Fast National ratings for Friday, May 9, 2014.
Season finales for “Hawaii Five-0” and “Blue Bloods” led CBS to its usual overall win on Friday night, while “Shark Tank” held its normal position as Friday's top show with young viewers, leading ABC to a key demo win.
Among other notables, “Hannibal” was down from recent airings, but it doesn't much matter, because NBC renewed the drama on Friday. In addition, “Hart of Dixie” was up from last week's low, which doesn't much matter, because The CW renewed the drama on Thursday.
And interest was so limited for FOX's encore of the “24: Live Another Day” premiere that The CW beat FOX among young viewers for the night.
On to the numbers…
Among adults 18-49, ABC averaged a 1.5 rating for Friday night, topping CBS' 1.2 rating in the key demographic. NBC was third with a 1.1 key demo rating. There was a big drop and then The CW averaged a 0.4 key demo rating and FOX averaged a 0.3 rating.
Overall, though, CBS averaged an estimated 9.29 million viewers and a 6.0 rating/11 share for Friday, trouncing ABC's 5.93 million viewers and 3.8/7 for Friday primetime. NBC was third with 4.23 million viewers and a 2.8/5. In the race for the bottom, FOX's 1.36 million viewers and 1.0/2 edged out The CW's 1.12 million and 0.8/1.
8 p.m. – “Unforgettable” started primetime in first for CBS with 7.29 million viewers, but lagged in third with a 0.8 rating among adults 18-49. NBC's “Dateline” was second with 5.73 million viewers and won the hour with a 1.2 key demo rating. ABC's “Shark Tank” repeat was third with 4.44 million viewers and second with a 1.0 key demo rating. The CW took fourth for the hour with 1.395 million viewers and a 0.5 key demo rating for the usual new episode and repeat of “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” The first hour of FOX's “24: Live Another Day” encore averaged 1.34 million viewers and a 0.3 key demo rating.
9 p.m. – CBS stayed in first overall with 9.09 million viewers for the “Hawaii Five-0” finale, which was tied for second with a 1.3 rating among adults 18-49. ABC's “Shark Tank” was second overall with 7.16 million viewers and easily delivered the night's best key demo number with a 1.9 rating. NBC's “Grimm” averaged 4.84 million viewers and also tied for second with a 1.3 key demo rating. FOX's “24: Live Another Day” encore averaged 1.38 million viewers and a 0.3 key demo rating, compared to the 847,000 viewers and 0.3 key demo rating for The CW's “Hart of Dixie.”
10 p.m. – “Blue Bloods” completed CBS' primetime sweep with 11.5 million viewers and finished second with a 1.4 rating among adults 18-49. ABC's “20/20” was second with 6.19 million viewers and won the hour with a 1.5 key demo rating. On NBC, “Hannibal” slipped to 2.12 million viewers and a 0.8 key demo rating and given the show's recent history of drops in Finals, it may go down further. But it just doesn't matter!
All ratings information comes from preliminary Fast National Nielsen data, which includes live and same-day DVR viewing. All numbers are subject to change.