Director's Cut Blog with Frank Macek

Special to the Director's Cut Blog By Gary Levin, USA TODAY The increasing usage of digital video recorders, which easily allow viewers to postpone viewing of their favorite shows, has vastly complicated the math of TV ratings, new Nielsen data shows. And it explains how ABC's Modern Family ultimately eclipsed Fox's American Idol among key young-adult audiences. In final season rankings out Monday (Nielsen's time-shifted rankings are delayed by about two weeks), Family, already one of TV's top shows, added an average of nearly 5 million viewers in the seven days after new Wednesday episodes aired against Idol. That's the biggest gain for any series, for a total of 16.7 million viewers. Among viewers ages 18 to 49, the comedy jumped 48% when factoring in delayed viewing, while Idol's performance show gained just 17%. But viewers rarely delay reality shows, news, awards telecasts and sports programming by more than a day. Sitcoms and dramas are most pr...

Special to the Director's Cut Blog By Gary Levin Jay Leno's prime-time "experiment" may be cut short. The former Tonight Show host, who spent 15 years atop the late-night ratings race, hasn't worked out at 10 p.m. ET/PT, hurting both NBC's overall ratings and the local newscasts that follow it on the network's affiliates. Now NBC is weighing scenarios that would lead The Jay Leno Showto end its run as early as Feb. 11, on the eve of the Winter Olympics, according to network executives involved in the discussions. In statements Thursday, NBC said the Leno Show has not yet been canceled, adding that while Leno's average audience of 5.8 million viewers has met expectations, the show has "presented some issues for our affiliates," who have complained about sharp declines for late local newscasts. A meeting with stations is set for Jan. 21 in New York, in part to discuss a plan that could include shifting Leno back to late night or lett...

Special to the Director's Cut Blog By Gary Levin, USA TODAY Viewers are tuning in to the major networks this fall. Ratings are up 2% after years of steady declines. New hits, big gains for some returning shows and comparisons with last fall's strike-hobbled start have helped. But the biggest factor: "There's much more DVR recording this year than in the past, which has had an impact on all the numbers," says ABC prime-time research chief Larry Hyams. A fourth of young-adult viewership is now recorded, though ratings among ages 18-49 are flat. Starcom Media analyst Sam Armando says the season is off to a decent start: "People are aware of the shows and are checking them out." But overall, cable is down, partly from news networks' post-election drops. AAmong the networks: -- Top-rated CBS is up 6 percent (and flat among young adults), thanks to big gains from the seventh-season wonder "NCIS" and a strong launch for its L.A.-based s...