Dirty Sexy Money – Seth Gabel and Donald Sutherland by Scott Garfield/ABC
The writers' strike is about to make the 2007-08 TV schedule look like a really boring week in July. So let's look at some of the more intriguing numbers from Nielsen about prime-time viewing this fall before first-run episodes of your favorite shows go away.
$63,000 — This is the median income for homes that watched ABC's Big Shots, Dirty Sexy Money and Private Practice. Only NBC's The Office ($73,000) and its lead-out Scrubs ($68,000) are higher. TV critics asked ABC Entertainment president Stephen McPherson last summer why so many of the characters on his new shows are rich people. Well, this is why. Advertisers like to reach rich people.
24.1 percent — This is the "lift" in viewership for NBC's The Office when you include the people who play back the show on their DVRs the same week. It's the highest percentage, followed by Heroes (22 percent), Reaper (18.7 percent) Grey's Anatomy (18 percent), House (17.6 percent) and Friday Night Lights (17.1 percent).
45.2 — The median age for NBC's prime-time audience, down almost two years from last season, making it the youngest of the four major networks. CBS is still the oldest, with half of its viewers aged 52.6 or older. But ABC, thanks to Dancing with the Stars, has seen its audience age the most, going from last season's 47.4 to 49.5.
39 — This is the median age for viewers who playback ABC shows on their DVRs. That's 11 years younger then the age of those who watch them live. The median age of viewers watching NBC and CBS on their DVRs is 10 years younger than those who watch live. Fox's median age is eight years younger among DVR viewers (35 compared to 43 for those who watch live). The CW fans playing back shows are actually a year older (33) than those who watch live.
17 percent — The increase in viewers aged 18 to 49 watching Fox's Family Guy in the Sunday 9 pm time period. That's an unheard-of bump for a show that's been on since 1999. But Family Guy finally made it to broadcast syndication this fall, so it's likely viewers who are discovering it for the first time through nightly repeats are finding new episodes on Fox.
3.0 — The season-to-date 18-to-49 demo rating for NBC's freshman drama Life when it was given a full season pickup. Every year, the bar for renewal gets lower.
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