Fast National ratings for Thursday, September 13, 2012.
FOX’s Thursday premieres of “The X Factor” and “Glee” both comfortably beat a sluggish “America’s Got Talent” finale among young viewers, but NBC’s talent showcase, well down from past finales, still carried the night overall.
It was a relatively encouraging night for FOX, as “X Factor” improved on the 8 p.m. hour from Wednesday’s premiere (though it was down from the 9 p.m. hour), while “Glee” moved to its new time slot up from May’s finale (though down from last September’s premiere against greater competition).
For the night, FOX averaged a 3.2 rating among adults 18-49, far ahead of NBC’s 2.0 rating in the key demographic. CBS was third with a 1.6 key demo rating, followed by the 0.8 key demo rating for ABC and The CW’s 0.3 key demo rating.
Overall, though, NBC averaged an estimated 9.015 million viewers and a 5.6 rating/9 share for Thursday night, holding off the 5.1/8 and 8.25 million viewers for FOX. CBS was well back with a 3.8/6 and 5.79 million viewers, a good way ahead of ABC’s 2.0/3 and 2.895 million viewers. The CW averaged a 0.6/1 and 869,000 viewers for Thursday.
8 p.m. – NBC started primetime in first overall with 9.16 million viewers for the first hour of the “America’s Got Talent” finale, but could only finish a distant second with a 2.0 rating among adults 18-49. FOX’s second night of “The X Factor” delivered 8.41 million viewers and an hour-winning 3.1 key demo rating, nearly 3 million viewers below what the 8 p.m. hour of its Thursday premiere did last year. CBS’ repeats of “The Big Bang Theory” and “Two and a Half Men” averaged 6.115 million viewers and a 1.7 key demo rating in third. ABC’s “Wipeout” was fourth with nearly 3.6 million viewers and a 1.1 key demo rating. On The CW, a repeat of “The Vampire Diaries” averaged 1.03 million viewers and a 0.4 key demo rating.
9 p.m. – “America’s Got Talent” rose to 11.86 million viewers and a 2.7 rating among adults 18-49 for NBC in the 9 p.m. hour (last year’s “AGT” climax drew nearly 15.5 million viewers and just under a 4.0 key demo). FOX’s “Glee” premiere won the hour with a 3.3 key demo rating and finished second with 8.09 million viewers. Third place went to CBS’ “Big Brother,” which averaged 5.77 million viewers and a 2.0 key demo rating. ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” repeat averaged 2.63 million viewers and a 0.7 key demo rating, still ahead of the 706,000 viewers and 0.2 key demo rating for The CW’s “The Next.”
10 p.m. – Boosted by its lead-in, NBC’s “Rock Center” won the 10 p.m. hour with 6.02 million viewers and a 1.4 rating among adults 18-49. CBS’ repeat of “Person of Interest” averaged 5.48 million viewers and a 1.1 key demo rating for second. ABC was third with 2.45 million viewers and a 0.6 key demo rating for a repeat of “Scandal.”
All ratings information comes from preliminary Fast National Nielsen data, which includes live and same-day DVR viewing. All numbers are subject to change.