LAW & ORDER: CRIM. INTENT ... 9.9/15.0 20 ... 60 MINUTES ... 9.6/16.0

NBC cannot be pleased with the trend that has occurred over the past three Thursday nights this season. For the first time since nearly a year and a half ago, when Survivor was the number-one program, CBS defeated NBC (by a 0.1 rating) on a night when both networks aired entirely new programming. Considering CBS has gained ground every week, unless something major happens, it may become the standard winner on Thursday nights this season.

CSI is clearly the powerhouse show of the season, crushing Friends and everything else and pulling a series-record 30.7 million viewers, more than four million more than Friends, which was in second with 26.6 million viewers. Scrubs lost thirty percent of Friends' audience, placing ninth behind Survivor: Thailand, which was seventh. ER was at number three, Will & Grace was at number five, and Good Morning Miami was at number twelve for NBC, while Without a Trace was up to number eleven for CBS. Eight of the top twelve programs aired on Thursday night.

Top Twenty Network Primetime Programs Week of 10/07/02 - 10/13/02

RANK ... PROGRAM ... RATING/SHARE ... AUDIENCE ... VIEWERS 1 ... CSI ... 19.4/29.0 ... 20,698,000 ... 30,725,000 2 ... FRIENDS ... 16.6/26.0 ... 17,733,000 ... 26,625,000 3 ... ER ... 16.1/26.0 ... 17,176,000 ... 24,744,000 4 ... LAW & ORDER ... 13.8/23.0 ... 14,698,000 ... 20,246,000 5 ... WILL & GRACE ... 13.3/20.0 ... 14,174,000 ... 20,188,000 5 ... EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND ... 13.3/19.0 ... 14,162,000 ... 19,865,000 7 ... SURVIVOR: THAILAND ... 12.3/19.0 ... 13,171,000 ... 21,155,000 8 ... CSI: MIAMI ... 12.1/19.0 ... 12,879,000 ... 17,183,000 9 ... SCRUBS ... 11.6/18.0 ... 12,376,000 ... 18,639,000 10 ... WEST WING ... 10.9/17.0 ... 11,643,000 ... 15,989,000 11 ... WITHOUT A TRACE ... 10.8/18.0 ... 11,478,000 ... 15,942,000 12 ... GOOD MORNING MIAMI ... 10.7/16.0 ... 11,399,000 ... 16,296,000 13 ... NFL MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL ... 10.6/18.0 ... 11,348,000 ... 15,994,000 13 ... LAW & ORDER: SVU ... 10.6/19.0 ... 11,321,000 ... 15,908,000 15 ... STILL STANDING ... 10.2/15.0 ... 10,877,000 ... 14,887,000 15 ... JUDGING AMY ... 10.2/17.0 ... 10,848,000 ... 14,373,000 17 ... JAG ... 9.9/16.0 ... 10,614,000 ... 14,819,000 18 ... 60 MINUTES ... 9.8/16.0 ... 10,440,000 ... 14,483,000 19 ... FRASIER ... 9.5/15.0 ... 10,155,000 ... 14,281,000 20 ... LAW & ORDER: CRIM. INTENT ... 9.4/14.0 ... 9,977,000 ... 14,610,000

For ratings charts for the current season and the past three seasons of Friends, check out Dan's Friends Ratings: http://newmusicandmore.tripod.com/friendsratings.html

--DanG

"Dan Ginsburg" wrote in message news:[email]...

NBC's problem is their resistance to change the structure of their Thursday night schedule. Why don't they just do:

8pm Friends 8:30 Will and Grace 9pm Some crappy Law & Order show that seems to always get great ratings no matter where it's located. 10pm ER.

Lewis.

"manhn" wrote in message news:...

like Friends in Season 9.

Sorry. I meant "Season-to-Date (09/23/02 - 10/13/02)", through the first three weeks of the new season. My mistake.

