Fast National ratings for Thursday, January 8, 2015.
Fueled by its two-hour running time, the season's second night of “American Idol” rose in viewers and nearly equalled the premiere in the key demo, helping FOX win Thursday in both measures.
While “The Big Bang Theory” clobbered “Idol” across-the-board, “Idol” was able to do better against the rest of the CBS comedies, dominating the 9 p.m. hour in particular. FOX boasts this is the best Night 2 “Idol” retention in six years, but the whole one-hour versus two-hour thing makes that an apples/oranges comparison.
Among other Thursday notables, the home-stretch for “Parenthood” got off to a solid start, while nobody watches NBC's 9 p.m. comedies.
On to the numbers…
Among adults 18-49, FOX averaged a 3.0 rating for Thursday night, comfortably beating CBS' 2.4 rating in the key demographic. There was a big drop to FOX's 1.1 key demo rating and ABC's 0.8 key demo rating. The CW averaged a 0.3 key demo rating for the night.
Overall, FOX averaged an estimated 11.015 million viewers and a 6.6 rating/10 share for Thursday primetime, edging out the 10.81 million viewers and 6.5/11 for CBS.
8 p.m. – CBS started primetime in first with “The Big Bang Theory” (17.76 million viewers and a 4.5 key demo) and “Mom” (12.29 million and a 2.8 key demo). FOX's “American Idol” was second with 10.36 million viewers and a 2.7 rating among adults 18-49, both down from the 8 p.m. hour on Wednesday. NBC's “The Biggest Loser” was far back in second with a just under 5 million viewers and a 1.3 key demo rating, topping the 3.3 million viewers and 0.9 key demo rating for ABC's “The Taste.” The CW's “House at the End of the Street” averaged 1.34 million viewers and a 0.3 key demo rating.
9 p.m. – “American Idol” rose to 11.67 million viewers and a 3.3 rating among adults 18-49 to win the 9 p.m. hour. CBS was second with “Two and a Half Men” 7.94 million and a 2.2 key demo) and “The McCarthys” (7.94 million and a 1.7 key demo). ABC's “The Taste” was third with 3.1 million viewers and a 0.9 key demo rating. NBC was fourth with “Bad Judge” (3.12 million and a 0.8 key demo) and “A to Z” (2.02 million and a 0.6 key demo), which at least beat the 1.19 million viewers and 0.3 key demo rating for the second hour of The CW's movie.
10 p.m. – “Elementary” won the 10 p.m. hour with 8.415 million viewers and tied for first with a 1.4 rating among adults 18-49 for CBS. “Parenthood” also did a 1.4 key demo rating and finished second with 4.61 million viewers. ABC's “How To Get Away With Murder” repeat averaged 2.57 million viewers and a 0.7 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.