The numbers will keep dropping as audiences settle into the idea of Ashton Kutcher as Chalrie Sheen’s replacement, but for what it is worth, “Two and a Half Men” stayed pretty strong in the ratings this week.
According to TV Media Insights, “Men” landed at a 13.3 in the overnight metered market ratings, which would be the biggest household audience on network television last night. “Men” was never going to hold all of the curious viewers from premiere week, and indeed it did not–it fell roughly 30% from last week’s debut.
But insofar as it remained well above its numbers from last year, it was still very successful. If, when the dust settles, “Men” remains even in the range of what it was doing with the original cast, the Ashton Kutcher selection is a victory.
(Update: “Men” drew a healthy 7.2 adults 18-49 rating and just cracked the 20 million viewer mark)
— Also for CBS: “How I Met Your Mother” remained fairly strong, while “2 Broke Girls” definitely reaped the rewards of last week’s post-“Men” sampling. Though it was down quite a bit from that monster rating at a 7.9 overnight, it grew notably from “Mother” and performed better in the timeslot than any recent CBS show.
(Update: “Mother” stayed strong, earning a 4.4 adults 18-49 rating. “2 Broke Girls” performed well with a 4.5. “Mike & Molly” followed “Men” with a 4.9 in the demo)
— Over on FOX, “Terra Nova” launched to a 6.4 metered market number. While the typical FOX skew forecasts a decent, maybe even “very good,” performance in adults 18-49, this is not a monster number, and might not be fully consistent with the multiple-season hype the show received. Still, if the show can hold in this range, it will be a welcome addition to FOX’s Monday lineup.
(Update: “Decent” would be the best word. The show only garnered a 3.0 adults 18-49 rating. If it wants to remotely be considered a success, it really cannot fall in the weeka head)
As always, take overnight metered market numbers as rough estimates. While they were right during most of premiere week, they were quite off-base Sunday (suggesting an inflated performance for “Pan Am” and a deflated performance for “Family Guy”), so one can never be sure how they will translate into fast national and final data.
