TV Ratings: ‘American Idol,’ ‘Bones’ score another Thursday win for FOX

Fast National ratings for Thursday, April 14, 2011.

With ABC and CBS in repeats, FOX’s “American Idol” and “Bones” both scored convincing hourly wins among overall and young viewers on Thursday night.

Meanwhile, was Paul Reiser the solution to NBC’s ratings problems? As he might say, “Not so much.”

For the night, FOX averaged a 4.9 rating among adults 18-49, easily topping NBC’s 2.1 rating in the key demographic. CBS’ 1.6 rating and the 1.3 rating for ABC followed, with The CW’s 1.0 rating taking fifth.

Overall, FOX averaged an estimated 16.45 million viewers and a 9.6 rating/15 share. CBS was a distant second with a 5.5/9 and 8.53 million viewers, still far ahead of NBC’s 2.9/5 and 4.625 million and ABC’s 2.8/5 and 4.415 million. The CW was fifth with a 1.5/2 and 2.47 million viewers.

8 p.m. – “American Idol” kicked primetime off for FOX with 20.98 million viewers and a 6.1 rating among adults 18-49, up in viewers and steady in the demo from last week. CBS’ repeats of “The Big Bang Theory” and “Rules of Engagement” finished second with 6.65 million viewers, beating the 6.2 million viewers for ABC’s “Wipeout,” though ABC had the advantage in the key demo. NBC got dismal returns for both “Community” (3.48 million viewers and a 1.4 demo rating) and the series premiere of “The Paul Reiser Show” (3.31 million and a 1.1 demo rating). [Those “Paul Reiser” numbers were still better than recent performances by “Perfect Couples.”] The CW’s “The Vampire Diaries” averaged 2.79 million viewers and a 1.2 demo rating in fifth.

9 p.m. – FOX stayed in first for the 9 p.m. hour with 11.93 million viewers and a 3.7 key demo rating for “Bones.” CBS’ repeat of “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” was second overall with 8.15 million viewers. NBC was third overall and second in the key demo with new episodes of “The Office” (7.69 million viewers and a 3.9 demo rating) and “Parks and Recreation” (5.23 million viewers and a 2.6 demo). ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” repeat was fourth with just under 4.2 million viewers. Fifth place went to The CW’s “Nikita,” which averaged 2.16 million viewers and a 0.8 demo rating, both up from last week.

10 p.m. – CBS moved into first in the 10 p.m. hour with the 10.78 million viewers and 1.9 demo rating for a repeat of “The Mentalist.” NBC’s new episodes of “30 Rock” (4.5 million and a 2.2 demo) and “Outsourced” (3.54 million and a 1.7 demo) were second overall and tied for first in the demo. That left ABC’s “Private Practice” repeat in third with 2.845 million viewers.