'Jericho' Returns With Strong Summertime Ratings

The fans listened, and the rerun of the post-apocalyptic series starring Skeet Ulrich earned a 3.2 rating/6 share in the 9 p.m. ET timeslot Friday, giving the network a win in the hour, and a win for the night. It finished ahead of "Smackdown!" on The CW, which had a 3.0/6, followed by reruns on other networks including "Las Vegas" for NBC, "Standoff" for Fox, and "Kyle XY" on ABC, according to Fast National Ratings from Nielsen Media Research.

While the ratings are nowhere near what the pilot earned in its first-run, shows always see significant ratings erosions in reruns, so getting numbers at this level is actually considered good by many network executives.

Taking out the shows that aired in the 10 p.m. hour, "Jericho" was actually the second-highest rated show of the night, just behind a 3.5/7 earned by "Ghost Whisperer" on the network leading into the show.

For the night, CBS did quite well, pulling in a 3.5/7 for first place, finishing ahead of NBC, which had a 3.0/6, according to Zap2it. ABC was third with a 2.7/5, with The CW and Fox following at 2.6/5 and 2.2/4.

Next week, CBS plans to air a recap special at 8 p.m. ET that will burn off about 11 episodes following the pilot, and will then pick up at 9 p.m. ET with the 13th episode of the season.

For those living in a bomb shelter since last April, CBS had originally left "Jericho" off its fall schedule, but after a well-organized campaign by series fans -- including the delivery of more than 20 tons of nuts to CBS offices in New York City and Los Angeles -- the network decided to bring the show back for at least seven episodes as a mid-season replacement.

Fast Nationals usually provide a snapshot of what Americans are watching by pulling numbers from the top urban markets that includes both live viewing and same-day timeshifted viewing. A rating point generally represents more than 1.1 million households while the share indicates the percentage of televisions turned on that was tuned to the specific program. These numbers typically shift when final ratings are issued.

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