Ratings News - 22nd May 2012

Update: 17:00 House got a 2.9 rating in the 18-49 Demo and a total of 8.7 Million viewers.

Metered Market Monday Ratings
ABC Wins; House on Fox Concludes on a Respectable Note

Monday 5/21/12
Metered Market Results

Household
Rating/Share
ABC 8.1/13
Fox 5.5/ 9
NBC 4.5/ 7
CBS 3.9/ 6
CW 0.4/ 1

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-Percent Change from Year-Ago Evening – Monday 5/23/11
NBC: +32, Fox and CW: no change, CBS: - 9, ABC: -15

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-Winners:
Dancing With the Stars (ABC), America’s Got Talent (NBC), House (Fox), The Bachelorette (ABC)

-Losers (excluding repeats):
Nothing…46 percent of the schedule was in repeats.

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-Ratings Breakdown:
ABC topped this final Monday of the “traditional” TV season, with a 2.6 metered market rating point advantage over second-place Fox. Third overall was NBC, followed by a CBS, which dipped to fourth as a result of its encore sitcom rotation, and The CW, which was also in repeats.

In series-finale news, long-running Fox medical drama House finished second overall in the 9 p.m. hour, with a 6.3 rating/10 share in the overnights. Comparably, that was an increase 50 percent from the 4.2/ 6 one week earlier. While nothing extraordinary, a round of applause to House for a very successful eight year run.

Earlier in the evening on Fox was a House retrospective special at a third-place 4.9/ 8 at 8 p.m.

On ABC, a one-hour edition of Dancing With the Stars, which concludes for the season tonight, won the 8 p.m. hour (and the evening) with ease at a 12.0/19 at 8 p.m. But, compared to the year-ago evening (15.5/24 on 5/23/11) this was a loss of 23 percent. Dancing With the Stars led into two-hours of summer favorite The Bachelorette, which scored a respectable 6.0/ 9 from 9-11 p.m. Here is the half-hour breakdown:

The Bachelorette (ABC)
9:00 p.m.: 6.8/10 (#1)
9:30 p.m.: 6.0/ 9 (#2)
10:00 p.m.: 5.7/ 9 (#1)
10:30 p.m.: 5.4/ 9 (#1)

Next Monday, The Bachelorette shifts into the 8-10 p.m., with encore telecasts of Castle at 10 p.m. As for who will win the cheesy mirror ball trophy on the season-finale of Dancing With the Stars tonight, my pick is a true gentleman, Donald Driver.

For a look at our analysis of ABC’s fall schedule, click here: http://tinyurl.com/cmxcohv

In summer season-premiere news, two episodes of American Ninja Warrior on NBC, which originates on cable net G4, returned with a 3.6/ 6 in the overnights from 9-11 p.m. The lead-in, America’s Got Talent, scored a second-place 6.2/10 from 8-9 p.m., which put retention for American Ninja Warrior at 58 percent. Comparably, however, the young skewing American Ninja Warrior built by 29 percent from its overnight average on NBC last August. Here is the half-hour breakdown:

American Ninja Warrior (NBC)
9:00 p.m.: 4.0/ 6 (#4)
9:30 p.m.: 3.7/ 6 (#4)
10:00 p.m.: 3.6/ 6 (#3)
10:30 p.m.: 3.3/ 6 (#3)

In the specials department, Clash of the Commercials: USA vs. The World on CBS finished second with a 4.1/ 7 in the overnights at 10 p.m. Comparably, that was a loss of 13 percent from the year-ago evening (4.7/ 8 on 5/23/11). Earlier in the evening on the Eye net were repeats of How I Met Your Mother (#4: 3.0/ 5), 2 Broke Girls (#4: 3.2/ 5), Two and a Half Men (#3: 4.8/ 7) and Mike & Molly (#3: 4.2/ 6) from 8-10 p.m.

The CW capped off the evening with back-to-back repeats of One Tree Hill at an average 0.4/ 1 from 8-10 p.m.

Source: Nielsen Media Research data

Source: Marc Berman@TVMediaInsights