A Look Back at 2009 (Part 3)

While many can argue that the Nielson ratings are flawed and desperately need to be overhauled, the industry still greatly relies on their daily tallies. Therefore, I did my own unscientific research on the top dramatic programs over the course of this past year. The details that follow are based strictly on the millions of viewers who tuned into dramas on the major networks from January to mid-December of 2009:

NOTE: All numbers shown in parenthesis are the estimated average of millions of viewers for each month for each show listed.

In January, the top 15 shows were: CSI (20.6); NCIS (19.0); The Mentalist (18.9); House (15.3); Criminal Minds and Grey’s Anatomy (14.0); CSI: Miami (13.6); Desperate Housewives (13.5); Cold Case (12.8); Lie to Me (12.7); 24 (12.4); CSI: NY (12.3); Fringe (12.0); Lost (11.3) and Ghost Whisperer (11.0).

For February, the top 15 shows were: NCIS and The Mentalist (18.2); CSI (17.5); Grey’s Anatomy (15.3); House (14.7); Criminal Minds (13.9); Desperate Housewives (13.8); CSI: Miami (13.3); Lie to Me (13.0); Private Practice (12.8); CSI: NY (12.6); Fringe (11.3); 24 (11.2); Ghost Whisperer (11.1) and Lost (10.7).

In March, the top 15 shows were: CSI (19.0); NCIS (16.8); The Menatlist (15.8); Grey’s Anatomy (14.8); Desperate Housewives (14.3); Criminal Minds (14.1); CSI: Miami (13.7); CSI: NY (13.0); House (12.8); Cold Case (12.3); Lie to Me (11.3); Ghost Whisperer, 24 and Law & Order: SVU (11.1) and Castle (11.0).

For April the top 15 shows included: NCIS (17.5); The Mentalist (17.0); ER (16.4); CSI (15.3); Criminal Minds (13.7); Desperate Housewives (13.6); Grey’s Anatomy (13.5): CSI: Miami (13.4); House (12.9); CSI: NY (12.5); 24 (11.0); Bones (10.8); Cold Case (10.6); Ghost Whisperer (10.1) and Fringe (9.9).

For May – despite the repeats that aired during the last two weeks of the month – the following were the top 10 shows of the month: The Mentalist (16.7); NCIS (16.3); Grey’s Anatomy (15.3); CSI (15.0); Criminal Minds (13.7); CSI: Miami (13.3); Desperate Housewives (13.2); CSI: NY (12.9); Cold Case (12.2) and House (12.0).

The programming landscape was rather bleak for the major networks from June to mid-September (as typical) with repeats being the norm while the cable networks took advantage of less competition.

With that thought in mind, the following statistics are based on information from The Futon Critic and relate only to current dramatic series airing on the cable channels (any series not included was either canceled this season, completed its run this season or was not included on the list at The Futon Critic’s website). The following list was put into alphabetical order:

Army Wives (Lifetime) – averaged 4.407 million viewers
Breaking Bad (AMC) – averaged 1.628 million viewers
Burn Notice (USA Network) – averaged 7.677 million viewers
Dark Blue (TNT) – averaged 3.288 million viewers
Dexter (Showtime) – averaged 2.166 million viewers
Eureka (Syfy) – averaged 3.148 million viewers
Greek (ABC Family Channel) – averaged 1.051 million viewers
Hawthorne (TNT) – averaged 4.005 million viewers
Leverage (TNT) – averaged 4.508 million viewers
Lincoln Heights (ABC Family Channel) – averaged 1.017 million viewers
Mad Men (AMC) – averaged 2.496 million viewers
Men of A Certain Age (TNT) – averaged 4.506 million viewers
Nip/Tuck (FX) – averaged 3.197 million viewers
Psych (USA Network) – averaged 5.126 million viewers
Royal Pains (USA Network) – averaged 7.474 million viewers
Sons of Anarchy (FX) – averaged 4.483 million viewers
Stargate Universe (Syfy) – averaged 2.574 million viewers
The Closer (TNT) – averaged 7.691 million viewers
The Secret Life of the American Teenager (ABC Family Channel) – averaged 3.870 million viewers
True Blood (HBO) – averaged 5.003 million viewers
Warehouse 13 (Syfy) – averaged 3.933 million viewers
White Collar (USA Network) – averaged 6.080 million viewers

With the return of another new season, the major networks were back in business and during the last two weeks of September the top 12 shows were: NCIS (20.3); NCIS: Los Angeles (18.0); Grey’s Anatomy (16.1); CSI (15.7); House (15.5); The Mentalist (15.0); Criminal Minds (14.5); CSI: Miami, CSI: NY and Desperate Housewives (14.0); The Good Wife (13.6) and FlashForward (12.0).

In October, the top 12 shows were: NCIS (20.7); NCIS: Los Angeles (16.0); CSI (15.2); The Mentalist (14.2); Grey’s Anatomy (14.1); Criminal Minds (13.9); Desperate Housewives (13.8); The Good Wife (13.2); CSI: Miami (13.1); House and CSI: NY (12.8) and Castle (10. 9).

For November, the following were the top 12 shows included: NCIS (20.2); NCIS: Los Angeles and The Mentalist (15.9); CSI (15.8); Grey’s Anatomy (14.1); Desperate Housewives (13.6); CSI: Miami (13.2) CSI: NY (13.1); Criminal Minds (12.8); The Good Wife (12.7); House (12.5) and V (11.4).

Lastly, the first half of December ranked the following shows as the top 10 for the month: NCIS (20.5); NCIS: Los Angeles (17.4); CSI (16.3); The Mentalist (15.7); Desperate Housewives (14.7); Criminal Minds (14.5); The Good Wife (14.1); CSI: Miami (13.5); CSI: NY (13.3) and House (13.2).

The final analysis of this unscientific research provides the following details:

1. CBS is the number one most watched network with 10 of the top shows;

2. CBS also has the most watched drama (NCIS) and the most watched new fall drama (NCIS: Los Angeles);

2. ABC only has two top dramas: Grey’s Anatomy and Desperate Housewives;

3. NBC is sorely lacking in any top dramas, new or returning:

4. FOX has one top drama: House; and,

5. It pays to be a series on any of the cable channels, as the series will actually stand a better chance of renewal and a loyal, if smaller than the major networks, fan base.

 This does not negate the success of other series. Those other shows simply have not cracked the top 20 most watched shows in terms of Nielson’s ratings.

NOTE:  If you would like to read my full TV ratings report, please visit the following URL:  http://rueben901.livejournal.com/165418.html.

EXTRAS: The following two highlights sections – Awards and Condolences – aren’t featured here at NiceGirlsTV, but you are welcome to read them at the following URL’s: http://rueben901.livejournal.com/165642.html and http://rueben901.livejournal.com/164130.html.