02/20 RATINGS - Friends Sinks Below 20 Million for First Time Since May '01

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DAN'S FRIENDS RATINGS THE FRIENDS VS. SURVIVOR RATINGS BATTLE YEAR 3, WEEK 22

FRIENDS DROPS FOR THE THIRD CONSECUTIVE WEEK, INCREASING ITS LEAD OVER SURVIVOR: THE AMAZON BUT SINKING TO ANOTHER NEW TWO-SEASON LOW AND FALLING TO CSI AND ER BY SEASON-RECORD MARGINS

Fast National Ratings for February 20, 2003

As the final week of February sweeps began, the slide continued for Friends. Though the program increased its lead over Survivor: The Amazon, it nearly fell a full rating point again from the previous week. Since the beginning of sweeps three weeks ago, Friends has dropped more than three-and-a-half rating points. With a preliminary estimate of 19.4 million viewers, this week's episode becomes the first since the penultimate episode of the seventh season in May 2001 to pull fewer than 20 million viewers. As a result of the continued decline, CSI and ER both defeated Friends by season-record margins. The numbers also place the episode below the finales of The Bachelorette and Joe Millionaire, which became the most-watched entertainment program of the entire decade (discounting the post-Super Bowl timeslot). Remarkably, CBS has become the network to beat on Thursday night for the first time in over twenty years. The network scored another victory over NBC this week, winning the night by an average of more than a full rating point. In another attempt to increase its ratings, NBC again followed the new Friends episode with a repeat, placing Scrubs after Will & Grace and again not airing Good Morning Miami. While CBS stuck with their successful lineup, Fox overtook ABC for third place with yet another Michael Jackson special.

Friends began the final week of February sweeps with an episode promoted as a relationship turning point. The constant promotions were no help, as the program sunk to its worst rating of the past two seasons for a new episode, placing third for the night with a 12.7 rating and a 19 share. This represents a significant drop from last week's sub-par 13.5/21 and is well below the 16.3/25 for the comparable episode last season (which aired two weeks later because of the Olympics). Following the new episode was a repeat, which ranked fourth for the night with an 11.8 rating and a 17 share, down from a 12.4/19 last week. On the positive side, the two episodes remained well ahead of Survivor: The Amazon, which sunk to a fifth-place tie with an 11.4 rating and a 17 share from last week's 13.3/20 for the ninety-minute premiere. CSI remained very comfortable in its number-one position with a 17.0/25 (up slightly from a 16.7/25 last week), while ER improved in second place with a 14.5/23 (up from a 13.8/21 last week). Without a Trace tied for fifth with an 11.4/18 (up significantly from a 9.8/15 two weeks ago), with Will & Grace taking seventh with a 10.6/15 (down significantly from a 12.1/18 for last week's forty-minute episode). Fox's two-hour special Michael Jackson Take 2 gave the network its highest non-sports Thursday night rating in four years, an eighth-place 9.2/13. An ABC special The Bachelor: Aaron and Helene Tell All came in ninth with an 8.9/14, while Scrubs suffered from its temporary movement away from its post-Friends timeslot, placing tenth with an 8.7/13.

On January 19, Jennifer Aniston won the award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series � Musical or Comedy at the Golden Globe Awards, adding to the Emmy she won at the beginning of the season. On December 21, the shocking news developed that there will be a tenth season of Friends after all. Airing its ninth and penultimate season this year, Friends, the Emmy Award winner for Outstanding Comedy Series, continues to be the number-one comedy on television. However, in October, CSI overtook Friends as the number-one overall program, ending its run of over ten months on top, which included ranking as the most-watched program of the season for the first time last year. As of last week, CSI leads the current season with a 16.7/25 average, ahead of Friends' second-place 14.7/23, ER's third-place 13.4/22, American Idol (Wednesday) and Survivor: The Amazon tied in fourth with a 13.3/20, and American Idol (Tuesday) in sixth with a 13.0/19. Expect CSI to continue its insurmountable lead, while Friends has all but locked up its fifth season in a row as the number-one comedy. As February sweeps conclude this week, expect Survivor: The Amazon to win the hour next Thursday with Friends entering a brief rerun period.

