Ratings News - 14th October 2011 *Full Tables Updated*

Thursday 10/13/11 Overnights

Household
Rating/Share
CBS 8.1/13
Fox 7.4/12
ABC 5.5/ 9
NBC 3.4/ 5
CW 1.8/ 3

-Percent Change from the Year-Ago Evening (Thursday 10/14/10):
Fox: +48, CW: +38, CBS: - 9, ABC: -10, NBC: -11

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-Winners:
The Big Bang Theory (CBS), The X Factor (Fox), The Mentalist (CBS)

-Honorable Mention:
Person of Interest (CBS)

-Down but Not Out:
Grey’s Anatomy (ABC)

-Losers:
Charlie’s Angels (ABC), Community (NBC), Parks and Recreation (NBC), Whitney (NBC), The Secret Circle (CW), Prime Suspect (NBC)

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-Ratings Breakdown:
CBS led the Thursday overnights, beating No. 2 Fox by seven-tenths of a rating point. But two-hours of The X Factor should give Fox the advantage among adults 18-49 (and other young adult demos). Third overall was ABC, followed by NBC and The CW, which is on the plus side because it aired encore telecasts on the year-ago evening.

The Big Bang Theory on CBS finished as the top-rated show of the evening, with a 9.2 rating/15 share in the overnights at 8 p.m. Comparably, that built by three percent year-to-year. An encore telecast of The Big Bang Theory at 8:30 p.m. in place of canceled How To Be a Gentleman (which is being shipped off the Saturday to burn-off the remaining episodes) scored an also dominant 7.6/12. One week earlier, How To Be a Gentleman averaged a 4.7/ 8.

Next on CBS was older-skewing crime solver Person of Interest (#1: 7.8/12 at 9 p.m.), which built by seven percent week-to-week (7.3/11 on 10/06/11), followed by The Mentalist at a dominant 8.3/14 at 10 p.m. One year earlier, The Mentalist was stronger with a 9.8/16 on 10/15/10. While Person of Interest built marginally from the Big Bang Theory encore, it will pale in comparison in the younger demos. Regardless, you can expect a full season episode order any day now.

The X Factor on Fox, which was delayed one night due to baseball, scored a now typical 7.4/12 in the overnights from 8-10 p.m., with the half-hour breakdown as follows:

The X Factor (Fox)
8:00 p.m.: 7.1/12 (#2)
8:30 p.m.: 7.5/12 (#2)
9:00 p.m.: 7.6/12 (#2)
9:30 p.m.: 7.4/11 (#3)

Compared to year-ago occupant Bones (6.4/10) and Fringe (3.6/ 6 on 10/15/10), which is now dying on Friday, The X Factor lifted Fox by an average of 48 percent in the overnights. Had expectations for The X Factor not been so high (blame that on Simon Cowell), this would have been considered a bona fide hit.

Over at ABC, 8 p.m. anchor Charlie’s Angels is still bleeding, with a series-low 4.1/ 7 in the overnights (#3) at 8 p.m. Four-week overnight track: 6.1/10 – 4.6/ 8 – 4.2/ 7 – 4.1/ 7. One year earlier, a repeat of Grey’s Anatomy (in place of canceled My Generation) averaged a 3.4/ 5 on 10/15/10. At 9 p.m., Grey’s Anatomy rose to a 7.5/12 (#3), but year-to-year that was a loss of 16 percent (8.9/14 on 10/15/10). With weaker lead-in support, spin-off Private Practice at 10 p.m. dropped to a 5.0/ 9 -- 17 percent below one year earlier (6.0/10 on 10/15/10).

On NBC, 8-9 p.m. comedies Community (#4: 2.6/ 4) and Parks and Recreation (#4: 2.7/ 4) have slid to embarrassingly low levels. Demo favorite The Office perked up to a 4.1/ 6 at 9 p.m. (#4), but year-to-year is down by 21 percent in the overnights (5.2/ 8 on 10/15/10). Recent entry Whitney, which is not the hit people seem to think, dropped to a series low 3.2/ 5 at 9:30 p.m. Comparably, that was down by 16 percent from failed year-ago occupant Outsourced (3.8/ 6 on 10/15/10). Four-week overnight track for Whitney: 5.0/ 8 – 3.8/ 6 – 3.5/ 5 – 3.2/ 5.

Failing crime solver Prime Suspect on NBC at 10 p.m. also sunk to its weakest overnight performance to-date, with a 3.8/ 6 (#3) at 10 p.m. Four-week overnight track for Prime Suspect: 4.6/ 6 – 4.2/ 7 – 4.0/ 7 – 3.8/ 6.

On The CW, recent entry The Secret Circle was just picked-up for the remainder of the season. But a 1.5/ 2 in the overnights at 9 p.m. (#5) dipped by a noticeable 29 percent from the 8:30 p.m. portion of lead-in The Vampire Diaries (2.1/ 3). And year-ago occupant Nikita, on average, was still a stronger option. Overall, The Vampire Diaries averaged a 2.2/ 4 in the 8 p.m. hour.

Source: Nielsen Media Research data

Source: Marc Berman@TVMediaInsights