Ratings Round-Up

[CSI Files]

<I>CSI: Miami</I> is the only member of the franchise to earn a clear victory.<p>On Monday, <I>CSI: Miami</I> continued to dominate the 10:00pm spot, beating <I>Medium</I> with 14.42 million viewers to the NBC drama's 9.54 million. In the 18-49 demographic, <I>Miami</I> earned a 4.3 rating/12 share over <I>Medium</I>'s 3.1/10. Despite winning the timeslot, <I>Miami</I> is down 2.6 million viewers and 17% in the 18-49 demo from this time last year.<p>A repeat of <I>CSI: New York</I> came in second place on Wednesday with 7.73 million viewers and a rating of 2.1/5 in the 18-49 demo. <I>Law and Order</I> took first place with a new episode, pulling in 12.63 million viewers and 3.7/10.<p><I>CSI: Crime Scene Investigation</I> went up against <I>Grey's Anatomy</I> on Thursday. <I>CSI</I> beat out <I>Grey's</I> in overall viewers, 16.74 million to 16.02 million, but <I>Grey's</I> came out on top in the 18-49 demo with 6.3/16 over <I>CSI</I>'s 4.6/11. Both dramas were down considerably from last year in both overall viewers (<I>CSI</I> was down 16%, and <I>Grey's</I> was down 20%) and the 18-49 demographic (-22% for <I>CSI</I> and -25% for <I>Grey's</I>).<p>Check out more detailed ratings information for <A class="link" HREF="http://pifeedback.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/63310451/m/157104611">CSI: Miami</a>, <A class="link" HREF="http://pifeedback.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/63310451/m/350100711">CSI: New York</a> and <A class="link" HREF="http://pifeedback.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/63310451/m/198101711">CSI: Crime Scene Investigation</a> at PI Feedback.<center></center>

 

[jafox]

When you think that CSI had 25 million viewers for the season premiere, this drop is astounding. I may be biased because I am a Sara/Jorja Fox fan, but the ratings have certainly been on the downslide since she left.
And the message boards have had a lot less activity also.
Love her or hate her, Sara/Jorja Fox is missed. And Gary Dourdan hasn't even left yet, so it may get worse. I hope that tptb come to their senses; the show needs her back. Otherwise, it will sink into the abyss of irrelevent tv , like ER. Or maybe it's just that all tv is becoming irrelevent.

 

[allmaple]

i think it is hard to determine what is causing a ratings drop, because most shows are seeing large drops in ratings. maybe some people stopped watching after jorja left, and maybe the strike had a big impact. the other post strike episodes didnt have ratings this low, but then they went and put in a repeat. maybe people didnt know there was a new episode on. who knows the reason for sure?

and tptb dont need to come to their senses about anything, from everything thats out there jorja left of her own accord. unless she is lying in every interview she ever gave. personally i have been very much enjoying her absence, as have many others. but i do realize there are people who miss her and think the quality of the show has suffered, im just not one of them.

 

[Faylinn]

I think the fact that both CSI and Grey's were down considerable amounts since this time last year says that the drop in ratings lately for a bunch of shows can't just be put down to plot, you know? Are people watching other shows, or are they just not watching tv? I think a lot of the problem is the Nielson's system. I keep hearing that it's faulty (to say the least).

 

[xfcanadian]

When you think that CSI had 25 million viewers for the season premiere, this drop is astounding.

umm, there was a 16% ratings drop the next week after the season premiere, and then the ratings held steady at around 19 million. This week was the first to take another dive. It doesn't have a lot to do with Sara.

 

[jafox]

When you think that CSI had 25 million viewers for the season premiere, this drop is astounding.

umm, there was a 16% ratings drop the next week after the season premiere, and then the ratings held steady at around 19 million. This week was the first to take another dive. It doesn't have a lot to do with Sara.

Even if you don't count the premiere, the episodes averaged well above 20 million before Sara left and below 19 million after she left. But my point is, when you start losing any main character after 7 years of people getting attached to them, you are going to lose viewers. I think the stories themselves have actually been pretty good, so that's why I think people are missing Sara. Now, with Warrick leaving I am afraid the trend will continue. The finale will be a hit, no doubt, but I hope for season 9 that tptb have big plans to bring viewers back. Hopefully, Sara (and her fans) will return, even if it's for guest appearances only.

 

[byline]

When you think that CSI had 25 million viewers for the season premiere, this drop is astounding. I may be biased because I am a Sara/Jorja Fox fan, but the ratings have certainly been on the downslide since she left.

While I have found myself missing Sara more than I thought I would, I don't think you can point to Jorja's departure as the cause for the decline in ratings. Ratings are down everywhere. People blame the writers' strike, but that was in the process of happening long before the strike began. Fewer and fewer people are watching network TV. Just the way it is. We're not going to go back to the days of "Dallas" when 360 million people tuned in to find out who shot JR.

 

[jafox]

I promise this will be my last post on this subject; but I do find it interesting that no one else wants to acknowledge that a cast member leaving after 7+ years on a show will affect the ratings. I'm sure when William Petersen leaves and the ratings drop, it will become accepted that it is due to his absence. I know he is the star, but the supporting actors each have their own fan base, too, including Gary, Marg, George and Eric; and when each one leaves, they will take some viewers with them. CSI will survive cast changes as L&O has, but it will never have the ratings it once did, IMO.
The writers' strike has had an effect on the ratings for all shows, but if people are interested enough they will tune in. The bottom line is that people are not as interested in the shows, probably for a lot of different reasons. In other words, there is no 'must see tv' anymore, and this should be a concern for all the networks.

 

[byline]

I promise this will be my last post on this subject; but I do find it interesting that no one else wants to acknowledge that a cast member leaving after 7+ years on a show will affect the ratings. I'm sure when William Petersen leaves and the ratings drop, it will become accepted that it is due to his absence. I know he is the star,

And for that reason, the viewership is likely to drop far more than it has with Jorja's departure (unless the powers that be can figure out some way to counterbalance the absence of Grissom . . . which I find highly unlikely). I don't doubt that the show lost some viewers after Jorja left. But take a look at TV ratings overall; it's not just "CSI"'s viewership that has gone down. Numbers for its cross-town rival, "Grey's Anatomy," are way down, too. (And I really don't think that has much to do with Isaiah Washington leaving the show.)

TV viewing numbers are plummeting, in general, since the writers' strike, but I think that's more a symptom than the cause. That's because viewing numbers were going down even before the strike. I think that downward trajectory will only continue as people find other things to do with their time than watch TV, or -- perhaps more importantly -- view shows using alternative media like the Internet. Which may mean that the Nielsen ratings are an obsolete way of determining viewing numbers, and some other way of computing ratings will have to be devised. It could be that, in the end, the same numbers of people are watching their favorite series, but they're doing it not via regular network broadcasts but via DVD, Internet downloads and so on. However, crunching numbers with the traditional formula, TV viewership is down across the board.

 

[xfcanadian]

look, if there were a noticeable drop directly after she left, then it would be obvious, and i would have no problem stating she was the reason. However, CSI also lost ratings because she didn't die (i know people watched the finale just to see if she would die, because they stopped watching the show due to GSR), and with the huge drop directly after the premiere, BEFORE she left. The premiere was TERRIBLE, i am not surprised the ratings dropped 16% in a week.

This week's low ratings have nothing to do with Sara, since she has already been gone, and the previous eppys were holding steady similar to early in the season. The fact that Grey's, who aired the first new episode back from the strike didn't even beat CSI, even with such low numbers, indicates something other than just missing a character.