For those who are not familiar with the numbers, the rating is the percentage of all television homes tuned to a given show, while the share is the percentage of in-use television homes tuned to the show. For charts of all the ratings data from the past three years and Friends episode previews, visit Dan's Friends Ratings. The link is provided at the top of this article. Be sure to check out the rest of Planet Dan, including Dan's Music Update, containing Friends episode previews, which you can choose to receive by e-mail every week.

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--DanG

Dan,

The show has gone significantly downhill this season. I'm not at all surprised that there's been a drop-off in the ratings. The storylines have gotten ridiculous and stupid. The whole Ross-Rachel thing has just gotten irritating. They've given several signs that the two of them really want to be together and be a family but the writers have to gin up some totally contrived plotlines to create misunderstandings to drive them apart.

Joey's gotten so dumb it's a wonder that he even remembers to breath. Ross bears virtually no resemblance to the way he was at the beginning of the series. The rerun last night about Phoebe meeting Mike's parents was unwatchable. Phoebe has always been a bit of a flake but she's never been that foolhardy.

If the writers don't pull out of this tailspin quickly they're going to lose me as a viewer. The show is nearly unwatchable now. The characters have become one dimensional. I can barely stand to watch it anymore.

On Fri, 21 Feb 2003 13:03:39 -0800, "Bill Kelliher" wrote:

Yes, I agree. Tonights C4 episode in England had Rachels little sister invited for 'Thanksgiving dinner'--how many thanksgiving dinners do they have a year in America as Friends seem to have 2 a series. She was totally different from her first apperance that she is almost a differnt person. And the scripts in this series at times seem to be showing a sign of desperation for laughs as the main 'comic' item was a set of fancy plates that Monica was using for the first time,and you just knew they were all going to get smashed.

I hate to say it but the sooner Friends finishes the better it'll be, as the whole cast seems tired with their characters, and the show has gone so stale of late.

Christopher wrote:

Don't know what you've been watching, but there's only one per season - Thanksgiving is the 3rd Thursday of the month in November.

Who was "totally different from her first appearance" - Rachel's sister? That's because it's a different sister from her "first appearance". We met one sister Jill, (played by Reese Witherspoon) who appeared for two episodes a couple of seasons ago and dated Ross, the sister for the Thanksgiving dinner was Amy (played by Christina Applegate).

You must have missed all the good one liners then - how about Amy asking "can I take this call upstairs?" and Ross' deadpan reply of "sure, but we don't live there".

Not one long running TV series is consistently 100% on fire. There have been plenty of "mid season sag" episodes in nearly all the Friends series. I agree the R&R thing has become beyond tiresome, buy there are new storylines appearing (I won't start listing them here in case I get accused of "spoiling").

Caroline :)

OK, first of all, she WAS a different person. Rachel has TWO sisters, and that episode was our first time meeting Amy, played by Christina Applegate. Rachel's other sister, Jill, has been played by Reese Witherspoon.

Second of all, much like Christmas, there is ONE Thanksgiving episode every season. Friends Thanksgiving episodes have been some of the greatest Friends episodes.

Third of all, although season nine may be weakening a bit, The One with Rachel's Other Sister was one of my favorite episodes. Great one-liners and hilarious storylines (like the plates), coupled with us finally getting to meet Rachel's other sister.

--DanG

In alt.tv.friends on Fri, 21 Feb 2003 at 21:50:10, Christopher wrote :

Are you sure - that'll be the end of your regular sighting of Courteney Cox... :)

On Sat, 22 Feb 2003 10:15:34 +0000, Paul Hyett wrote:

Yeah, all good [and bad] things eventually come to an end. :,(

Nearly unwatchable? I personally think that's a huge overstatement, but if it bothers you so much that it's actually an unpleasant experience for you to watch the show, why don't you just switch the channel or turn off your TV set? Nobody's forcing you to watch it. Yes, the ratings are down, and I do feel that reflects a decline in quality to a certain degree. However, 19.4 million viewers is far from a disaster. This will be the programs fifth season in a row as the number-one comedy on television.

[rest snipped]

Sadly, I'm not surprised. The episodes just haven't been as funny or interesting as the previous seasons. I don't recall laughing much while watching this week's episode, and had to really concentrate to try and remember what the plotlines were in this episode--which means it barely made an impression. The previous episode, IIRC with guest star Jeff Goldblum, was slightly better than this week's, but not by much.

And with all the hype surrounding the various Michael Jackson specials, it's no wonder that many viewers tuned in to stuff other than Friends.