Ratings Report (Shortened) - Week of May 11

Okay, so we have a lot of news to post today. But first, as promised, I'll give you guys the ratings analysis. This does take quite a long time, so to save time and post all the news we have today, I'll just give a brief analysis for the week.

Monday, May 11:
At ABC, Dancing with the Stars started with a below-average 18.55 million, which was still a dominating performance. Castle ended the season with 10 million viewers, which is definitely not bad at all, but could be a lot better. Will ABC keep this show here or move it to a new night? Deal or No Deal bombed with 4.23 million, but Medium stepped up with an average 7 million viewers for 2 hours. Tonight's episode features the return of Angelica Houston, who played a recurring character last season. Medium fans - you won't want to miss it, 9pm tonight! At CBS, the season finale of Big Bang Theory kicked off with 9.76 million viewers, very good. How I Met Your Mother followed with a million less viewers, and .1 less in the demo. Not a good performance for Mother. Men and Rules were down at 9pm a million from the previous week, and CSI: Miami was right on par with the previous week. And FOX aired the season finale of House with 12.74 million, good, and a new 24 at a season low 9.79 million. And, The CW disappointed yet again with their 2.3 million for both teen dramas.

Tuesday, May 12:
American Idol led on FOX with 22.71 million, leading into the season finale of Fringe with 9.28 million. Overall, Fringe hasn't been such a hit this spring, but may be able to pick up some slack in the fall (where it'll be airing Thursdays at 8pm). NCIS and The Mentalist had 16.18 and 16.21 million, and Without a Trace had 13.4 million, one of its best performances in awhile. All were great, as usual. ABC had According to Jim under 4 million as usual at 8pm, with the DWTS Results Show at a below average 14 million, leading into the cancelled Cupid with 5 million. Biggest Loser went out with 11.85 million for 3 hours, one of NBC's best performances in a VERY long time. Boy, did they need that.

Wednesday, May 13:
American Idol led once again, airing at 9pm with 24.67, about a million higher than on Tuesday. Lie to Me ended its season at 8pm with a good 8.46 million, and will be airing Mondays next season. CBS had Rules of Engagement at 8pm, which bombed wih only 6.3 million viewers, lower than Old Christine has done all season. Old Christine followed with an improved 6.5 million viewers and a point higher in the demo. Criminal Minds and CSI:NY both followed with average performances - 14 million and 12 million. ABC had the Lost finale doing a good 9.43 million, and a great 4.4 in the demo. Next season will be its last! Lastly, NBC had Law & Order, with the original series doing close to 8 million at 10pm. 4.31 million people watched the finale of America's Next Top Model, a season high, and tied Rules of Engagement in the demo with a 1.9. Very good.

Thursday, May 14:
Survivor aired its penultimate episode at 8pm with a better 12.18 million viewers and a great demo. Finales followed, with CSI doing 14.81 million, down hugely from last season's finale, and CSI: NY doing 12.77 million, good again, on a special night for its finale. ABC had Ugly Betty doing a declining 6.77 million - this show is crying out "Fridays" for next season. Grey's Anatomy did great for its 2 hour finale with 16.53 million and a 5.9 demo, both EXCELLENT, and the highest ratings since the season premiere. ABC should be thrilled with these ratings. Bones ended with 8.88 million, and Hell's Kitchen had its season finale do 7.37 and a 3.3 demo, both also good. HK will return this July for a new season. NBC bombed in a very, very big way with its night of finales. All shows hit season lows, all 5 of them. To sum it up, Earl and Parks had under 5 million again, while The Office couldn't even hit 7 million, and Southland got just above 4 million. Terrible, just terrible.

Friday, May 15:
Two winners of the night: The Farrah Fawcett special on NBC, and Numb3rs on CBS. Ghost Whisperer was down nearly a million for its season finale, which is quite surprising. It did under 9 million viewers. Flashpoint did an almost identical rating, a little lower in the demo, though. And Numb3rs picked up the slack at 10pm and built a million viewers and .3 in the demo. Very good. Dateline did an okay 5 million at 8pm, and the Farrah special did over 8 million from 9-11pm. Prison Break had its series finales, and was very bad, but better than Dollhouse. Why was this renewed again?

Saturday, May 16:
Not much to say here. Cops was WAY down for some reason, as was AMW. Everything else was repeats. Just a point, though - Harper's Island will return this Saturday at 9pm.

Sunday, May 17:
Some ups and lows for last night. Survivor had its season finale do a good 12.74 million and a 4.2 demo. Survivor still remains one of CBS's best demo performers, with a great finale. The Reunion Show at 10pm did 11.85 million. Desperate Housewives ended its season on, in my opinion, a losing note with 13.9 million and a 4.7 demo from 9-11pm. It could definitey be better, and was down from last season. Grey's Anatomy killed it this week, which is kind of surprising. Extreme Makeover started out 7-9pm with 7.62 million viewers, also a loser for the night. This is definitely showing its age. FOX and NBC were both out of the loop. FOX lost again with their Animation Domination, the only winner being Family Guy. And NBC gave up the night with Dateline and SNL shorts.