NBC's crime block stumbles: 'Law & Order' hits low

Welcome back, "Law & Order," your food stamps are over there.

The most veteran of veteran crime procedurals was thrust Wednesday night into the fall's harsh broadcast climate in general and NBC's struggling midweek lineup in particular.

The 19th season premiere of "Order" was seen by 7.8 million viewers and received a 2.2 preliminary adults 18-49 rating -- down 42% from its debut last year and posting its lowest Wednesday number ever.

NBC's newly revamped Wednesday night -- recently announced as a crime block -- started rocky, with "Knight Rider" (5.1 million, 1.6) dropping sharply to a season low. That didn't help the time-period premiere of "Life" (5.8 million, 2.0) at 9 p.m. "Life" was up 33% from its extremely low Friday average, but still less than "Deal or No Deal" in the slot. That led into "Law & Order," which placed second in the hour. NBC ranked fourth for the night. 

Fox topped the evening in the adult demo with "Bones" (10.1 million, 3.2), back from a three-week hiatus, and a repeat.

CBS was second in the demo and first among total viewers. "The New Adventures of Old Christine" (6.6 million, 1.9) fell 20% "Gary Unmarried" (6.4 million, 2.1) was down 16%, respectively, from their previous original airings (last week was the Barack Obama ad at 8 p.m., you'll recall). CBS was hoping for "Unmarried" to get a bump after its season-high sampling in its Monday comedy block.

At 9 p.m., CBS' on-par "Criminal Minds" (14.3 million, 3.5) won the hour and was the evening's highest-rated show while a steady "CSI: NY" (11.7 million, 3.3) topped 10 p.m.

ABC was third with a special "Dancing With the Stars" (15.6 million, 3.2) instead of "Pushing Daisies" this week, which gave "Private Practice" (9.5 million, 3.2) and "Dirty Sexy Money" (6.4 million, 2.0) modest lifts.

The CW's "America's Next Top Model" (3.9 million, 2.0) was better than average, followed by "Stylista" (2 million, 1.0).

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 5, 2008 Rate/share 8-8:30 8:30-9 9-9:30 9:30-10 10-10:30 10:30-11 2.8/7 Dancing With the Stars 15.6 mil, 3.2/9 Private Practice 9,5 mil, 3.2/8 Dirty Sexy Money 6.2 mil, 2.0/5 2.9/8 The New Adventures of Old Christine 6.5 mil, 1.9/5 Gary Unmarried 6.4 mil, 2.1/6 Criminal Minds 14.2 mil, 3.5/9 CSI: NY 11.7 mil, 3.3/9 1.9/5 Knight Rider 5.1 mil, 1.6/4 Life 5.8 mil, 2.0/5 Law & Order 7.8 mil, 2.2/6 3.0/8 Bones 10.0 mil, 3.2/9 House 6.7 mil, 2.7/7 No programming 1.5/4 America's Next Top Model 3.9 mil, 2.0/6 Stylista 2.0 mil, 1.0/2 No programming

Comments

[Forrest Futrell]

Mr. Hibberd,

I don't know about the rest of the country,but here in Chicago, none of the TV listings showed that either "Law and Order" or "Life" as being on the evenings schedule.
I would think that that might have an impact on the ratings. If viewers don't know a programs on or not.

[Life Fan]

I am a Life Fan, and the cable guide didn't show LIFE or L&O even showing last night which then caused my DVR not to record either one of those shows. I was bummed but that is definitely the reason why NBCs ratings tanked!

[LawFan]

They didn't give enough lead-in to promote the show. No one knew. I think some changes need to be made to NBC. They simply don't seem to care about the show that continually saves their ass. Maybe because of the strains with Dick Wolf, who knows?

[jake]

I'm sure Law and order will rebound now that people know that it is back. Is it true that american idol will be coming back at on tues and wed at 8 (not wed at 9?)
I really love christine and Gary.

This is really depressing. I love "Life" and its superb cast, just finished watching the first season on DVD, and would love to watch at its "regularly scheduled time slot." I do NOT want it to be cancelled!

BUT --- out here in the real world where people like me have to depend on one tv set with rabbit ears and no VCR (it died, *sob*), the only choice on any Wednesday night is CBS --- for the simple reason that the morons - er, sorry, the Brilliant Minds at CBS do NOT make Criminal Minds available online. Ergo, I have no choice but to watch it "live" and catch other shows I love on the high-speed computers at the library where I work. There I regularly watch ABC and HULU in high-def and glorious sound but find it depressing that it doesn't count in the ratings. I still think a new way of counting viewers would be a Really Bright Idea.

[DramaX]

Is there any mistake in ANTM ratings? If it's really 9.9 mil, I don't think the CW will not celebrate it...