TV Ratings: ‘Big Brother’ leads CBS on NFL preseason-inflated Thursday

Fast National ratings for Thursday, August 8, 2013.
The good news on Thursday was that all of the networks were up week-to-week, with CBS again leading the way. The bad news on Thursday was that due to NFL preemptions, numbers are inflated across the board and likely to change dramatically.
If you normally take Fast National numbers with a grain of salt, take these with a whole shaker-full.
Among adults 18-49, CBS averaged a 1.9 rating for Thursday night, tops in the key demographic, beating NBC’s 1.4 rating and the 1.1 key demo rating for ABC. FOX averaged a 0.8 key demo rating, while The CW averaged a 0.3 key demo rating.
Overall, CBS averaged an estimated 6.64 million viewers and a 4.2 rating/7 share for Thursday. NBC was second with 4.95 million viewers and a 3.3/6, followed closely by the 4.695 million viewers and 3.1/5 for ABC. FOX averaged 2.34 million viewers and a 1.5/3, topping the 0.5/1 and 763,000 viewers for The CW.
[Univision averaged 3.24 million viewers and a 1.2 rating among adults 18-49 for Thursday primetime.]

8 p.m. – Repeats of “The Big Bang Theory” and “Two and a Half Men” averaged 7.8 million viewers and a 2.1 rating among adults 18-49 to lead the 8 p.m. hour for CBS. NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” encore averaged 4.96 million viewers and a 1.3 key demo rating in second. ABC’s “Wipeout” averaged 4.17 million viewers and a 1.1 key demo rating, beating the 2.52 million viewers and 0.8 key demo rating for FOX’s “Glee” repeat. The CW drew 723,000 viewers and a 0.2 key demo rating for a “Vampire Diaries” repeat.

9 p.m. – A double-elimination episode of “Big Brother” averaged 7.08 million viewers and a 2.5 rating among adults 18-49 for CBS in the 9 p.m. hour. The finale of NBC’s “The Winner Is” averaged 5.19 million viewers and a 1.4 key demo rating, representing a huge gain from last week, depending on how the numbers settle. ABC’s “Motive” averaged 4.78 million viewers and a 1.0 key demo rating, beating the 2.16 million viewers and 0.8 key demo rating for repeats of “New Girl” and “The Mindy Project” on FOX. The CW’s encore of “America’s Next Top Model” averaged 803,000 viewers and a 0.3 key demo rating.
10 p.m. – “Rookie Blue” won the 10 p.m. hour overall for ABC with 5.14 million viewers and finished second with a 1.2 rating among adults 18-49. CBS’ “Elementary” was second with 5.03 million viewers and third with a 1.1 key demo rating. NBC’s “Hollywood Game Night” won the hour with a 1.5 key demo rating and finished a close third with 4.71 million viewers.
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. 
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