There Are Good Reasons CBS Dominates The American TV Nielsen Ratings

Below are the Nielsen Ratings for the week ending December 21, 2014. This was the last week before TV went into mostly re-run and specials mode, due to Christmas.

Has CBS ever dominated the ratings at the level CBS is currently beating ABC, NBC and FOX?

Previously I blogged about being perplexed as to Why Must We Now Have A TV Provider To Watch Most Network & Cable TV Online? 

In that blog post I made note of the fact that CBS was not playing along with the insistence that one needed to log in to ones TV cable provider in order to watch a CBS show online, on ones smart phone or on a tablet.

In addition to not requiring a cable provider, CBS is now also going the Netflix-type route with the option of giving viewer's next day online access to current programs along with access to the entire CBS library dating back to the age of I Love Lucy in the 1950s.

CBS next day and library access cost $5.99 a month.

CBS seems to play the TV game much smarter than the other networks. And I am not just referencing the quality of the CBS programming.

For instance, before I bailed on the AT & T U-Verse service CBS had caused me to get hooked on multiple CBS shows I had not had a habit of watching. Shows such as CSI, NCIS,  NCIS: Los Angeles, Undercover Boss, Hawaii Five-O, Bluebloods, Elementary and others.

How did CBS cause me to watch its shows on AT & T U-Verse? Well, with the CBS version of Viewing On Demand, on AT & T, CBS had minimal commercials, with most of those being promos for other CBS shows. Plus CBS allowed fast forwarding. None of the other On Demand networks allowed fast forwarding. Eventually, prior to cancelling U-Verse, CBS had joined the others in disabling fast forwarding.

Or maybe AT & T did the disabling.

Anyway, it is no surprise to me that CBS is by far the dominant American TV Network.

Rank	Shows	R=Repeat S=Special P=Premiere	Net	Viewers (Live +SD) (000)
1	NBC Sunday Night Football-12/21		NBC	19293
2	NCIS-12/16		CBS	17530
3	NCIS: NEW ORLEANS-12/16		CBS	14137
4	60 Minutes-12/21		CBS	13179
5	CBS+NFLN SAT NT FOOTBALL-12/20	S	CBS	12962
6	VOICE-TUE-12/16		NBC	12880
7	VOICE-12/15		NBC	12074
8	Big Bang Theory, THE-12/18	R	CBS	10605
9	SCORPION-12/15		CBS	10070
10	MOM-12/18		CBS	10011
11	SURVIVOR-12/17		CBS	9786
12	FOOTBALL NT AMERICA PT 3-12/21		NBC	9713
13	NCIS: LOS ANGELES-12/15		CBS	9542
14	Person Of Interest-12/16		CBS	8937
15	Two and a Half Men-12/18		CBS	8796
16	Mentalist, THE-12/21		CBS	8677
17	Undercover Boss 12/21-SP-12/21	S	CBS	8189
18	MIKE & MOLLY-12/15		CBS	7849
19	2 Broke Girls-12/15		CBS	7807
20	Elementary-12/18		CBS	7574
21	MICHAEL BUBLE XMAS IN NY-12/17	S	NBC	7528
22	CSI-12/21		CBS	7340
23	SURVIVOR REUNION-12/17	S	CBS	7310
24	MCCARTHYS, THE-12/18		CBS	6941
25	Dateline FRI-12/19		NBC	6768

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Survivor: Worlds Apart with White Collar vs. Blue Collar vs. No Collar

The Amazing Race twinnie, Natalie, winning Survivor: San Juan Del Sur was the first time in several Survivors where the winner seemed, to me, to be the worthy winner.

But, overall, multiple  times I almost bailed  on Survivor's latest edition, thinking the show had maybe come to its time to end.

Then, the last few episodes sort of redeemed San Juan Del Sur with some good strategizing and blindsiding, mostly by Natalie.

The two hour finale and reunion show seemed to be the best edited that I remember. Interspersing live elements from CBS Television City in Los Angeles was a good thing. Eliminating that embarrassing segment where the final three walk by tombstone crosses representing those who have gotten the boot is a good move. If I remember right that has been gone for a couple Survivor seasons now.

The #1 thing I did not like about Survivor: San Juan Del Sur was what seemed to me to be the overfeeding of the beach dwellers. Did anyone lose any weight?

The upcoming 30th season of Survivor looks promising. It premieres February 25, 2015.

What looks promising about the upcoming Survivor: Worlds Apart is the concept.

Regular people we have not seen before on Survivor or The Amazing Race.

