‘Duel,’ ‘Choirs’ Clash and Burn
December 18, 2007 12:53 PM
In a ratings report sure to please striking writers, ABC's and NBC's latest unscripted series premieres were overshadowed by repeats Monday night.
The two-hour debut of ABC’s new game show “Duel” (2.5 preliminary rating among adults 18 to 49) and NBC’s holiday reality competition “Clash of the Choirs” (2.4) posted low returns for their respective time periods. “Duel” barely bested the 90-minute “Choirs” by a tenth of a point in the 8 p.m. hour.
However, a rerun of Fox’s “House” (2.6) edged out both of them in the 8 p.m. hour, as did back-to-back repeats of CBS' "Two and a Half Men" at 9 p.m. (3.6) and 9:30 (3.7).
CBS managed to come out on top for the evening, winning in the demo and among total viewers. CBS ran two hours of comedy repeats leading into an original “CSI: Miami” (3.9) that was the highest-rated show of the night despite matching its series low.
ABC was second with “Duel,” “Notes From the Underbelly” (1.9) and “October Road” (2.2).
NBC and Fox tied for third, with NBC airing “Choirs” and “Journeyman” (a series-low 1.6). Fox had “House” and the final scheduled episode of “K-Ville” (1.6). The CW was fifth with repeats.
UPDATE: In the Nielsen national ratings, ABC's "Duel" dropped sharply to a 2.1 rating due to some affiliates carrying ESPN's "Monday Night Football." As a result, NBC's "Choirs" (2.4) came out on top between the two shows.
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Comments (7)
I like the game but the commercial breaks are too long. I'm counting 10 to 12 commercials each break.
Posted by Mark Saltzberg | December 18, 2007 6:37 PM
Your researchers are sorely lacking! There were at least 5 presidents who had been governors. Franklin Roosevelt had been governor of New York. I don't know if there were more, but I am not being paid to do your research.
Posted by Anita Brehm | December 18, 2007 8:53 PM
Your researchers are sorely lacking! There were at least 5 presidents who had been governors. Franklin Roosevelt had been governor of New York. I don't know if there were more, but I am not being paid to do your research.
Posted by Anita Brehm | December 18, 2007 8:53 PM
Anita
If you listened to the question correctly they asked "How many of the last 5 Presidents were Governors?" I don't think Franklin Roosevelt was in this group. Look it up.
Posted by Sue Erickson | December 18, 2007 10:23 PM
This episode of Journeyman was easily the season's best. It's tragic this series never found an audience.
As NBC freely moves their series between cable and network, they should immediately migrate Journeyman to SciFi and begin a repeat run of all 13 episodes. Let the show find it's real audience.
Posted by The Wizard, fkap | December 19, 2007 2:21 AM
Anyone happen to know the offical name of Rhode Island? It is Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, therefore this state should NOT have been counted in the question "how many states have a two word name?"!
Posted by Jonathan | December 19, 2007 6:11 PM
How are these ratings determined anyway and what "representative sample" do they poll???
No one in my lifetime has ever offered me a Nielsen box or my opinion on which shows I watch.
I happened to watch "Duel" and "Clash of the Choirs" every night this week and I love them both. Can't wait to get home from work to see them. I agree with the earlier comment that there are too many commercial breaks. I think they are trying to introduce suspense and cliffhangers. Luckily I have a DVR so I speed through all of the annoying commercials.
:)
Posted by LA Diva | December 19, 2007 9:16 PM