102e
Subj : Everybody Loves Chris kills FOX and NBC
To   : rec.sport.pro-wrestling,alt.tv.er,alt.tv.friends,alt.tv.csi
From : Hello Moto
Date : Fri Sep 23 2005 16:04:16

From Newsgroup: alt.tv.er


LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - UPN's faith in "Everybody Hates Chris" 
was rewarded Thursday when the coming-of-age saga created by Chris Rock 
produced the highest opening-night numbers for a comedy in UPN's 10-year 
history.

"Chris" even knocked off the first half-hour of NBC's hourlong sophomore 
season premiere of "Joey" and Fox's "The O.C." from 8-8:30 p.m.

Meanwhile, "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" stormed back on to CBS' schedule 
with some 30 million fans turning out for its sixth-season premiere, which 
clobbered the return of Donald Trump and "The Apprentice" on NBC.

NBC's leading light was the 12th season premiere of "ER," which did 
respectable business in the key adults 18-49 demographic at 10 p.m. against 
CBS' special sneak-peek premiere of Wednesday drama "Criminal Minds."

UPN's "Chris" opened the night for the network with an average of 7.6 
million viewers and 3.2 rating/9 share, according to preliminary estimates 
from Nielsen Media Research. In a testament to its broad appeal, "Chris" had 
more pull in adults 18-49 than it did in adults 18-34 (2.9/9); it delivered 
UPN's best-ever ratings in the time slot in women 18-34 (3.6/11) and women 
18-49 (3.7/10).

CBS' "Survivor: Guatemala" (16.6 million, 5.9/16) remained the dominant 
force in the 8 p.m. hour though its viewership is down by double digits 
compared to this time last year.

NBC's "Joey" (7.8 million, 3.3/9) finished out in second place for the hour, 
but the mere fact that UPN's "Chris" could beat the first half-hour of the 
"Friends" spinoff is the clearest sign yet that this is a new era for 
primetime, and Thursday night in particular. Not surprisingly, however, the 
rest of UPN's lineup had nowhere near the traction of "Chris," starting with 
the 8:30 p.m. debut of comedy "Love Inc." (4.7 million, 2.0/5).

At 9 p.m., "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (28.3 million, 9.9/24) returned 
to form for CBS. The drama didn't quite match its fifth-season premiere 
numbers, but it nonetheless towered over the night (peaking in its second 
half-hour at 30 million viewers) and gave a good send off at 10 p.m. to 
"Criminal Minds" (19.8 million, 6.7/17).

NBC's "Apprentice: Donald Trump" (9.8 million, 4.6/11) stumbled out of the 
gate, though viewership did pick up some in its second half-hour (climbing 
from 9 million viewers at the start to 10.6 million from 9:30-10 p.m.). "ER" 
(14.3 million, 6.5/16) did what it could to keep NBC in the game at 10 p.m.

Fox's "The O.C." (6.3 million, 2.9/8) was overshadowed by the competition at 
8 p.m., as was 9 p.m. drama "Reunion" (5.3 million, 2.5/6), though by the 
standards of the anemic ratings the network has posted on Thursday nights in 
recent years Fox is still making progress so far this season.

ABC has yet to get to full strength on Thursday. The network opened the 
night with a repeat of its hourlong dance-off competition between the 
winners of its summer series "Dancing with the Stars" (8.1 million, 1.8/5), 
followed by the half-hour "Dancing" results show (10.3 million, 2.6/6) and a 
90-minute edition of newsmagazine "Primetime Live" (7.6 million, 2.2/6).

WB continued to serve up repeats prior to next week's launch of its new 
Thursday drama slate.

For the night, CBS prevailed by a wide margin with an average of 21.6 
million viewers and 7.5/19 in adults 18-49. NBC was its closest competitor 
with 10.6 million viewers and 4.8/12 in the demo.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

09/23/05 14:42 ET


Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or 
redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is 
expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters 
shall not be liable for any errors or delays in content, or for any actions 
taken in reliance thereon. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

.

0