RATINGS RECAP: 2/18/11

ABC
8:00 Supernanny
Viewers: 3.7 million, 18-49 demo: 1.0
9:00 Primetime: What Would You Do?
Viewers: 4.7 million, 18-49 demo: 1.6
10:00 20/20
Viewers: 4.1 million, 18-49 demo: 1.2 

CBS
8:00 The Defenders
Viewers: 8.5 million, 18-49 demo: 1.3
9:00 CSI: NY
Viewers: 10.7 million, 18-49 demo: 1.8
10:00 Blue Bloods
Viewers: 11.2 million, 18-49 demo: 1.5

NBC
8:00 Who Do You Think You Are?
Viewers: 5.9 million, 18-49 demo: 1.3
9:00 Dateline NBC
Viewers: 6.8 million, 18-49 demo: 1.6

FOX
8:00 Kitchen Nightmares
Viewers: 4.0 million, 18-49 demo: 1.7
9:00 Fringe
Viewers: 4.0 million, 18-49 demo: 1.5

ABC had a very sleepy Friday night with its low-rated lineup. At 8pm, Supernanny was down four tenths in viewers and two tenths in the demo from its last airing two weeks ago for season lows. This show is more than ready to end and is bringing down the whole night. At 9pm, Primetime: What Would You Do? was up a tenth in viewers and three tenths in the demo, which is somewhat positive. Finally at 10pm, 20/20 was down a rough 2.3 million viewers and four tenths in the demo from last week's two-hour edition and it was easily beaten by Dateline in the 10pm hour. These are cheap options for Friday nights on ABC but the ratings are just abysmal.

CBS had a decent night but low demos as usual. At 8pm, The Defenders perked back up a bit as it was up six tenths in viewers and two tenths in the demo from last week. That still won't be enough to earn it a second season though. At 9pm, CSI: NY was up a million viewers and two tenths in the demo. The viewer total is the best since early November. CBS has too many dramas for available timeslots but it will be hard to rationalize cutting this veteran show which has performed admirably in a quiet Friday timeslot. At 10pm, Blue Bloods was just slightly below its last original airing on a Friday and comparable in viewer total to its last Wednesday airing. Its numbers look much better on Fridays than they did on Wednesdays, but the demo is skewing older and older. 

NBC started things off with Who Do You Think You Are? which was down seven tenths in viewers and a tenth in the demo, but still well above School Pride numbers. At 9pm, Dateline was up 1.1 million viewers and two tenths in the demo, building throughout the two hours. With a better lead-in, Dateline has been considerably stronger recently than it was in late fall.

FOX was competitive in the demo race on Friday night. At 8pm, Kitchen Nightmares was up three tenths in viewers and the demo. Though the numbers are low, it is very young-skewing for a Friday night. At 9pm, Fringe rebounded a bit from last week's lows as it was up three tenths in viewers and a tenth in the demo. It will be interesting to see if these numbers are good enough for FOX on Friday night. They are low but significantly better than what FOX had been getting here from The Good Guys.