We all loved Pushing Daisies last night…

So how well did it do in the ratings? Click on more to find out! PLUS how were Private Practice’s ratings?
ABC’s critically adored drama “Pushing Daisies” opened well Wednesday night, winning its hour in key demos and teaming with “Private Practice” and “Dirty Sexy Money” to lift the net to victory. Wednesday also saw a rather steep 30% second-week decline for NBC’s “Bionic Woman,” and a roughly 25% dropoff for the same net’s “Life.”
According to preliminary Nielsen national estimates that include live viewing plus same-day DVR playback, “Pushing Daisies” averaged a 4.2 rating/12 share in adults 18-49 and 12.8 million viewers overall — the strongest bow for any show premiering in the 8 o’clock hour this fall and the third best overall, behind just “Bionic Woman” and “Private Practice.” It seemed to have an affect on other shows in the hour, as Fox’s “Back to You” (2.4/7 in 18-49, 6.6 million viewers overall) and CBS’ “Kid Nation” (2.4/7 in 18-49, 7.5 million viewers overall) slid further in their third weeks, while NBC’s “Deal or No Deal” (2.8/8 in 18-49, 11.1 million viewers overall) was up a tick week to week.
In the crowded 9 o’clock hour, ABC’s “Private Practice” (4.5/12 in 18-49, 12.3 million viewers overall) prevailed in key demos despite losing about 13% of its premiere week audience. That dropoff was nothing compared to NBC’s “Bionic Woman” (4.0/10 in 18-49, 10.9 million viewers overall), which shed 30% of its opening-night demo ratings. Moving up a couple of ticks among young adults was CBS’ “Criminal Minds” (3.7/9 in 18-49, 14.4 million viewers overall), which was the night’s most-watched program overall.
And with all those big dramas going at it, Fox’s “Kitchen Nightmares” emerged with week-to-week gains (2.9/7, 6.3 million viewers overall), while CW’s young-skewing “Gossip Girl” (1.3/3 in 18-49, 2.8 million viewers overall) also was on the rise.
The 10 o’clock drama showdown went to CBS vet “CSI: NY” (3.9/10 in 18-49, 12.7 million viewers overall), reclaiming the hour in 18-49 one week after NBC’s “Life” opened surprisingly strong. In its second try, “Life” slid to third place (3.0/8 in 18-49, 8.8 million viewers overall), while ABC’s similarly new “Dirty Sexy Money” (3.6/10 in 18-49, 9.7 million viewers overall) held steady and moved up to second.
Despite NBC’s drama declines from 9 to 11, it was the only network to show year-to-year increases for the night, rising 22% in adults 18-49 vs. a year ago when it aired “Biggest Loser” and drama “Kidnapped.”
Preliminary 18-49 averages for the night: ABC, 4.1/11; CBS, 3.4/9; NBC, 3.3/9; Fox, 2.7/7; CW and Univision, 1.7/5.
In total viewers: ABC, 11.6 million; CBS, 11.6 million; NBC, 10.3 million; Fox, 6.3 million; Univision, 4.0 million; CW, 3.7 million.
I absolutely LOVE Dirty, Sexy, Money – and I’m stoked to see it doing well in the ratings! No surprise that Private Practice lost 13% of it’s audience. I bet that’s doubled by next week’s show. Also not surprising is that Bionic Woman bombed so bad this week! The show SUCKS!!!

















