TV Ratings: 'Big Bang Theory,' 'Idol' lead Thursday, while 'Community' rises

CBS wins overall, while FOX takes the demo

By Daniel Fienberg Friday, Mar 8, 2013 11:52 AM

Darren Criss on Thursday's "Glee"

Credit: FOX

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Fast National ratings for Thursday, March 7, 2013.

A 90-minute "American Idol" results show, plus a chunk of an oddly timed "Glee" led FOX to a Thursday win among young viewers, but CBS held onto its usual overall win thanks to "The Big Bang Theory" and "Person of Interest."

Among other notables, and there were only a few, "Community" got solid 25 percent demo bump, delivering its best numbers since the season premiere, but "1600 Penn" wasn't nearly so lucky."

Among adults 18-49, FOX averaged a 3.3 rating for Thursday night, beating CBS' 3.0 rating in the key demographic. There was a huge plunge to ABC and NBC's 1.1 ratings and to the 0.3 key demo rating for The CW.

Overall, though, CBS averaged an estimated 12.87 million viewers and an 8.0 rating/13 share, beating the 7.0/11 and 11.61 million viewers for FOX for Thursday primetime. ABC's 2.7/4 and 3.93 million viewers and NBC's 2.0/4 and 3.01 million viewers followed, while The CW did a 0.6/1 and 906,000 viewers.

[Univision averaged 4.28 million viewers and a 1.8 rating among adults 18-49 for Thursday night.]

8 p.m. - CBS started primetime in first with "The Big Bang Theory" (17.43 million viewers and a 5.4 key demo rating) and "Two and a Half Men" (13.56 million viewers and a 3.9 key demo). FOX's "American Idol" was second with 12.18 million viewers and a 3.2 rating among adults 18-49, losing both half-hours to CBS in both measures. ABC's repeat of "Shark Tank" averaged nearly 4.4 million viewers and a 1.2 key demo rating, which improved on the demo numbers for last week's "Zero Hour." NBC was third in the demo and fourth overall with "Community" (3.36 million and a 1.5 key demo) and a "Parks and Recreation" repeat (2.34 million and a 1.0 key demo). The CW's repeat of "The Vampire Diaries" averaged 1.06 million viewers and a 0.4 key demo rating.

9 p.m. - "Person of Interest" won the 9 p.m. hour overall with 14.39 million viewers and finished second with a 2.8 rating among adults 18-49. FOX was second overall and won the key demo with "American Idol" (14.32 million and a 3.9 key demo) and "Glee" (7.78 million and a 2.8 key demo, but inflated by "Idol" overrun). ABC's repeat of "Grey's Anatomy" took third with 3.7 million viewers and a 1.1 key demo rating. NBC's "The Office" repeat (2.42 million and a 1.1 key demo) and a new "1600 Penn" (2.18 million and a 0.9 key demo) finished fourth, beating the 757,000 viewers and 0.3 key demo for The CW's repeat of "Beauty and the Beast."

10 p.m. - A repeat of "Elementary" averaged 8.72 million viewers and a 1.6 rating among adults 18-49 to lead the 10 p.m. hour for CBS. NBC's "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" repeat averaged 3.87 million viewers, compared to the 3.7 million viewers for ABC's repeat of "Scandal," while both shows did a 1.0 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.

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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.

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mrbilliam

Any theory on why Community got a bump on a night with new American Idol and BBT episodes (as well as a night where Office and Parks were repeats), especially when the general consensus is that it hasn't been as good this season? Not that the bump put its ratings into anything regarding a "good" range.
March 8, 2013 at 1:40PM EST Reply to Comment
- dan MrBilliam - I can offer you three options:
  
  1) America loves James Brolin
  2) Community has an unexpected amount of overlap with Zero Hour and that audience poured back.
  3) Nielsen numbers are weird and, alas, we're forced to respond to minor fluctuations as if they're notable when, in reality, they're usually statistical aberrations, mostly.
  
  That's the best I've got!
  
  -Daniel
  March 8, 2013 at 2:03PM EST
- Balaji K Dan, you don't think Community might have audience overlap with The Vampire Diaries, which was a rerun last night?
  
  And how much will Community sink next week when the daylight saving be in effect?
  March 9, 2013 at 12:06AM EST
- dan Balaji - But "Vampire Diaries" had been in repeats the week before as well. That's why I attributed it to "Zero Hour," when I was joking.
  
  And "Community" will definitely drop. Of course, *everything* will drop in the 8 p.m. hour. And lots of people will act confused. I haven't looked to see what is or isn't new next week, but yeah. Definitely a drop. Could be massive...
  
  -Daniel
  March 9, 2013 at 1:11AM EST
- gco211 Castle's ratings did rise with Brolin, so it looks like what was previously just correlation now seems to be causation. The Brolinites have been saying this for years, and America is finally starting to catch on.
  
  I'm calling it now: Brolin for America in 2016, following in the footsteps of his son from 2001 to 2009!
  March 9, 2013 at 3:39AM EST
Rae

For NBC a 1.5 is a slam dunk at this point
March 8, 2013 at 9:20PM EST Reply to Comment

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TV Ratings: 'Big Bang Theory,' 'Idol' lead Thursday, while 'Community' rises