Fast National ratings for Thursday, June 26, 2014.
The 16th installment of “Big Brother” had a second straight strong premiere night for CBS, delivering Thursday's best numbers among young viewers and combining with a “Big Bang Theory” repeat to help CBS win overall as well.
Thursday's overall race was at least somewhat close because ABC got a good audience — a series hight, in fact — for the return of “NY Med,” which made a solid overall block with “Rookie Blue,” even if demo numbers for both shows are week.
Among other Thursday notables, “Last Comic Standing” is slipping for NBC after a promising start, while FOX's “Hell's Kitchen” and “Gang Related,” plus NBC's “Undateable” all slipped a hair among young viewers.
On to the numbers…
Among adults 18-49, CBS averaged a 1.5 rating for Thursday night, tops in the key demographic. FOX was close with a 1.3 key demo rating for the night, followed by NBC's 0.9 key demo rating and the 0.8 key demo rating for ABC. The CW did an anemic 0.1 key demo rating for Thursday.
Overall, CBS averaged an estimated 5.66 million viewers and a 3.6 rating/6 share for Thursday primetime, beating the 4.75 million viewers and 3.3/6 for ABC. FOX was third with 3.69 million viewers and a 2.2/4, just ahead of the 2.0/4 and 3.08 million viewers for NBC. The CW averaged only 523,000 viewers and a 0.4/1 for the night.
8 p.m. – CBS started primetime in first overall and second among adults 18-49 with repeats of “The Big Bang Theory” (7.94 million and a 1.7 key demo) and “The Millers” (5.53 million and a 1.2 key demo). FOX's “Hell's Kitchen” was second overall with 4.85 million viewers and won the hour with a 1.7 key demo rating. ABC's “Black Box” was third with 3.885 million viewers and fourth with a 0.6 key demo rating, compared to the 3.33 million viewers and 0.8 key demo rating for NBC's “Hollywood Game Night” repeat. The CW's repeat of “The Vampire Diaries” averaged only 562,000 viewers and a 0.1 key demo rating.
9 p.m. – The season's second night of “Big Brother” averaged 6.56 million viewers and a 2.3 rating among adults 18-49 to dominate the 9 p.m. hour for CBS. ABC's “Rookie Blue” was second with 4.87 million viewers, but finished in a three-way tie for third with a 0.8 key demo rating. NBC's two “Undateable” episodes averaged 2.74 million viewers, edging out the 2.53 million for FOX's “Gang Related,” while both networks averaged a 0.8 key demo rating.a repeat of “The Originals” averaged 483,000 viewers and a 0.1 key demo rating on The CW.
10 p.m. – ABC's “NY Med” led the 10 p.m. hour overall with 5.5 million viewers and finished second with a 0.9 rating among adults 18-49. CBS' “Elementary” repeat was second overall with 3.68 million viewers and finished third with a 0.7 key demo rating, while NBC's “Last Comic Standing” was third with 3.18 million viewers and won the hour with 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.