Ron Tom/ABCDid Vampire Diaries burst FlashForward's bubble? Did Conan O'Brien burst Jay Leno's? And which show popped Grey's Anatomy's?
The answers—and more questions about Dancing With the Stars—in the latest TV ratings quiz:
1. Why is Vampire Diaries bad for FlashForward? The CW show has now beaten the ABC show twice in a viewing group that the CW's not supposed to dominate: adults 18-49. After last week's defeat, FlashForward, which finished 61st overall in the new Nielsen weekly rankings, with 5.2 million viewers, didn't rate a single mention in ABC's Thursday-night ratings report—not a good sign. Still, Watch With Kristin's Kristin Dos Santos reports that FlashForward "could end up squeaking by to a second season."
2. True or false: Conan killed Leno in that 60 Minutes hit piece. Ratings-wise, no. Last night, one night after the O'Brien interview aired, the dissed Leno looked as healthy as ever in dominating late-night rival David Letterman, per NBC's overnight estimates.
3. True or false: Conan was good for 60 Minutes. False. He was great. With O'Brien aboard, 60 Minutes was up by more than 2 million viewers from the previous week, to 13.5 million.
4. Which show stole Grey's Anatomy's mojo? Actually, the question should say "which shows"—plural. Grey's used to be the go-to scripted series for the 18-49 crowd. Last week, it was trumped by not one but four shows: Glee (the new go-to scripted series), House, Modern Family and Desperate Housewives.
5. True or false: We have no idea what we're talking about when it comes to DWTS. Guilty. Last week, we basically predicted Kate Gosselin's exit would mean the end of DWTS' impressive American Idol-topping run. But while the show did lose viewers, Idol still couldn't outdraw it. Monday's DWTS ended up as the most-watched TV show of the week. (As always, Idol is the most demographically desirable show.)
6. What's the best part of being Happy Town? It airs in a time slot previously occupied by the canceled Eastwick and the canceled Ugly Betty. Hence, its so-so premiere (57th place, 5.3 million viewers) actually represented an improvement for the grateful ABC.
7. Does The Hills still have it? Well, it's not what it used to be, and it's not what Pawn Stars is now, but its (final) season premiere was cable-big: 2.7 million viewers.
Here's a look at the top 10 broadcast network shows for the week ended Sunday, per Nielsen Media Research:
- Dancing With the Stars (Monday), 20.4 million
- American Idol (Wednesday), 20 million
- American Idol (Tuesday), 19.4 million
- NCIS, 16.3 million
- NCIS: Los Angeles, 15.6 million
- The Mentalist, 14.8 million
- CSI, 13.6 million
- 60 Minutes, 13.5 million
- Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains, 12.7 million
- Dancing With the Stars (Tuesday), 12.4 million
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Get the latest scoop on all the bubble shows at Watch With Kristin.