The CW does it again (unfortunately)

The CW is going to regret not holding onto wrestling. (The CW is going to regret almost everything, but that's another story.) Its tradeoff - the new Sunday night lineup provided to them by Media Rights Capital (because, you know, programming a TV network shouldn't be left to network programmers) - was pretty much a tank job.

"In Harm's Way" opened the evening with a mere 676,000 viewers, which is even fewer people than watched the network's disastrous programming at the same time last year. To put this in perspective - this is as if everyone in Sarah Palin's home state watched The CW, but no one else in the rest of the country. Cable networks get more viewers, and The CW is purportedly a broadcast network.

(Members of the cast of "Valentine" perform the ritualistic Dance to Ward Off Viewers.)

Not faring much better was "Valentine" and "Easy Money," which both managed about 1.1 million viewers, again down from last year's abysmal ratings. And it's doubtful that anyone who saw those shows will be clamoring for return visits.

But the bad news wasn't The CW's alone - "Desperate Housewives" lost three million viewers from its season premiere the previous week, with 15.5 million tuning in last night. Guess people weren't all that thrilled with the jump ahead in time storyline.