--DanG

In article , [email] (Dan Ginsburg) wrote:

Yeah, I was wrong. Last May I predicted that BKC would take notice of the popularity of a certain storyline, and pursue it in order to keep their ratings high. Others predicted that BKC would do no such thing, they would pursue their old storyline and not bother with courting the audience. That's just what's happened, as the diving figures testify.

Tennant

*Tennant Stuart* :

If you're still the second most seen show on TV (and the most seen sitcom) and you're in your last season, you have and should take that freedom. IMHO.

Christoph

Overdosed on Teletubbies, Christoph P�per thought it'd be a good idea to post this:

argh... which song???

*Cookie Dude* :

The one where there is a silent moment in the refrain on several radio / TV stations. Only good song by the band. Final hint: PoM - SHM

Christoph

Overdosed on Teletubbies, Christoph P�per thought it'd be a good idea to post this:

How embarrassing... Not too long ago I easily recognized a line from another song of them. And it's not the only good song by the band, their album is class! In fact I saw them live in Feburary even before the album came out over here (God bless the internet and Fraunhofer for developing mp3 audio compression :) ) and I loved it

Andr�

Christoph P�per wrote in message news:...

...Until you realize that a ham sandwich on NBC on Thursday nights can pull in 15 million viewers. People are very reptitive in their television viewing habits, how do you explain so many crappy shows on that night pulling in 20 million viewers over the past 7 or 8 years?

"Maizeandblue" wrote in message news:[email]...

news:...

Somehow, I doubt NBC will be able to do that once Friends is gone next season.

Lewis.

Their concern is about the night as a whole, particularly about it surviving post-Friends. Friends itself could pull a higher rating at 9:00, but Will & Grace & Scrubs would suffer tremendously. Friends is the strongest anchor on television, & as soon as that anchor is lifted, an already hurting NBC (that has lost to CBS all of the first three weeks of the new television season for the first time in about a decade) will be desperately searching for a new hit show. (Hopefully, that will become American Dreams, but its rating dropped a lot this week...)

--DanG

"Dan Ginsburg" wrote in message news:[email]...

Isn't that a terrific show? I just don't get why this show dropped so much. If people who keep complaining about Friends being too risque watched American Dreams, we wouldn't need to worry whether it will get picked up or not.

Lewis.

Yeah, it's amazing. I'm sure it'll catch on by the end of the season.

[email] (Dan Ginsburg) wrote in message news:...

Well then NBC should really have done something about it earlier. Friends has become fallow and really its the show's popularity and not quality that's holding ratings up - a short term solution. That it is still the no. 2 show is a wonder in itself. Can Friends survive a further season? I think not.

That's mere speculation. For all anyone nows the ratings could be for the worse.

I would think the strongest anchor on television has to be CSI. Its improving its ratings as the week goes by while Friends is losing by the millions.

"NARAG" wrote in message news:[email]...

news:...

Your opinion.

Yes, it may slip to no. 3 or 4. Ooh, the horrors! We've heard these same predictions in seasons 3 and 7. But guess what? It still survived somehow.

Considering that more people watch TV at 9 than at any other time during primetime and Will & Grace has never had better ratings than Friends (except during one summer when W&G followed Friends directly), it's more than mere speculation.

And Scrubs retains 70% of Friends' audience. Those are Jesse numbers.

CSI isn't even the strongest anchor on CBS--that distinction goes to Everybody Loves Raymond, which strengthens that entire night for CBS. CSI could be a stronger anchor for CBS if it was on another night. Survivor does not rely on CSI to be as successful as it is.

Lewis.

"manhn" wrote in message news:...

Popular sentiment actually. I don't know what the newsgroup looks like at your end but its awash with critical comments of S9... from storylines to quality to humor.

Friends will most likely not make the top 5 should they are should they return for a 10th season. BKC will insist they can go on for another season but would rather not - a vain boast. The show's popularity and stars can only mask the lack of quality episodes in the short run.

