TV Ratings: 'Undercover Boss' drops as 'Shark Tank' and ABC comedies continue decline

Fast National ratings for Friday, November 16, 2012.

CBS and ABC split the night once again, with the Eye Network winning in total viewers and ABC scoring with younger audiences. Even with a precipitous drop from last week, CBS' "Undercover Boss" remained the highest-rated program of the night, with ABC comedies "Last Man Standing" and "Malibu Country" down sharply along with the network's entrepreneurial reality series "Shark Tank."

With CBS' "Blue Bloods" out of the running this week, the network attempted to fill the void with the special "We Will Always Love You: A Grammy Tribute to Whitney Houston." That resulted in a down week for the hour, while over on NBC the picture was also less than sunny as "Grimm" and "Dateline NBC" both suffered slight drops week-to-week. Things were essentially flat on FOX and the CW, though "Fringe" managed a slight uptick in total viewers from last week despite remaining even in the key demo.

On to the numbers...

ABC topped among adults 18-49 with a 1.6 rating on Friday, narrowly besting CBS' 1.5 rating in the key demo. NBC and FOX both remained steady, following with a 1.2 and 1.1 rating, respectively, while the CW predictably brought up the rear with an 0.4.

On the whole, CBS won the night in total viewers with an average of 8.54 million and a 5.6 rating/10 share, though that number represented a steep drop from last Friday when the network topped all comers with 9.98 million eyeballs and a 6.5/11 share. ABC took the runner-up spot with an average of 6.5 million viewers and a 4.3 rating/7 share, while NBC once again came in third with 3.98 million viewers and a 2.6 rating/4 share. Bringing up the rear were FOX with 3.06 million viewers and a 2.0 rating/3 share and the CW with 1.06 million viewers and an 0.6 rating/1 share.

8 p.m. - "Undercover Boss" suffered a decline from last week but still managed to win the hour, with an average of 8.85 million viewers and a 1.7 rating in adults 18-49. ABC came in second place for the second week in a row, with "Last Man Standing" bringing in 7.09 million total viewers and 1.4 rating in 18-49 and "Malibu Country" again dropping sharply at 8:30 with 6.65 million total viewers and a 1.3 rating in 18-49. FOX's "Kitchen Nightmares" was essentially even with last Friday, with an average of 3.42 million total viewers over the hour and a 1.2/4 in 18-49. Repeats of "Go On" (2.6 million total viewers and an 0.7 rating/3 share in 18-49) and "Guys with Kids" (2.39 million and an 0.7 rating/2 share) came in fourth, while "America's Top Model" was down only slightly in total viewers with a 1.36 million average and even in 18-49 with an O.6 rating/2 share.

9 p.m. - CBS unsurprisingly won the hour in total viewers with "CSI: NY"'s 9.5 million average, but like last week came in third in the key 18-49 demo with a 1.4 rating/4 share. A continued decline for "Shark Tank" meant ABC came in second in total viewers after winning the hour two weeks ago, with the reality series nevertheless giving the network another No. 1 finish in adults 18-49 with a 1.9 rating/6 share. NBC managed a second-place finish in 18-49 with a new episode of the supernatural drama series "Grimm," which scored a 1.6 rating/5 share in the demo despite being down a tenth in total viewers with a 5.01 million average, good for a third place finish. FOX and the CW finished a distant fourth and fifth, respectively, in both total viewers and adults 18-49, with FOX's "Fringe" pulling in 2.69 million viewers (up a bit from last week) and an 0.9 rating/3 share, and the CW's special "America's Next Top Model: The Girl With the Best Top Model Freakout" finishing with 767,000 total viewers (down from "Nikita"'s 890,000 in the time slot last week) and an even 0.3/1 in adults 18-49.

10 p.m. - In the 10 o'clock hour, CBS aired the special "We Will Always Love You: A Grammy Tribute to Whitney Houston" in place of "Blue Bloods," resulting in a huge drop in overall viewers (7.14 million vs. "Blue Bloods"' 11.2 million last week) and a 1.4/4 in 18-49, off a tenth. That didn't keep the Eye Network from winning the hour in total viewers and tying ABC - whose "20/20" was up in total viewers (5.92 million) - in the 18-49 demo. NBC came in third in both measurements, with "Dateline NBC" down slightly in total viewers with a 4.53 million average for the hour and off a tenth in 18-49 with a 1.2 rating/4 share.

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