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CW's Sunday shows still on life support

James Hibberd
Mon Oct 6, 2008 11:46pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - The CW's move to farm out its Sunday night bridge-to-nowhere primetime block isn't about to cause any seller's remorse.

Television  |  Media

The lineup programed by production company Media Rights Capital premiered Sunday night, and its ratings matched the numbers that prompted the network to vacate the evening in the first place.

The reality show "In Harm's Way" (676,000 viewers) was on par with "Online Nation" in the slot last season. The drama "Valentine" (1.1 million viewers) matched "Life Is Wild" in the slot. And 9 p.m.'s "Easy Money" (1.1 million) did about half of what an "America's Next Top Model" encore scored in the time period last year.

Promotion is likely one factor. Aside from some CW on-air ads, MRC has had to promote the primetime block on its own, which is more challenging for an independent production company than a network.

Otherwise, ABC edged out competitors to win the night in the preliminary returns, though football-fueled NBC likely will take the lead when the nationals come in on Tuesday. "Desperate Housewives" (15.5 million) was down 17% from last week's premiere, though it was the highest-rated show of the night. "Brothers & Sisters" (10.6 million) fell 12%.

NBC was led by "Sunday Night Football," which saw the Pittsburgh Steelers defeat the Jacksonville Jaguars (12.8 million).

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