Fast National ratings for Thursday, August 15, 2013.
Led by another results episode of “Big Brother,” CBS controlled the 9 p.m. hour and held on to edge out ABC on a Thursday of inflated ratings.
CBS, NBC and ABC were among several networks with NFL preseason preemptions on Thursday night, with all of ABC’s Thursday shows posting 50+ percent gains, making them particularly suspicious.
So take these numbers with more than the usual surplus of salt.
Among adults 18-49, CBS averaged a 1.7 rating, beating ABC’s 1.4 rating in the key demographic for Thursday night. NBC averaged a 1.2 rating in the key demographic, followed by FOX’s 0.6 key demo rating and the 0.4 key demo rating for The CW.
Overall, CBS averaged an estimated 6.12 million viewers and a 4.1 rating/ 7 share for Thursday, ahead of the 5.57 million viewers and 3.6/6 for ABC on the night. NBC was third with a 2.6/5 and 3.88 million viewers, more than doubling the 1.2/2 and 1.71 million viewers for FOX. The CW averaged 987,000 viewers and a 0.6/1.
8 p.m. – Repeats of “The Big Bang Theory” and “Two and a Half Men” averaged 6.91 million viewers and a 1.7 rating among adults 18-49 to lead the 8 p.m. hour for CBS. ABC’s “Wipeout” did an inflated 5.1 million viewers and a 1.6 key demo rating, well ahead of the 4.06 million viewers and 1.0 key demo rating for NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” encore. On FOX, a repeat of “Glee” averaged 1.82 million viewers and a 0.7 key demo rating, beating the 1.04 million viewers and 0.4 key demo rating for The CW’s “The Vampire Diaries” repeat.
9 p.m. – “Big Brother” won the 9 p.m. hour for CBS with 6.87 million viewers and a 2.3 rating among adults 18-49. ABC’s “Motive” averaged an inflated 5.86 million viewers and a 1.3 key demo rating for second, topping the 3.67 million viewers and 1.2 key demo rating for NBC’s “Hollywood Game Night” repeat. FOX’s repeats of “New Girl” and “The Mindy Project” averaged 1.6 million viewers and a 0.6 key demo rating, with The CW’s “America’s Next Top Model” encore averaging 934,000 viewers and a 0.3 key demo rating.
10 p.m. – “Rookie Blue” moved into first for the 10 p.m. hour with an inflated 5.76 million viewers and 1.4 rating among adults 18-49 for ABC. CBS’ “Elementary” repeat averaged 4.59 million viewers for second and a 1.0 key demo rating in third, while NBC’s new “Hollywood Game Night” averaged 3.9 million viewers and a 1.3 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.