Fast National ratings for Thursday, October 25, 2012.
The second game of the World Series was down from the opener for FOX, letting “The Big Bang Theory,” completely unimpacted by baseball, carry CBS to primetime wins in most key measures.
In addition to “Big Bang Theory,” baseball (or general attrition) also didn’t impact numbers for “The Vampire Diaries,” “Person of Interest” and “Scandal.”
On the other hand, ABC saw big drops for “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Last Resort,” while CBS’ “Elementary” was also down a hair.
[Note that NBC’s Minneapolis affiliate carried Thursday Night Football, so I’m going to hesitate to offer comparisons.]
On to the numbers…
Among adults 18-49, CBS averaged a 3.1 rating for Thursday night, beating FOX’s 2.7 rating in the key demographic. ABC was third with a 2.1 key demo rating, beating NBC’s 1.6 key demo rating and the 0.9 rating for The CW.
Overall, CBS averaged an estimated 12.76 million viewers and an 8.0 rating/13 share for Thursday night, comfortably ahead of the 9.99 million viewers and 6.2/10 for FOX. ABC was third with a 4.8/8 and 7.07 million viewers, with NBC’s 2.7/4 and 4.14 million viewers good for fourth. The CW averaged a 1.5/2 and 2.31 million viewers.
8 p.m. – CBS started the night in control with “The Big Bang Theory” (15.42 million viewers and a 4.8 key demo) and “Two and a Half Men” (12.9 million viewers and a 3.7 key demo, down from last week’s Miley Cyrus bump). FOX’s coverage of the Giants and Tigers averaged 10.12 million viewers and a 2.7 rating among adults 18-49 for second. ABC’s “Last Resort” averaged 6.4 million viewers and a 1.3, way down after last week’s slight bump. NBC was fourth with “30 Rock” (3.61 million viewers and a 1.3 key demo) and “Up All Night” (3.93 million viewers and a 1.6 key demo, suspiciously high). The CW’s “The Vampire Diaries” Xeroxed last week’s Fast Nationals with 2.74 million viewers and a 1.2 key demo rating.
9 p.m. – “Person of Interest” held onto its normal 9 p.m. crown with 13.97 million viewers and grabbed the hour win with a 3.0 rating among adults 18-49. ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” averaged a low 8.485 million viewers and a 2.9 rating among adults 18-49 (and nipped “Person of Interest” in the 9:30 half-hour, which doesn’t speak well for its lead-in). FOX’s baseball coverage averaged 9.86 million viewers and a 2.7 key demo rating in third. On NBC, “The Office” (4.68 million viewers and a 2.1 key demo) and “Parks and Recreation’ (4.06 million and a 1.9 key demo) were fourth. On The CW, “Beauty and the Beast” lost a few viewers to 1.875, but stayed steady with a 0.7 key demo rating.
10 p.m. – “Elementary” completed CBS’ primetime sweep with 10.16 million viewers and a 2.2 rating among adults 18-49. ABC’s “Scandal” averaged 6.31 million viewers and a 2.0 key demo rating, not bad on a night ABC fell elsewhere. NBC’s “Rock Center” averaged 4.27 million viewers and a 1.3 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, particularly in the case of live events.