President Obama's inauguration, while a major draw on television as well as the internet, reportedly drew less TV viewers than President Reagan did back in 1981, but that doesn't much matter to CNN and FoxNews. Both cable networks enjoyed near record viewership for their coverage of the oathtaking. But, to put the historic event in perspective, it didn't even register a blip on network television's weekly top ten list.
Grey's Anatomy, however, did.
With football on hold for its pre-Super Bowl weekend, nothing stood in
American Idol's way of taking the top two network spots. While the reality show jumped up on the chart it fell in a big way in viewership. The previous week over 30 million people tuned in both nights to watch Simon Cowell pout and lob insults. Last week the total plummeted to 17 million and 22 million for Tuesday and Wednesday nights respectively.
Meanwhile the debut of ABC's flagship show
LOST didn't even make the top ten. That's bad news for the network as it continually loses ground to CBS. Maybe their shows would do better if they actually kept them on for a steady season instead of jostling viewers with spotty schedules.
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| RANK | PROGRAM | NTWK | RATING | VIEWERS |
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| 1. | AMERICAN IDOL-WEDNESDAY | FOX | 14.3 | 25.897 |
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| 2. | AMERICAN IDOL-TUESDAY | FOX | 12.1 | 22.773 |
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| 4. | TWO AND A HALF MEN | CBS | 9.8 | 16.094 |
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| 5. | GREY'S ANATOMY-THU 9PM | ABC | 9.4 | 14.432 |
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| 9. | CRIMINAL MINDS | CBS | 8.7 | 13.816 |
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| 1. | OBAMA INAUG OATH/SPEECH(S)-01/20/2009 | CNN | 5 | 8.602 |
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| 2. | SR/INAUGURATION OF OBAMA(S)-01/20/2009 | CNN | 4.5 | 7.796 |
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| 3. | SR/INAUGURATION OF OBAMA(S)-01/20/2009 | CNN | 4.1 | 6.733 |
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| 4. | OBAMA INAUGURAL ADDRESS(S)-01/20/2009 | FOXNC | 3.7 | 5.571 |
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| 5. | INAUGURATION 2009(S)-01/20/2009 | FOXNC | 3.6 | 5.29 |
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| 6. | WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE RAW) | USA | 3.5 | 6.165 |
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| 6. | SR/INAUGURATION OF OBAMA(S)-01/20/2009 | CNN | 3.5 | 6.003 |
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| 6. | SITUATION ROOM | CNN | 3.5 | 5.677 |
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| 6. | SITUATION ROOM | CNN | 3.5 | 5.726 |
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| 10. | BURN NOTICE | USA | 3.3 | 5.124 |
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| 10. | INAUGURATION 2009(S)-01/20/2009 | FOXNC | 3.3 | 4.952 |
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