Entertainment Industry News- Mediaweek.com

Veteran Saturday Night Live remains a rare growing force on NBC, with the October 4th telecast (with host Anne Hathaway) at a hefty 7.4 rating/18 share in the metered markets. Comparably, that was an increase of 42 percent over the fourth original telecast of last season (7.4/18 to 5.2/12). And it was its second highest-rated overnight performance since Dec. 14, 2002. Through the first four weeks of this season, SNL is up by 49 percent in the metered markets from one year earlier (6.7/16 vs. 4.5/11).

NBC reality/competition America's Toughest Jobs will be tackling its hardest assignment to-date: Saturday. Effective on Oct. 18, the recently introduced non-scripted hour will anchor the Saturday 8 p.m. time period. Deal or No Deal will move into the Friday 8 p.m. anchor spot on Oct. 24 replacing America's Toughest Jobs, and leading into Crusoe (which debuts with a two-hour telecast on Oct. 17).

-Yesterday's Winners: Bones (Fox), Criminal Minds (CBS), America's Got Talent (NBC), CSI: NY (CBS)

-Yesterday's Winners: NCIS (CBS), House (Fox), Dancing With the Stars (ABC), The Mentalist (CBS), Without a Trace (CBS)

Led by five hours of Dancing With the Stars, and the top-rated season-premieres of Grey's Anatomy and Desperate Housewives, ABC won this first week of the 2008-09 season, finishing first in households, total viewers and the three key demos -- adults 18-49, adults 25-54 and adults 18-34 (tied with NBC). Compared to premiere week in 2007 (and keeping in mind that DVR penetration has increased from 20 to 28 percent), ABC was close to year-ago levels. ...

-Yesterday’s Winners: Dancing With the Stars (ABC), Criminal Minds (CBS), CS: NY (CBS)

-Yesterday's Winners: Dancing With the Stars (ABC), Two and a Half Men (CBS), CSI: Miami (CBS)

AMC's Mad Men and NBC's 30 Rock, as predicted, were named Outstanding Drama and Comedy Series at the 60th Annual Prime-time Emmy Awards last night. Hosted by fellow reality nominees Tom Bergeron, Heidi Klum, Howie Mandel, Jeff Probst and Ryan Seacrest, rushing through the key categories at the end of the telecast (Bryan Cranston as Lead Actor in a Drama Series, in particular) would not have been necessary without the mindless (and painfully awkward) opening. Rule of thumb for next year and beyond: stick to one host.

-Countdown to the Start of the New Season: 4 days (less than 100 hours!)

-Ratings Breakdown: Fox was in a winning league of its own on Tuesday, beating second-place CBS by 3.8 rating points in the overnights with its combination of the season-premiere of House (#1: 9.0 rating/15 share) and week two of Fringe (#1: 8.6/13), which held 91 percent of the 8:30 p.m. portion of House (9.4/15). Although most new shows drop by 10 to 20 percent in the second week, Fringe actually built by a hefty 34 percent from its 90-minute debut one week earlier (6.4/10 on Sept. 10) thanks to the support of House. House, meanwhile, opened last season with an 11. ...

Led by Sunday Night Football and America's Got Talent, it was another clean sweep for NBC, with a first-place finish in households, total viewers and the three key demos -- adults 18-49, adults 25-54 and adults 18-34 -- for the week of Sept. 8. Comparably, NBC has now finished first in total viewers and adults 18-49 for six consecutive weeks -- its longest winning streak in viewers since second quarter 2002 and in the demo since the summer of 2004. NBC was also up by margins of 11 to 35 percent in the five surveyed categories versus one year earlier.

-Yesterday's Winners: Deal or No Deal (NBC), Two and a Half Men (CBS), CSI: Miami R (CBS)

-Yesterday's Winners: Bones (Fox), America's Got Talent (NBC)

-Yesterday's Winners: America's Got Talent (NBC), Fringe (Fox)

Led by two nights of football and two nights of America's Got Talent it was a clean sweep for NBC, with a first-place finish for the holiday/political week of September 1 in households, total viewers and the three key demos -- adults 18-49, adults 25-54 and adults 18-34. Comparably, NBC posted modest year-to-year gains in four of the five surveyed categories (excluding no change among adults 18-34).

-Yesterday's Winners: Deal or No Deal (NBC), Two and a Half Men R (CBS), CSI: Miami R (CBS)