Fast National ratings for Thursday, August 7, 2014.
A “Big Bang Theory” repeat and a new “Big Brother” led CBS' rout on Thursday night, though the network had NFL preemptions for 22 percent of the country, which probably helped more than a little.
With preemptions or delays taking over such markets as New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Boston, CBS' numbers will certainly change — “Mom” repeats tend not to do 2.0 key demo ratings — but it probably won't matter in terms of the bottom line of Thursday rankings.
Meanwhile, there were some positive grace notes to Thursday's ratings, with small bumps for “Gang Related,” “Working the Engels.” There are NFL-based reasons for those bumps as well and there may also be, I suppose, an NFL-based explanation for the flat numbers for “The Quest” and “Rookie Blue.” The NFL ruins everything. These ratings are concussed.
In addition, several networks had preemptions and delays for President Obama's address on Iraq.
So let's just say that as value-questionable as Fast National ratings normally are, these are extra-worthless.
On to the numbers…
Among adults 18-49, CBS averaged a 2.0 rating for Thursday night, tops in the key demographic. NBC was far back with a 1.0 key demo rating, followed by ABC and FOX's 0.9 key demo rating. The CW averaged a 0.3 key demo rating for the night.
Overall, CBS averaged an estimated 7.14 million viewers and a 4.5 rating/8 share for Thursday primetime, comfortably ahead of the 4.39 million viewers and 2.8/5 for ABC for the night. NBC was third with a 2.5/4 and 3.8 million viewers, followed by FOX's 1.8/3 and 2.91 million viewers. The CW averaged 704,000 viewers and a 0.5/1 for the night.
8 p.m. – CBS started primetime in first with 8.07 million viewers and a 2.1 rating among adults 18-49 for repeats of “The Big Bang Theory” and “Mom” (plus NFL preseason coverage). NBC's “Hollywood Game Night” repeat averaged 4.42 million viewers and a 1.0 key demo rating for second. ABC's “The Quest” was third overall with 2.73 million viewers, but fourth with a 0.7 key demo rating. FOX's “Sleepy Hollow” repeat averaged 2.69 million viewers and a 0.8 key demo rating. And The CW's “The Vampire Diaries” repeat averaged 809,000 viewers and a 0.3 key demo rating.
9 p.m. – NFL inflation boosted “Big Brother” to 7.98 million viewers and a 2.7 rating among adults 18-49 to dominate the 9 p.m. hour. ABC's “Rookie Blue” was second with 4.85 million viewers, topping the 3.13 million viewers for FOX's “Gang Related,” while both dramas did a 0.9 key demo rating. NBC followed with episodes of “Welcome to Sweden” and “Working the Engels” averaging 3.11 million viewers and a 0.8 key demo rating. The CW's “Originals” repeat averaged 598,000 viewers and a 0.3 key demo rating.
10 p.m. – “NY Med” won the 10 p.m. hour for ABC with 5.595 million viewers and finished third with a 1.0 key demo rating. CBS' inflated repeat of “Elementary” averaged 5.37 million viewers and a 1.3 rating among adults 18-49. NBC's “Last Comic Standing” averaged 3.87 million viewers and a 1.2 key demo rating.
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.