Fast National ratings for Thursday, May 23, 2013.
Even in repeats, “The Big Bang Theory” was Thursday’s most watched show and led CBS to an overall win, but “Hell’s Kitchen” and an OK premiere for ‘Does Someone Have To Go’ helped FOX win among young viewers.
There were a few other notables on the first Thursday of the season. “Rookie Blue” started its fourth season by winning the 10 p.m. hour, ABC’s “Motive” drew an acceptable audience in its time period debut, NBC’s “Save Me” had a predictably weak launch and “Hannibal” failed to get a notable bump without competition.
For the night, FOX averaged a 1.7 rating among adults 18-49, tops in the key demographic. CBS was second with a 1.4 key demo rating, topping ABC’s 1.2 key demo rating for the night. NBC was fourth with a 0.8 key demo rating, while The CW averaged a 0.2 rating in the key demo.
Overall, though, CBS averaged an estimated 6.63 million viewers and a 4.3 rating/7 share for Thursday, topping ABC’s 5.35 million viewers and a 3.5/6. FOX was third with a 2.6/4 and 4.28 million viewers, beating the 1.8/3 and 2.615 million viewers for NBC. The CW averaged 799,000 viewers and a 0.6/1.
8 p.m. – CBS led the 8 p.m. hour overall and finished second in the key demo with repeats of “The Big Bang Theory” (8.84 million and a 2.2 key demo rating) and “Two and a Half Men” (7.62 million and a 1.8 key demo). FOX’s “Hell’s Kitchen” was second with 5.48 million viewers and won the hour with a 2.1 rating among adults 18-49. ABC’s “Wipeout” was third with 4.12 million viewers and a 1.2 key demo rating, topping the 3.105 million viewers and 0.7 key demo rating for two episodes of “Save Me” on NBC. The CW’s repeat of “The Vampire Diaries” averaged 864,000 viewers and a 0.3 key demo rating.
9 p.m. – A “Person of Interest” repeat won the 9 p.m. hour overall with 6.84 million viewers for CBS, tying for second with a 1.2 key demo rating. ABC’s “Motive” averaged a respectable 5.94 million viewers and a 1.2 key demo rating, holding its audience steadily. FOX’s “Does Someone Have To Go” drew an unimpressive 3.08 million viewers, but won the hour with a 1.3 key demo rating, which should be enough to let network promos call the show a new reality hit. NBC’s repeats of “The Office” and “Parks and Recreation” averaged 2 million viewers and a 0.7 key demo rating in fourth. The CW averaged 735,000 viewers and a 0.2 key demo rating for a “Beauty and the Beast” repeat.
10 p.m. – “Rookie Blue” won the 10 p.m. hour with 5.98 million viewers and a 1.2 rating among adults 18-49. CBS’ “Elementary” repeat was second with 4.82 million viewers and third with a 0.9 key demo rating. NBC’s “Hannibal” averaged 2.74 million viewers and a 1.0 key demo rating, failing to show any growth with “Scandal” and “Elementary” away.
All ratings information comes from preliminary Fast National Nielsen data, which includes live and same-day DVR viewing. All numbers are subject to change.