Fast National ratings for Tuesday, April 26.
It’s been a long time since NBC has had regular ratings news to get excited about. Then again, in this season of tepid debuts, it’s been a while since any network has had series ratings news to get excited about.
Certainly Tuesday’s launch of “The Voice” counts as good news for the struggling Peacock Network. The “X Factor”-esque talent show drew big numbers overall and even more impressive numbers among young viewers, even clobbering FOX’s “Glee,” pacing NBC to rare Tuesday prominence.
Among adults 18-49, NBC averaged a 4.3 rating for the night, beating FOX’s 3.0 and ABC’s 2.7 rating in the key demographic. CBS was fourth with a 1.9 rating, leaving The CW’s 0.6 rating in fifth.
Overall, though, ABC came out on top on Tuesday, averaging 14.3 million viewers and a 9.3 rating/14 share. NBC was second with 10.34 million viewers, beating CBS’ 9.79 million. FOX’s 7.55 million viewers were good for fourth, with The CW’s 1.3 million viewers (impacted by pre-emptions in Chicago) finished fifth.
8 p.m. – ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” recap show won the 8 p.m. hour overall with 12.85 million viewers, but finished third with a 2.4 rating among adults 18-49. A repeat of “NCIS” was second with 11.14 million viewers for CBS. FOX was third overall with a low 8.51 million viewers for “Glee,” which won the hour with a 3.4 demo rating. NBC’s “The Biggest Loser” finished fourth overall with 7.5 million viewers and second in the key demo with a 2.7 demo rating. That left The CW in fifth with 1.54 million viewers for “One Tree Hill.”
9 p.m. – The week’s “Dancing with the Stars” results still won the 9 p.m. hour overall, giving ABC nearly 18 million viewers and a second place 3.5 rating among adults 18-49, but the hour’s big news came from NBC. The first hour of “The Voice” averaged 11.37 million viewers and a 4.9 rating among adults 18-49, both exceeding most expectations. CBS was third with 10.215 million viewers for a repeat of “NCIS: Los Angeles.” FOX was fourth with the last half-hour of “Glee” (8.59 million and a 3.4 rating), which held up well decently against “The Voice,” and a new “Raising Hope” (4.6 million viewers and a 1.9 demo rating). The CW’s “Hellcats” was fifth with 1.06 million viewers and a 0.4 demo rating.
10 p.m. – “The Voice” improved to 12.16 million viewers and a 5.4 rating among adults 18-49, certainly a good sign for NBC. But speaking of good signs, ABC has to be pleased that “Body of Proof” held onto 12.06 million viewers and an OK 2.3 demo rating in second. CBS’ repeat of “The Mentalist” was third with 8.01 million viewers.
All ratings information comes from preliminary Fast National Nielsen data, which includes live and same-day DVR viewing. All numbers are subject to change.