Ratings Review: ABC Fridays - First 5 Weeks

ABC is poised to take over leadership of Friday nights, but are viewers ready to watch ABC on the night?

For a second straight year, LAST MAN STANDING kicks off the night for ABC. It is a familiar environment that viewers seem to enjoy allow it to keep a viewership of over six million viewers and compete for leadership in the time slot. It may never be as big of a hit has Tim Allen's previous sitcom, bit it can be a solid utility player for the network.

In my opinion, not only should THE NEIGHBORS not be on Friday night, it should not be on any night. Heck, I don't think it should have even made it to series production, last year. The only success the series has experienced is by having the best ABC time slot last season, 8:30 p.m., between THE MIDDLE and MODERN FAMILY. This season, with out a big gun lead in, THE NEIGHBORS is showing it can not attract viewers. It struggles with getting a 1.0 rating in the 18-49 demographic and is barely in 3rd place in viewership, in its time slot. With DATELINE moving to 8 p.m., for NBC, THE NEIGHBORS is now a 4th place show at 8:30. REBBA must be looking pretty good right now, to ABC.

SHARK TANK is the #1 program, in the A18-49 ratings, every Friday night. It has been the only series this season to reach a two in the important younger demographic ratings. It is the anchor to ABC's night and show no signs of slowing. It is the key to the night's success, but you have to wonder, with all the issues ABC seems to have this season, can it afford to keep a stronger series on Friday nights? Could SHARK TANK be the answer for ABC at 8 p.m. on Thursdays? Or, bridge the gap at 9 p.m. on Tuesdays? Where does SHARK TANK best serve the network? Perhaps we will see, come January.

When you look at the ratings for 20/20 this season, I would assume that its ratings success is purely based on the stories it presents each week. If the stories its presents are good, like on Oct. 4th, SHARK TANK viewers seem to stick around at 10 p.m. But as you look at the last two weeks on this chart, even though SHAK TANK grew significantly in the A18-49 ratings, week-to-week, 20/20 had a minimal blip upward at 10 p.m. But, it is a cheap to produce program and keeps the news division happy.

Live+SD Ratings

Series	Category	09/20	09/27	10/04	10/11	10/18	AVG
Last Man Standing	Viewers*	6.67	5.73	6.31	6.03	6.19	6.19
	A18-49	1.5	1.2	1.4	1.2	1.3	1.3
The Neighbors	Viewers*	4.58	4.06	4.14	4.12	4.27	4.23
	A18-49	1.2	1.0	1.0	0.9	1.0	1.0
Shark Tank	Viewers*	6.86	6.94	6.45	6.53	6.64	6.68
	A18-49	1.8	2.0	1.9	1.7	2.0	1.9
20/20	Viewers*	5.60	4.44	5.82	4.75	4.61	5.04
	A18-49	1.3	1.2	1.6	1.1	1.2	1.3

* - in millions