No Olympics bump for 'Toughest Jobs'

Looks like NBC programmers still have one of America’s toughest jobs.

The network's first post-Olympics new series opened on par compared to other summer reality fare, suggesting NBC’s freshman entertainment programming might not enjoy a ratings bump despite weeks of heavy on-air promotion during the most-watched event in TV history.

Thom Beers’ reality competition series “America’s Toughest Jobs” (7.5 million, 2.6/7) narrowly won the 9 p.m. hour against CBS repeats and matched the season average for the network’s recently concluded “The Baby Borrowers.” “Jobs,” whose episodes will air during the scheduling netherworld between summer and fall, also dropped 8% from its lead-in, the season premiere of “Deal or No Deal” (10.9 million, 2.8/8).

Still, “Deal” was the most-viewed and highest-rated show of the night -- NBC's best performance in the time period since February -- and was up 12% from its September premiere last year. Plus, NBC's coverage of Michelle Obama’s speech at the Democratic National Convention  at 10 p.m. (4.8 million 1.5/4) significantly topped rival DNC coverage on ABC (3.8 million, 0.8/2) and CBS (3.5 million, 0.9/3). So although one NBC freshman series didn't spike the ratings, perhaps "Deal" and the convention coverage suggest that there is some elevated viewership.

That convention coverage was down 15% on average from the first night of the DNC four years ago, though cable news network ratings (available later) may compensate for the drop and sources say they expect the numbers to shift in the nationals.

As the only network with all-original programming, NBC easily won the night. CBS placed second with repeats and its DNC coverage (averaging 5.6 million, 1.8/5). Fox was third with repeats (averaging 4.6 million, 1.6/5). ABC was fourth, airing repeats, DNC coverage and “High School Musical: Get in the Picture” (2.6 million, 0.7/2).