Ratings News - 12th October 2012 *Full Tables Posted*

Metered Market Thursday Ratings
Solid Results for the Vice Presidential Debate; Respectable Sampling for Beauty and the Beast

Household
Rating/Share
CBS 6.4/10
ABC 5.3/ 8
Fox 4.7/ 7
NBC 4.3/ 6
CW 2.3/ 4

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-Note: The year-to-year percent comparisons are excluded due to the Vice Presidential Debate last night.

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-Winners:
The Big Bang Theory (CBS), Two and a Half Men (CBS)

-Respectable Sampling:
Beauty and the Beast (CW)

-Losers (excluding repeats):
30 Rock (NBC), Up All Night (NBC)

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-Ratings Breakdown:
CBS led this atypical Thursday in the overnights, which is approximate due to the live Vice Presidential Debate between Joe Biden and Paul Ryan from 9-10:30 p.m. ET.

The Eye net stood well above the competition from 8-9 p.m. care of The Big Bang Theory (#1 for the evening: 9.8 rating/16 share) and relocated Two and a Half Men (#1: 7.6/12), which was equal to an encore telecast of Big Bang in this time period on the year-ago evening (but down from its former Monday 9 p.m. time period).

Second in the 8 p.m. hour was The X Factor on Fox (6.0/10), which dropped by 19 percent year-to-year, followed by week three of drama Last Resort on ABC, which slipped to a 4.7/ 8 (and needs to stop bleeding now if there is any future). Despite the erosion, Last Resort was still 17 percent above failed year-go occupant Charlie’s Angels (4.0/ 7 on 10/13/11). Three-week overnight track for Last Resort: 6.5/11 – 5.5/ 9 – 4.7/ 8).

Next was NBC’s lackluster combination of sitcoms 30 Rock (#4: 2.7/ 4) and Up All Night (#4: 2.4/ 4), followed by the fourth season-premiere of The Vampire Diaries on The CW at a 2.4/ 4. Comparatively, The Vampire Diaries was right on par with its year-ago season-opener (on 9/15/11).

In series-premiere news (and opposite the Vice Presidential Debate on the four competing networks) was the remake of Beauty and the Beast on The CW at a 2.4/ 4 (#5). While that was, comparably, equal to the debut of former time period occupant The Secret Circle, erosion of 19 percent in the second half-hour (2.6/ 4 to 2.1/ 3) could be a concern. Keep in mind that Arrow opened with a 3.0/ 5 in the overnights on Wednesday.

The approximate results for coverage of the Vice Presidential Debate was close between the Big 3 networks. ABC averaged a 5.8/ 9 in the overnights from 9-10:30 p.m., followed by NBC at a 5.4/ 8 and CBS at a 5.2/ 8. Fox, meanwhile, scored a 3.5/ 5 and the four networks totaled a hefty 19.9/30 (which does not, of course, include coverage on the cable networks).

The half-hour analysis at 10:30 p.m. scored a 4.9/ 7 on NBC, followed by a 4.8/ 7 for ABC and a 4.3/ 7 for CBS.

Source: Nielsen Media Research

Source: Marc Berman@TVMediaInsights