Rating News - 17th February - Bones, Grey's, Vampire Diaries & More

Prime-Time Ratings:
Thursday 2/17/11

-Total Viewers:
Fox: 15.95 million, CBS: 13.11, ABC: 7.75, NBC: 4.21, CW: 2.57

-Adults 18-49:
Fox: 5.4 rating/15 share, CBS: 3.0/ 9, ABC: 2.7/ 8, NBC: 2.0/ 6, CW: 1.1/ 3

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-Yesterday’s Winners:
American Idol (Fox), The Big Bang Theory (CBS), CSI (CBS), Grey’s Anatomy (ABC), The Mentalist (CBS)

-Honorable Mention:
The Office (NBC)

-Yesterday’s Losers (excluding repeats):
Community (NBC), Perfect Couples (NBC), Parks and Recreation (NBC), 30 Rock (NBC), Outsourced (NBC)

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-Ratings Breakdown:
Yes, American Idol is down year-to-year. But the still wildly popular reality/competition has lifted Fox to Thursday dominance with ad advantage over second-place CBS of 2.84 million viewers and 2.4 rating points among adults 18-49. Third overall in both categories was ABC, followed by lowly NBC and The CW, which should consider strengthening the Thursday 9 p.m. hour next season. Nikita…you need to leave.

American Idol averaged 21.94 million viewers and a 7.5 rating/22 share among adults 18-49 from 8-9 p.m., which was easily the top-rated show of the evening. But CBS’ competing The Big Bang Theory was no slouch at a solid (and second-place) 12.48 million viewers and a 3.7/11 in the demo at 8 p.m. The season (or series) finale of lead-out $#*! My Dad Says on the Eye net also finished second at 8:30 p.m., but it dipped to 9.78 million viewers and a 2.6/ 8 in the demo. Unfortunately, there is no reason to believe last night’s cliffhanger will ever get resolved because CBS knows it can do better out of Sheldon, Leonard and company. Who do you think should play William Shatner’s third son?

As a reminder, Rules of Engagement on CBS moves into the Thursday 8:30 p.m. half hour on Feb.24. Chances are it will perform in the exact vicinity of $#*! My Dad Says.

CBS was the most-watched network at 9 p.m. care of veteran CSI at 13.27 million viewers, but it ranked third among adults 18-49 with a 2.9/ 8 in the demo. Lead-out The Mentalist finished first in both total viewers (14.94 million viewers) and adults 18-49 (3.0/ 9) at 10 p.m.

Fox capped off the night with relocated Bones at 9.95 million viewers (#3) and a second-place 3.3/ 9 among adults 18-49 at 9 p.m.

Over at ABC, Wipeout has lost steam opposite American Idol, with just 6.19 million viewers (#3) and a 1.9/ 6 among adults 18-49 (#3) from 8-9 p.m. But that is still an improvement from other ABC programming airing in the time period this season. Next was diluted Grey’s Anatomy (Viewers: #2, 10.20 million; A18-49: #1, 3.7/10 at 9 p.m.), which still deserves accolades for the solid growth and strength among the target young demos, followed by spin-off Private Practice at a second-place finish in both total viewers (6.85 million) and the demo (2.4/ 7) at 10 p.m. Although Private Practice trailed competing The Mentalist by a considerable 8.09 million viewers, its disadvantage among adults 18-49 was a less extensive 20 percent.

NBC, which is in dire need of a mass appeal hit sitcom, had nothing unusual to report with its three-hour sitcom block as follows:

Thursday/NBC
8:00 p.m. – Community
Viewers: 4.16 million (#4), A18-49: 1.8/ 5 (#3)

8:30 p.m. – Perfect Couples
Viewers: 3.05 million (#4), A18-49: 1.4/ 4 (#4) – series low

9:00 p.m. – The Office
Viewers: 6.41 million (#4), A18-49: 3.3/ 9 (#3)

9:30 p.m. – Parks and Recreation
Viewers: 4.39 million (#4), A18-49: 2.3/ 6 (#4)

10:00 p.m. – 30 Rock
Viewers: 4.06 million (#3), A18-49: 2.0/ 6 (#3)

10:30 p.m. – Outsourced
Viewers: 3.21 million (#3), A18-49: 1.5/ 4 (#3)

And The Vampire Diaries on The CW remains its top-rated series, with 3.01 million viewers (#5) and a 1.4/ 4 among adults 18-49 (#5) last night. But lead-out Nikita dipped to 2.14 million viewers and a 0.8/ 2 in the demo at 9 p.m. -- 38 percent below the 8:30 p.m. portion of The Vampire Diaries in the demo (1.3/ 4).

Source: pifeedback