Fast National ratings for Monday, September 22, 2014.
Even airing outside of its normal Thursday home, “The Big Bang Theory” had a huge launch on Monday, combining with a strong premiere for “Scorpion” to help CBS snatch the Monday ratings crown from NBC, at least overall.
“Big Bang Theory” helped push “The Voice” to a relatively low fall launch, though “Blacklist” returned with big numbers to dominate the “Under the Dome” finale and carry NBC to a win among young viewers.
Over on FOX, the exhaustively promoted premiere of “Gotham” did reasonably big numbers, especially in the key demo, but the return of “Sleepy Hollow” after a nine-month absence was somewhat soft.
Finally, the night's other major debut was ABC's sneak of “Forever,” which drew well below the normal “Castle” ratings for its time period.
Stay tuned for more analysis later when Final Live+Same Day ratings become available.
Now, on to the Fast National numbers…
Among adults 18-49, NBC averaged a 3.7 rating for Monday night, edging out CBS' 3.5 rating in the key demographic. FOX was a solid third with a 2.6 key demo rating,followed by ABC's 1.8 key demo rating. The CW averaged a 0.3 key demo rating for the night.
Overall, though, CBS averaged an estimated 13.15 million viewers and a 7.9 rating/12 share for Monday primetime, edging out NBC's 12.64 million viewers and a 7.5/12. ABC was third with 10.73 million viewers and a 7.1/11. FOX was a distant fourth with 6.77 million viewers and a 4.0/6. The CW's 1.08 million viewers and 0.7/1 trailed.
8 p.m. – CBS dominated the start of Monday primetime with a whopping 17.87 million viewers and a 5.3 rating among adults 18-49 for two episodes of “The Big Bang Theory.” NBC's “The Voice” was far back in second with 11.8 million viewers and a 3.5 key demo rating, followed closely by the 11.555 million viewers for ABC's “Dancing with the Stars” and not so closely by the 1.8 key demo rating for “Dancing.” FOX's “Gotham” premiered with 7.99 million viewers and a 3.2 key demo rating, easily beating “The Voice” in all young male demos. On The CW, two repeats of “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” averaged 999,000 viewers and a 0.3 key demo rating.
9 p.m. – CBS remained in first overall for the 9 p.m. hour with 14.01 million viewers for “Scorpion,” slipping to second with a 3.3 rating among adults 18-49. [“Scorpion” did 14.53 million and a 3.4 key demo for the 9 p.m. half-hour and 13.49 million and a 3.1 key demo for the 9:30 half-hour.] “The Voice” rose to 13.67 million viewers and an hour-winning 4.3 key demo rating for NBC. Also rising was ABC's “Dancing with the Stars,” which averaged 12.39 million viewers and a 2.2 key demo rating. With its first new episode since January, “Sleepy Hollow” averaged 5.55 million viewers and a 2.0 key demo rating in fourth, though it doubled “Dancing” in most male demos. The CW's “America's Next Top Model” averaged 1.17 million viewers and a 0.4 key demo rating.
10 p.m. – “The Blacklist” closed primetime with 12.45 million viewers and a 3.4 rating among adults 18-49 for NBC. ABC's “Forever” sneak averaged 8.26 million viewers for second and a 1.5 key demo rating for third, compared to the 7.56 million viewers and 1.8 key demo rating for CBS' “Under the Dome” finale.
All ratings information comes from preliminary Fast National Nielsen data, which includes live and same-day DVR viewing. All numbers are subject to change.