TV Ratings: Viewers embrace Betty White and 'Alcatraz,' but CBS comedies rule Monday

'Two and a Half Men' and '2 Broke Girls' carry CBS

By Daniel Fienberg Tuesday, Jan 17, 2012 12:18 PM

Zachary Levi is very excited to be helping Betty White celebrate her birthday

Credit: NBC

Are you a fan of TV Ratings?

Sign up to get the latest updates instantly.

Fast National ratings for Monday, January 16, 2012.

NBC's extended birthday tribute to Betty White drew a huge audience on Monday night, while FOX's "Alcatraz" had an encouraging premiere sampling. Still, the night went to CBS in most key measures, with comedies like "2 Broke Girls" and "Two and a Half Men" leading the way.

Among adults 18-49, CBS averaged a 3.8 rating for the night, beating FOX's 3.3 rating in the key demographic. ABC's 2.4 rating and the 2.2 rating for NBC followed, with The CW averaging a 0.5 key demo rating.

Overall, CBS and NBC both posted a 6.7 rating/10 share, but CBS averaged 11.08 million viewers, edging out the 10.82 million for NBC. FOX was a solid third with a 5.8/8 and 9.97 million viewers, topping the 8.04 million and 5.3/8 for ABC. The CW averaged a 0.7/1 and 1.045 million viewers for Monday.

[Univision averaged 3.46 million viewers and a 1.4 rating for Monday night.]

8 p.m. - NBC opened the night with a big overall lead thanks to 13.59 million viewers for "Betty White's 90th Birthday: A Tribute to America's Golden Girl," though the special's 18-49 demo was a less remarkable (but still respectable) 2.7 rating. CBS was second overall and first in the demo with "How I Met Your Mother" (10.12 million viewers and a 4.4 key demo) and "2 Broke Girls" (11.29 million and a 4.5 key demo," which were both down in viewers, but up among young viewers from their last originals. FOX's "Alcatraz" averaged 10.05 million viewers and a 3.3 key demo rating for its first hour, far ahead of the 7.1 million viewers and 2.3 key demo for ABC's "The Bachelor." On The CW, "Gossip Girl" returned with nearly 1.3 million viewers and a 0.6 key demo rating.

9 p.m. - "Betty White's 90th Birthday" (14.38 million viewers and a 2.9 key demo) and "Betty White's Off Their Rockers" (12.23 million and a 2.6 key demo) won the 9 p.m. hour overall for NBC. CBS stayed steady in second overall and first in the demo with "Two and a Half Men" (12.9 million viewers and a 4.6 key demo) and "Mike & Molly" (11.17 million and a 2.9 key demo). FOX's "Alcatraz" slipped slightly to 9.88 million viewers, but held steady with a 3.3 key demo rating, as it comfortably outdrew the fall's two-hour premiere for "Terra Nova." ABC's "The Bachelor" averaged 7.61 million viewers and a 2.6 key demo in fourth. On The CW, a "Hart of Dixie" repeat averaged 791,000 viewers.

10 p.m. - "Hawaii Five-0" put CBS in first for the 10 p.m. hour with 10.5 million viewers and a 2.8 rating among adults 18-49. ABC's "Castle" was second with 9.4 million viewers and a 2.3 key demo. And if you were wondering how NBC managed to dominate the first two primetime hours and not win the night overall, the answer is that "Rock Center" slipped to 5.57 million viewers and a 1.3 key demo (still a far-better-than-average showing for "Rock Center").

All ratings information comes from preliminary Fast National Nielsen data, which includes live and same-day DVR viewing. All numbers are subject to change.

Daniel Fienberg
Executive Editor

A long-time member of the TCA Board and a longer-time blogger of "American Idol," Dan Fienberg writes about TV, except for when he writes about movies or sometimes writes about the Red Sox. But never music. He would sound stupid talking about music.

Next Article - Megan Fox in competition with Lindsay Lohan for the role of Elizabeth Taylor
Previous Article - TV Ratings: NBC's Golden Globes, FOX's Giants-Packers game draw big on Sunday

Trending Now on HitFix Boards

Topic	Started By	Latest Post	Replies
HitFix 2012 Television Critics Poll - Do you agree?	dave1279	5 months ago	1
Best TV of 2012	suzyduncan	8 months ago	1
Discuss TV General on HitFix Message Boards »

jcpdiesel21

Holy crap, those Betty White shows/specials did well. Maybe she can single-handedly save NBC's sorry ratings!
January 17, 2012 at 1:41PM EST Reply to Comment
mark

Surely Hawaii 5-0 and CBS hit an all time low when the cast interrupted the lame plot to blatantly advertise subway sandwiches. It was bad enough with the shiny Chevies in the middle of junk yards and shots of the Hilton but this was worst. What started as nice glossy series is now just a product placement series with lame plots.
January 18, 2012 at 6:52AM EST Reply to Comment
mark

Write a comment...Surely Hawaii 5-0 and CBS hit an all time low when the cast interrupted the lame plot to blatantly advertise subway sandwiches. It was bad enough with the shiny Chevies in the middle of junk yards and shots of the Hilton but this was worst. What started as nice glossy series is now just a product placement series with lame plots.
January 18, 2012 at 6:52AM EST Reply to Comment
- batjac Reply to comment...
  January 18, 2012 at 7:40AM EST
- batjac Agreed. The only momAlthent worse in recent tv history was in Heroes when the little starlet excitedly rambled on about her Nissan Rogue. Although--come to think of it--the worst of the worst in product placement is Leverage-Hyundai Genesis anyone?
  January 18, 2012 at 7:42AM EST

News From Our Partners

Follow HitFix:

Follow @HitFix

Get Instant Alerts on Breaking News

HitFix.com

Event Calendar

Movies

TV

Music

Videos

Photos

Awards

Riot

In Theaters

New to DVD

On Demand

New Music

TV Ratings: Viewers embrace Betty White and 'Alcatraz,' but CBS comedies rule Monday

'Two and a Half Men' and '2 Broke Girls' carry CBS