Deadline Fox

The first full week of the May sweep saw Fox’s supremacy at the top of the weekly network demographic heap come to an end. After two weeks in second place, CBS moved up to tie the News Corp-owned broadcaster in adults 18-49. For Week 32 of the 2012-13 TV season, both Fox and CBS received a 1.9/6 in the key demo, according to Nielsen. That’s even with the last two weeks for Fox, and a lift up from the previous frame’s 1.7/5 for CBS. It’s actually kind of a win and a half for CBS for the April 29-May 5 frame as it took the No. 1 viewership spot for a ninth week in a row with 9.128 million watching. Pushing NBC’s The Voice into second place, CBS also had the top show last week in the demo with May 2’s The Big Bang Theory (4.9). April 29 and April 30’s The Voice came in second and third with 4.3 and 3.9, respectively, in the demo. After moving The Voice out of the top viewership spot the previous week, another new NCIS easily held on for another week with 18.289 million viewers for its April 30 broadcast. In fact, besides ABC’s April 29 Dancing With The Stars taking third place among viewers for the frame, CBS had the top five most-watched shows in Week 32.

CBS boss Les Moonves told CNBC last week that the network was feeling “pretty cocky” about their ratings and viewership results this season. That’s understandable: As I pointed out a few weeks back, it seems pretty certain that CBS will see yet another viewership win this year and that it will also end Fox’s almost decade-long hold on the demo title. With just a couple of weeks left in the season, CBS will win 18-49 for the first time since George H. W. Bush was President — the 1991-1992 season. With the Winter Olympics on the network that year, CBS finished with a 7.8 in the demo, with ABC close behind with a 7.7. As the loquacious Moonves and others at CBS will undoubtedly brag about during the upfronts next week, this season will see CBS become the first network to simultaneously top viewership and the key demo since Fox held the twin prize back in 2007-2008, the year of the writers’ strike. It should also be noted that the duel win five years ago for Fox was during a season when American Idol was a ratings Goliath and the network had both Super Bowl XLII and NFC Championship Game. Along with its robust dramas and slam-dunkers like BBT, CBS had the AFC Championship Game and Super Bowl XLVIII this season. Before anyone uses the word “streak,” let’s not forget Fox has the Super Bowl in February 2014, with NBC broadcasting the big game in 2015 before CBS gets it again in 2016.

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The May sweep has begun, and this was the week that scripted struck back. After NBC‘s The Voice took the top spots in both total viewers and adults 18-49 during the week of April 15-21, it seemed the show might be poised to lead a reality a win streak, joined by fellow unscripted shows Dancing With The Stars and American Idol, which filled out the rest of the Top 5 most-watched of the week. Idol also came in third overall in the demo. Well, it was a very short streak: Original dramas and sitcoms swung their weight around in Week 31 of the 2012-2013 season.

The Voice’s April 22 broadcast held onto its No. 1 spot in the demo for the week of April 22-28 with a 4.9/14, but CBS’ The Big Bang Theory on April 25 took second place with a 4.5/15 to push the second Voice of the week to third. Among total viewers, let’s just say reality was schooled by the broadcast nets as a new NCIS on April 23 took the top spot with 17.332 million viewers, Big Bang Theory was second with 15.050 million and NCIS: LA took third with 14.216 million to beat the Monday airing of The Voice (14.152 million). ABC’s DWTS came in fifth with 13.765 million. April 24’s American Idol was eighth with 12.457 million watching. Long story short, it was repeats that gave Voice such dominance in Week 30. In Week 31, the CBS boys were back in town. It will be interesting to watch this week to see whether the first of NBC’s two weeks of five hours of The Voice pays off, or if Week 30 was really just a one-time treat.

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With just 30 days to go in the 2012-2013 TV season and the May sweep starting tomorrow, it seems this week we need to talk about the future as much as the past. The recent past is straightforward but full of shifts: Week 30 of the current season saw CBS remain No. 1 in overall viewership for an eighth week in a row but lose the adults 18-49 top spot after four weeks to Fox. But it was a very tight lead for News Corp-owned network for the week of April 15-21, with competition breathing down its neck. By competition, let’s be specific. Last week saw NBC’s Monday and Tuesday airings of The Voice prove just how dominant it has become by easily taking the two top spots in adults 18-49 (5.2 and 4.6, respectively) and in viewership (14.448 million and 14.155 million). That closed NBC right up on Fox. With a four-week demo high for the unsteady American Idol on Wednesday, a dip for Glee, growth for Hell’s Kitchen and a strong UFC on April 20, Fox pulled a 1.9/6 in the key demo. However, with The Voice’s results plus coverage from Boston of the marathon bombing and manhunt appearing in primetime throughout the week and lots of repeats overall, NBC tied with CBS in adults 18-49. The two were just behind Fox with a 1.8/4. Third place was also a tie, with ABC and Univision garnering a 1.4/4.

Here’s where it gets a bit sticky. Ratings and sharewise, Fox actually stayed in place from the previous frame, while CBS declined from its Week 29 2.4/7, NBC inched up from its 1.7/5 and ABC did the same from its 1.3.4. The CW rose a tad to 0.4/1 from the 0.3/1 it earned the week before. ABC was second in viewership with 6.62 million compared to CBS’ 8.26 million. Fox was third with 5.61 million and NBC was fourth with 5.56 million. Year-over-year, ABC’s demo rating was down 26% and its viewership down 14%. The CW fell 20% in the demo and 8% in its total audience. Compared with the same frame during the 2011-2012 season, Fox slid 14% in 18-49 and 19% in viewership. CBS stayed the same in the demo and was up 1% in viewership. NBC also went up, by 13% in adults 18-49 and 7% in viewership.

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