Super Bowl Update

The numbers have been crunched, and it's not good:  This year's World Series on Fox, in which the San Francisco Giants crushed the Detroit Tigers in four games, was the least-watched Series in 25 years.

A mere 12.7 million people, on average, watched this year's Fall Classic, the fewest since Nielsen began keeping track with People Meters in 1987.

The final game of the series - Game 4 - drew 15.5 million viewers, comparing poorly to the final game of last year's Series, which was won by the St. Louis Cardinals and seen by 25.4 million.

On the plus side, despite the poor viewership, the Series did put Fox on top last week, beating out CBS.

I've never been completely sold on "syndicating from within," as companies like Raycom have done with America Now and others, especially when there are so many good syndicated programs out there (including one that hasn't managed to make its way into the Evansville market despite being perhaps the one that was most-talked-about this year ... hmmm ...).

But in numbers newly released, it's clear that America Now is working - and drawing more eyes to the stations where it's broadcast.

Hosted by Bill Rancic and Leeza Gibbons, the joint venture between Raycom and ITV Studios America, which is now in its third season, has improved its position in 14 metered TV markets - including Louisville - by an average of 20% over last year.  It's bringing in some 137,000 viewers a day (good for a 1.2 rating and 3 share versus a 1.0/3 last year) in just those 14 out of the 45 markets where the show can be seen.

In fact, Louisville's ratings for the show have shown the most improvement of all.  On WAVE 3, where the show is on at 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. ET each weekday, it's grown its audience by a whopping 74% compared to last year.

It's not publicly known how the show is doing in Evansville at WFIE or in Cape at KFVS, but both have positioned the show with popular programs both before, during and after, which certainly put it before a solid viewer base.  At 14, the show bookends Jeopardy and leads into Dr. Oz, while at KFVS, it airs between Let's Make a Deal and Dr. Oz.

ABC's Good Morning America is about to win its third week in a row in both total viewers and the all-important group of viewers who are ages 25 to 54, and the folks at NBC's Today are left to wonder just what happened.

Claire Atkinson of the New York Post wastes no time speculating - she jumps right in with both feet and writes, simply, that it's a direct result of "the curse of Ann Curry."

But is it really that simple?  Maybe not.  While Curry's ouster was unpopular with viewers, it's by far not the only problem the show has.

There's evident discord among those who remain.  Al Roker made that clear when he quipped about the show's "tradition" of "throw(ing) one of us under the bus."  NBC had to quickly put out that fire, but few really bought the explanation.

And then there was last week.  While ABC and CBS took their viewers to the moment of silence for the September 11 victims, NBC blithely showed Kardashian mama Kris Jenner talking about her latest boob job instead.  And then refused to apologize ... until NBC News president Steve Capus did so - to the affiliates - anyway.

In his apology, Capus took great pains to point out how "brilliant" Savannah Guthrie (Curry's replacement) and Matt Lauer are together.  If that were really true, there would be no reason to point it out. Others would be doing so ... yet no one is, has or will, because they're really not.

Meanwhile, over at ABC, despite the absence of Robin Roberts (who is dealing with a serious health issue), GMA continues to roll.  Why?  They've taken adversity and turned it into a positive, through the use of celebrity guest co-hosts, and continuing to do what they do seamlessly and without strife.

CBS, too, seems to have finally found a niche for itself with CBS This Morning.  While the show is still behind both ABC and GMA, it's making strides, and with good reason - while the combination of Norah O'Donnell, Charlie Rose and Gayle King may seem strange, it just plain works.

Maybe NBC needs to watch ... and learn.

