Fast National ratings for Thursday, March 7, 2013.
A 90-minute “American Idol” results show, plus a chunk of an oddly timed “Glee” led FOX to a Thursday win among young viewers, but CBS held onto its usual overall win thanks to “The Big Bang Theory” and “Person of Interest.”
Among other notables, and there were only a few, “Community” got solid 25 percent demo bump, delivering its best numbers since the season premiere, but “1600 Penn” wasn’t nearly so lucky.”
Among adults 18-49, FOX averaged a 3.3 rating for Thursday night, beating CBS’ 3.0 rating in the key demographic. There was a huge plunge to ABC and NBC’s 1.1 ratings and to the 0.3 key demo rating for The CW.
Overall, though, CBS averaged an estimated 12.87 million viewers and an 8.0 rating/13 share, beating the 7.0/11 and 11.61 million viewers for FOX for Thursday primetime. ABC’s 2.7/4 and 3.93 million viewers and NBC’s 2.0/4 and 3.01 million viewers followed, while The CW did a 0.6/1 and 906,000 viewers.
[Univision averaged 4.28 million viewers and a 1.8 rating among adults 18-49 for Thursday night.]
8 p.m. – CBS started primetime in first with “The Big Bang Theory” (17.43 million viewers and a 5.4 key demo rating) and “Two and a Half Men” (13.56 million viewers and a 3.9 key demo). FOX’s “American Idol” was second with 12.18 million viewers and a 3.2 rating among adults 18-49, losing both half-hours to CBS in both measures. ABC’s repeat of “Shark Tank” averaged nearly 4.4 million viewers and a 1.2 key demo rating, which improved on the demo numbers for last week’s “Zero Hour.” NBC was third in the demo and fourth overall with “Community” (3.36 million and a 1.5 key demo) and a “Parks and Recreation” repeat (2.34 million and a 1.0 key demo). The CW’s repeat of “The Vampire Diaries” averaged 1.06 million viewers and a 0.4 key demo rating.
9 p.m. – “Person of Interest” won the 9 p.m. hour overall with 14.39 million viewers and finished second with a 2.8 rating among adults 18-49. FOX was second overall and won the key demo with “American Idol” (14.32 million and a 3.9 key demo) and “Glee” (7.78 million and a 2.8 key demo, but inflated by “Idol” overrun). ABC’s repeat of “Grey’s Anatomy” took third with 3.7 million viewers and a 1.1 key demo rating. NBC’s “The Office” repeat (2.42 million and a 1.1 key demo) and a new “1600 Penn” (2.18 million and a 0.9 key demo) finished fourth, beating the 757,000 viewers and 0.3 key demo for The CW’s repeat of “Beauty and the Beast.”
10 p.m. – A repeat of “Elementary” averaged 8.72 million viewers and a 1.6 rating among adults 18-49 to lead the 10 p.m. hour for CBS. NBC’s “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” repeat averaged 3.87 million viewers, compared to the 3.7 million viewers for ABC’s repeat of “Scandal,” while both shows did a 1.0 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.