Superman on Television

Thursday Night Ratings

By Jeffrey Bridges

First of all, a brief explanation. I've decided to chart the progress of "Smallville" in the ratings over the course of Season 5. I am interested in seeing how different episodes compare to the rest of the season and how they compare to the competition in general.

The ratings on the chart for half-hour shows are their actual ratings. The ratings on the chart for hour-long shows reflects the rating for their first half-hours only, to keep the comparison fair.

Also, I will be comparing only regular timeslot shows and not specials or sporting events (this is why "The O.C." has no rating for Week 2).

The Analysis So Far...

Ratings source: TVWeek

The season premiere of Smallville went up against the second episode of "Everybody Hates Chris" (only its second episode ever), the third episode of "Survivor: Guatemala", the second episode of "Joey" and the fourth episode of "The O.C."

Smallville's season premiere scored a final rating of 3.2 in it's first half-hour, which makes it the lowest-rated show of the entire night. Of course The WB doesn't make it into as many homes as ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX, but it is comparable to UPN.

There is good news for "Smallville" in that in the 18-49 age group it scored a 2.5 rating, beat both "Everybody Hates Chris" and "Alias". The other three shows still beat "Smallville" in that demographic, though.

In Smallville's second week the rating went up by .1. It's not much, but it is an increase. However, "Everybody Hates Chris" increased by the same amount. "Alias" lost .5 in the ratings, and while "Smallville" gained the news is not all good. "Smallville's rating actually fell by .1 in the coveted 18-49 demographic, where it scored a 2.4.

The third episode of "Smallville" aired on October 13. This was the one with the kid who took over the nuclear missile silo. "Smallville's" rating went down by .1, but then interestingly this week no show made any gains in the ratings. I had thought at first this might be due to viewers switching over to the baseball playoffs, but the game scored less than your average episode of "The O.C." does so that doesn't explain it, either. Every show, "Smallville" included, either lost ratings or held steady.

The 18-49 age group ratings tell a different story. Smallville's rating in this coveted age group actually fell by another .2, bringing it down to 2.2. "Everybody Hates Chris" and "Survivor" each went up by .3 in this demographic however.

It will be interesting to see if the Aquaman episode brought them back or not.

The fourth episode of "Smallville" aired on October 20. The show did remarkably well, showing a full half-point jump in the ratings as it soared to a 3.7.

That's nearly a 16% increase in audience size from one week to the next, which is really phenomenal.

"Survivor" and "Alias" held steady and maintained the same audience from the week before, while "Everybody Hates Chris" and "Joey" swapped points (the former was down .2, the latter up by that same amount). "Smallville" was ranked fourth overall for the night.

"The O.C." has still been absent from the schedule, having been replaced previously by baseball playoffs, and by "Reunion" this week.

"Smallville" also showed the same half-point jump in the 18-49 age group ratings, in which it actually ranked third for the night, just .2 points behind "Joey".

"Smallville" got a great jump in the ratings this week.

The fifth episode of "Smallville" aired on October 27, and was the vampire-themed Halloween episode. The rating dropped .4 down to a 3.3.

In the 18-49 demographic the show scored a 2.5. This is down only .2 from the Aquaman episode (as compared to the .4 drop in the overall ratings).

The sixth episode of "Smallville" aired on November 3, and was the episode where Lois went undercover as a stripper.

"Smallville" scored a final rating of 3.1, which marks the lowest rating thus far in the season. This was a drop of .1 points from the previous week, and the show also actually dropped .2 points in the 18-49 demographic.

"Smallville" came in last in the night in ratings, and second-to-last in the 18-49 demographic (where it beat "Everybody Hates Chris" by .4 points).

The sweeps ratings determine what the networks can charge for advertisements during the shows, and the higher the rating the more they can charge. Obviously that means the higher the rating, the more money the network gets. And a show that's making a network a ton of money gets things like increased budgets and longer time on the air.

The seventh episode of "Smallville's" fifth season aired on Nov. 10 and was the episode where Clark became paranoid thanks to the effects of "silver kryptonite".

