Fast National ratings for Tuesday, May 20, 2014.
The season finales for “Dancing with the Stars” and “The Voice” didn't exactly soar, but they still helped ABC rule Tuesday overall and NBC win the night among young viewers.
“The Voice” and “Dancing” were down 25 percent and 11 percent respectively from last spring's finales .
Actually, the only thing doing bigger-than-normal numbers on Tuesday was The CW's “Supernatural” finale, as FOX's “American Idol” stumbled for its performance finale and the network's “I Wanna Marry 'Harry'” proved to be neither the next “Joe Millionaire” nor even the next “The Next Joe Millionaire.”
[The CW had a baseball preemption in Chicago, but still should easily top “I Wanna Marry 'Harry.'”]
CBS also struggled with a pair of primetime specials, though “Judge Judy Primetime” was still more successful than “Harry.”
Combined with “Riot,” “Harry” represents a second consecutive mega-dud of a summer premiere for FOX, which has to be mighty excited about the returns of “So You Think You Can Dance” and “MasterChef.”
On to the numbers…
Among adults 18-49, NBC averaged a 2.8 rating for Tuesday night, beating ABC's 2.1 rating in the key demographic. FOX's 1.2 key demo rating and the 0.9 key demo rating for CBS followed, while The CW was close behind with a 0.8 key demo rating.
Overall, though, ABC won Tuesday with an estimated 13.72 million viewers and an 8.8 rating/14 share, comfortably ahead of the 10.18 million viewers and 6.0/10 for NBC for primetime. CBS was a distant third with 4.855 million viewers and a 3.2/5, beating FOX's 4.33 million viewers and 2.7/4. The CW averaged 1.74 million viewers and a 1.1/2.
8 p.m. – ABC's “Dancing with the Stars” clip show averaged 11.43 million viewers to win the 8 p.m. hour and finished third with a 1.6 rating among adults 18-49. NBC's “The Voice” clip show averaged 7.41 million viewers and a 1.9 key demo rating, beating the 6.61 million viewers and 1.7 key demo rating for FOX's “American Idol” performance finale. CBS' “Judge Judy Primetime” averaged 5.66 million viewers and a 0.9 key demo rating, topping the 1.2 million viewers and a 0.5 key demo rating for a “Supernatural” repeat on The CW.
9 p.m. – The start of the “Dancing” finale averaged 14.69 million viewers to win the 9 p.m. hour for ABC and came in second with a 2.3 rating among adults 18-49. NBC's “The Voice” finale averaged 11.41 million viewers for second and won the hour with a 3.2 key demo rating. CBS got 4.56 million viewers for the special “ACM Presents: An All-Star Salute To The Troops,” but finished fourth with a 0.9 key demo rating. The CW's “Supernatural” finale averaged 2.28 million viewers for fourth and a 1.1 key demo rating for third for the hour. FOX's “I Wanna Marry 'Harry'” was fifth with 2.05 million viewers and a 0.7 key demo rating, though I guess FOX can take a modicum of solace in a fairly minor drop at the half-hour.
10 p.m. – ABC ruled the 10 p.m. hour overall with the 15.03 million viewers for the conclusion of “Dancing with the Stars,” which was second with a 2.4 rating among adults 18-49. NBC's “The Voice” closed with 11.72 million viewers and an hour-winning 3.4 key demo rating. CBS' “Salute to the Troops” was third with 4.34 million viewers and a 0.9 key demo rating.
[UPDATE: The Baseball preemption had no impact on the “Supernatural” finale, which rose to 2.3 million viewers and a 1.1 rating among adults 18-49, while “I Wanna Marry 'Harry'” dipped to 1.91 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.