Fast National ratings for Thursday, May 28, 2015.
In their head-to-head hour, the third week of FOX's “Wayward Pines” topped NBC's “Aquarius” in the key demographic, but the premiere of the David Duchovny drama led overall. And that's the way the Thursday primetime race broke down as well, with NBC winning overall and FOX eking out a victory in the key demo.
The two-hour “Aquarius” premiere ended up at The Mulaney Line in the key demographic and, boding ill for NBC and for the drama's binging possibilities, the audience dropped with each half-hour.
“Wayward Pines,” meanwhile, lost a chunk of overall viewership from last week, but was flat week-to-week in the key demo.
And, of course, Thursday's top show was actually a repeat of “The Big Bang Theory.”
Let's get to the numbers…
Among adults 18-49, FOX averaged a 1.2 rating for Thursday night, edging out the 1.1 rating for NBC and the 1.0 rating for CBS in the key demographic. ABC was a close third with a 0.9 key demo rating, followed at a distance by The CW's 0.2 key demo rating for the night.
Overall, though, NBC averaged an estimated 5.92 million viewers and a 4.0 rating/7 share for Thursday night. CBS was second with 5.1 million viewers and a 3.4/6. FOX's 4.665 million viewers and 2.9/5 edged out the 2.8/5 and 4.27 million viewers for ABC, while The CW averaged 625,000 viewers and a 0.4/1 for the night.
8 p.m. – CBS started the night in first with repeats of “The Big Bang Theory” (7.51 million and a 1.4 key demo) and “The Odd Couple” (5.44 million and a 1.1 key demo), just ahead of the 6.39 million viewers and 1.2 rating among adults 18-49 for NBC's “Dateline.” FOX's “Bones” averaged 5.37 million viewers and a 1.2 key demo rating, both up from the last original airing two weeks ago. The first part of the finale of ABC's “500 Questions” was on par with the rest of the quiz show's run, averaging 4.955 million viewers and a 1.0 key demo rating. On The CW, a repeat of “iZombie” averaged 780,000 viewers and a 0.3 key demo rating.
9 p.m. – NBC's “Aquarius” averaged 6.13 million viewers to win the 9 p.m. hour and finished tied for second with a 1.1 rating among adults 18-49. ABC's “500 Questions” wrapped up with 5.12 million viewers and a 1.1 key demo rating. CBS' repeats of “Mom” and “Mike & Molly” were third overall with 4.82 million viewers and fourth with a 1.0 key demo rating. FOX's “Wayward Pines” won the hour with a 1.2 key demo rating and finished fourth with 3.96 million viewers. The CW's “Vampire Diaries” repeat averaged only 470,000 viewers and a 0.2 key demo rating.
10 p.m. – The second hour of “Aquarius” won the 10 p.m. hour for NBC, but also slipped to 5.245 million viewers and a 1.0 rating among adults 18-49 and was down to 5.14 million viewers and a 0.9 key demo rating in the 10:30 half-hour. CBS' “Elementary” repeat averaged 4 million viewers and a 0.7 key demo rating, beating the 2.74 million viewers and 0.6 key demo rating for a “Jimmy Kimmel Live” airing on ABC.
All ratings information comes from preliminary Fast National Nielsen data, which includes live and same-day DVR viewing. All numbers are subject to change.