TV Ratings: ‘Big Bang Theory’ leads CBS to another Thursday win

Fast National ratings for Thursday, May 2, 2013.

“The Big Bang Theory” once again dominated all comers on Thursday, leading CBS to a comfortable ratings win on a night where “American Idol” hit another low among young adult viewers, while “Parks and Recreation” was up slightly in its season finale.

For the night, CBS averaged a 2.7 rating among adults 18-49 and 12.02 million viewers overall. FOX was next (2.2, 8.1 million viewers), followed by ABC (2.2, 6.75 million), NBC (1.4, 2.94 million) and the CW (0.8, 1.69 million).

8 p.m. — CBS’s sitcoms won the hour handily with a 3.9 demo rating and 13.8 million viewers, and “Big Bang” was particularly strong, with a 4.6 in the demo and 15.69 million viewers. “Idol” (2.5, 10.98 million) was second, but finished with its lowest 18-49 numbers for a regularly-scheduled episode, and its smallest audience since August of 2002. Thanks to an hour-long “The Office” that started at 8:30, NBC finished third for the hour (1.5, 3.07 million), and “Community” was up a few percentage points from last week. ABC’s “Wife Swap” was fourth (1.1, 3.62 million), followed by the CW’s “The Vampire Diaries” (0.9, 2.13 million). FOX’s “Glee” was third (1.8, 5.23 million), followed by the second half of “The Office” and the “Parks and Recreation” season finale (1.7, 3.24), which was up slightly over last week’s episode in the same timeslot. The CW’s “Beauty and the Beast” was a distant fifth (0.5, 1.26 million).
 
10 p.m. — ABC’s “Scandal” (2.6, 8.13 million) was down slightly from last week but still won the hour, followed by CBS’ “Elementary” (2.0, 9.5 million), and NBC’s “Hannibal” (1.0, 2.51 million), which didn’t drop any further from last week’s low numbers.

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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