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[01/13/12 - 08:37 AM]
Thursday's Broadcast Ratings: CBS Rides "Big Bang," "Rob" to Victory
By The Futon Critic Staff (TFC)

nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for thursday, january 12, 2012)

Here are the highlights of the 16 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night:

CBS (14.28 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.5, #1) snagged the top spot on Thursday with a new "The Big Bang Theory" (15.93 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 5.2, #1), the premiere of "Rob" (13.48 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 4.1, #2) and fresh installments of "Person of Interest" (14.73 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.2, #4) and "The Mentalist" (13.40 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.7, #6).

Second place then went to ABC (8.14 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.8, #2) with new episodes of "Winter Wipeout" (7.13 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 2.2, #9), "Grey's Anatomy" (10.59 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 3.8, #3) and "Private Practice" (6.70 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 2.4, #T7).

Next up was FOX (7.04 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.0, #3) with the winter finale of "Bones" (8.63 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.4, #T7) and the debut of "The Finder" (5.45 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.7, #13).

Meanwhile, NBC (4.55 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.8, #4) offered up its new lineup of "30 Rock" (4.57 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.8, #12), "Parks & Recreation" (4.10 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 1.9, #11), "The Office" (5.87 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 2.9, #5), "Up All Night" (4.28 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 2.0, #10) and "The Firm" (4.24 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.0, #15).

And finally, new episodes of "The Vampire Diaries" (2.81 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 1.2, #14) and "The Secret Circle" (2.06 million viewers, #16; adults 18-49: 0.8, #16) on The CW (2.43 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.0, #5) closed out the night. In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), "Diaries" posted a 1.6 rating while "Circle" delivered a 1.2 rating.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+14.29% - Person of Interest (vs. 12/15/11)
+11.76% - Parks & Recreation (vs. 12/8/11)
+11.11% - Up All Night (vs. 12/7/11)
+10.64% - The Big Bang Theory (vs. 12/8/11)
0.00% - The Office (vs. 12/8/11)
0.00% - The Mentalist (vs. 12/15/11)
0.00% - The Secret Circle
-11.11% - Bones (vs. 12/8/11)
-14.29% - Private Practice
-14.29% - The Vampire Diaries
-15.56% - Grey's Anatomy
-21.43% - Winter Wipeout
-28.57% - The Firm (vs. 1/8/12)

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
100.00% - The Vampire Diaries (vs. The Vampire Diaries (Repeat))
93.33% - The Office (vs. The Office (Repeat))
73.33% - The Big Bang Theory (vs. The Big Bang Theory (Repeat))
63.64% - 30 Rock (vs. Community (Repeat))
60.00% - The Secret Circle (vs. Nikita (Repeat))
58.33% - Parks & Recreation (vs. Community (Repeat))
52.38% - Person of Interest (vs. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (Repeat))
42.11% - The Mentalist (vs. The Mentalist (Repeat))
41.38% - Rob (vs. Bleep My Dad Says)
41.18% - Bones (vs. Million Dollar Money Drop)
30.77% - The Finder (vs. Bones (Repeat))
20.00% - Private Practice (vs. Off the Map (Repeat))
17.65% - Up All Night (vs. The Office (Repeat))
-13.64% - Grey's Anatomy
-16.67% - The Firm (vs. 30 Rock (Repeat))
-38.89% - Winter Wipeout

In late-night metered market ratings (via NBC's press release):

In Nielsen's 56 metered markets, household results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 2.9/7; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.9/7; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 3.3/8; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.6/5.

In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 0.9/4; "Late Show," 0.8/3; "Nightline," 1.2/5; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.6/3.

At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.6/5 in metered-market households) beat CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (1.4/5). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.6/4 in 18-49) topped "Late Late Show" (0.4/3).

At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 1.0/4 in metered-market households with an encore and a 0.4/3 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.


Here are the highlights of the 17 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (1/13/11):

ABC (9.58 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.3, #1) was the network to beat on Thursday with its mix of "Wipeout" (10.52 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.6, #2), "Grey's Anatomy" (12.21 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 4.4, #1) and an encore of "Off the Map" (6.02 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 2.0, #6).

The silver then went to CBS (10.12 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.3, #2) with its lineup of "The Big Bang Theory" (10.41 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 3.0, #3), a new "Bleep My Dad Says" (10.19 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.9, #4), "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (9.73 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.1, #5) and "The Mentalist" (10.33 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.9, #7).

Next up was FOX (5.04 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.5, #3) with a new "Million Dollar Money Drop" (5.65 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.7, #T8) followed by a repeat of "Bones" (4.43 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T12).

Meanwhile, NBC (2.89 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.3, #4) was all repeats with its combination of "Community" (2.78 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T15), another "Community" (2.45 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 1.2, #14), "The Office" (3.25 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.5, #10), another "The Office" (3.60 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.7, #T8), "30 Rock" (2.80 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T12) and another "30 Rock" (2.47 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T15).

And finally, repeats of "The Vampire Diaries" (1.65 million viewers, #16; adults 18-49: 0.6, #16) and "Nikita" (1.52 million viewers, #17; adults 18-49: 0.5, #17) on The CW (1.58 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.6, #5) closed out the evening.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): Million Dollar Money Drop (30.80%), Grey's Anatomy (4.80%), Wipeout (-2.70%).

Source: Nielsen Media Research





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