NBC might have been on to something in scheduling Jay Leno at 9 p.m. last year. But the network is finding out the hard way.
The Nielsen Co. said NBC averaged 6 percent fewer viewers during the 9 p.m. hour each weekday last week than it did during the comparable week with Leno last season. Leno's prime-time show was canceled in midseason, widely regarded as one of TV's epic failures.
NBC's "Chase," "Parenthood" and "The Apprentice" all had fewer than 5 million viewers in that time slot last week.
If it's any consolation, NBC isn't alone in the trend. ABC and CBS were down 8 percent at that hour last week compared with the previous year.
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1 Dancing With the Stars, Mon. (ABC)
2 NCIS (CBS)
3 NFL: Indianapolis vs. Washington (NBC)
4 Dancing With the Stars, Tue. (ABC)
5 NCIS: Los Angeles (CBS)
6 The Mentalist (CBS)
7 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (CBS)
8 Sunday Night NFL Pre-Kick (NBC)
9 Criminal Minds (CBS)
10 Two and a Half Men (CBS)
11 60 Minutes (CBS)
12 Desperate Housewives (ABC)
13 The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
14 Undercover Boss (CBS)
15 Survivor: Nicaragua (CBS)
16 Grey's Anatomy (ABC)
17 The Good Wife (CBS)
18 Modern Family (ABC)
19 Glee (Fox)
20 The OT (Fox)