Idol helped 24 and House, but even it can't help Bones

From Zap2it.com

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) Fast National ratings for Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2006
"American Idol" delivered another huge audience for FOX Wednesday, but it didn't fully carry over to the network's "Bones," which suffered a big drop from its lead-in.

Still, FOX easily won the night with a 12.4 rating/19 share. CBS, 8.4/13, beat out ABC, 7.2/11, for second. NBC finished fourth at 5.6/9. The WB was fifth at 1.9/3, and UPN trailed with a 1.2/2.

FOX also led the way among adults 18-49 with an 8.8 rating. ABC took second in the key ad demographic with a 4.7, followed by CBS, 3.8, and NBC, 3.4. The WB averaged 1.2 and UPN 0.7.

"American Idol" continued its string of massive audiences at 8 p.m. with an 18.1/28. CBS was a very distant second with "Still Standing," 5.1/8, and "Yes, Dear," 5.3/8. ABC averaged 4.2/6 with "George Lopez" and "Freddie," edging out the NBC special "Jamie Foxx: Unpredictable." The WB's "One Tree Hill" posted a 2.0/3 to place fifth, beating UPN's "South Beach."

ABC moved into the lead at 9 p.m. with "Lost," 11.2/16. CBS improved to 10.0/15 with "Criminal Minds" to hold onto second. FOX's "Bones" suffered a precipitous drop from its "Idol" lead-in, finishing at 6.8/10. "The Biggest Loser: Special Edition" was fourth for NBC at 5.4/8. The WB stayed in fifth with a "Beauty and the Geek" rerun, which finished a little ahead of "Veronica Mars" on UPN.

"CSI: NY" won the 10 p.m. hour for CBS with a 9.9/16. A "Law & Order" rerun averaged 7.3/12 for NBC, beating the 6.1/10 for ABC's "Invasion."

Ratings information is taken from fast national data, which includes live and same-day DVR viewing. All numbers are preliminary and subject to change.

Remarks from Don:

Still you get the ideal on who is doing well, and networks make quick decisions based on these results. "Emily's Reason's Why Not," "Head Cases" and "Threshold" are classic examples on how the networks can act quick to cancel a show. Can't wait for the score card later this year.

As for the hopes that American Idol would help the Crime Drama "Bones," that proved to be diffcult since it has to deal with ABC's Lost and CBS's Criminal Minds both of which get get double digit ratings. With NBC moving Law & Order into the mix very soon it will be interesting if people want MORE L&O rather than tuning in to Lost or Criminal Minds. L&O has been a fixture on NBC is currently in its 16th Season. The first episode of L&O aired on September 13, 1990.

The other shows that use the L&O brand are much younger and for the record those shows only have Dick Wolf fingerprints on it and nobody elses unlike the CSI spinoffs (Miami and New York)...well their was one with a co-creation credit. Special Victims Unit (SVU) began in fall of 1999, and Criminal Intent began in the fall of 2001. Also SVU is now the most watched L&O show. Their was also a reality version of L&O called "Crime & Punishment"(and that is the one with co-creators) and yet another scripted L&O series last year that did not make it beyond one season called Trial by Jury. Has the original L&O run out of juice? Not quite but it is starting to wane, and that might not help the show.

I still say the Wednesday 8/9 time slot is going to be smashmouth. We shall see how everyone holds up. I predict that the casualty will be FOX's Bones.

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