Good Morning America co-host Robin Roberts has checked into the hospital to prepare for her bone-marrow transplant.  Roberts, 51 and a survivor of breast cancer, is now battling a rare blood disorder previously known as pre-leukemia.  She's been on medical leave since Aug. 30. [UPI]

‘Good Afternoon America’ ends, but may be back
Meanwhile in the afternoon at ABC, Good Afternoon America has ended its trial run, but its success means that it could very well return at some future point.  [NY Daily News]

Like many people in this part of the country, it was a little bittersweet for me to see Peyton Manning in a different team's uniform, but it was good to see him back doing what he loves.  And NBC loved it, too:  Sunday night's game between Manning's Denver Broncos and the Pittsburgh Steelers was the highest-rated primetime regular-season game in NBC history, scoring an 18.0 rating in the Nielsen metered markets. [Media Life]

President Obama and his Republican challenger, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, will meet for three primetime debates beginning Oct. 3, and with the race for all intents and purposes a dead heat, the debates are seen as critical. [AP via TVNewsCheck]

Cable's original sports network has inked a new deal with the Big 12 Conference, and it's a costly one: $1.3 billion through 2024-25. [L.A. Times]

With all of the fuss surrounding the tight morning TV race between ABC's Good Morning America and NBC's Today, it can be easy to forget that there's a third choice.

But CBS This Morning has taken full advantage of the opportunity to grow its viewer base.  By not falling for the usual hype, it's found a smaller but increasing group of people who want something different.

Evidence of that can be found in the ratings for last week:  Compared to last year, CBS This Morning was up 13% in household viewership, 11% in total viewers, and up a whopping 33% among adults ages 25 to 54, an all-important key metric.  Even better, women seem to be finding a lot to like.  Among women ages 18 to 49, CBS has grown its share by 40%.

Both ABC and NBC, on the other hand, are barely gaining or even shedding viewers in the morning.  NBC's Today, compared to a year ago, is down 14% in households, down 15% in total viewers, and off 24% in the 25-54 age group.  GMA showed small gains - up 3% in households and 8% in the 25-54 group, but flat elsewhere.

And it's not just in the morning where CBS is seeing improvement.

Scott Pelley's CBS Evening News is also gaining viewers - and respect - for its classic, hard-news-first style.  Last week, the third-place newscast was up 5% among households, 4% in total viewers, and 8% among adults ages 25 to 54.

No, those aren't huge gains, but they are better than what its competitors are seeing.  NBC's Evening News with Brian Williams likewise saw an uptick in households (6%) and total viewers (2%), but lost 6% of its 25-54 audience.  ABC's World News with Diane Sawyer grew just 2% in households and 1% in total viewers, but was flat among 25-54 year olds.

And it doesn't stop there.  For the year to date, the CBS Evening News is the only one of the three showing increases in key viewership metrics.  Where it's up - households, total viewers, adults 25-54 - the others are well off the pace.

CBS has narrowed the gap by being different, and that difference is helping.  There is still a way to go before the network can truly say it's returned to its rightful place among the Big Three, but if the current trends continue, that which was once thought impossible could very well come to pass.

It looks like the replacement of Ann Curry with Savannah Guthrie at NBC's Today show hasn't worked out quite like the folks at the Peacock Network had hoped.

Last week - Guthrie's first full week on the program - ABC's Good Morning America delivered a fairly decisive blow, beating Today by some 357,000 viewers, according to early numbers from Nielsen.  The final figures, to come later this week, may change ... but not by enough to give NBC back the win.

It's ABC's third straight weekly win over NBC in the morning, and the biggest one for GMA in more than 17 years.

You may recall that Today had held down an astounding 852 weeks (that's a stretch way back to 1995, folks) as the top-rated morning show on TV before falling to GMA several times earlier this year. NBC execs all but called it a fluke, saying they were satisfied with the team they had in place and all was well.

Then they shunted Curry aside.

This time around, "We are incredibly confident in the new Today anchor team," executive producer Jim Bell told the AP's Frazier Moore. "Although it's premature to look at one week of unofficial numbers and draw any conclusions, we just made a big change that we didn't take lightly, and we are in this for the long run."

But we've heard that before, too.

Of course, it's still early, and anything could happen.  Stay tuned ...