TV Ratings: 'Big Bang' leads Thursday for CBS, while ABC's 'Scandal' rise continues

Fast National ratings for Thursday, December 13, 2012.

 

"The Big Bang Theory" led yet another easy Thursday win for CBS both overall and among young viewers, but as has been the case for several weeks, the night's most intriguing story is ABC's "Scandal" hitting yet another series high.

 

[Note that both ABC and CBS had NFL preemptions for a dreadful Thursday night NFL game, so a little shifting is possible."

 

It was an "up" week for The CW's "The Vampire Diaries" and "Beauty and the Beast," while FOX's "Glee" continues to slip.  And NBC is very excited that "Take It All" improved 9 percent night-to-night among young viewers, which you'll see in a second is a bit embarrassing.

 

On to the numbers...

 

Among adults 18-49, CBS averaged a 3.4 rating for Thursday night, easily winning the key demographic. ABC's 2.3 rating and FOX's 2.2 key demo rating followed, still well ahead of the 1.0 key demo rating for NBC. The CW nearly topped NBC for the night, but fell just short with a 0.9 key demo.

 

Overall, CBS dominated with 13.35 million viewers and an 8.3 rating/13 share for Thursday primetime. ABC was a distant second with 7.36 million viewers and a 4.8/8. FOX took third with a 3.9/6 and 6.46 million viewers. NBC's 2.2/4 and 3.36 million viewers beat The CW's 1.4/2 and 2.18 million viewers.

8 p.m. - "The Big Bang Theory" (16.77 million viewers and a 5.4 key demo rating) and "Two and a Half Men" (13.56 million viewers and a 4.2 key demo) both lost overall viewers and were steady in the demo to lead the 8 p.m. hour for CBS. FOX's "The X Factor" drew 7.655 million viewers and a 2.4 rating among adults 18-49 for second. ABC's "Last Resort" drew 5.5 million viewers and a 1.2 key demo rating for third. Two episode of "Up All Night" on NBC averaged 2.75 million viewers and a 1.0 key demo rating, in a dogfight with The CW's "The Vampire Diaries," which drew 2.74 million viewers and a 1.2 key demo rating.

 

9 p.m. - "Person of Interest" averaged 14.245 million viewers for an easy overall win for CBS, but slipped to second among adults 18-49 with a 3.0 rating among adults 18-49. "Grey's Anatomy" moved back into the 9 p.m. lead in the key demo with a 3.1 rating, coming in second with 8.77 million viewers. FOX's "Glee" was third with 5.26 million viewers and a 2.0 key demo rating. With 3.9 million viewers and a 1.2 key demo rating, NBC's "Take It All" remained in the tank though, again, NBC wants to note that last night's show did even worse with young viewers. On The CW, "Beauty and the Beast" averaged 1.61 million viewers and a 0.6 key demo rating.

 

10 p.m. - "Elementary" held onto the 10 p.m. crown overall with 10.63 million viewers for CBS, coming in second with a 2.3 rating among adults 18-49. ABC's building "Scandal" averaged nearly 7.8 million viewers and a 2.7 key demo rating, which should both hold as series highs even with the football bump. NBC's "Rock Center" averaged 3.43 million viewers and a 0.9 key demo rating.