The show scored the exact same rating as it did last week (3.1). The rating dropped by .1 points in the 18-49 demographic.

"Alias" picked up .1 points below where it left off when it was replaced with a movie for a week, and "Everybody Hates Chris" dropped .2 points to be tied with "Smallville" (although "Everybody Hates Chris" lags .2 points behind "Smallville" in the 18-49 age group). And after a strong return last week after being gone for a month, "The O.C." fell .5 points.

By contrast, "Survivor" had its strongest night of the season so far, jumping .2 points to score a 10.5. And "Joey", which looked like it had a dim future, once again continued to climb, reaching all the way to a 5.6 and scoring its best rating of the season.

I apologize for the lateness in this update, but TVWeek did not post their ratings on the normal schedule due to the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

"Smallville's" eighth episode aired on November 17, and was the one where Clark finds out Professor Fine is anything but his friend, and there's good news to report. It seemed to be a strong night for television all around, with every show but one showing an increase in the ratings.

"Smallville" ratings jumped .3 points to a score of 3.4, which was its second-highest rating of the season. The 18-49 demo rating also went up by the same amount, to a total of 2.5.

This also happens to be the last night "Smallville" will be facing the same competition, as "Alias" is moving back to Wednesday nights.

"Survivor" continued to climb, scoring its best rating of the season with a 10.7 (which is a .2 point increase). "Joey" dropped .1 points from last week (scoring a 5.5), while "Alias" actually improved by the same amount (scoring a 4.5).

"The O.C" bested "Smallville" by increasing its rating .4 points to score a 4.0, but the biggest improvement on the night came from "Smallville's" closest market competitor, "Everybody Hates Chris", which jumped a full half-point to score a 3.6 (just .1 points below its season high).

"Everybody Hates Chris" only increased .1 points in the 18-49 demo, however, where it still lags .4 points behind "Smallville".

The ninth episode of this season aired on December 8, and was the "Lexmas" episode. "Smallville" once again tied its season-low of 3.1 in the ratings.

Important to note on the graph is that it only takes into account the new episodes of "Smallville" and does not cover the weeks the show is in reruns. For example, while the show was in reruns "Joey" scored some abysmally low ratings, dipping all the way down to 3.3 at one point. If "Smallville" had been new that evening, it might have had a real shot of beating "Joey" outright in the numbers.

"Survivor", quickly approaching its finale, continued to climb in the ratings, reaching an 11.1, and "The O.C." dipped down to a 3.6.

And for the first time this season, "Smallville" beat "Everybody Hates Chris" outright in overall ratings, as "Everybody Hates Chris" only scored a 2.8. "Smallville" has always had a sizable lead over "EHC" in the 18-49 demo, and that's still the case here as "EHC" only scored a 1.6 to "Smallville's" 2.3.

ABC recently announced it would be putting a new version of "Dancing With the Stars" up against "Smallville" on Thursday nights, which will probably be good for the show. I don't see the two shows as having the same audience at all, so it shouldn't pull many viewers away.

Near as I can tell the next "Survivor" doesn't start up until early February, and in January NBC is changing its lineup around as well. So much of the landscape on Thursday nights is going to change soon, and it'll be interesting to see how "Smallville" fares against different competition on television's toughest night.

The ninth episode of this season aired on December 8, and was the "Lexmas" episode. "Smallville" once again tied its season-low of 3.1 in the ratings.

Important to note on the graph is that it only takes into account the new episodes of "Smallville" and does not cover the weeks the show is in reruns. For example, while the show was in reruns "Joey" scored some abysmally low ratings, dipping all the way down to 3.3 at one point. If "Smallville" had been new that evening, it might have had a real shot of beating "Joey" outright in the numbers.

"Survivor", quickly approaching its finale, continued to climb in the ratings, reaching an 11.1, and "The O.C." dipped down to a 3.6.

And for the first time this season, "Smallville" beat "Everybody Hates Chris" outright in overall ratings, as "Everybody Hates Chris" only scored a 2.8. "Smallville" has always had a sizable lead over "EHC" in the 18-49 demo, and that's still the case here as "EHC" only scored a 1.6 to "Smallville's" 2.3.

