'Bionic Woman' Nears Cancellation

If you chose "Bionic Woman," you're already a loser.

The NBC remake which was supposed to lead the network's fall schedule could be a casualty by the end of the year after Wednesday's outing pulled in a 4.0 rating/7 share, according to Fast National ratings from Nielsen Media Research. It beat only "Gossip Girl" on The CW, and was pounded by "Criminal Minds" on CBS, "Private Practice" on ABC, and even "Kitchen Nightmares" on Fox.

The rating also was slightly lower than the 4.1/6 "Journeyman" got as a "Heroes" lead-out on Monday, and helped to drag down what was already a weak Wednesday schedule.

"Pushing Daisies" didn't let a week off affect that show too much on ABC, however. It won a rather weak 8 p.m. hour with a 5.8/9, according to Zap2it, well ahead of "Kid Nation" on CBS and comedies on Fox. The reality competition "Phenomenon" on NBC provided no help has a lead-in to "Bionic Woman," barely slipping by a strong-rated "America's Next Top Model" on The CW.

For the night, NBC finished fourth with a 4.1/7 while ABC took second with a 6.5/9. CBS won Wednesday with a 7.9/13 while Fox was third with a 4.5/7.

"Bionic Woman" seems to be on life support right now, and it's not helping its cause by losing more and more viewers each week while other shows have stabilized -- including "Heroes" which has disappointed fans so far this year. Time will tell how much longer NBC leaves the show on its schedule.

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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