Fast National ratings for Thursday, September 18, 2014.
Testing the limits of America's insatiable appetite for NFL action, a dismally one-sided Thursday Night Football game between the Falcons and Buccaneers fell hard from last week's telecast, though CBS still dominated primetime in all measures.
The game, which was essentially over by the end of the first quarter, was off by 40 percent from the Fast Nationals for last week's Thursday Night Football premiere.
Thursday's only other original programming was NBC's “The Biggest Loser,” which was down nearly 20 percent from last week's premiere.
Some numbers will, of course, change due to the live nature of the football.
On to the numbers…
Among adults 18-49, CBS averaged a 3.2 rating for Thursday night, tops in the key demographic. CBS beat the combined totals for NBC (1.2 key demo), ABC (0.7 key demo), FOX (0.5 key demo) and The CW (0.2 key demo).
Overall, CBS averaged an estimated 9.02 million viewers and a 5.8 rating/10 share for Thursday, far ahead of the 4.38 million viewers and 3.0/5 for NBC on the night. ABC was third with 3.59 million viewers and a 2.6/4, followed by FOX's 2.09 million viewers and 1.3/2. The CW averaged a 0.4/1 and 600,000 viewers.
8 p.m. – CBS' NFL pregame and the Bucs-Falcons kickoff averaged 9.21 million viewers and a 2.9 rating among adults 18-49 for the 8 p.m. hour. NBC's “The Biggest Loser” was second with 4.4 million viewers and a 1.3 key demo rating, topping the 3.615 million viewers and 0.7 key demo rating for ABC's “Grey's Anatomy” repeat. FOX's “Sleepy Hollow” repeat averaged 2.06 million viewers and a 0.5 key demo rating, ahead of the 598,000 viewers and 0.2 key demo rating for The CW's “Vampire Diaries” repeat.
9 p.m. – Thursday Night Football averaged 10.04 million viewers and a 3.6 rating among adults 18-49 for CBS in the 9 p.m. hour, but the viewer exodus from the game began early. NBC's “The Biggest Loser” was second with 4.75 million viewers and a 1.4 key demo rating. A “Scandal” repeat on ABC averaged 3.35 million viewers and a 0.6 key demo rating, beating the 2.12 million viewers and 0.5 key demo rating for another “Sleepy Hollow” repeat on FOX. The CW's “The Originals” repeat averaged 603,000 viewers and a 0.2 key demo rating.
10 p.m. – CBS' football coverage dropped to 7.81 million viewers and a 3.0 rating among adults 18-49 in the 10 p.m. hour. NBC's encore of “The Mysteries of Laura” averaged 4 million viewers and a 0.8 key demo rating, beating the 3.81 million viewers and 0.7 key demo rating for ABC's “Scandal” repeat.
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.