>FOX won the night with an American Idol that is hell bent on moving its rating into the 3s in a few weeks, while Touch finally returned with a fairly decent rating and a much better retention of its Idol lead in compared to its early preview way back in January. Send the priest to administer Last Rites to Awake, another NBC Thursday drama is dead. Missing is headed for the same fate but that’s a few weeks away
Nightly Adult 18-49 Rating
Thursday FOX NBC CBS ABC
03.22.2012 3.6 1.4 2.3 1.2 THIS WEEK
03.15.2012 3.4 1.9 1.5 2.4 LAST WEEK
03.24.2011 4.4 2.1 2.5 2.9 LAST YEAR
FOX’s American Idol fell yet again to a 4.0. Next cycle it might be nice to have some decent singers and at least one judge who is willing to honestly call out a weak performance. The Touch “world premiere” of the second episode, following up on the pilot preview on January 25 and again last week, scored a 3.2 rating (holding a solid 80% of the Idol led in). Back on January 25, Touch averaged a 3.9 rating (holding 60% of the much higher 6.5 Idol rating that night). The challenge will be to hold Touch at a 3.0 rating in the coming weeks — if that happens, its a runaway hit in this environment. Last year on this night: American Idol (6.4) and Bones repeat (2.4).
Season Past Six WeeksFOX Thu High Low 2.16 2.23 3.01 3.08 3.15 3.22
X Factor 4.3 2.8
American Idol 5.7 4.5 5.1 4.5 5.4 4.9 4.6 4.0*
Touch 2.2R 3.2*
Bones 3.3 2.4
The Finder 2.8 1.7 — 2.0 — 2.3
Want to see what NBC’s comedy block looks like without the admittedly weaker Office? Last night tells the ugly tale. Community snapped back to reality with a 1.7 rating at 8:00 pm (down from a 2.2 for its somewhat eagerly-anticipated return last week). Amazingly, that show represented the high-water mark last night. Two 30 Rock episodes scored a 1.5 rating at 8:30 and 9:00 (bringing the 9:00 pm half hour about one rating point below what an Office original would do). The tiny audience kept getting tinier as the night went on: Up All Night set a season low with a 1.4 rating and Awake is headed for Prime Suspect and The Firm territory with a 1.2 rating. Last year on this night: Community (1.8), Perfect Couples (1.6), The Office (3.4), Parks & Recreation (2.4), 30 Rock (1.9) and Outsourced (1.5).
Season Past Six Weeks
NBC Thu High Low 2.16 2.23 3.01 3.08 3.15 3.22
Community 1.8 1.4 2.2 1.7*
30 Rock 1.8 1.3 1.5 1.5 1.4 1.4 2.0 1.5*
Parks & Rec 2.1 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.8
The Office 3.9 2.3 2.3 2.6 2.5 2.6 2.4
Whitney 3.3 1.9
Up All Night 2.0 1.5 1.5 1.7 1.6 1.7 1.7 1.4*
Awake 1.9 1.6 2.0 1.6 1.6 1.2*
Prime Suspect 1.8 0.8
The Firm 1.0 0.8 — —
ABC’s Missing is headed for oblivion, crashing half a rating point to a 1.6 rating. The rest of the night was repeat soap drama, typically repeating horribly. Last year on this night: Wipeout (2.3), Grey’s Anatomy (3.7) and Private Practice (2.6).
Season Past Six Weeks
ABC Thu High Low 2.16 2.23 3.01 3.08 3.15 3.22
Charlie’s Ang 2.1 1.1
Wipeout 2.7 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.1R 1.3R
Missing 2.1 2.1 2.1 1.6*
Grey’s Anatomy 4.5 3.1 3.2 3.1 1.1R 1.1R 3.0 1.2R
Private Prac 2.8 2.1 2.6 2.1 — 2.1 0.9R
The entire CBS regular schedule again was pre-empted for NCAA basketball, which scored a 2.3 rating from 8-11 pm, subject to a slight upward adjustment in the official nationals due to the live-to-all-time-zones broadcast pattern. This number is slightly lower than last year and our Ratings Forecast/ Scorecard for the entire tournament. Last year on this night: NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Sweet 16 (2.5).
Season Past Six Weeks
CBS Thu High Low 2.16 2.23 3.01 3.08 3.15 3.22
Big Bang Theory 5.5 4.5 5.1 5.3 3.2R 5.1
Rules Engagment 3.7 2.7
Rob 4.1 2.9 3.2 2.9 2.6 —
Person Interest 3.3 2.6 2.8 3.1 1.8R 3.4
Mentalist 3.0 2.5 2.7 2.6 1.7R 2.8
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