TV Ratings: 'Smash' return flops, while 'NCIS' leads CBS on Tuesday

Revamped musical drama is DOA without 'The Voice' to lead-in

By Daniel Fienberg Wednesday, Feb 6, 2013 12:35 PM

"Smash"

Credit: NBC

Are you a fan of TV Ratings?

Sign up to get the latest updates instantly.

Fast National ratings for Tuesday, February 5, 2013.

The season premiere of NBC's "Smash" failed dramatically without its former cushy lead-in from "The Voice," while "NCIS" and "NCIS: Los Angeles" led CBS to its normal comfortable Tuesday wins.

NBC also got weak numbers for Betty White's latest televised birthday celebration

Among adults 18-49, CBS averaged a 2.8 rating for Tuesday night, tops in the key demographic. ABC's 2.3 key demo rating and the 1.9 key demo rating for FOX followed. NBC averaged a 1.2 key demo rating, followed by the 0.5 key demo rating for The CW.

Overall, CBS averaged an estimated 16.09 million viewers and a 10.2 rating/16 share for Tuesday night. ABC was a distant second with a 4.7/7 and 6.96 million viewers. NBC's 3.4/5 and 4.97 million viewers topped the 2.5/4 and nearly 4 million viewers for FOX. The CW's 1.46 million viewers and 1.0/1 trailed for Tuesday night.

[Univision averaged 4.01 million viewers and a 1.6 rating among adults 18-49 for Tuesday night.]

8 p.m. - "NCIS" dominated the 8 p.m. hour for CBS with 21.49 million viewers and a 3.7 rating among adults 18-49, down a hair from last week, but comfortably leading night in all measures. NBC was far back in second with 5.97 million viewers and a 1.5 key demo rating for "Betty White's Second Annual 90th Birthday." ABC's "The Taste" averaged 5.28 million viewers and a 1.8 key demo rating in third, beating the 3.79 million viewers and 1.6 key demo rating averaged by two episodes of "Raising Hope" on FOX. The CW's "Hart of Dixie" averaged 1.41 million viewers and a 0.6 key demo rating.

9 p.m. - "NCIS: Los Angeles" held onto first for the 9 p.m. hour with 16.57 million viewers and a 3.1 rating among adults 18-49 for CBS. ABC's "The Bachelor" was second with nearly 7.7 million viewers and a 2.5 key demo rating. The first hour of NBC's "Smash" premiere was third with 4.84 million viewers and fourth with a 1.2 key demo rating. FOX followed with "New Girl" (4.81 million viewers and a 2.5 key demo) and "The Mindy Project" (3.6 million viewers and a 1.9 key demo rating). [FOX wants to note that among adults 18-34, "New Girl" was the night's top show.] On The CW, the series finale of "Emily Owens, MD" averaged 1.49 million viewers and a 0.4 key demo rating.

10 p.m. - "Vegas" won the 10 p.m. hour overall for CBS with 10.22 million viewers, but was well back in second with a 1.6 rating among adults 18-49. ABC's "The Bachelor" was second overall with 7.89 million viewers and an hour-winning 2.6 key demo rating. NBC's "Smash" slipped to 4.09 million viewers and a 1.0 key demo rating in its second hour.

All ratings information comes from preliminary Fast National Nielsen data, which includes live and same-day DVR viewing. All numbers are subject to change.

Want More...

TV Ratings?

Check out everything there is including photos, reviews, videos.

Go There ►

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.

Related Searches: Nielsen ratings, TV Ratings, ratings, Tuesday, Emily Owens MD, NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles, New Girl, Hart of Dixie, vegas, The Bachelor, Smash

Next Article - 'CSI' creator brings 'Whodunnit?' to ABC
Previous Article - 'Friends' couple Courteney Cox and Matthew Perry to reunite on NBC's 'Go On'

thenightstalker

What excuses are NBC going to use now? They've already fired the show runner.
February 6, 2013 at 1:47PM EST Reply to Comment
- dan TheNightStalker - Those numbers are so low there's really no point in making excuses...
  
  -Daniel
  February 6, 2013 at 1:52PM EST
- Jobin00 Do the numbers still qualify it as an unqualified success?
  February 6, 2013 at 2:01PM EST
Jobin00

Dan,
It will be interesting to see what happens when Revolution comes back.

Because right now it sure seems like Smash needed the Voice, more than Revolution would have needed it.

Think NBC might want a do-over on that decision?
February 6, 2013 at 2:01PM EST Reply to Comment
- dan Jobin00 - Even with "The Voice," "Smash" was not a hit last spring. There was no point in using "The Voice" to prop up a non-hit when they could use "The Voice" to prop up a "hit" in "Revolution." Because "Revolution" *very* much still needs "The Voice."
  
