- I've never really understood why the NFL Draft takes such a huge chunk out of broadcast ratings, but the trend has become undeniable. And as usual, it was NBC and the typically resilient CBS taking the hardest hits. Two and a Half Men looked absolutely brutal airing against the highest picks, while The Big Bang Theory, Person of Interest and Elementary also hung season lows. (TBBT adjusted way up to merely tie the low.) NBC, meanwhile, saw each of its shows drop multiple ticks. Hannibal has gone from encouraging to pretty much on death's door in two short weeks and will have to hope for a post-Draft upswing next week. It's hard to feel encouraged, since generally the 10/9c hour is hit the least by the Draft.
- It wasn't quite as bad on the other, more female-skewing networks, whose shows were generally near the low end rather than way below the low end. An exception of note was Scandal, the only week-to-week riser. It built on Grey's Anatomy for the first time ever, and it held up after finals! And Glee took a big hit; it shouldn't have to worry about the Draft too much, but it was probably more damaged by the return of Grey's.
- The NFL Draft posted a 2.9 rating on ESPN (down 12% from last year's 3.3) and was even on the NFL Network with a 0.7. Like last year, I applied the combined rating (3.6) as cable competition on the True2 scores. This should probably be more skewed toward the beginning of the evening, since I'm pretty sure the rating is higher for the early picks, but I don't know what to do without having the hard numbers.
FULL TABLE:
| Info | Show | Timeslot | True2 | ||||||
| Viewers | A18-49 | Last | LeLa | Rank | y2y | TLa | Ty2y | ||
| Wife Swap | 3.42 | 1.1 | -27% | n/a | 6/6 | n/a | -24% | -19% | 1.39 |
| Grey's Anatomy | 8.24 | 2.7 | -4% | -15% | 20/21 | -18% | +157% | -18% | 3.45 |
| Scandal | 7.90 | 2.8 | +8% | -4% | 1/19 | +40% | +229% | +37% | 3.31 |
| The Big Bang Theory | 15.05 | 4.5 | -13% | n/a | 20/21 | +10% | +45% | +10% | 4.92 |
| Two and a Half Men | 11.32 | 2.8 | -28% | -13% | 21/21 | n/a | +17% | +12% | 3.01 |
| Person of Interest | 13.22 | 2.4 | -11% | -28% | 20/20 | +0% | -14% | +0% | 2.79 |
| Elementary | 10.07 | 2.0 | -5% | -11% | 19/19 | n/a | +25% | -9% | 2.41 |
| Community | 2.33 | 1.0 | -23% | n/a | 10/11 | -29% | -23% | -29% | 1.19 |
| The Office (R) | 1.84 | 0.9 | -10% | -44% | 1.35 | ||||
| The Office | 3.25 | 1.7 | -11% | -40% | 20/20 | -19% | +0% | -19% | 2.27 |
| Parks and Recreation | 2.59 | 1.3 | -24% | +0% | 21/21 | -19% | -24% | -19% | 1.70 |
| Hannibal | 2.40 | 1.0 | -29% | -24% | 4/4 | n/a | -33% | +33% | 1.36 |
| American Idol Thu | 11.40 | 2.8 | -7% | n/a | 14/15 | -30% | -7% | -31% | 3.41 |
| Glee | 5.24 | 1.8 | -14% | -7% | 18/20 | -33% | -16% | -3% | 2.07 |
| The Vampire Diaries | 2.24 | 1.0 | +0% | n/a | 18/20 | -9% | +0% | -9% | 1.29 |
| Beauty and the Beast | 1.24 | 0.5 | -17% | +0% | 15/19 | n/a | -17% | -9% | 0.55 |
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.
