Fast National ratings for Thursday, December 18, 2014.
With a “Big Bang Theory” repeat and a new episode of “Mom” leading the way, CBS dominated Thursday night in all measures.
And yes, CBS had the NFL preemption in Jacksonville and FOX had the preemption in Nashville on Thursday, but given that the game was between the Jaguars and Titans, it's unlikely that it caused a huge amount of ratings inflation.
Meanwhile, NBC's “People Magazine Awards” became the latest failed attempt to start a new primetime awards tradition, following in the footsteps of FOX's latest country music thing and the movie awards that failed on CBS last month.
The night was slow enough that The CW even got an OK audience for another of its normally lackluster IHeartRadio specials, in this case the Jingle Ball.
On to the numbers…
Among adults 18-49, CBS averaged a 1.8 rating for Thursday night, easily tops in the key demographic. NBC was second with a 0.9 key demo rating. followed closely by FOX's 0.8 key demo rating and the 0.7 key demo rating for ABC. The CW was close behind with a 0.6 key demo rating for Thursday.
Overall, CBS averaged an estimated 8.705 million viewers and a 5.6 rating/10 share for Thursday primetime. NBC and FOX both averaged a 2.4/4, with NBC's 3.71 million viewers edging out the 3.68 million viewers for FOX. ABC averaged a 2.0/3 and 2.9 million viewers, followed by the 0.9/2 and 1.65 million viewers for The CW.
8 p.m. – A “Big Bang Theory” repeat (10.67 million viewers and a 2.3 key demo) and a new “Mom” (10.11 million and a 2.3 key demo) led the 8 p.m. hour for CBS. NBC's “The Biggest Loser” was second with 3.79 million viewers and a 0.9 rating among adults 18-49. A repeat of “Bones” on FOX averaged 3.56 million viewers, topping the 3.13 million viewers for ABC's “The Taste,” while both networks averaged a 0.8 key demo rating. The CW's “The IHeartRadio Jingle Ball 2014” averaged 1.85 million viewers and a 0.6 key demo rating in its first hour.
9 p.m. – New episodes of “Two and a Half Men” (8.95 million and a 1.9 key demo rating) and “The McCarthys” (7.1 million and a 1.6 key demo) led the 9 p.m. hour for CBS. FOX's “Bones” repeat averaged 3.8 million viewers and a 0.8 key demo rating, compared to the 3.53 million viewers and 0.8 key demo rating for NBC's “People Magazine Awards.” ABC's “The Taste” averaged 3.015 million viewers and a 0.8 key demo rating. The CW followed with the last half-hour of “The IHeartRadio Jingle Ball 2014” (1.81 million and a 0.7 key demo) and a “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” repeat (1.08 million and a 0.4 key demo).
10 p.m. – CBS closed its primetime sweep with 7.7 million viewers and a 1.4 rating among adults 18-49 for “Elementary.” NBC's “People Magazine Awards” averaged 3.815 million viewers and a 0.9 key demo rating, topping the 2.55 million viewers and 0.6 key demo rating for ABC's “How To Get Away With Murder” repeat.
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.