TV Ratings: NBC wins Friday, thanks in part to decent 'Mockingbird Lane' numbers

Fast national ratings for Friday, October 26, 2012.

When NBC decided to air the pilot for "Mockingbird Lane" after declining to order it to series, most industry observers assumed it was a rare 21st century example of Busted Pilot Theater, NBC trying to recoup some of the cost of an expensive project. The show's chief producer, Bryan Fuller, on the other hand, insisted that if the pilot got a good rating, it might still have a chance to get picked up.

The Friday ratings are in, and the future of "Mockingbird Lane" is no more clear than it was the day before. It did a decent number by Friday drama standards — in the adults 18-49 demographic, it drew a bigger audience than "CSI: NY" and "Blue Bloods" did for CBS, and it gave "Grimm" a good lead-in — but it certainly wasn't anything that would lead NBC executives to instantly acknowledge they had made a mistake.

Still, thanks in part to Fuller's reboot of "The Munsters," NBC won a narrow demographic victory for the night, averaging a 1.6 rating in the demo and 5.33 million viewers overall. CBS was easily the most-watched network of the night, with 9.38 million viewers and a 1.3 demo rating, followed by ABC (1.5, 6.03 million), FOX (0.9, 2.66 million) and the CW (0.3, 966,000).

8 p.m. -- ABC's "Shark Tank" (1.8, 6.75 million) won the hour in the demo, while an "NCIS" repeat on CBS (1.0, 7.35 million) was the hour's most-watched show. "Mockingbird Lane" averaged a 1.5 in the demo and 5.44 million viewers, while "Kitchen Nightmares" returned to a low 0.9 rating and 2.67 million viewers overall. "America's Next Top Model" (0.4, 1.14 million) was way off in the distance for the CW.

9 p.m. -- Thanks in part to that "Mockingbird" lead-in, "Grimm" (1.9, 6.01 million) won the hour in the demo). "CSI: NY" (1.4, 9.97 million) was second for CBS, followed by "20/20" (1.4, 5.55 million) for ABC, "Fringe" (0.9, 2.64 million) on FOX and the struggling "Nikita" (0.2, 793,000) on the CW.

10 p.m. -- "Dateline NBC" (1.5, 4.55 million) narrowly won in the demo, though it was the least-watched show in the hour. CBS' "Blue Bloods" and more "20/20" on ABC both averaged a 1.4 demo rating, but "Blue Blood" had 10.81 million viewers with that, while "20/20" only had 5.79 million.

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.