Even though FOX won't be airing any original episodes of the hit dramedy until Nov. 11, we can still offer our weekly fix of "Glee" ratings stats — with a twist. Deep into the fall TV season, with "Glee" airing seven episodes so far (eight, if you include the show's high-profile debut in May), the baseball break offers a chance to look at how the show has performed a third of the way into its freshman season (in the modern era of network TV, a typical season is usually 22 episodes).
Courtesy of a FOX network ratings guru, here are some cumulative stats for the show's fall episodes based on the most recent data, including "Live + 7 day" DVR numbers for the earlier episodes of the season (DVR data take several weeks to generate and are unavailable for the most recent airings).
* The 09-10 season premiere of "Glee" — which aired Sept. 14 — earned a 4.2 rating in households and was FOX's highest rated scripted fall series premiere in three years among the 18-49, 18-34 and teen demographics.
* "Glee" is currently averaging a 3.9 rating in the 18-49 demographic, a 4.3 in the 18-34 demo and a whopping 5.1 among women 18-49 this season. Shows that can deliver narrower demographics (such as the hard-to-reach 18-34 audience) can command higher ad rates; expect to see lots of "New Moon" spots in coming weeks.
* In its Wednesday 9-10 PM time period, "Glee" ranks No. 1 among Adults 18-49, Adults 18-34, Teens, Women 18-49/18-34 and Men 18-34 (versus competition including CBS's veteran "Criminal Minds" and ABC's hit freshman comedies "Modern Family" and "Cougar Town").
"Glee" is responsible for a dramatic improvement in FOX's fortunes in the Wednesday 9 PM time period; by way of comparison, "Til Death" ran back-to-back episodes in the same time slot in early October 2008 to overnight ratings of 1.5-1.7 in the 18-49 demo (versus the 3.9 season average for "Glee").
Though it doesn't need it, "Glee" is likely to get an adrenaline shot in the ratings come January when it will be paired with the champion of reality singing competitions: "American Idol."
In the more immediate future, Gleeks can look forward to the Nov. 11 episode, entitled "Wheels," which will feature the song "Defying Gravity" from the blockbuster musical Wicked. Entertainment Weekly is offering a short clip from the show.
And incidentally, on Nov. 4, FOX will broadcast back-to-back reruns — the two most recently-aired episodes — of "Glee": "Throwdown" (aka the "No Air" episode) and "Mash-Up" (aka the "Thong Song" episode). That is unless the World Series goes to a sixth game, in which case "Glee" will be pre-empted.
