Fast National ratings for Friday, May 2, 2014.
Posting a big 22 percent week-to-week gain among young viewers, “Shark Tank” led ABC to an easy Friday win among young viewers, while “Blue Bloods” was up over last week and led CBS to an overall rout.
In short: Business as usual.
There was some Friday variation, though. NBC's “Hannibal” was up for the third straight week, though once again basketball preemptions in the Portland market mean that these numbers are inflated.
On the negative side, “Hart of Dixie” was low for The CW, as was “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” FOX's “Kitchen Nightmares” was also on the low side.
On to the numbers…
Among adults 18-49, ABC averaged a 1.8 rating for Friday night, comfortably winning the key demographic. CBS and NBC tied for second with a 1.2 key demo rating, followed by FOX's 0.8 key demo rating and the 0.3 key demo rating for The CW.
Overall, though, CBS averaged an estimated 9.21 million viewers and a 5.9 rating/11 share for Friday primetime, far ahead of the 6.97 million viewers and 4.5/8 for ABC. There was another big drop to NBC's 3.1/6 and 4.79 million viewers and to The CW's 888,000 viewers and 0.6/1.
8 p.m. – “Unforgettable” won the 8 p.m. hour overall with 7.575 million viewers and finished third with a 1.1 rating among adults 18-49. NBC's “Dateline” was second with 6.42 million viewers and a 1.2 key demo rating. ABC's special “Shark Tank: Swimming With Sharks” was third with 5.84 million viewers and won the hour with a 1.5 key demo rating. FOX's “Kitchen Nightmares” was fourth with 2.43 million viewers and a 0.9 key demo rating, topping the 1.1 million viewers and 0.4 key demo rating for The CW's “Whose Line Is It Anyway?”
9 p.m. – “Hawaii Five-0” won the 9 p.m. hour for CBS with 8.69 million viewers, coming in third with a 1.2 rating among adults 18-49. ABC's “Shark Tank” was a close second with 8.08 million viewers and ruled with a 2.2 key demo rating. NBC's “Grimm” averaged 5.2 million viewers and a 1.4 key demo rating, up a hair from last week in the key demo. FOX's “Kitchen Nightmares” averaged 2.55 million viewers and a 0.8 key demo rating, ahead of the low 674,000 viewers and 0.2 key demo rating for “Hart of Dixie” on The CW.
10 p.m. – “Blue Bloods” led the 10 p.m. hour with 11.38 million viewers and finished second with a 1.5 rating among adults 18-49, both up from last week. ABC's “20/20” won the hour with a 1.7 key demo rating and finished second with 6.98 million viewers. NBC's “Hannibal” averaged 2.76 million viewers and a 1.1 key demo rating. [Doubters will be correct to note that a series clinching thriller in Portland definitely boosted “Hannibal.” However, even though “Hannibal” as dropped between Fast Nationals and Finals each of the last three weeks, the drama has still gone from a 0.7 to a 0.8 to a 0.9 key demo rating in Live+SD.]
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.