November Sweeps 2009 Week Four, Recap

Different day comparisons
Important to note for this week that the Wednesday result is the dreaded day-before-thanksgiving, which makes the "vs. W" comparisons more favorable than they usually would be.

Private Practice (Th. vs. W) +72%

The Mentalist (Th vs. T) even

Bones (Th vs. W) even
Fringe (Th vs. T) -41%

Law & Order (F vs. W) -18%

Smallville (F vs. Th) -35%

Top 5 Timeslot Gainers
1. House vs. Terminator: SCC (FOX, Monday 8pm) +156%
2. The Biggest Loser: Where Are They Now? vs. Rosie Live/Deal or No Deal (NBC, Wednesday 8-10pm) +93%
3. Dateline vs. Crusoe (NBC, Friday 9pm) +67%
4. BBT vs. Worst Week (CBS, Monday 9:30pm) +63%
5. Smallville vs. Everybody Hates Chris/The Game (CW, Friday 8pm) +57%

Most of these are old hat. House wins this category by a landslide for the third straight week. Crusoe is on the wrong side of this list for the fourth straight week. BBT is on the list for the third time, and just barely missed the top 5 the other time. Smallville is the only show to appear on the right side of the list all four weeks. The only new blood is the Biggest Loser special on Wednesday, which was a considerably better option for NBC on Thanksgiving Eve than Rosie O'Donnell's epic fail of a variety show. (Remember that one? I didn't think so.)

Top 5 Timeslot Losers
1. Eastwick vs. Barbara Walters Special (ABC, Wednesday 10pm) -63%
2. Gossip Girl (R) vs. One Tree Hill (CW, Monday 9pm) -55%
3. The Jay Leno Show vs. ER (NBC, Thursday 10pm) -53%
4. SYTYCD vs. House/Fringe (FOX, Tuesday 8-10pm) -52%
5. Trauma vs. Heroes (NBC, Monday 9pm) -51%

Leno, Trauma, and Dance have plenty of history on this list (but to Leno's credit, perennial favorite Leno vs. SVU dodges the list for the first time when there's been a valid comparison, tying for 6th). Eastwick, despite being one of the biggest bombs of 2009-10, has dodged these lists since its comparisons have been to previous flop Dirty Sexy Money. But Barbara Walters' Thanksgiving Eve interview with the Obamas put the witches at the top of the list this week. A Gossip Girl rerun which had the misfortune of dealing with an OTH original joins Eastwick atop the list for this final week.

Top 5 Show Gainers
1. Private Practice (Th10pm vs. W9pm) +72%
2. The Amazing Race +37%
3. The Biggest Loser +35%
4. The Big Bang Theory (M9:30pm vs. M8pm) +33%
t-5. NCIS +22%
t-5. 60 Minutes +22%

60 Minutes becomes the first show to appear both on the show gainers and show losers lists, which just goes to show how fickle the NFL overrun and inherent variance of newsmagazines can be. Private Practice, which has greatly benefited from its change in timeslot, is the shining star on this list for the second straight week. Reality efforts The Amazing Race and The Biggest Loser have been healthy all year but had well above average weeks, and TBBT and NCIS continue to be tentpoles on this list.

Top 5 Show Losers
1. Fringe (Th9pm vs. T9pm) -41%
2. Smallville (F8pm vs. Th8pm) -35%
3. Heroes (M8pm vs. M9pm) -34%
4. Numb3rs -32%
5. CSI -30%

Usual suspect Ugly Betty had no valid comparison this week, and Cold Case benefited somewhat from its move to 9pm. So while the top 3 are familiar faces on this list, this week we get to see a couple same show, same timeslot first timers in Numb3rs, which has had a rough year on Friday, while CSI's drops are becoming more pronounced as the year-ago show nears the end of the William Petersen era.

And that's the fourth and final week! I may try to write a little something about the sweeps in general, assuming I can think of anything. If not, I'll be blargging again shortly, as I have a couple other ideas in mind. Till then.