ABC recently announced it would be putting a new version of "Dancing With the Stars" up against "Smallville" on Thursday nights, which will probably be good for the show. I don't see the two shows as having the same audience at all, so it shouldn't pull many viewers away.

Near as I can tell the next "Survivor" doesn't start up until early February, and in January NBC is changing its lineup around as well. So much of the landscape on Thursday nights is going to change soon, and it'll be interesting to see how "Smallville" fares against different competition on television's toughest night.

The tenth episode of the season aired on January 12, and was the episode where Jonathan has his political rally. "Smallville" scored barely above the season low, getting a 3.2, which is up .1 from the previous episode. In the 18-49 demo, it scored a 2.3, which is exactly the same as the previous episode.

"Alias" and "Joey" are no longer time-slot competitors, as "Dancing with the Stars" and "Will & Grace" have been moved into that slot. Both shows perform better than their timeslot predecessors, but that seemed to have no effect on "Smallville" as they aim for entirely different demographics.

"Everybody Hates Chris" bottomed out with its worst ratings of the season, scoring a 2.5. However, I have been unable to find out if this episode was a rerun or not, which may account for the very low rating.

"The O.C." aired an hour later this night, but I'm not sure if this is a permanent move or not. If so, then it appears "That '70s Show" will be the new timeslot competitor on Fox. I'll know for sure next week if Fox broadcasts the shows in the same format.

"Survivor" doesn't return until February, so "Smallville" has a good shot at scoring some great ratings for the next, big 100th episode.

The eleventh episode of the season aired on January 19 and was the episode where Lex locked himself in his panic room. "Smallville" once again posted a tie with its lowest rating of the season, scoring a 3.1. In the 18-49 age group it scored a 2.0, which I believe is the lowest it's been all season.

"Dancing With the Stars" jumped the better part of a full point to score an 11.2, while "Will & Grace" dropped more than a full point to score a 5.3.

"Everybody Hates Chris" barely improved from last week, scoring a 2.6, though I believe it was still in reruns.

It now appears that "That '70s Show" is the new official timeslot competition for "Smallville", and this night it scored a 3.4, beating "Smallville" by less than a third of a point.

I'm sure with the heavy promotion that the ratings for the 12th episode of the season (and the show's 100th episode overall) will probably be through the roof. Whether the fans liked the developments of that episode or not has been a hotly contested topic, and it will be interesting to see what the ratings have to say about that.

The twelfth episode of the season was the show's 100th overall episode and aired on January 26. The show jumped an impressive half-point to score a 3.6. Unfortunately, that number is still .1 lower that the season-high 3.7 scored by the Aquaman episode.

In the 18-49 age group it scored a 2.7, which I believe ties it for the best rating in that category for the season.

"Dancing with the Stars" continued its ridiculous climb, matching "Smallville" with a full .5 point jump to score an 11.7. The only other show increasing on the week was "That '70s Show", which posted a .2 point gain.

"Will & Grace" dropped a full half-point as it continued its ratings slide. Not to be outdone, "Everybody Hates Chris" matched the half-point drop to score its lowest ratings of the season, a paltry 2.1.

Next week will be very telling about how well the 100th episode was received as we'll find out if the rating stays elevated from extra people sticking around or not. That week also marks the return of "Survivor" which may play a factor in what portion of the TV-viewing audience "Smallville" is able to grab on to.

The thirteenth episode of the season aired on February 2 and was the episode with the "Angel of Vengeance" character. The show dropped down .3 points from last week to score a 3.3 with a 2.3 in the 18-49 demographic. This puts it right about in the middle of where the ratings have been falling this season.

"Dancing with the Stars" finally dropped in the ratings, and almost by a full point as it scored a still-impressive 10.9. "Survivor" returned this evening with a 10.2, which puts it right where the ratings for that show were last season.

