TV Ratings: 'Voice,' 'NCIS' lead Tuesday, as The CW's 'Dr. Horrible' hits a low note

NBC captures the key demo with CBS winning overall

By Daniel Fienberg Wednesday, Oct 10, 2012 12:05 PM

Nathan Fillion of "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog"

Credit: The CW

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Fast National ratings for Tuesday, October 9, 2012.

After last week's clip show, "The Voice" made a strong return to Tuesday and boosted NBC's full lineup to a narrow win among young viewers. CBS, however, had no trouble sweeping primetime overall, with "NCIS" leading the way.

Meanwhile, FOX's comedies were stable week-to-week and ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" saw some improvement overall, if not among young viewers.

Facing "The Voice," The CW's "Hart of Dixie" took a big second week drop and, despite ample enthusiasm on Twitter, Joss Whedon's "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog" failed to generate any tangible interest in its TV premiere.

Now, on to the numbers...

Among adults 18-49, NBC averaged a 2.9 rating for Tuesday night, topping the 2.7 rating for CBS in the key demographic. FOX was third with a 2.0 key demo rating, beating ABC's 1.7 rating and the 0.3 key demo rating for The CW.

Overall, though, CBS averaged an estimated 14.93 million viewers and a 9.6 rating/15 share, comfortably ahead of the 6.4/10 and 9.16 million viewers for ABC's Tuesday primetime lineup. NBC was third with a 4.8/7 and 7.63 million viewers, with FOX's 2.4/4 and 4 million viewers in fourth. The CW averaged 865,000 viewers and a 0.6/1.

8 p.m. - "NCIS" dominated the 8 p.m. hour overall with 18.1 million viewers and put CBS in second among adults 18-49 with a 3.3 rating. NBC's "The Voice" won the hour with a 4.4 key demo rating and was second with 11.93 million viewers. ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" was third with 8.24 million viewers and fourth with a 1.2 key demo rating. FOX was third in the demo and a distant fourth overall with "Raising Hope" (4.11 million viewers and a 1.8 key demo) and "Ben and Kate" (3.33 million and a 1.5 key demo). On The CW, "Hart of Dixie" averaged 1.16 million viewers and a 0.4 key demo rating.

9 p.m. - CBS' "NCIS: Los Angeles" averaged 15.1 million viewers and a 2.9 rating among adults 18-49 to win the 9 p.m. hour in both measures. ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" was a strong second overall with 13.18 million viewers, but a weak fourth with a 2.1 key demo rating. There was a big drop to NBC's third place comedy block of "Go On" (6.95 million viewers and a 2.8 key demo rating) and "The New Normal" (4.96 million viewers and a 2.0 key demo), though both comedies were way up from that week. FOX was fourth with "New Girl" (4.99 million viewers and a 2.7 key demo) and "The Mindy Project" (3.57 million and a 1.9 key demo). On The CW, "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog" averaged 566,000 viewers and a 0.2 key demo rating. [For an original, those "Dr. Horrible" numbers would be "L.A. Complex"-esque and even lower than last night's dismal "Gossip Girl" premiere. For a web-series that's been available for four years, standards are obviously different, so spin as you choose.]

10 p.m. - "Vegas" completed CBS' overall sweep with 11.78 million viewers and tied for first with a 2.0 rating among adults 18-49. ABC's "Private Practice" was second with 6.05 million viewers and third with a 1.6 key demo rating. NBC's "Parenthood" averaged 4.99 million viewers and tied for the hour lead with a 2.0 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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Balaji K

What's the reason for this uptick for NBC this Monday and Tuesday? I guess it will be back to normal on Wednesday and Thursday.

Ben and Kate, Mindy Project are not doing very well as FOX would have hoped to. I'm guessing FOX will replace The Mob Doctor with The Following in January. I think they should move Glee to Fridays after Fringe ends and launch a new drama in the post-Idol slot on Thursday. Where will they fit Goodwin Games?
October 10, 2012 at 12:30PM EST Reply to Comment
- cmuram I'm sure Dan will comment on this too, but I was wondering the exact same thing with regards to NBC. In the early part of the week, NBC has been very competitive in the key demo.
  October 10, 2012 at 12:38PM EST
- Jobin00 Pretty clear the uptick is all The Voice related.
  October 10, 2012 at 12:38PM EST
- dan Balaji - Last night's uptick is what it says in the article: Last Tuesday was a clip show, but last night was new. And I guess, in general, it simply appears that those of us -- me VERY much included -- who suggested that NBC had maxed out on "The Voice" and a decline was coming were premature, if not wrong.
  
  FOX always had "The Following" going in on Mondays at 9 and I assume it'll continue. And there are no new dramas in the pipeline for the season, so FOX's only post-"Idol" alternative would be "Touch" (which won't happen) or a comedy block (which seems unlikely to happen, but not completely beyond the realm of possibility).
  
  -Daniel
  October 10, 2012 at 12:40PM EST
- Balaji K I thought FOX was still keeping the Cuba Gooding Jr. starring legal drama "Guilty" alive.
  October 10, 2012 at 12:56PM EST
- dan Balaji - I *think* they may have extended the hold on the actors from "Guilty," but they definitely haven't ordered it to series and I'm not sure whether there was redeveloping they thought that pilot required. That hasn't happened. It's absolutely *possible* that FOX could order "Guilty" (or anything else) to series and have it ready for a spring premiere, but they'd pretty much have to make that move any second. As of right now, FOX has "Touch," "The Following" and "Goodwin Games" for midseason...
  
  -Daniel
  October 10, 2012 at 1:04PM EST
Jobin00

Shame about Fox's Tuesday comedy block. Seemed like a good idea to package them all together, but they are absolutely getting trounced.

Based on the back 9 pick ups of Ben and Kate and Mindy, is Fox just going to stick with roughly this same combo going forward?
October 10, 2012 at 12:43PM EST Reply to Comment
- dan Jobin00 - "Ben and Kate" was a Back-6 pickup, so FOX could theoretically decide to burn through "Ben and Kate" at any time to allow "Goodwin Games" to premiere in that Tuesday block in, say, March. FOX could also, theoretically, move "Glee" back to Tuesday at 8, and pick two comedies to air after "Idol" on Thursdays. The possibilities are limitless, kinda. But yeah, FOX definitely has a commitment to a lot of low-rated comedies at this point...
  
  -Daniel
  October 10, 2012 at 1:07PM EST

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TV Ratings: 'Voice,' 'NCIS' lead Tuesday, as The CW's 'Dr. Horrible' hits a low note