The Ratings Report: TV's post-strike blues

Now that the writers' strike is over, networks are airing new episodes of their top shows once again. But early ratings returns indicate that viewers might have left some programs for good.

Serialized dramas are suffering the most, presumably because of their complex story lines: Desperate Housewives just logged its four lowest-rated episodes of the season, while Grey's Anatomy and Ugly Betty hit season lows on May 1 (15.3 million and 7.9 million, respectively). Even Gossip Girl couldn't parlay considerable anticipation into a ratings surge: Its first two episodes after the three-month-long writers' walkout each garnered roughly 2.5 million viewers, under the series' average from last fall.

On the other hand, comedies, at least initially, seemed immune to the slump: The Office, How I Met Your Mother, and Scrubs all posted season highs their first two weeks back, and Two and a Half Men and The Big Bang Theory were strong, too. "There was obviously a lot of pent-up demand for comedy," says Mitch Metcalf, NBC's head of scheduling. "Closed-ended shows generally have been doing better as they've come back." That, or the laffers benefited from faster production schedules that allowed them to get on the air sooner, without much competition. But they, too, eventually succumbed to diminished ratings. Facing new installments of Grey's and CSI, The Office dropped from its season high by 21 percent on May 1, while 30 Rock posted its lowest-rated episode this season. The lesson here? Depriving viewers of their shows is no joke. —Tanner Stransky

The Ratings Report: 'Idol' rules (again)

(This new EW.com column will report on primetime ratings every Tuesday.)

More than 23 million tuned in to see Kristy Lee Cook's ouster on last week's American Idol results show, which helped Fox win the week ending April 20 with an average 8.8 million viewers. Meanwhile, Desperate Housewives ranked as the most-watched drama in primetime and Two And A Half Men continued its reign as the most watched sitcom on TV (sorry, The Office, No. 21, and 30 Rock, No. 44).

The 10 most-watched new shows from last week: Idol Tuesday (23.6 million), Idol Wednesday (23.3), Dancing with the Stars (17.1), Housewives (15.7), Dancing results (15.4), NCIS (15.1), Men (13.9), CSI: NY (13.4), Law & Order: SVU (13.2), and Criminal Minds (12.9). Biggest Loser 5, which ended its run last week, averaged 11.3 million viewers, while the controversial Democratic Presidential Debate (swell questions, Charlie!) attracted 10.6 million.

Who’s winning the 2007-08 season so far? Fox (no surprise) is averaging a respectable 11.3 million, followed by CBS (10.5), ABC (9.1), NBC (8.3) and CW (2.6). Fox is also leading in the all-important 18-49 demographic (4.3 rating/11 share), followed by ABC (3.0/8), CBS (3.0/8) NBC (2.9/8) and CW(1.0/3). Each rating point represents 1.31 million viewers.

And finally, of the Big Four networks, Fox is currently attracting the youngest viewers (average age of 43.9), followed by NBC (48.1), ABC (49.1) and CBS (51.9).

Sci Fi Channel celebrates best November ratings ever

Huge ratings for Ghost Hunters and Battlestar Galactica: Razor helped the Sci-Fi Channel achieve its best November ever among young adults and total viewers (1.13 million). More female viewers are migrating to the out-there cabler, too: viewership among women 18-34 and 18-49 is up 11 percent and 6 percent, respectively. Hunters broke series and network records on Wednesdays with a weekly average of 2.1 million viewers for the season. It's the best season yet for the show about plumbers who hunt for ghosts at night (yep, you read that right). The Nov. 24 premiere of Razor averaged a respectable 1.7 million viewers.

Premiere week advantage: NBC (for now)

Here are the premiere-night ratings for new shows so far in the adults 18-49 demo. Some of the shows have already dropped in their second week. As one network exec says, "Back to You is one of them and has to be the most expensive 2.8 demo in television." (Stars Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton earn between $150,000-$275,000.)

Bionic Woman (NBC) 5.7 rating

Private Practice (ABC) 5.2

Life (NBC) 4.0

Big Bang Theory (CBS) 3.7

Chuck (NBC) 3.6

Dirty Sexy Money (ABC) 3.6

Journeyman (NBC) 3.5

K-Ville (Fox) 3.3

Back to You (Fox) 3.1

Kid Nation (CBS) 3.1

Kitchen Nightmares (Fox) 3.1

Cane (CBS) 3.0

Nashville (Fox) 1.0

Nashville has already been bumped until October -- a convenient way to avoid becoming the first cancellation of the season. But that's not nearly as giggle-inducing as this hopelessly optimistic quote from another network executive: "3 (rating) is the new 4!" What's next? Cancellation is the new pickup? Wait, we got that with Jericho.