December 21, 2005

CBS Rules the World and I'm Sure They Won't Forget to Remind Us Every 5 Minutes!

So if you look at last weeks TV ratings, you'll see that CBS has taken 8 out of 10 spots. The amazing thing is that there were 7 crime dramas on the list. Doesn't that seem kind of weird this time of year? I guess people are trying to figure out the perfect crime to use on those obnoxious Christmas shoppers out there. I'm sure CBS will lay low and not even mention last weeks ratings success on every freakin' CBS show this week. I can dream can't I? ABC only had 1 show in the top 10. We won't even mention that NBC had no shows in the top 10 and only 1 in the top 20. No, that would be too cruel to mention!

If you'll notice ABC's only top 10 show was Monday Night Football. In fact the last few weeks, MNF has been in the top 10 even with a few mediocre games. The amazing part is that this is the last year of MNF on ABC after 35 years. Starting in 2006, MNF will be broadcast on ESPN. According to ElitesTV.com:

ESPN is also owned by Disney, so the production team and announcers may stay the same. However, 'Monday Night Football' has had slumping ratings in recent years with the advent of satellite dishes and digital cable with hundreds of channels to choose from. In the present television culture, it no longer made sense for ABC to spend so much money for an ever diminishing number of viewers. ESPN paid $1.1 billion per year for an eight-year deal to broadcast MNF.

Obviously ESPN makes sense because they can command higher advertising rates and MNF stays under the Disney umbrella. Still, for ABC, it seems like a bad time to get rid of the only show that people seem to be watching (the only other ABC show in the top 20 was NFL Monday Showcase which is a 7 minute intro to MNF). I can't really think of the last show I watched on ABC besides MNF. How about you?