TV Ratings: ABC's low CMA Awards telecast leads Thursday, crushes 'X Factor'
'Big Bang Theory,' 'The Vampire Diaries' have strong nights
Blake Shelton accepts his Entertainer of the Year award
Credit: Wade Payne/AP
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ABC's coverage of the 46th Annual CMA Awards did strong numbers to top CBS both overall and among young viewers on Thursday night. That sounds good until you realize that the show was down over 20 percent from last year in the key demographic and could stand as the least watched CMAs ever.
It was a second straight weak showing for FOX's "The X Factor," which has gotten middling numbers both both of its season-opening live shows. And while "The Vampire Diaries" delivered its biggest numbers since the season premiere, "Beauty and the Beast" drew its smallest audience to date.
[Note that CBS' San Diego affiliate was airing Thursday Night Football. The East Coast also continues to have power outages related to Sandy, so fact that into your interpretation as well.]
For the night, ABC averaged a 3.8 rating among adults 18-49, first in the key demographic. CBS was second with a 3.2 key demo rating, with FOX's 2.3 key demo rating taking third. NBC's 1.3 rating edged out The CW's 1.1 rating in the key demo.
Overall, ABC averaged an 8.4 rating/13 share and 13.57 million viewers, topping the 7.9/12 and 12.71 million viewers for CBS primetime. FOX was a distant third with 6.17 million viewers and a 3.7/6, beating the 2.8/4 and 4.12 million viewers for NBC. The CW averaged 2.45 million viewers and a 1.5/2 for Thursday.
8 p.m. - CBS began primetime in first with "The Big Bang Theory" (15.85 million viewers and a 5.1 key demo rating) and "Two and a Half Men" (12.61 million viewers and a 3.6 key demo rating). The star of ABC's CMA Awards coverage averaged 12.77 million viewers and a 3.4 rating among adults 18-49 for second. FOX's "The X Factor" averaged 6.01 million viewers and a 2.2 key demo rating for a distant third. NBC's encore of "The Voice" finished fourth overall with 3.8 million viewers and fifth with a 1.1 key demo rating. The CW's "The Vampire Diaries" was fourth with a 1.5 key demo rating and fifth with 3.165 million viewers.
9 p.m. - ABC and the CMA Awards took over first in the 9 p.m. hour with 14.07 million viewers and a 4.0 rating among adults 18-49. CBS' "Person of Interest" was second with 13.5 million viewers and a 3.0 key demo rating. FOX's "The X Factor" was far back in third with 6.33 million viewers and a 2.4 key demo rating. NBC's encore of "The Voice" averaged 3.78 million viewers and a 1.4 key demo rating in fourth. On The CW, "Beauty and the Beast" dropped to 1.73 million viewers and a 0.6 key demo rating, though The CW says the show was up a hair among adults 18-34.
10 p.m. - The CMA Awards closed primetime with 13.87 million viewers and a 4.0 rating among adults 18-49 for ABC. CBS' "Elementary" was second with 10.5 million viewers and a 2.4 key demo rating. NBC's "Rock Center" had a better-than-normal episode with 4.78 million viewers and a 1.3 key demo rating.
All ratings information comes from preliminary Fast National Nielsen data, which includes live and same-day DVR viewing. All numbers are subject to change, particularly in the case of live events.
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.
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Login or create a HitFix account Login SignupJobin00
November 2, 2012 at 1:49PM EST Reply to CommentFor the amount of money that X-Factor must cost, does the show have potential to be cancelled?
dan Jobin00 - It's already been renewed, but a couple more weeks like this (or lower) and FOX could find itself regretting/rethinking that decision...
November 2, 2012 at 1:52PM EST-Daniel
Jobin00 I doubt it will actually get the "cancelled" stamp even if it does go away.
November 2, 2012 at 2:13PM ESTI'm sure it will be a more of a "Cowell decides to end X-Factor" type of thing.
Do you think X-Factor's poor ratings are a bad sign for the returning Idol?
dan Jobin00 - I don't think Cowell is a quitter. But if the ratings get much lower, FOX may need to quit anyway, because how much more can the show be overhauled if they bring it back next year?
November 2, 2012 at 3:06PM ESTI think "Idol" was already in nervous waters because of dropping ratings last season and judging attrition and whatnot. This certainly doesn't look GOOD for "Idol," but I think that any big "Idol" declines this spring will be "Idol"-based and not "X Factor"-based.
-Daniel
Jobin00 I didn't mean it that Cowell would be a quitter, it would just be a nicer spin on it them then cancelling the show due to poor ratings. Especially when they want to keep a good relationship with him due to Idol.
November 2, 2012 at 3:18PM ESTConsidering the stunt casting hasn't working on X-Factor, I'm not sure how Idol's stunt casting is going to fair much better.
I wonder if the only way to save Idol, is to get rid of X Factor, then bring back Cowell on Idol, along with Paula/Randy, and hype it up as a return to the original judges.
Or maybe Cowell just leaves and counts all the ridiculous money he's already banked from these shows.
ferd berfle
November 2, 2012 at 2:05PM EST Reply to Commentthe fact that so many people still watch 2.5 Men makes me fear for the future of humanity.