Spotted Ratings, Thursday 4/2/15

WHAT MATTERS:

• FINALS UPDATE: The Big Bang Theory (3.4) got back two tenths, making for only a 1.0 point drop week-to-week. Grey's Anatomy (1.9) was also up a tenth.

• The beginning of Easter weekend produced even more depressed viewing levels than usual and a huge broadcast bloodbath. Perhaps nothing was more shocking than a whooping 1.2-point drop for The Big Bang Theory (3.2). Considering the show's last 4.4 was already after DST, that's pretty alarming. It's weird that The Odd Couple (1.9) could drop six tenths and yet still have better lead-in retention than in its last episode, but here we are. Even when The Odd Couple looked promising in weeks two and three, that basketball hiatus still loomed large as a major obstacle, and it sure seems to have taken quite a toll. CBS did hold up better in the last half of the night with Elementary (1.2) and especially Mom (2.0).

• The panic continued in Shondaland, with Scandal (2.1) dropping another two tenths to make it 1.2 points in five weeks. But unlike in previous weeks, this time it was joined by a big Grey's Anatomy drop (1.8), as that show tumbled to three tenths behind its previous low. American Crime (1.1) also gave back last week's slight rally and then some.

• Fox's Bones (1.1) and Backstrom (0.8) also dropped to new lows, probably more in line with what would be expected in this viewing-depressed environment after slightly overachieving for their spring returns last week.

• The only steady scripted shows were NBC's The Blacklist (1.6) and finale of The Slap (0.7), likely aided by an above-average Dateline (1.3) at 8/7c.

FULL TABLE:

Info		Show						Timeslot		True
	A18-49	Skew	Last		LeLa	Rank	y2y	TLa	Ty2y
Grey's Anatomy	1.9	36%	-14%	-0.3	n/a	18/18	-30%	-16%	+111%	2.2
Scandal	2.1	37%	-9%	-0.2	-0.3	18/18	-28%	-11%	-21%	2.2
American Crime	1.1	30%	-15%	-0.2	-0.2	5/5	n/a	-12%	-62%	1.3
							ABC:	-13%	-21%
The Big Bang Theory	3.4	31%	-23%	-1.0	n/a	19/19	-31%	+127%	-31%	3.8
The Odd Couple	1.9	28%	-24%	-0.6	-1.0	5/5	n/a	-27%	-32%	1.8
The Big Bang Theory (R)	1.8	27%						-10%	-28%	1.8
Mom	2.0	29%	-9%	-0.2	-0.4	16/18	-9%	-9%	+18%	2.1
Elementary	1.2	20%	-14%	-0.2	-0.2	12/18	-20%	-65%	-23%	1.4
							CBS:	-24%	-23%
Dateline Wed	1.3	25%	+30%	+0.3	n/a	1/4	n/a	+30%	+30%	1.7
The Blacklist	1.6	26%	+0%	+0.0	+0.3	16/17	-43%	+0%	+45%	1.8
The Slap	0.7	28%	+0%	+0.0	+0.0	4/8	n/a	+8%	-44%	0.9
							NBC:	+11%	+7%
Bones	1.1	29%	-15%	-0.2	n/a	12/12	-27%	-15%	-37%	1.5
Backstrom	0.8	32%	-11%	-0.1	-0.2	9/9	n/a	-11%	-45%	1.1
							Fox:	-14%	-41%
The Flash (R)	0.3	43%						+20%	+20%	0.5
The Flash (R)	0.3	44%						+50%	+0%	0.4
							CW:	+33%	+9%
							Big5:	-9%	-21%

KEY (click to expand)

A18-49 - Adults 18-49 rating. Percentage of US TV-owning adults 18-49 watching the program.
Skew - Percentage of adults 18-49 within the show's total viewership.
Last - A18-49 difference (percent and numerical) from the show's previous episode.
LeLa - A18-49 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 so far this season.
y2y - Percent difference between A18-49 and the show's rating a year ago.
TLa - Percent difference between A18-49 and the network's rating in the timeslot one week ago.
Ty2y - Percent difference between A18-49 and the network's rating in the timeslot one year ago.
True - 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.