Last week marked the beginning of summer re-run season is ending as FOX jumped the gun, with the debut of the new science fantasy/horror series, Fringe, on Tuesday. The network also started its new season of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.
Every other science fiction, fantasy or horror show on broadcast TV last week was still in reruns.
In the battle for viewers, Fringe attracted 9 million viewers last Tuesday – topping the list of genre programs. The show’s debut brought in close to 10% of the viewing public, which is FOX’s highest debut for a drama series in two years.
The network ran a repeat episode of Fringe on Sunday, Sept. 14, where it attracted an additional 5.7 million viewers for about 6 percent of the TVs being used that night.
It’s a good start, but may not be an indication of how well the show will perform once ABC, CBS and NBC stop showing repeats and start airing new episodes on Tuesdays. Luckily, Fringe has a great lead-in following House starting on the 16th.
FOX’s other debut this past week, the sophomore season of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles didn’t fare as well against NBC’s Deal or No Deal and CBS’s repeat of The Big Bang Theory. Sarah Connor attracted a mere 6.3 million viewers, barely beating out a repeat of Ghost Whisperer for the No. 2 Genre TV spot.
Following are the ratings for speculative fiction shows that aired on the broadcast networks last week:
SHOW [NET] # Viewers – 18-49/% watching (18-34/%) | Date
- 1. Fringe [FOX] 9 million – 3.2/9 (2.5/8) | Sept. 9
- 2. Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles [FOX] 6.3 million – 2.4/7 (2.1/6) | Sept. 8
- 3. Ghost Whisperer (repeat) [CBS] 6.2 million — (1.6/5) | Sept. 12 (9 p.m.)
- 4. Fringe (repeat) [FOX] 5.7 2.3/6 (19./6) | Sept. 14
- 5. Ghost Whisperer (repeat) [CBS] 5.7 million — (1.5/5) | Sept. 12 (8 p.m.)
- 6. Chuck (repeat) [NBC] 2.5 million — (0.8/3) | Sept. 13
- 7. Smallville (repeat) [CW] 2 million – 0.8/2 (0.7/2) | Sept. 11
- 8. Supernatural (repeat) [CW] 1.7 million – 0.6/2 (0.5/2) | Sept. 11
Source: Nielsen Media Research