ABC Claims Sweeps Victory
November 29, 2007

According to Reuters this morning, it is ABC who will be the big victor of this bizarre November Sweeps, one that saw no new shows turn into really big hits and saw America fall in love with a few dancing celebrities. Reuters reports that on the strength of shows like Dancing With the Stars and Samantha Who?, ABC can claim a victory in the crucial 18-49 demographic, even though CBS will be number one in viewership for the period that ended yesterday. Fox and Univision however are the only two networks to see an increase from year to year, as more and more viewers turn to downloading and DVRs, two forms of viewing television not yet accurately included in the big picture of ratings.

The strike also impacted this year's November Sweeps with shows like The Office forced into repeats before the period even ended. A repeat in Sweeps is unheard of, but the strike forced the hand of The Office. It's also hard to say what impact the repeats of the late night talk shows, where many stars promote their primetime shows, might have had on the ratings.

Starting at the bottom of the big four, Fox struggled again, but it was the only network to increase in the demographic, on the strength of young-skewing shows like House and Prison Break. Fox scored a 3.1 rating in the 18-49 demo, up 3 percent from the same period last year. ABC was first with a 3.7 rating and that was down 8 percent. CBS followed with a 3.4 rating, also down 8 percent, and NBC landed a 3.2 rating, down a whopping 14 percent. With repeats of The Office and the decline of Heroes, the young-skewing shows on NBC faced a rough Sweeps. The CW was down an amazing 21 percent from Sweeps to Sweeps with only a 1.1 rating. Something needs to be done to save that sinking ship, an ironic situation considering the programming on it, including the best crop of new shows, is significantly better than it's ever been. Too little too late.

In total viewers, CBS ruled the day with 12 million, beating ABC with their 11.5 million. The gap is narrowing though as CBS was down 7 percent and ABC was flat. NBC came in a distant third with 8.6 million viewers, down an amazing 18 percent, while Fox narrowed that gap, up 9 percent to 7.9 million viewers. Fox could easily catch NBC in the next Sweeps period if the trend continues. The CW was down 22 percent.

Fox was aided this season, according to Reuters, by strong performances of House, The Simpsons, Family Guy, Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? and Don't Forget the Lyrics! The CW's biggest hit came because their young-skewing reality shows - America's Next Top Model and Beauty and the Geek - slid significantly in the ratings. ABC rode the wave of reality with Dancing With the Stars and The Bachelor and scripted behemoths like Grey's Anatomy and Desperate Housewives.