TV Ratings: ‘Idol’ and ‘Community’ miss post-sweeps bounces as FOX rules Thursday

Fast National ratings for Thursday, February 28, 2013.

Despite reduced competition on the first night after the February sweeps period, “American Idol” failed to get a bounce for FOX, though the network still ruled Thursday in all measures.

Also unable to take advantage of repeats were NBC’s “Community” and ABC’s “Zero Hour.”

Among adults 18-49, FOX averaged a 3.8 rating, far ahead of CBS’ 2.0 rating for Thursday night in the key demographic. ABC and NBC both averaged a 0.9 rating in the key demo, while The CW did a 0.3 key demo rating.

Overall, FOX averaged an estimated 12.47 million viewers and a 7.5 rating/12 share for Thursday primetime, with CBS’ 5.7/9 and 8.92 million viewers in a distant second. ABC averaged a 2.6/4 and 3.71 million viewers, compared to the 1.9/3 and 2.83 million viewers for NBC. The CW averaged a 0.6/1 and 966,000 viewers.

[Univision was actually third for the night with 3.88 million viewers and a 1.6 rating among adults 18-49.]

8 p.m. – “American Idol” ruled the 8 p.m. hour with 11.98 million viewers and a 3.6 rating among adults 18-49, but even with “Big Bang Theory” in a repeat, “Idol” was down steeply in the 8:00 half-hour. CBS was still second with repeats of “The Big Bang Theory” (10.69 million and a 2.8 key demo) and “Two and a Half Men” (8.36 million and a 2.2 key demo). ABC’s “Zero Hour” averaged 5.025 million viewers and a 1.0 key demo rating, down a little. NBC was fourth with “Community” (2.74 million and a 1.1 key demo) and a “Parks and Recreation” repeat (2.16 million viewers and a 0.9 key demo). A repeat of “The Vampire Diaries” drew 1.135 million viewers and a 0.4 key demo rating on The CW.

9 p.m. – The second hour of “American Idol” rose to 12.95 million viewers and a 4.0 rating among adults 18-49, flat in the key demo from the comparable hour last week, though down in viewers. CBS’ repeat of “Person of Interest” averaged 9.5 million viewers and a 1.9 key demo rating. ABC was third with 3.34 million viewers and a 0.9 key demo rating for a repeat of “Scandal.” NBC followed with a repeat of “The Office” (2.26 million and a 1.0 key demo) and a new “1600 Penn” (2.23 million and a 0.9 key demo rating). [At least one major market preempted the NBC hour for a “Matlock” episode, which almost certainly isn’t relevant to the numbers, but is still kinda funny.] The CW’s “Beauty and the Beast” repeat averaged 797,000 viewers and a 0.3 key demo rating.

10 p.m. – CBS moved into first in the 10 p.m. hour with 7.72 million viewers and a 1.6 key demo rating for a repeat of “Elementary.” NBC’s “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” repeat was second with 3.8 million viewers and a 0.9 key demo rating, beating the 2.76 million viewers and 0.8 key demo for ABC’s encore of Jimmy Kimmel’s post-Oscars episode.