Ratings Review: NBC Wednesdays - November Sweeps

NBC Wednesdays is the beginning of four consecutive nights of weaker than average programming. Non of the series on these night are near the top of the weekly ratings and are usually 4th place, with some programs placing third.

Kicking the night off for NBC is the second year sic-fi drama REVOLUTION. It was last years best new show for the network, but a new night and time has taken it's tole on the series. It has stabilized in the low 5 million viewer range and a mid-one in the A18-49 ratings. It could see a third season as there are many other shows on the network that do much worse.

LAW & ORDER: SVU continues to shut along. it is the best Performing series, airing in that Wednesday to Saturday timeframe. It will see another season, after this one is completed.

After the new drama IRONSIDE tanked quickly, NBC has used DATELINE to plug the 10 pm slot. It is a cheap and easy way to fill the hole, even if the numbers are not that good. It should remain in the slot until NBC decides what to do for the mid-season schedule.

The last Wednesday of the sweeps period, NBC preempted the line up and aired two specials. at 8 p.m., a making of the live production of THE SOUND OF MUSIC drew 5 million viewers and a 1.0 demo rating. not quite as good as an average episode of REVOLUTION.

At 9 p.m., NBC gave us a two hour block of the best SNL Thanksgiving sketches. On average, that did better than the LAW & ORDER: SVU/DATELINE combo, collecting 4.4 million viewers and a 1.6 rating in Adults 18-49.

All three series don't do much in the ratings and as soon, if ever, NBC starts to find more shows viewers are willing to watch, all three will be gone from the network.

Series	Category	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	AVG
Revolution	Viewers*	5.21	5.17	5.37		5.25
	A18-49	1.4	1.5	1.4		1.4
Law & Order: SVU	Viewers*	5.65	6.16	5.97		5.93
	A18-49	1.5	1.6	1.6		1.6
Dateline	Viewers*	4.40	5.04	4.75		4.73
	A18-49	1.1	1.1	1.1		1.1

* - in millions