TV Ratings: Dipping ‘Voice’ leads NBC Monday, but ‘Castle’ tops ‘Blacklist’ in viewers

Fast National ratings for Monday, October 21, 2013.
After several weeks of increasingly close competition, ABC’s “Castle” moved ahead of NBC’s “The Blacklist” in total viewers, but the freshman hit still dominated the long-running procedural among young viewers. While NBC’s overall victory on Monday was slim, the network remained comfortably ahead in the key demo.
With “The Voice” falling slightly as it moved out of its popular opening rounds, several other networks got to celebrate positive returns.
“Bones” got only a small bump for its heavily promoted wedding episode, but  CBS’ “Mom” and a repeat of “The Big Bang Theory” posted solid gains, while “2 Broke Girls” was up a little despite a tiny drop for lead-in “How I Met Your Mother.”
Some of CBS’ increases are likely attributable to “Sleepy Hollow” taking the week off, but also to NFL preemption in Minneapolis, while “Hart of Dixie” and “Beauty and the Beast” are both hugely inflated by NFL preemptions in New York City.
On to the numbers…
Among adults 18-49, NBC averaged a 3.8 rating for Monday night, tops in the key demographic. Prone to finishing fourth in recent weeks, CBS was up to second with a 2.2 key demo rating, beating ABC’s 1.9 rating and FOX’s 1.6 rating in the key demo. The CW averaged an inflated 0.6 key demo rating.
Overall, NBC averaged an estimated 12.45 million viewers and a 7.6 rating/12 share for Monday primetime, compared to the 12.29 million viewers and 8.0/12 for ABC. There was a big drop to CBS’ 7.29 million viewers and 4.6/7, followed by FOX’s 5.43 million viewers and a 3.3/5. The CW averaged a 1.1/2 and 1.55 million viewers.
8 p.m. – ABC actually started primetime in first overall with 12.7 million viewers for “Dancing with the Stars,” which finished fourth with a 1.8 rating among adults 18-49. NBC’s “The Voice” was a close second with 12.68 million viewers and ruled the hour with a 3.9 key demo rating. CBS was third with “How I Met Your Mother” (7.87 million viewers and a 2.9 key demo) and “2 Broke Girls” (8.05 million and a 2.6 key demo). The “Bones” wedding drew 7.49 million viewers and a 2.1 key demo rating to FOX. On The CW, “Hart of Dixie” averaged 1.43 million viewers and a 0.6 key demo rating, which we all know “Hart of Dixie” didn’t actually do.
9 p.m. – “The Voice” moved NBC into first for the 9 p.m. hour with 14.11 million viewers and a 4.5 rating among adults 18-49. ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” was second with 13.53 million viewers and third with a 2.0 key demo rating. CBS was third overall and second in the key demo with a “Big Bang Theory” repeat (8.49 million viewers and a 2.5 key demo) and “Mom” (7.79 million and a 2.4 key demo rating), which rose appreciably in the demo against FOX’s repeat of “Sleepy Hollow” (3.37 million viewers and a 1.0 key demo rating). The CW’s “Beauty and the Beast” really didn’t draw 1.67 million viewers and a 0.6 key demo rating, so please ignore.
10 p.m. – “Castle” led the 10 p.m. hour overall with 10.64 million viewers, but finished a distant second with a 1.9 rating among adults 18-49. NBC’s “Blacklist” averaged 10.57 million viewers for second and won the hour with a 3.0 key demo rating. CBS’ “Hostages” averaged 5.77 million viewers and a 1.4 key demo rating, up from last week, but possibly due to the NFL bump.
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.
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