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Fox’s new latenight skein fronted by Wanda Sykes is off to an encouraging start, with Saturday’s bow outperforming the net’s delivery with “Mad TV” in the timeslot a year ago.
The premiere of “The Wanda Sykes Show” averaged 2.2 household rating/5 share in Nielsen’s metered-markets from 11 p.m. to midnight, up 16% from “MAD’s” fourth-quarter average meters (1.9/4) and double what Spike Feresten’s show did last winter (1.1/2). By comparison, NBC’s “Saturday Night Live,” which starts a half-hour later than “Wanda,” averaged a 5.0/13 in the metered markets Saturday. Featuring Taylor Swift as a guest star, it was the highest-rated “SNL” of the season. Elsewhere on the ratings front Saturday, CBS’ “Saturday Night Fights,” won its 9-11 p.m. timeslot in key demos, including adults 18-49 (1.7/5) and all key male categories. Head to head with ABC’s college football, the mixed martial arts event won in both men 18-34 and 18-49. And numbers for “Saturday Night Fights” are expected to rise noticeably when the post-primetime portion is included, based on surging metered-market results in the 11 p.m. half-hour. On Friday, ABC earned a share of the night’s 18-49 lead with CBS thanks to a season-high score for “20/20″ (prelim 2.7/9 in 18-49, 8.2 million viewers overall). The newsmag, which featured Diane Sawyer’s interview with Rihanna, hit a three-year high in adults 18-34 (2.3/9).
