- CBS' Power Hours were mostly pretty powerful, though I did expect better out of the first hour. The Big Bang Theory ended up narrowly up year-to-year and should be the week's #2 entertainment show. That's of course a good number, but I expected low-to-mid 5's based on its big gains late last season. But once-beastly Two and a Half Men was the real disappointment, only holding onto about 70% of the Big Bang audience. You know when CBS PR is saying, "We solidly beat last year's How to Be a Gentleman premiere!" that there is a problem. Person of Interest did pretty "meh" and Elementary had arguably the first genuinely strong series premiere of the week to date. It tied what POI did on premiere night last year, and that show had a 5.1 lead-in.
- On ABC, Last Resort brought much better critical reviews to the Thursday 8/7c hour but not really meaningfully better ratings. It was just another old-skewing low-2's entry like last season's Charlie's Angels (2.1) and Missing (2.1). As with those shows, it could be OK if it holds up well. Those didn't. The really good news on ABC came later in the evening. Grey's Anatomy may have been the hottest show on TV at the very end of last season, and it parlayed that into an exceedingly rare up year-to-year premiere. Scandal couldn't even hold half of the Grey's demo and was a tick below last season's finale. That still makes it the second-biggest episode in the show's short history and a little ahead of last year's premiere, but it is not much of a start.
- As first predicted on the fall preview (gotta take the victories where I can get 'em at this point), Glee took it in the chin against Grey's Anatomy, dropping by an ugly 17% in week three. The X Factor held up a little better.
- NBC was inflated by local Thursday Night Football telecasts, and after finals the comedies all ended up within a tenth of last week. The only real significance is that the gain by Up All Night perhaps alleviates the notion that the show could get pulled in the super-short term.
- As for Thursday Night Football, the seemingly weak Browns/Ravens matchup (3.3) may have drawn a little extra interest due to the return of the regular referees.
FULL TABLE:
| Info | Show | Timeslot | True2 | ||||||
| Viewers | A18-49 | Last | LeLa | Rank | y2y | TLa | Ty2y | ||
| Last Resort | 9.31 | 2.2 | n/a | n/a | 1/1 | n/a | +83% | +2% | 2.42 |
| Grey's Anatomy | 11.73 | 4.4 | n/a | n/a | 1/1 | +7% | +300% | +11% | 4.65 |
| Scandal | 6.74 | 2.1 | n/a | n/a | 1/1 | +5% | +147% | -51% | 1.80 |
| The Big Bang Theory | 15.66 | 5.0 | n/a | n/a | 1/1 | +2% | +150% | +2% | 5.29 |
| Two and a Half Men | 12.54 | 3.5 | n/a | n/a | 1/1 | -67% | +40% | -31% | 3.24 |
| Person of Interest | 14.28 | 2.9 | n/a | n/a | 1/1 | -6% | +66% | -6% | 2.94 |
| Elementary | 13.41 | 3.1 | n/a | n/a | 1/1 | n/a | +138% | +13% | 3.01 |
| SNL Weekend Update Thursday | 4.67 | 1.5 | -6% | n/a | 2/2 | n/a | -6% | -12% | 1.94 |
| Up All Night | 3.26 | 1.4 | +8% | -6% | 1/2 | -42% | +8% | -33% | 1.64 |
| The Office | 4.13 | 2.1 | +0% | +8% | 1/2 | -46% | -5% | -48% | 2.41 |
| Parks and Recreation | 3.27 | 1.6 | -6% | +0% | 2/2 | -24% | -6% | -52% | 1.77 |
| Rock Center | 3.13 | 0.8 | -27% | -6% | 3/3 | n/a | -30% | -54% | 0.89 |
| The X Factor Thu | 9.39 | 3.2 | -9% | n/a | 2/3 | -26% | -7% | -20% | 3.71 |
| Glee | 5.79 | 2.4 | -17% | -9% | 3/3 | -40% | -16% | -47% | 2.46 |
| The Vampire Diaries (SR) | 0.72 | 0.3 | +0% | -75% | 0.41 | ||||
| The Next | 0.69 | 0.3 | +0% | +0% | 1/7 | n/a | +0% | -68% | 0.38 |
KEY (click to expand)
Viewers - The total number of viewers (age 2+, in millions) that watched the program.
A18-49 - Adults 18-49 rating. Percentage of US TV-owning adults 18-49 watching the program.
Last - A18-49 percent difference from previous episode.
LeLa - A18-49 percent difference between the show's lead-in and its lead-in for the previous episode.
Rank - The A18-49 rating's rank among the show's episodes that have aired so far this season.
y2y - The show's A18-49 rating compared to its rating a year ago.
TLa - The show's A18-49 rating compared to the network's rating in the timeslot one week ago.
Ty2y - The show's A18-49 rating compared to the network's rating in the timeslot one year ago.
True2 - The second edition of True Strength, a metric that adjusts the A18-49 rating for overall viewing levels, competition and lead-in. PRELIMINARY CALCULATION. For finals, see SpotVault.
(R) - Repeat.
Much more detail on these numbers at the New Daily Spotted Ratings page.
A18-49 - Adults 18-49 rating. Percentage of US TV-owning adults 18-49 watching the program.
Last - A18-49 percent difference from previous episode.
LeLa - A18-49 percent difference between the show's lead-in and its lead-in for the previous episode.
Rank - The A18-49 rating's rank among the show's episodes that have aired so far this season.
y2y - The show's A18-49 rating compared to its rating a year ago.
TLa - The show's A18-49 rating compared to the network's rating in the timeslot one week ago.
Ty2y - The show's A18-49 rating compared to the network's rating in the timeslot one year ago.
True2 - The second edition of True Strength, a metric that adjusts the A18-49 rating for overall viewing levels, competition and lead-in. PRELIMINARY CALCULATION. For finals, see SpotVault.
(R) - Repeat.
Much more detail on these numbers at the New Daily Spotted Ratings page.
More Spotted Ratings in the Index.
