'Civilization' Overnight Ratings Slide

See Also: 'Civilization' Episode Guide

Overnight ratings for the second Enterprise episode in the November sweeps dropped considerably yesterday when 'Civilization' scored the second-lowest ratings of the series so far.

According to a report by Marc Berman at MediaWeek, 'Civilization' achieved a 6.0 rating / 9 share. This is down noticably from last week's 6.5/10, though still above the 5.8/9 the show got when it had to compete with the World Series.

In real terms, these figures mean that of all households in America with television sets, approximately 6% saw 'Civilization.' Of those people actually watching TV yesterday, 9% was tuned in to Enterprise.

In the 8:00pm hour, Enterprise held on to its usual 5th place among the six networks. CBS's 60 Minutes II was no. 1 with an 8.3/13. Performing far better than usual was Fox, which managed to achieve a 7.6 with its combination of Malcolm in the Middle and new sitcom The Bernie Mac Show. This was followed followed by ABC's two sitcoms (7.4/12) and NBC's Ed (7.3/12) for third and fourth place, while the WB's Dawson's Creek came in last with a 4.3/6.

As this is the second week of the important November sweeps, the period when television ratings for local stations are determined, the lower rating isn't very good news for Enterprise. A reason for the weak performance of the show, however, can be found in the success of new FOX show The Bernie Mac Show. This sitcom was the top-rated show during the half-hour that it aired and was no.2 among young adults for the hour, which is exactly Enterprise's core audience. Hopefully, viewers who checked out Bernie Mac over Enterprise will return for 'Fortunate Son' next week.

The above results are the so-called overnight ratings, measured in the top 50 markets of the country. National ratings for 'Civilization' should be available next week, and will provide more detailed demographic information as well as the exact number of people watching. Because Star Trek is more popular in urban markets, its final ratings are traditionally lower than its overnight ratings.

Available now are the final national ratings for 'Breaking the Ice', the episode that aired last week and the first Enterprise episode to air during the November Sweeps. According to Variety, the episode was watched by 7.36 million people, which was up only slightly from the 7.19 million that watched 'The Andorian Incident'. The show achieved a 4.9 final household rating with an 8 share, which was at least up from the 4.5 for 'Incident' and came close to the average 5.0 rating the show has scored over the past few weeks.

The show continued to do well in the young adult and male viewer groups, which are considered very attractive by advertisers. The show scored a 3.9 rating / 10 share among adults aged 18-49, making it the most-watched show in that demographic for its timeslot. Among males aged 18-49, the show achieved a 4.8 rating / 13 share, while among males aged 25-54 it even achieved a 5.4/14.

Compared with the other Star Trek series, Enterprise continued to do fairly well in its ability to retain viewers. 'Breaking the Ice' was watched by 70% of the people who watched 'Broken Bow', while the 7th episode of Deep Space Nine and Voyager only managed to attract 64.4% and 61.5% of the audience for their pilot, respectively. Only The Next Generation did better in this measurement, retaining 80.9% of its opening audience for its seventh episode.

In absolute ratings, Enterprise also continued to do well, excluding 'Endgame' still outperforming any Voyager episode since 1997. 'Breaking the Ice' achieved a rating that was 63% higher than last year's first November Sweeps episode, Voyager's 'Inside Man,' which only got a 3.0.

Based on the episode's overnight ratings, the final national rating for 'Civilization' should end up between the 4.5 for 'The Andorian Incident' and the 4.9 for 'Breaking the Ice.' Check back here next week for a more detailed analysis of that. Meanwhile, to see more information on yesterday's viewership patterns, follow this link to the full MediaWeek report.

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