"Will & Grace" finally stopped its plummet and rose .3 points to score a 5.1. "That '70s Show" dropped by .1 to score a 3.5, just .2 meager points above "Smallville".

"Everybody Hates Chris", meanwhile, jumped .4 points to score a 2.5, though that is still remarkably lower than the show was at the beginning of the season.

Clearly "Smallville" was able to hang on to some of the extra audience that tuned in for the 100th episode. We'll see if that trend continues next week.

The fourteenth episode of the season aired on February 9, and was the episode where Lois found the body of the dead girl in the wall of her apartment. "Smallville" bottomed out with its single lowest ratings of the season, 3.0.

In the 18-49 age group, the show only fell by .1 points to score a 2.2

"Dancing with the Stars" showed another ridiculous jump, landing an 11.6. "Survivor" and "Will & Grace" both showed a minimal .1 point increase in scoring a 10.3 and a 5.2, respectively.

"That '70s Show" dropped .3 points to score a 3.2, which "Smallville" would have beaten with last week's numbers.

"Everybody Hates Chris" continued its ratings rebound and scored a 2.8, which is dangerously close to once again eclipsing "Smallville".

Whatever extra audience the 100th episode was able to draw in now seems to have evaporated, with the tired "Freak of the Week" shows not able to hold viewer interest. Hopefully the show will get a bump next week with the special guest star. Somehow the ratings jumped for Aquaman, so maybe they'll also jump for Cyborg.

The fifteenth episode of the season aired on February 16, and was the episode with Cyborg. "Smallville" showed a .3 point ratings jump to score a 3.3. However, that's where the good news ends as it dropped .5 points in the 18-49 demo to score a 1.7, which I believe is a season-low in that category.

Of the four shows that are regulars in this timeslot and that were actually on this evening ("That '70s Show" was preempted for an airing of "Legally Blonde" and "Will & Grace" was preempted for coverage of the Olympics), "Smallville" was the only show to increase in ratings.

The "Dancing with the Stars" juggernaut dropped .6 points to score a 11.0, while "Survivor" dropped by the same amount to score a still-impressive 9.7. "Everybody Hates Chris" dropped by .1 to score a 2.7.

For some reason, the ratings for this timeslot of the Olympics are not available (though they seem to be listed for every other timeslot of the night where the Olympics aired). Judging by the rest of the ratings for the Olympics, however, it's safe to assume the rating was likely somewhere in the 9 - 10 range.

That is a *vast* improvement over NBC's usual ratings in that area (with "Will & Grace" usually only scoring around a 5 or so). So I think it's pretty clear that that's where the viewers from "Survivor", "Dancing with the Stars", and "Smallville's" 18-49 demo went to.

What's incredibly interesting about these numbers is that despite losing a full half point in the target demographic, "Smallville" still increased on the week by .3. This means that while much of the key demo was tuning out, all kinds of new people outside that demo were tuning in. So once again, DC Comics guest stars seem to equal better ratings for "Smallville"... even when up against the Olympics.

The sixteenth episode of the season (with the hypnotic necklace) brought with it bad news for "Smallville". The show scored a new low for the season, coming in at a 2.7. The 18-49 rating actually went up by .1 points to a 1.8, though, so the news isn't all bad.

This night saw a large drop-off in ratings for many shows, with "Survivor" falling .7 points to a 9.0 and "Everybody Hates Chris" falling by the same amount to score a 2.0 (I am not sure if the latter was a rerun or not, it may have been).

"That '70s Show" remained pretty steady with a 3.2, and "Will & Grace" actually saw a big jump in the ratings, going from a 5.2 to a 6.5.

ABC once again changed their lineup to have "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" going up against "Smallville". I'm not sure if this is another new "permanent" timeslot competitor or not though, since ABC has said it's moving "Commander in Chief" to Thursday nights as well.

We'll see what happens next week in regards to ABC, but also whether "Smallville" can recapture some of the viewers it lost after the long hiatus.

The seventeenth episode of the season, where Lana becomes a Kryptonite-drug junkie, aired on April 6 and brought with it yet another new low for the season.