  -Daniel
  February 6, 2013 at 2:14PM EST
- Jobin00 Understood.
  
  Just figured that with all the changes they've made to supposedly fix Smash, they would have tried to relaunch it to as many eyeballs as possible (after the Voice).
  
  And bringing back Revolution early without the Voice, would have eliminated the crazy long layoff.
  
  But I understand what you are saying below, they don't want to possibly take 2 baby steps back, after taking 1 baby step forward with Revolution's fall numbers.
  February 6, 2013 at 2:40PM EST
rugman11

Man, what is NBC going to do?

All three of their spring shows failed (Smash and Do No Harm disastrously so). Go On and New Normal are cratering without The Voice, to the point that their ratings are indistinguishable from their other comedies. It's basically, football, The Voice, Revolution and nothing else. They have nothing to build on next year.
February 6, 2013 at 2:04PM EST Reply to Comment
- dan Rugman11 - They'll nurture "Revolution" and that'll give them one more building block than they had last year at this time. And in a perfect world, maybe they decide after the spring that "Revolution" can sustain itself as a 9 p.m. show next season and that gives them a new lead-in to work with...
  
  Thus? Progress! But it's much more "baby steps" than some pundits were making it seem in the fall...
  
  -Daniel
  February 6, 2013 at 2:16PM EST
- Ricardo That's not entirely true. They have good 10pm shows. Both Parenthood and Chicago Fire are doing very well and I suspect if they put SVU at 10pm it will perform accordingly. And if Parks can sustain that 1.9 it would be very good for NBC standards in this day and age.
  February 6, 2013 at 2:39PM EST
- dan Ricardo - Parenthood and Chicago Fire are absolutely doing OK and I suspect Smash tanking guarantees Parenthood will be back (Chicago Fire was already a lock). But because both shows are 10 p.m. shows, they can't be "built" around. They're just there, filling space reasonably, which is nice.
  
  -Daniel
  February 6, 2013 at 3:14PM EST
- Other Scott Dan, is there any reason NBC would have for not bringing Revolution back at 9 next season? This always felt more like a 9 PM show instead of a 10 PM one, and it was presumably put where it is because they wanted it after the Voice.
  
  The only reason I can think of is they are really not confident of its viability without the voice to try to build things off of.
  February 6, 2013 at 3:38PM EST
- rugman11 The only thing I can think of for building around Chicago Fire would be to move SVU to Thursday at 10:00 and hope that it can survive there (when nothing else has the last few years) and then bump Chicago Fire up to 9:00 on Wednesday.
  
  They could also move Revolution to Tuesday at 9:00, which would allow them to use the Monday post-Voice slot for a new show, launch another new show out of Revolution, and still keep Revolution protected by The Voice. But that would also force them to cut back on their comedy offerings.
  February 6, 2013 at 4:22PM EST
Watt D Fark

Hey, I have an idea...let's have Betty White do a show about bacon! She could sit in a chair with her back to various kinds of bacon and blind taste-test it.

Or...Betty White could do a topical news show geared to senior citizens, like Jon Stewart except not funny.

Maybe resurrect "Murder she wrote"?

What else could be done with Betty White...other than aaaaa NOTHING. That horse be dead. Stop beating it.
February 6, 2013 at 2:26PM EST Reply to Comment
Ricardo

Dan, according to TVBTN "The Mindy Project" had an 1.9. Are your numbers different or was it a typo?
February 6, 2013 at 2:36PM EST Reply to Comment
- dan Ricardo - Typo!
  
  Off to fix...
  
  -Daniel
  February 6, 2013 at 3:07PM EST
ChampSkins

YES!! Long Live PARENTHOOD!! I think we can all agree, Smash tanking is the best thing to happen to NBC. But hey, at least Debra Messing won't be wearing scarves anymore!!
February 6, 2013 at 3:39PM EST Reply to Comment
SteelerLady

NCIS/NCIS:LA OWN Tuesday nights, the other networks should just adjust accordingly like a Friday night, expect lower ratings....it is a phenom
February 7, 2013 at 11:35PM EST Reply to Comment

News From Our Partners

Follow HitFix:

Follow @HitFix

Get Instant Alerts on Breaking News

HitFix.com

Event Calendar

Movies

TV

Music

Videos

Photos

Awards

Riot

In Theaters

New to DVD

On Demand

New Music

TV Ratings: 'Smash' return flops, while 'NCIS' leads CBS on Tuesday