The Final Nielsen Ratings: A Litany of Horrors for the CW

The final 2006–2007 season television ratings were released last week, and they yield some interesting tidbits. Of course, American Idol has 50 percent more viewers than anything else, and the top 25 is full of shows like Criminal Minds and Shark, shows watched by no one East Coast jerks like us have ever met. But way down near the bottom of the list, tied for 112th place, we found three interesting series that each averaged a mediocre 5.4 million viewers an episode. What was the fate of these three TV underachievers?

Fox’s Drive? Canceled after four episodes. NBC’s Andy Barker, P.I.? A huge disappointment, moved to Saturdays at eight and then given the ax. And, of course, the CW’s top-rated show, America’s Next Top Model, the centerpiece of the network’s press release heralding its upcoming 2007–2008 season.

In fact, of the bottom ten shows in the year-end Nielsens, guess how many aired on the CW? Five? Guess again. Eight? Nope. How about … all ten?

So that’s the bad news. The good news is we can’t imagine they’ll be able to cancel Reaper, even if we’re literally the only ones watching it.

2006–07 Primetime Wrap [HR]