NBC had a very good week for a change. The network’s newest hit series — The Voice — actually gained viewers in its second week on the air. That doesn’t happen very often. On top of that, most of NBC’s series had week-to-week gains and some of them were very significant jumps — Dateline, America’s Next Great Restaurant, and Minute to Win It. Granted all three of those shows still have poor numbers, the peacock network has struggled for so long it’s still reason for them to celebrate a little.
Which NBC TV shows will be cancelled or renewed depend mostly on the series’s ratings, particularly the 18-49 demographic. Before we get to the season-to-date averages, here are the winners and losers from April 29th through May 5th — based on the coveted demo, as measured against the last original episode.
Week-to-Week Winners: Dateline 1.2/4 (Fri, -7.7%), Dateline 1.3/4 (Sun, +62.5%), America’s Next Great Restaurant 1.6/4 (+33.3%), Celebrity Apprentice 3.1/8 (+3.3%), Chuck 1.4/4 (+7.7%), Law & Order: Los Angeles 1.4/4 (+7.7%), The Biggest Loser 2.7/8 (+3.8%), The Voice 5.7/15 (+11.8%), Minute to Win It 1.0/3 (+25.0%), Law & Order: SVU 2.6/7 (+8.3%), Community 1.5/5 (+7.1%), Parks and Recreation 2.5/7 (+8.7%), and 30 Rock 2.1/6 (+10.5%).
No change: Chase 0.6/2 and The Event 1.3/3.
Week-to-Week Losers: Friday Night Lights 0.7/2 (-22.2%), The Office 3.5/10 (-16.7%), and Outsourced 1.5/4 (-11.8%).
Below is a list of the regular NBC TV shows and their 2010-11 season average ratings to date. It only incorporates the ratings for original episodes and not repeats. The data is sorted by the all-important 18-49 demographic averages. The closer a show is to the bottom, the more likely it is to be cancelled. Fridays and Saturdays are the least-watched nights of TV so those shows get lower numbers.
| Demo rank | Scripted TV Shows | Average viewership (in millions) |
Average 18-49 demo rating |
Compared to last week |
|
| 1 | The Office (renewed) | 7.35 | 3.7 | --- | |
| 2 | Law & Order: SVU | 8.47 | 2.5 | --- | |
| 2 | Parks and Recreation (renewed) | 4.98 | 2.5 | --- | |
| 4 | 30 Rock (renewed) | 4.93 | 2.3 | down | |
| 5 | Parenthood | 5.34 | 2.1 | --- | |
| 5 | Outsourced | 4.55 | 2.1 | --- | |
| 7 | Law & Order: LA | 7.31 | 1.9 | --- | |
| 8 | Community (renewed) | 4.32 | 1.9 | --- | |
| 9 | Harry's Law | 9.39 | 1.8 | --- | |
| 9 | The Event | 5.75 | 1.8 | --- | |
| 9 | Chuck | 5.24 | 1.8 | --- | |
| 12 | The Cape (cancelled) | 5.34 | 1.6 | --- | |
| 13 | Chase | 5.02 | 1.4 | -- | |
| 13 | Undercovers (cancelled) | 5.97 | 1.4 | --- | |
| 13 | Perfect Couples | 3.07 | 1.4 | --- | |
| 16 | Outlaw (cancelled) | 4.94 | 1.0 | --- | |
| 16 | The Paul Reiser Show (cancelled) | 2.87 | 1.0 | --- | |
| 18 | Friday Night Lights (ending) | 3.31 | 0.8 | down | |
| Demo rank | News or Reality TV Shows | Average viewership (in millions) |
Average 18-49 demo rating |
Compared to last week |
|
| 1 | The Voice | 12.18 | 5.4 | up | |
| 2 | The Sing Off | 8.56 | 2.9 | --- | |
| 2 | Celebrity Apprentice | 8.25 | 2.9 | --- | |
| 4 | The Biggest Loser (spring) | 7.99 | 2.8 | --- | |
| 5 | The Biggest Loser (fall) | 7.44 | 2.7 | --- | |
| 6 | Dateline (Friday) | 6.08 | 1.4 | --- | |
| 6 | Minute to Win It | 4.80 | 1.4 | --- | |
| 6 | The Apprentice (fall) | 3.89 | 1.4 | --- | |
| 6 | America's Next Great Restaurant | 3.89 | 1.4 | up | |
| 10 | Who Do You Think You Are? | 6.31 | 1.3 | --- | |
| 11 | Dateline (Sunday) | 5.34 | 1.1 | --- | |
| 12 | School Pride | 2.50 | 0.7 | --- | |
Raw data: © The Nielsen Company via Media Week.
For a complete list of NBC cancellations and renewals for the 2010-11 season, be sure to check out this post. It’ll be updated as the peacock network renews and cancels more shows.
What do you think? Do any of the rankings surprise you? Which shows do you think won’t survive to see a new season?
Image courtesy NBC.
