Madonna is many things, but apparently, a holiday favorite she's not.
The performer's concert special, Madonna: The Confessions Tour—Live from London, airing on NBC the night before Thanksgiving, drew only 4.6 million out of the kitchen and before the TV hearth.
A turkey of Butterball proportions, the show placed 78th in the latest Nielsen Media Research rankings.
Madonna had the stuffing knocked out of her by Thanksgiving Eve offerings both traditional and not. Fox's broadcast of the 2003 family comedy Cheaper by the Dozen (66th place, 6.4 million) qualified as the traditional; CBS' post-apocalyptic series Jericho (37th place, 9.7 million) qualified as the not.
Live from London, taped last summer at the U.K.'s Wembley Stadium, was billed by NBC as Madonna's first-ever concert special for a broadcast network. Making the Material Girl fit for prime time took some work, with NBC, under pressure from religious groups, excising footage of the singer hanging out on a crucifix.
The religious controversy was nothing compared to the firestorm Madonna faced for her planned adoption of a Malawian boy, with the singer accused by some of buying her way out of the usual red tape.
As far as the TV special was concerned, the controversies created no ratings sparks. Or maybe they deadened them.
Other ratings highlights for the TV week ended Sunday:
- ABC's Desperate Housewives (first place, 21.4 million) is still back.
- NBC's Heroes (10th place, 16 million) is still climbing.
- ABC's What About Brian (72nd place, 5.4 million) is still very lucky to have been renewed for the entire season.
- With every weak passing week, Day Break (74th place, 5.1 million) is making Lost look bigger to ABC.
- The annual USC-Notre Dame gridiron clash was a big hit for ABC's Saturday Night Football (16th place, 14.6 million). It was less so for the Fighting Irish.
- Fox's House (13th place, 15.2 million) deserves a medal for making a mountain out of the molehill-size lead-in provided by Standoff (77th place, 4.8 million).
- ABC's Grey's Anatomy (third place, 18.51 million) took the Thanksgiving night round against CBS' CSI (sixth place, 17.17 million).
- ABC's Ugly Betty (way down to 48th place, with 8.7 million viewers) is thankful Turkey Day comes but once a year.
- CW's 7th Heaven (80th place, 4.2 million) is taking to Sunday after a lifetime on Monday.
- ABC's The Nine (83rd place, 4.1 million) has been taken off Wednesday after seven episodes.
- Fox's Prison Break (38th place, 9.6 million) hit a season high in viewers.
- The 2006 American Music Awards (32nd place, 10.8 million), as aired on ABC, hit an all-time low in viewers. It was down about 1 million from last year, about 37 million from 1984.
- William Shatner's romantic moves helped ABC's Boston Legal (18th place, 13.5 million) to a perfectly respectable Sunday outing.
- Shatner's hippy-hippy-shake moves couldn't help ABC's Show Me the Money (52nd place, 7.8 million) approximate Dancing with the Stars' success on Wednesday.
- Disney has primed 7.2 million for the release of Mel Gibson's Apocalypto via a special Primetime Live (58th place) on Disney-owned ABC.
- In a Tuesday matchup, CBS' NCIS (seventh place, 17 million) blew out the candles on NBC's birthday-themed special, Tony Bennett: An American Classic (65th place, 6.4 million).
- As far as ABC-aired animated specials go, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (43rd place, 9.4 million) is traditional and all, but He's a Bully, Charlie Brown (39th place, 9.5 million) apparently carries a message of broader appeal.
Overall, CBS emerged as the holiday week's most watched network, averaging 12.2 million viewers, while ABC took honors as the highest-rated network among 18-to-49-year-old viewers.
Feeling plucky, both networks claimed similar victories for the November sweeps month, which ends Wednesday. CBS says it'll be the most watched network; ABC says it'll be the choice of the demographically desirable.
ABC finished second for the week in viewers (10.6 million), followed by NBC (9.7 million) and Fox (8.4 million). The CW (3.1 million) followed Univision (3.3 million).
Here's a look at the 10 most watched prime-time shows for the week ended Sunday, according to Nielsen Media Research:
1. Desperate Housewives, ABC, 21.4 million viewers
2. CSI: Miami, CBS, 18.54 million viewers
3. Grey's Anatomy, ABC, 18.51 million viewers
4. Fox NFL Sunday Postgame, Fox, 17.6 million viewers
5. Fox NFL Thursday Postgame, Fox, 17.19 million viewers
6. CSI, CBS, 17.17 million viewers
7. NCIS, CBS, 17 million viewers
8. Deal or No Deal (Monday), NBC, 16.97 million viewers
9. Criminal Minds, CBS, 16.6 million viewers
10. Heroes, NBC, 16 million viewers