Fast National ratings for Thursday, February 23, 2012.
Another night of slipping “American Idol” ratings (and another drop from “The Finder”), combined with bounce-back ratings for “The Big Bang Theory” and “Person of Interest” helped CBS recover Thursday supremacy overall and a share of the nightly lead in the key demo.
Among adults 18-49, CBS and FOX both averaged a 3.2 rating to win the night in the key demographic, though that was obviously only good news for one of them. ABC was third with a 2.3 rating, followed by NBC’s 1.6 rating. The CW shifted to repeats and dropped to a 0.4 key demo rating.
Overall, though, CBS comfortably won the night with an 8.3 rating/13 share and an average of 13.65 million viewers. FOX was second with a 6.5/10 and 10.805 million viewers. ABC’s 6.77 million viewers and 4.5/7 more than doubled the 2.1/3 and 3.33 million viewers for NBC. The CW averaged 1.1 million viewers and a 0.7/1.
[Univision averaged 3.53 million viewers and a 1.3 rating among adults 18-49 for Thursday night.]
8 p.m. – FOX’s “American Idol” won the 8 p.m. hour overall with 15.39 million viewers, but only a 4.4 rating among adults 18-49. CBS’ “The Big Bang Theory” (16.105 million and a 5.2 key demo rating) rose and won its half-hour easily, while “Rob” (10.63 million viewers and a 3.0 key demo rating) slipped a little. ABC’s “Wipeout” was third overall with 4.99 million viewers and fourth with a 1.5 key demo rating. NBC’s “30 Rock” (3.705 million and a 1.5 key demo) and “Parks & Recreation” (3.42 million and a 1.5 key demo) followed. The CW’s repeat of “The Vampire Diaries” averaged 1.29 million viewers and a 0.5 key demo.
9 p.m. – CBS moved into first for the 9 p.m. hour with the 14.41 million viewers and 3.1 rating among adults 18-49 for “Person of Interest,” which was down from its series high numbers two weeks ago, but up from last week. ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” tied for the hour lead with a 3.1 key demo rating and averaged 8.91 million viewers for second. FOX was third overall, but fourth in the key demo with 6.22 million viewers and a 2.0 key demo rating for “The Finder.” On NBC, “The Office” bounced back a bit to 4.98 million viewers and a 2.6 key demo rating, while “Up All Night” also improved over last week with 3.45 million viewers and a 1.8 key demo. The CW’s repeat of “Supernatural” averaged 914,000 viewers.
10 p.m. – “The Mentalist” actually dropped from last week, but still averaged 13.18 million viewers and a 2.5 rating among adults 18-49 to win the 10 p.m. hour for CBS. ABC’s “Private Practice” was second with 6.41 million viewers and a 2.2 key demo. NBC trailed with 2.22 million viewers and a 0.9 key demo rating for a repeat of “Grimm.”
All ratings information comes from preliminary Fast National Nielsen data, which includes live and same-day DVR viewing. All numbers are subject to change.