Preliminary Ratings: Wednesday 12/31/14

America still loves its traditions and watching DICK CLARK'S NEW YEAR'S ROCKIN' EVE, to ring in the new year. The three hour primetime portion had an easy time beating all the competition, proving it is the only real option for December 31st.

The final hour of primetime, for ABC, was impressive, grabbing a 3.8 demo rating. I have to imagine the 11:30 to midnight half hour pushed well above a 5.0 demo, if not more. The 40+ year old tradition, started by Dick Clark, has the best stars, location and personalities to keep the tradition alive for years to come. Something CBS struggled with, in the early 70's, after Guy Lombardo passed away.

FOX, with absolutely no tradition available, tried to appeal to the young crowd, and failed. just 2.2 million viewers watched the Pitbull lead show and could do no better then the CBS drama encores in the A18-49 ratings. The NYE special, in my opinion, typifies what is wrong with FOX, as a whole. A complete lack of identity and personality. It is just ideas and programs thrown up against a wall, seeing what sticks and what doesn't.

NBC did relatively decent with its 2014 retrospective and Carson Daly lead NYE special. Daly is no Dick Clark, or even Ryan Seacrest, but to be the second option for NYE, is a step in the right direct.

Preliminary L+SD Network Averages:

ABC - 9.6 million viewers, 2.7 rating in A18-49

CBS - 4.7 million viewers, 0.7 rating in A18-49

CW - 1.0 million viewers, 0.3 rating in A18-49

FOX - 2.2 million viewers, 0.7 rating in A18-49

NBC - 4.9 million viewers, 1.2 rating in A18-49

Time	Net	Program	Viewers*	A18-49	+/-
8:00	ABC	DC New Year's Rockin Eve	8.10	2.2
10:00	ABC	DC New Year's Rockin Eve	12.80	3.8	58%
8:00	CBS	Blue Bloods [R]	5.40	0.7
9:00	CBS	Criminal Minds [R]	4.60	0.7	-15%
10:00	CBS	Stalker [R]	3.90	0.6	-15%
8:00	CW	iHeart Music Festival [R]	1.00	0.3
8:00	FOX	Pitbull's New Year's Revolution	2.20	0.7
8:00	NBC	A Toast to 2014	4.70	1.0
10:00	NBC	NYE with Carson Daly	5.40	1.5	15%

* - in millions