Fast National ratings for Monday, December 10, 2012.
On a night that featured a slew of lackluster originals, CBS got better than normal [with an asterisk] performances from its Monday comedies and from “Hawaii Five-0” to win primetime in all measures.
[The asterisk, potentially not a small one, is that CBS aired the Monday Night Football game in the Houston market. While a single market’s football preemption hasn’t made a huge difference most nights this season, in this case, I’d expect numbers to take a noticeable drop, though not to impact primetime standings.]
Among the lackluster originals, FOX got low returns for the American Country Awards, ABC got another week of unimpressive returns from “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” and NBC’s Michael Buble Christmas special drummed up no interest. The only new shows to get wait-and-see numbers was the Howie Mandel-hosted “Take It All,” which took a big drop from its “The Voice” lead-in, but still did a semi-respectable bottom line, at least for its first episode.
Among adults 18-49, CBS averaged a 3.3 rating, tops in the key demographic. NBC was second with a 2.5 rating, far ahead of the 1.4 key demo ratings for ABC and FOX. The CW averaged a 0.5 key demo rating for Monday primetime.
Overall, CBS averaged an estimated 10.58 million viewers to go with a 6.6 rating/10 share for Monday night. NBC was second with a 5.1/8 and 8.37 million viewers. In a close race for third, ABC’s 3.6/5 and 5.6 million viewers topped the 3.2/5 and 5.12 million viewers for FOX. The CW averaged a better-than-normal 0.8/1 and 1.09 million viewers.
8 p.m. – NBC started primetime in first with 12.15 million viewers and a 3.8 rating among adults 18-49 for “The Voice,” which was up from the comparable hour last week. CBS was second with “How I Met Your Mother” (9.05 million viewers and a 3.3 key demo) and a repeat of “The Big Bang Theory” (10.38 million viewers and a 3.3 key demo). There was a big drop to the 5.17 million viewers and 1.3 key demo rating for “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” which was up from last week for ABC. FOX’s American Country Awards averaged 4.87 million viewers for fourth and a 1.4 key demo rating for third. The CW’s “90210” averaged 1.16 million viewers and a 0.6 key demo rating.
9 p.m. – CBS took over first for the 9 p.m. hour with 11.63 million viewers and a 3.9 rating among adults 18-49 for two new episodes of “2 Broke Girls.” NBC’s “Take It All” averaged 7.2 million viewers and a 2.2 key demo rating for second. ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” improved to 5.7 million viewers and a 1.5 key demo rating, in a tight race with the 5.36 million viewers and 1.5 key demo rating for FOX’s American Country Awards. The CW’s “Gossip Girl” hit season highs with 1.03 million viewers and a 0.5 key demo rating in its penultimate week.
10 p.m. – “Hawaii Five-0” dominated the 10 p.m. hour with 10.38 million viewers and a 2.7 key demo rating for CBS, which is either wildly inflated by football or an indication of how solidly the show can still perform without originals as competition. ABC’s “Castle” repeat averaged 5.93 million viewers and a 1.3 key demo rating, compared to the 5.75 million viewers and 1.4 key demo rating for NBC’s Michael Buble special.
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.