Bionic Woman Beats Private Practice!
Jamie Sommers kicked Addison Montgomery Sheppard’s booty last night, as Bionic Woman beat Private Practice in the coveted advertising demographics and won the time slot according to overnight ratings reports.
Media people tabbed Bionic Woman as either a potential breakout or a potential bomb, but few probably expected it to do what it did last night. The NBC drama’s premiere outdrew the debut of ABC’s highly anticipated Grey’s Anatomy spinoff Private Practice and nearly boosted NBC to No. 1 on a night where it has long struggled.
Media Life Magazine states that this makes Bionic Woman the highest rated new show of the premiere season to date, and Variety points out Bionic Woman had the highest rated Wednesday premiere on NBC since the Josiah Bartlett entered The West Wing in 1999!
Many people had speculated about how the Bionic ratings showdown would play out, since Private Practice is a spin-off of ratings juggernaut Grey’s Anatomy. But not only did Bionic Woman win the hour, the show actually built its numbers during the superior second half while the doctor drama lost viewers. This momentum allowed the show to be a solid lead for Life, which also won its time slot (much to the surprise of media critics and advertising buyers). ABC still won the evening thanks to the reality superstar that is Dancing With the Stars, but Bionic Woman’s performance is a huge coup for the Peacock Network.
It can take as long as two weeks for the actual numbers to shake out, as it takes longer to gather ratings information from DVRs, TiVos, online viewings, and other sources. Bionic Woman has been available for viewing since September 10, so the actual number of people who have seen the pilot are much higher than the ratings indicate.
This is great, great news for Bionic Woman’s cast and crew, and especially for Bionic Woman fans! Just as Jamie stands strong in this photo, which was taken for the television preview in Entertainment Weekly, the show indicates strong “entertainment value” for its investors and that is great news for the longevity of Bionic Woman.
Bionic Woman, Private Practice, ratings, NBC, ABC, Grey’s Anatomy, Addison Montgomery Sheppard, Jamie Sommers, Life, Dancing With the Stars, West Wing
September 27th, 2007 at 4:04 pm
This is exciting news. I am sure Michelle Ryan, wherever she is, is pleased!
September 28th, 2007 at 10:14 pm
[...] Ryan is having an amazing week. The premiere episode of Bionic Woman beat Private Practice in the line up head-to-head and she lands the cover of TV Guide for the week of October 8-14. I love the photograph and [...]
October 3rd, 2007 at 6:11 am
[...] scheduled time tonight, Wednesday at 9 PM EST. Here’s NBC’s official promo. After the premier episode did so well last week, let’s hope the audience tunes back in because this week’s episode looks even [...]
March 13th, 2008 at 7:57 am
[...] off strong in the United States as well, when over 13 million viewers tuned in for the premiere and made the show the most-watched new show of the fall in key demographics. Then high turnover and last minute changes created shaky story lines and a lack of cohesion, [...]