TV Ratings: 'Big Bang Theory' nears series high and leads CBS Thursday rout

'The Voice' hits a weekly low, but dominates 'X Factor'

By Daniel Fienberg Friday, Nov 9, 2012 12:16 PM

Miley's back on "Two and a Half Men"

Credit: CBS

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Fast National ratings for Thursday, November 8, 2012.

"The Big Bang Theory" approached series highs in viewers on Thursday night and combined with a strong "Two and a Half Men" and season highs for "Person of Interest" to help CBS score commanding primetime wins in most key measures.

Meanwhile, it was a strong night for The CW's "The Vampire Diaries," which nearly topped ABC's "Last Resort" among young viewers (obviously a less-than-ideal sign for the ABC drama) and another lackluster evening for FOX's "The X Factor" and the return of "Glee."

Among adults 18-49, CBS won Thursday night with a 3.2 rating, topping FOX's 2.4 rating in the key demographic. ABC's 2.2 key demo rating and the 2.1 key demo rating for NBC followed closely. The CW averaged a 1.1 key demo rating for the night.

Overall, CBS averaged an estimated 13.59 million viewers and an 8.6 rating/14 share, far ahead of the 7.09 million viewers and 4.6/7 for ABC. NBC averaged a 3.8/6 and just over 6.01 million viewers, compared to the 3.6/5 and just under 6.01 million viewers for FOX. The CW averaged 2.415 million viewers and a 1.5/2 for Thursday night.

[Note that NBC's Indianapolis affiliate aired Thursday Night Football.]

8 p.m. - "The Big Bang Theory" (16.54 million viewers and a 5.0 key demo) and a Miley Cyrus-boosted "Two and a Half Men" (14.09 million viewers and a 4.0 key demo) let CBS dominate the 8 p.m. hour in all measures. NBC's fifth hour of "The Voice" for the week averaged 9.09 million viewers and a 3.0 key demo rating, easily the week's lowest rated average. That was still far ahead of the 6.28 million viewers and 2.3 key demo rating for FOX's "The X Factor," which was actually up from the comparable hour last week. ABC's "Last Resort" averaged 5.96 million viewers and a 1.4 key demo rating, down in viewers, but up a whopping 0.1 in the key demo from its last original airing two weeks ago. The CW's "The Vampire Diaries" was down a hair from last week with 2.98 million viewers and a 1.4 key demo rating, though that's technically closer to a 1.45 key demo rating, which would edge out ABC, if you care about such things.

9 p.m. - "Person of Interest" averaged 14.73 million viewers, way up from last week, but actually slipped a tiny bit to a 2.9 rating among adults 18-49 in second. ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" won the hour in the key demo with a 3.2 rating and finished second overall with 9.2 million viewers. FOX's "Glee" was a distant third with 5.73 million viewers and a 2.4 key demo rating. NBC was fourth with "The Office" (5.31 million viewers and a 2.5 key demo) and "Parks and Recreation" (3.84 million and a 1.8 key demo). The CW's "Beauty and the Beast" was up week-to-week with 1.85 million viewers and a 0.7 key demo rating.

10 p.m. - "Elementary" closed primetime in first for CBS with 10.73 million viewers and a 2.2 rating among adults 18-49, up from last week in viewers, but down in the demo. ABC's "Scandal" averaged 6.12 million viewers and a 2.0 key demo rating in second. NBC's "Rock Center" was third with 4.37 million viewers and a 1.1 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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Stormshadow4life

It makes me sad that BBT is the highest rated sitcom on TV....I wish I didn't care about trivial things like that, but I can't help it.
November 9, 2012 at 7:00PM EST Reply to Comment

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TV Ratings: 'Big Bang Theory' nears series high and leads CBS Thursday rout