Yesterday was Valentines Day, and with just one of the twelve shows that also aired last week seeing an increase in their audience numbers last night, plenty of people must have spent the evening away from their TVs and doing something special with their someone special.
8pm saw The Big Bang Theory and American Idol on FOX and CBS respectively, dominate as usual, though not to the same extent that they did last week. The Big Bang Theory earned a 5.5 18-49 rating and 17.89 million viewers, which was well down on last week's 6.2 rating and 18.98 million viewers. However its margin over American Idol remained pretty large, with American Idol earning a 3.7 rating and 12.59 million viewers, down on last weeks 4.1 rating and 13.28 million viewers
On ABC, the premiere of Zero Hour aired, but the reception was pretty ordinary thanks to the poor choice of timeslot by ABC. The final rating was a 1.4, with 6.38 million viewers. Perhaps canceled show Last Resort may have fared a little better, or worse?? We can only speculate
The second episode of season 4 of NBC's Community also aired up against the three shows I've just talked about. Following last week's 1.9 rating and 3.88 million viewers - the highest rating since February 2, 2011, a drop of 1.1 million viewers for last nights episode saw the rating end up at a 1.2, which was also a new series low. Despite this, Community's audience was up on the finale of season 3, which was where the previous series low rating was last hit, a 1.3.
8:30pm saw Two and a Half Men take over from The Big Bang Theory, earning a 3.8 rating and 13.69 million viewers, down slightly, like most other shows, on last week's 4.1 rating and 14.12 million viewers. NBC's Parks and Recreation took the reigns from Community, earning a 1.5 rating and 3.18 million viewers, down half a ratings point on last week's 2.0 rating and 3.76 million viewers
CBS's Person of Interest won the 9pm timeslot, earning a 3.0 rating and 14.87 million viewers. Last week's episode earned a 3.1 rating and 14.88 million viewers, making Person of Interest the show that dropped the least viewers on last week, at just 10,000. The Live+7 numbers in 3 weeks time will paint a more accurate picture of that difference.
Grey's Anatomy on ABC had yet another ratings slide, down to a 2.8 rating and 8.57 million viewers from last week's 3.1 rating and 8.91 million viewers. Over on FOX, Glee also experienced a drop on last week's 2.2 rating and 6.03 million viewers, with last night's episode earning a 1.7 rating and 5.13 million viewers. The drop American Idol experienced could have a lot to do with this result. A hour long edition of The Office on NBC averaged a 2.0 rating and 4.06 million viewers for the hour, down on last week's half hour episode which earned a 2.1 rating and 4.15 million viewers.
The CW's The Vampire Diaries at 8pm earned a 1.0 rating and 2.31 million viewers, down on last week's 1.1 rating and 2.50 million viewers. Beauty and The Beast at 9pm shared the same 0.1 ratings drop. with last nights episode earning a 0.5 rating and 1.40 million viewers. Last week's episode earned a 0.6 rating and 1.48 million viewers.
History was almost made for ABC's Scandal at 10pm, with the preliminary broadcast ratings showing Scandal equaling it's lead-in Grey's Anatomy's 2.8 rating. Unfortunately the final ratings adjusted Scandal down to a 2.7 rating and 8.02 million viewers. Last week's episode earned a series high equaling 2.8 rating and 8.14 million viewers. With the awesomeness level of this show constantly rising, it seems it's just a matter of time until Scandal eclipses Grey's Anatomy and becomes ABC's best rating show on Thursdays.
On CBS, Elementary was the only show that increased its ratings and audience on last week's episode, as I alluded to in the first paragraph of this article. Last night's episode earned a 2.3 rating and 10.98 million viewers, which was better than last week's 2.2 rating and 10.84 million viewers.
Finishing up the night, on NBC, a repeat of Law and Order:SVU replaced the canceled Do No Harm, and it rated better than Do No Harm as well, with a 0.9 rating and 3.33 million viewers. This was better than Do No Harm's 0.7 rating and 2.21 million viewers last week.
So Elementary was the only show that aired last week, to increase its ratings and/or audience on last week's episode. Person of Interest's audience was down on last week by the tiniest of margins. Do you think Valentines Day was the only factor in the drop in ratings and audience for all the other shows, or was there something else at play. Make sure you have your say in the comments below!!
Thanks for reading. You can see the statistics and analysis for most of these shows on my website, www.seriesmonitor.com
Jimmy
