Posted on 01/17/2006 2:31:20 PM PST by LdSentinal
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Jack Bauer‘s latest marathon workday got off to a good start Sunday, ratings-wise.
The Fox drama "24" notched its most-watched episode ever with its fifth-season premiere as the first of two back-to-back episodes got a boost from a primetime overrun (in East Coast and Midwestern markets) of the NFL‘s NFC divisional playoff game between the Carolina Panthers and Chicago Bears.
Airing from about 8:13-9:11 p.m. EST, the first episode of "24" averaged 17 million viewers and a 7.3 rating in the adults 18-49 demographic (demographic share data for Sunday were not available Monday because of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday), according to preliminary estimates from Nielsen Media Research. The second hour of "24," which ended at about 10:13 p.m. EST, held onto the majority of its lead-in to finish out with 15.5 million viewers and a 6.7 rating in adults 18-49.
According to Fox, Sunday‘s episodes marked the two most-watched installments of the Emmy-winning real-time drama series since the clock began ticking on "24" in fall 2001. Last year, Fox shifted the series to a January premiere date in part to allow the show to run original episodes in its regular Monday 9 p.m. slot through the end of the season without taking any weeks off for repeats.
The first hour of Sunday‘s season opener improved on last year‘s "24" premiere episode (which also had a special Sunday kickoff) by 16% in adults 18-49 and 11% in total viewers. ABC‘s 9 p.m. dynamo "Desperate Housewives" (22.5 million, 9.5/20) held onto its No. 1 ranking by a comfortable margin, though the presence of "24" probably helped drive the soap to its lowest marks of the season to date for an original episode. At 10 p.m., ABC‘s "Grey‘s Anatomy" (19.1 million, 8.6/20) hung tough and registered its best-ever retention of an original "Housewives" lead-in.
But the combination of the NFL overrun and double dose of "24" gave Fox the clear victory for the night (22 million viewers, 9.2 in adults 18-49) and its highest-rated Sunday since last year‘s Super Bowl telecast on February 6.
In other weekend ratings news, ABC had a good turnout Friday for the second week of its "Dancing With the Stars Results Show" (13.7 million, 3.4/11), which kept the network at No. 1 in both key measures in the 8 p.m. hour, according to preliminary estimates from Nielsen. The news was not so good on Friday for NBC‘s limited-run 10 p.m. drama "The Book of Daniel" (7 million, 2.2/6), which lost Nielsen ground from the previous week‘s underwhelming two-hour premiere. CBS wound up taking Friday honors overall on the strength of the 10 p.m. drama "Numbers" (12.8 million, 3.8/11).
On Thursday, NBC‘s new comedy lineup, anchored by 9-10 p.m.‘s "My Name Is Earl" (12.5 million, 5.9/14) and "The Office" (10.3 million, 5.1/12), made hay in the adults 18-49 demo derby against a repeat of CBS‘ "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (17.8 million, 5.4/13). A good showing from NBC‘s 10 p.m. stalwart "ER" (15.4 million, 6.7/17) gave NBC the nightly win in adults 18-49 (5.6/14) and its highest-rated Thursday since May.
ABC was a player from 8-9:30 p.m. with the second week of its 90-minute performance edition of "Dancing With the Stars" (17.4 million, 4.6/12). The network‘s momentum ebbed at 9:30 p.m., however, with the debut of the sitcom "Crumbs" (11.8 million, 3.6/9).
WB Network also had some good news Thursday with the 9 p.m. second-season premiere of "Beauty and the Geek" (5 million, 2.3/6). On the heels of a solid showing from 8 p.m.‘s "Smallville" (5.5 million, 2.4/6), "Geek" delivered WB‘s best numbers of the season in the time period in all key measures, particularly women 18-34 (3.2/8), female teens (4.0/12) and male teens (3.1/10).
sorry, I keep getting my Dem left wing presidential shows mixed up. Should just call it Fantasy Island though.
24 ping.
I don't know. I didn't actually see the comments. I was just responding to another posting. I hope you are right. Someone should confirm whether it was Donald or Keifer making the stupid anti-American comments.
Also, since I don't watch West Wing I can't confirm if Donald Southerland is on that show. I would be surprised if he is since he is on Commander In Chief for sure. A very pro-Hillary show.
Any examples you can provide of the POV in the show that you have detected would be appreciated
Your take on the series is what I am most interested in
Best show ever. What I like about it, is that it really upsets liberals.
What about the golden globe award show...bet '24' easily killed their numbers.
Chloe is starting to look pretty hot. Do you think she and Jack will hook up in the end?
I think we should all bow our heads in silence for the loss of Tony's wife Michelle.
What the heck is this prequel you are talking about?
Not Keifer Sutherlan -- Donald Sutherland -- the thread had strayed to Commander in Chief and I said I wouldn't watch because of what Donald Sutherland said prior to the shows premier... I love 24 and I like Keifer Sutherland and he keeps his politics to himself (smart).
From what I can tell the West Wing White House is always scheming to implement new high-cost big government programs for the "underpriviliged" where the 24 White House is trying to protect us against murdering terrorists. The ratings don't suprise me. BTW, Alan Alda is a CREEP!
It was, see my post 250 -- I was originally replying to a comment re: Commander in Chief.
See my post 250 -- it was Donald before Commander In Chief premiered.... he was over the top... Keifer is rather silent re: politics (smart thing to do)....
No, Globes won the night...
He is selling auto insurance in television commercials ;^)
on the season 4 DVD there is a "prequel" that bridges Seaon 4 and Season 5 in which Chloe meets Jack in Chicago. Its like 10-15 minutes long and not really all that necessarily. I have anther post on it earlier in the thread
Good.
Good, you had me worried for a minute. It would be hard to give up but I would have.
Nah, two alphas would kill each other...
I doubt it. Jack will always be alone. Chloe should stick with the guy she has now, although she seemed to have a crush on Jack last season. Or she greatly admires him for getting to shoot people willy-nilly.
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