TV Ratings: ‘Dancing,’ ‘American Idol’ finales pace Tuesday split

Fast National ratings for Tuesday, May 22, 2012.

The conclusion of the “Dancing with the Stars” finale helped ABC win Tuesday night overall, while the first part of the “American Idol” finale (plus the season finale of “Glee”) helped FOX win the night among young viewers.

[The “Dancing” finale, the “Idol” finale and the “Glee” finale were all far below last May’s comparable finales, if you wanted to get depressed about such things.]

Facing all of that reality competition, NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” was down week-to-week, while a new episode of “The L.A. Complex” delivered astoundingly low numbers to The CW.

For the night, FOX averaged a 3.6 rating among adults 18-49, easily winning the key demographic. ABC was second with a 2.6 rating, followed by the 2.1 key demo rating for NBC. CBS averaged a 1.5 rating in the key demo, while The CW mustered a 0.2 rating. 

Overall, though, ABC won Tuesday primetime comfortably with an estimated 14.58 million viewers and a 9.5 rating/15 share. FOX was second with an estimated 11.02 million viewers and a 6.5/10. CBS’ 5.8/9 and 8.64 million viewers finished third, far ahead of the 4.0/6 and 6.545 million viewers for NBC. The CW averaged 668,000 viewers and a 0.4/1 for the night.

[Univision averaged 4.24 million viewers and a 1.7 rating among adults 18-49 for Tuesday night.]

8 p.m. – Displacing “American Idol” from its normal Wednesday/Thursday routine for purposes of sweeps resulted in a lower-than-normal performance episode audience, pulling in 14.39 million viewers and a 4.2 rating among adults 18-49 for FOX. That still easily won the hour. ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” repeat was second overall with 8.775 million viewers and third with a 1.3 key demo rating. CBS’ repeat of “NCIS: Los Angeles” was third with 7.47 million viewers and fourth with a 1.1 key demo rating. NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” repeat was second in the key demo with a 1.6 rating and fourth with 5.29 million viewers. On The CW, a repeat of “Hart of Dixie” averaged 888,000 viewers and a 0.3 key demo rating.

9 p.m. – “Dancing with the Stars” took first overall for the 9 p.m. hour with 16.85 million viewers, finishing third with a 2.9 key demo rating. NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” won the hour with a 3.2 rating among adults 18-49 and was second overall with 9.29 million viewers. CBS’ “NCIS” repeat was a close third overall with 9.16 million viewers and fourth with a 1.6 key demo rating. The “American Idol” lead-in helped the “Glee” finale rise to 7.64 million viewers and a 3.0 key demo rating. On The CW, a new episode of “The L.A. Complex” averaged 448,000 viewers and a 0.2 key demo rating. [The Canadian transplanted drama did a 0.3 rating/0 share overall. Yes, a “0” share.]

10 p.m. – The last hour of the “Dancing with the Stars” finale averaged 18.115 million viewers and a 3.4 rating among adults 18-49 for ABC. CBS’ “NCIS” repeat was second with 9.29 million viewers and a 1.8 key demo rating, beating the 5.05 million viewers and 1.6 key demo rating for NBC’s “Dateline.”