At 9 pm Friends goes head to head against CSI. W&G and Scrubs will begin the 8-9 slot. NBC takes lower ratings at the 8-9 slot.. with lesser % of viewers actually on the same channel with Friends now facing off CSI. A double whammy. And Friends is expected to do better at 9? I don't think so.

Of course ATF would love to see CSI, is the regining # 1 moved to a different night. CSI is showing strong numbers as the weeks pass, while the inverse is happening to Friends. More and more people are tuning in to CSI at 9 and that's significant for CBS Thur night ratings and its playing a huge role in securing CBS's Thur win over NBC. Now that's an anchor.

"NARAG" wrote in message news:[email]...

news:...

This NG has been critical of the show since season two. I take this NG's opinion of the show with a grain of salt.

somehow.

Talk about your vain boasts. It's easy to make such predictions because you know they won't be going on for another year--a commitment they have made way before this season began.

(except

mere

Survivor was much more popular when it first moved to Thursdays than CSI is now, so Friends has weathered greater storms.

Good thing Friends hasn't relied on what was on before it since season 1.

Really rather simple. More people watch TV at 9 than at 8. If CSI moved to 8, you'd see its ratings drop.

first

a

(Hopefully,

CSI

does

Actually, I, and probably most people, barely care. CSI is the #1 show on TV--good for them. Friends is the #2 show--good for them. Neither show will be cancelled due to low ratings.

Claire (whom I don't agree with too often) is right--people seem to use the ratings way too much to prop up their favourite storyline.

Lewis.

"manhn" wrote in message news:...

Actually, its anybody's guess. NBC has stated outright it wants Friends to remain and will pull all stops to bring it back for a 10th season. Though if ratings continue to dive, they will rethink the decision. But NBC is desperate as it will need a suitable replacement. There is mixed reactions from the cast and producers. David and Lisa said yes, Matt recently said no. But this was what happened last year as well before they agreed for 9th. BKC and NBC would likly keep mum about a renewal and leverage on the notion that this is the last season and milk ratings as much as possible. So its still up for grabs. 24 mil is a lot of money and there is every possibility that the cast might agree if the offer is on the table. Nothing boastful about this I'm afraid.

It was sandwiched between 2 top rated shows in Season 1.

Manipulating the schedule on Thurs night isn't going to give Friends the no.1 spot? This season, no way. If CSI moves to 8 pm, Friends will likely still be second bested.

There might be some truth to what these ppl are saying. S8 thrived mainly and made up on good plots even thought it was short on humor. S9 is in a sitcom vaccum right now and does not have a half decent story, at least not yet. The Tulsa story looks weak and ratings have sharply declined in 3 episodes and from the looks of it if Friends continues to bore, there's a good probability of it slipping below the 20 mil mark.

*NARAG* :

Wow, you know all the next twenty episodes/plots?

I've never gotten into CSI, it's facing Charmed (or Buffy last year) and Stargate: SG1 or Andromeda here (and Champion's League soccer and Kommissar Rex (popular German police dog series), which I don't watch).

Exactly, a sitcom without humor isn't good. People watched it because they like soap operas.

901 was a classic story of misunderstanding and 902 was classy slapstick.

Well, it's the first real challenge for Mondler.

�Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it's time to pause and reflect.� Mark Twain

It won a prime time slot (Tues 21:15) from next spring on (season 8) due to be constantly well over 1 million viewers at 18:00 over here.

Christoph

Overdosed on Teletubbies, Christoph P�per thought it'd be a good idea to post this:

*way* too much detail here :)

You've done it again! Neither Brits nor Americans should be expected to be familiar with the 24 hr system! It's 9:15PM and 6:00PM

Andr�

*Cookie Dude* :

But I should be expected to be familiar with AM/PM, feet, inches, ounces, gallons, miles and all the other prehistoric crap? Sorry, don't think so.

