Schedules Plus, NBC Friday

Schedules Plus is another innovative application of the historical ratings statistic A18-49+. I hope this will be the ultimate resource for comparing the evolution of shows, networks and timeslots over time, complete with ratings numbers that make a fair adjustment for the collective decline. Right now this only includes programs aired in the fall. Much more about the process that went into this at the bottom.

NBC was a strong player on Friday nights in the first couple years of the A18-49+ era. But as NBC's depth dried up in the post-Friends years, and as CBS developed Friday dynasties Ghost Whisperer and Numb3rs, Friday became a much lower priority for the network. A recent surprise Friday success called Grimm has gotten the network back to a respectable level on the night.

NBC Friday

	8:00	8:30	9:00	9:30	10:00	10:30	Avg
2001-02	Providence		Dateline Fri		Law and Order: SVU		93
	74		80		124
2002-03	Providence		Dateline Fri		Law and Order: SVU		84
	63		71		119
2003-04	Dateline Fri		Miss Match		Third Watch		72
	70		61		83
2004-05	Dateline Fri		Third Watch		Medical Investigation		69
	58		72		77
2005-06	Dateline Fri		Three Wishes		Inconceivable		51
	55		53		44
2006-07	1 vs. 100		Las Vegas		Law and Order		73
	73		74		73
2007-08	Deal or No Deal		Friday Night Lights		Las Vegas		62
	65		56		64
2008-09	Deal or No Deal		Crusoe		Lipstick Jungle		41
	43		39		40
2009-10	Law and Order		Dateline Fri		The Jay Leno Show		52
	53		55		49
2010-11	School Pride		Dateline Fri				46
	26		56		56
2011-12	Chuck		Grimm		Dateline Fri		54
	42		65		55
2012-13	(repeats)		Grimm		Dateline Fri		56
	34		74		61
2013-14	Dateline Fri		Grimm		Dracula		66
	67		75		55
2014-15	Dateline Fri		Grimm		Constantine		64
	69		68		55
Avg	57		64		68		63

2014-15 Update: NBC spent a lot more money in the 10/9c hour with Constantine, but they didn't get any benefit relative to last year's Dracula ratings. (The above average also includes some 8:00 Constantine eps.) So Grimm will not be leading into a new drama this time, at least at the start, and NBC fills the third hour with its token "see, we haven't given up on comedy!" hour: an all-live season of Undateable and fellow multi-cam Truth Be Told.

Notable midseason replacements:

•  NBC's treatment of Friday in 2004-05 remains rather noteworthy, as they axed two of the stronger performers we've seen on the night: Medical Investigation and Law and Order: Trial By Jury (79). TBJ may well have had something to do with the death of Jerry Orbach and not wanting to overexpose the L&O brand, but Medical Investigation seemed worthy of another go by Friday standards.
• NBC used reality series Who Do You Think You Are? at 8/7c in midseason for 2009-10 (53), 2010-11 (51) and 2011-12 (43).

See here for more explanations/disclaimers about Schedules Plus.