As of last week, NBC was a strong front runner to lead the February sweeps; but media buyers and planners expect Fox to finish first, reports Media Life.
Media Life, conducted a poll last week of its industry-insider readership, and 42.3% predicted that Fox would take top honors; NBC was second at 26.9%, CBS third at 19.2%, and ABC fourth at 11.5%.
Glory is short lived: “It seems readers may have forgotten that NBC carried the Super Bowl,” wrote Media Life. Still, readers may have been put off NBC by the struggling "Smash," which debuted with a 3.8 among adults 18-49 just two weeks ago, to a 2.3 this week. The majority of those polled at 76.9% rated “Smash”’s performance as “so-so,” and over 19% rate its performance “disappointing.”
Fox on the other hand has “American Idol,” its ratings champion, which despite losing a few tenths from 2011, has the highest average for a non-sports/non-special show. When asked to predict which show will finish No. 1 this season, 48% chose “Idol,” while 20% chose the CBS comedy “The Big Bang Theory.”
Among those shows media buyers and planners expect to be canceled:
- “Remodeled” (CW)
- “Are You There, Chelsea?” (NBC)
- “The River” (ABC)
- “Alcatraz” (Fox)