Christoph

Overdosed on Teletubbies, Christoph P�per thought it'd be a good idea to post this:

I didn't say that. My comment was to be understood as saying they can't be bothered with the metric system and the 24 hr. time system - unless they are in the army

*Cookie Dude* :

I didn't say you said that. ;-)

IIRC the UK introduced the metric system some years ago (EU guideline), shortly after I visited the island. You would think e.g. the loss of a mars probe worth (US-)billions of dollars because of inch/centimeter confusion should have made the US government reconsider introducing the SI (Syst�me international d'unit�s) or at least either CGM (Centimeter, Gram, Second) or MKSA (Meter, Kilogram, Sekunde, Amp�re).

Christoph, OT so FollowUp-To poster

The ratings are by no means diving! They're still ranking higher than any other season besides season eight. The drop over the past three weeks is completely typical following a huge season premiere, & it continues to lessen every week. If you look an almost any other returning show this season, you'll see the same trend.

--DanG

I completely agree with all that. Survivor was doing fine (better, actually) before CSI showed up on Thursday nights. CSI doesn't anchor anything.

--DanG

DEFINITELY! At worst, it would still be in the top five during its tenth season, & probably still number one in Adults 18-49, which is all they care about anyway. It's not like NBC hasn't tried to find a future replacement, but it's quite difficult. (Just try to recall The Single Guy, Jesse, Cursed, Inside Schwartz, Leap of Faith, & now Scrubs. The first five all failed, & Scrubs appears headed down the same path. I doubt it'll be canceled, but it won't be able to fill Friends' gap.) As for your opinion of the show, it's just that: your opinion. I didn't like the premiere, but I've loved the last three episodes, particularly 802 & 804.

I wouldn't call it speculation. I think it's safe to say Friends would just about definitely pull a couple million more viewers if it aired at 9:00 instead of 8:00, but that move would kill the first hour of NBC's "Must-See TV" lineup. Will & Grace could never anchor the lineup like Friends does.

CSI isn't even an anchor. Survivor anchors the night for CBS, & Friends is definitely a more successful anchor than Survivor. The whole concept of an anchor is that it brings viewers to the network to watch the rest of the shows that night. Without a Trace is doing well, but most viewers still switch to ER. CSI is the number-one show right now, & it's doing extremely well, but I wouldn't call it an anchor.

--DanG

[email] (Dan Ginsburg) wrote in message news:...

Don't think so. It will be in the top 10 but not in the top 5 and by that time will not be no.1 in the 18-49 age group.

Aleast half the shows you mentioned premiered in 01/02 when NBC left it a little to late and realised Friends wasn 't going to be around much longer. In the past the network was busy apleasing its stable of star producers. Veronica's Closet is an example. BKC had enough clout, even though the network should have resisted given the show the prime 9:30 pm slot on Thurs night. The show was axed in 2000 when the peacock's stakeholder's decided to overhaul the entire management team.

Aren't you stating your opinion as well or you are speaking from a position of authority as you were claiming at one stage to own copyrights to Nielsen Media ratings?

You mean 902 & 904. :-) Season 9 doesn't seem that memorable does it?

I agree with you latter comments as it will flatline NBC's Thur night but Friends will not be able to pull in the extra viewers. In fact CSI might even widen the ratings gap. But then there is only one way to find out.

CSI plays a significant role in CBS's Thur night rating as it diminishes whatever perceived advantage Friends leads in on the hour. It'll be really interesting to see the figures for Scrubs and NBC overall Thur night performance next week as Friends goes into a rerun.

Yes, I'm speaking from my opinion, but if 25 million people hated the show, they'd stop watching it. And no, I don't own the Nielsen ratings. I have no association to them whatsoever. :-P

Oops! My mistake.

--DanG

[email] (Dan Ginsburg) wrote in message news:...

Hate is not the right word. Then again there really isn't anything else worth watching om tv or renewed competition (Survivor has fizzled out) for the lacklustre sitcom at 8 pm.