Of course that could change once we meet the Survivors.

The concept is class warfare featuring White Collar vs. Blue Collar vs. No Collar.

The goofy tribe names this time are Masaya ("White Collar"), Escameca ("Blue Collar") and Nagarote ("No Collar").

I suppose among the White Collars there could be someone well known like, I don't know, Bill Gates or Nancy Pelosi. Yeah, I'm sure that might happen.

I can not think of any well known Blue Collar type who might ruin that no one we already know about concept.

For No Collar I am thinking Paris Hilton would qualify. Okay, I would actually not object to Paris Hilton getting all down and dirty and hungry on Survivor.

I suppose, come February 25 of the new year of 2015, I will be watching the 30th season of Survivor....

Survivor: San Juan Del Sur Blood vs. Water Has Outlasted Its Welcome

Survivor: San Juan del Sur, the twenty-ninth season of one of the first American Reality TV shows, seems to me to be nearing the end of its run.

Unless Survivor re-invents itself, somehow.

I did not like the first version of Survivor: Blood vs. Water. That version had people who had previously been on Survivor returning with a loved one.

The current relative version is made up of people who had not been on Survivor, previously. However, two of the Blood vs. Water pairs had people known to some, as in infamous baseballer, John Rocker, and the twinnies from The Amazing Race, Natalie and Nadiya.

This iteration of Survivor seems to be the only season where those surviving seem to be gaining weight, rather than getting skinny.

Reward Challenge. Want to know what you're playing for? One week fixing's for a barbecue, another week a trip to a Mexican food all you can eat buffet, with beer and margaritas, another week a yacht trip with sandwiches, along with more beer, another week a trip to a baseball game with hot dogs, popcorn, candy and more beer.

And then there was when the two tribes merged and found themselves with a big buffet spread to gorge themselves on.

Or the one week where the Reward Challenge rewarded with food followed by the Immunity Challenge having more food to tempt the Survivors to give up the challenge.

Oh, and if you somehow eat up the supply of rice you are provided, Probst will show up to make a deal with you for another big bag of rice.

And speaking of Jeff Probst. The Probst play by play at the challenges really needs to be toned down. As does the way Probst asks leading questions at the Tribal Councils, leading questions about things like Immunity Idols not being used, which then causes a flurry of panic which disrupts the well planned who to kick off the island scheme.

As for the challenges, it only makes sense that after 29 seasons the challenges would start to have a deja vu feeling to them. But when, in an effort to do something different you have Probst touting something like "In the first time in Survivor history for this challenge Survivors can only use their feet" it would seem we have gone into Jumping the Shark territory.

For Survivor: Season Thirty, I hope Survivor returns to Survivor: Old School. Don't supply so much food. Make it so hunting, fishing and foraging is the food source.

And no gimmicks, no Redemption Island, no Exile Island, no Hidden Immunity Idols.

And cast only people who have never been on TV before, real people, and no people with serious personality disorders....

American Idol Season 14 Starts January 14 While Thailand's The Voice Is All About That Bass

The guy you see here is a judge on The Voice.

Don't recognize him from NBC's The Voice?

You don't recognize him because he is not on NBC's The Voice, he is on Thailand's version of The Voice.

I have watched very little of the American version of The Voice. It did not hook me like early seasons of American Idol did.

Have any of the winners of America's The Voice gone on to become known names like so many of the American Idol contestants have?

Is there any The Voice equivalent of American Idol's Kelly Clarkson, Clay Aiken, Carrie Underwood, Fantasia, Jennifer Hudson, Catherine McPhee, Chris Daughtry, Jordan Sparks, Adam Lambert, Phillip Phillips and others I'm likely not remembering?

Speaking of Phillip Phillips. He seems to be the last hit American Idol has had. I don't remember who won the season after Phillip Phillips. I quit watching when it got down to only a few remaining, none of whom I found pop star worthy. I also bailed on last season. Has anyone heard the winner, Caleb Johnson, on the radio?

No?

Me either.

Season 14 of American Idol starts up January 14. I won't be watching. Jennifer Lopez, Keith Urban and Harry Connick, Jr. are back as the judges. Jennifer Lopez and Keith Urban's head bobbing and dancing to the singing got on my nerves. It was an uncomfortable thing to watch.

I think it likely that the current era of singing competitions shows on American TV is coming to an end.

Below is a YouTube video from Thailand's The Voice. A girl butchers Meghan Trainor's All About That Bass. Do all the singer's on this Thai show sing songs in English? Everything else is in Thai, including the amusing Listerine commercial....