CBS's Big Premiere Week To Get Even Bigger

CBS's Big Premiere Week To Get Even Bigger

ALL-TIME HIGH LIVE PLUS 7-DAY DVR PLAYBACK TO SIGNIFICANTLY BOOST CBS's PREMIERE WEEK RATINGS CBS's Premiere Week Averages Projected To Increase By About +1 Million Viewers and Between +0.4 to +0.5 Ratings Points in Key Demos 14 CBS Programs Expected To See Viewership Boosted By More Than +1 Million Viewers "NCIS" To Gain More Than 2 Million Viewers and "The Mentalist" Nearly 2 Million More Viewers 11 Programs Anticipate Gains of at Least a Half a Rating Point in Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- With DVR playback reaching an all-time high, up +36% versus premiere week last year and up +64% over 2007, CBS Research estimates the Network will see a significant lift in its premiere week ratings when Nielsen releases live +7 day ratings for the first week of the season on Monday, Oct. 12.

Among viewers, NCIS is expected to gain more than two million addition viewers and THE MENTALIST nearly two million more, while among adults 18-49, NCIS, CRIMINAL MINDS and CSI: MIAMI are expected to see increases of nearly an additional rating point.

"With the growth of DVR penetration and usage, we can no longer evaluate the performance of programs simply based on ratings delivered the following day," said David Poltrack, Executive Vice President, Planning and Research, CBS. "Viewers are now watching their favorite programs on their schedules as well as ours. The industry must now switch our collective focus away from the 'partial' overnight audience reports to the full audience reports when they come out some weeks later. That is when we see the true drawing power of the primetime broadcast network programs, which is only being enhanced by this new technology."

Based on the Network's projections of live plus 7-day viewing versus reported live plus same day ratings, CBS's premiere week averages are expected to see a lift of approximately one million viewers (from premiere week live plus same day average of 11.77m) and between +0.4 to +0.5 ratings points in adults 18-49 (from 3.2/9) and adults 25-54 (from 4.1/11).

Moreover, 14 CBS programs are expected to see lifts of more than one million viewers compared to their live plus same day averages, while 11 programs are anticipated to gain at least a half a rating point in adults 18-49 and adults 25-54 compared to live plus same day ratings.

CBS programs with anticipated lifts of one million viewers or more include:

   --  NCIS   --  THE MENTALIST   --  CRIMINAL MINDS   --  CSI: MIAMI   --  TWO AND A HALF MEN   --  CSI   --  NCIS: LOS ANGELES   --  CSI: NY   --  SURVIVOR: SAMOA   --  GHOST WHISPERER   --  NUMBERS   --  THE BIG BANG THEORY   --  THE GOOD WIFE    --  HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER   

CBS programs with anticipated lifts of a half a rating point or more in adults 18-49 include:

   --  NCIS   --  CRIMINAL MINDS   --  CSI: MIAMI   --  THE MENTALIST   --  TWO AND A HALF MEN   --  THE BIG BANG THEORY   --  HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER   --  CSI   --  SURVIVOR: SAMOA   --  NCIS: LOS ANGELES    --  CSI: NY   

CBS programs with anticipated lifts of half a rating point or more in adults 25-54 include:

   --  NCIS   --  CRIMINAL MINDS   --  CSI: MIAMI   --  THE MENTALIST   --  TWO AND A HALF MEN   --  CSI   --  SURVIVOR: SAMOA   --  HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER   --  THE BIG BANG THEORY   --  CSI:NY    --  NCIS: LOS ANGELES  

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact: kabi.jorgensen@cbs.com

Source: CBS

CONTACT: Ed Harrison, +1-818-655-1584, ed.harrison@cbs.com, or Shannon
Jacobs, +1-212-975-3161, sljacobs@cbs.com

Web Site: http://www.cbs.com/

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Profile: International Entertainment