"Smallville" dropped another .2 points in the rating to land at a 2.5. Interestingly the 18-49 age group rating stayed the exact same as last week with a 1.8, so clearly it was people outside that demographic who were tuning out.

I've gone ahead and added "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" to the graph as it was in the same timeslot again this week, making it yet another new challenger on another network. Of interest is the fact that "Everybody Hates Chris" and "Survivor" are the only two shows that have consistently aired opposite "Smallville". Every other show has been replaced at some point or another, sometimes even multiple times.

The only shows to post an increase this week were "Survivor" (which scored a 9.1) and "Everybody Hates Chris" (which scored a 2.1). Both raised .1 points on the week.

Every other show fell in the ratings to varying degrees. "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" fell .3 points to score a 4.6, "Will & Grace" fell .6 points to score a 5.9 and "That '70s Show" fell .4 points to score a 2.8.

Earlier in the season when "Smallville" was consistently scoring in the 3s it would have easily beaten a 2.8, but "Smallville's" been on a downward slide since the 100th episode (with a slight bump for the Cyborg episode).

We'll find out next week if the promise of Tom Welling's directing brings any viewers back to the show.

The eighteenth episode of the season aired on April 13, and was the episode where Clark befriends the little girl with glass-based powers and was Tom Welling's directorial debut. Unfortunately, less people saw what Mr. Welling could do behind the camera than have seen any episode this season.

For the third episode in a row, Smallville hit a new low for the season, this time dropping another .3 points to score a 2.2. It also dropped in the 18-49 age group from a 1.8 to a 1.6.

This was a bad night for ratings across the board for every show except "Everybody Hates Chris," which scored the same as last week with a 2.1, now dangerously close to overtaking "Smallville" once again.

"Survivor" dipped to a new season low, falling from a 9.1 to an 8.5, and "That '70s Show" dropped from a 2.8 to a 2.5. The biggest loser for the night was "Will & Grace", which scored a 4.0, which is a drop of 1.9 points!

"Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" didn't air tonight, replaced instead by "American Inventor" which scored a 3.9. If one thing about this season is clear, it's that ABC has no idea what they're doing with their revolving door of a Thursday night lineup.

Perhaps the "Saw"-inspired episode was able to get the show a bump in the ratings, because there's not a whole lot of room left for it to fall. We'll find out next week.

The nineteenth episode of the season aired on April 20 and was the episode where Lionel and Martha were held hostage. The news for "Smallville" was good this week as it grew .3 points in the rating to score a 2.5. The rating in the 18-49 age group grew .1 points, from 1.6 to 1.7.

"Smallville" was up against "American Inventor" again this week, so I went ahead and added it to the chart. It fell .1 point this week, from a 3.9 to a 3.8. Also falling (again) this week was "Will & Grace" which continued its decline all the way down to a 3.6.

Every other show grew in the ratings this week. "That '70s Show" went up .2 points to a 2.7, "Everybody Hates Chris" went up .3 points to a 2.4, and "Survivor" jumped back up .7 points to score a 9.2. As "Smallville" continues toward the finale, hopefully the ratings will continue their upward swing.

The twentieth episode of the season aired on April 27 and was the episode where Clark saves the life of the hit man, who tries to repay him by attempting to kill Lex. "Smallville" scored exactly the same as it did the week before, with a 2.5 and a 1.7 in the 18-49 age group.

Both "American Inventor" and "Everybody Hates Chris" dropped by half a point, the former to score a 3.3 and the latter to score a 1.9. I do believe that "Everybody Hates Chris" was a rerun, however.

There was good news for every other show, as "That '70s Show" went up .2 points to score a 2.9 and "Survivor" went up .4 points to score a 9.6. The biggest gain on the night belonged to "Will & Grace," however, as it jumped a whopping 1.7 points to score a 5.3 on its march to its series finale.

With only two more episodes left in the season the ratings are likely to spike as people tune in to see the resolution of the story that began with the season premiere. Hopefully that will be enough people to at least get it back to where it started off the season, with a 3.2.