RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘Hannibal’ Premieres OK, ‘Idol’ Even, ‘Wife Swap’ Down, ‘Elementary’, ‘The Office’, ‘Community’ & ‘Person Of Interest’ Hit Lows
It was another night of all originals for the Big Four on Thursday — and no NCAA Tournament on CBS for the first time in two weeks. It was also the debut of NBC’s new Hannibal (1.6/4) at 10 PM. A prequel of sorts to Silence Of The Lambs, showrunner Bryan Fuller’s scrumptious-looking drama featuring serial killer-to-be Dr. Hannibal Lecter had some bite. Up seven tenths from the dismal debut ratings of NBC’s quickly cancelled Do No Harm in the slot back in February, the show scored the network’s top entertainment programming rating in the 10 PM slot since March 15, 2012. However, Hannibal was down 20% from the midseason debut of Awake in the same time period on March 1, 2012. Overall, Hannibal was up 60% in the slot versus NBC’s season average, excluding news and sports. And the show built on its weak Go On lead-in by 45%.
Starting the night for NBC, Community (1.0/3) slipped 9% from its last original March 28 to hit a new series low. At 8:30 PM, Parks And Recreation (1.5/5) was down a slight 6% from last week. With just more than a month to go before its series finale, The Office (1.7/5) fell 11% from its last new show March 14; the result is a series low for the Emmy-winning comedy. Making its debut in its new Thursday slot, Go On (1.1/3) was down 42% from last Tuesday’s airing of the Matthew Perry comedy, which came off a lead-in from The Voice.
With no basketball games last night, CBS brought back its regular Thursday lineup. The Big Bang Theory (4.9/17), back after three weeks, was up ever so slightly from its last original by 2%, and was the night’s most-watched show with an audience of 16.79 million. Two And A Half Men (3.8/12) also had its first original since March 14, but it saw a greater rise, up 12% from three weeks ago. Person Of Interest (2.7/8) returned from its three weeks off in the other direction, dropping 7% from its March 14 original to hit a season low. Elementary (2.1/6) was down 9%, tying a season low. Still, CBS won the night in total viewers and adults 18-49.
After Rock Night on Wednesday, it was results night on Fox’s American Idol (2.8/9). Trimming the field to six finalists, the one-hour live show was up 4% from last week’s last week’s all-time Thursday low fast nationals, and even with its March 28 finals. Following Idol and in the slot the first part of the season finale of Raising Hope had last week, New Girl (2.0/6) dipped 9% in the demo from its airing last Tuesday. The comedy did see a 17% total viewership rise to 4.9 million. Unlike New Girl, The Mindy Project (1.4/4) went up on Thursday, gaining 8% from its Tuesday episode. The third week of the current season of Wife Swap (1.2/4) saw the reality series fall 14% from its March 28 show.
On ABC, Grey’s Anatomy (2.7/8) slipped 7% from last week, while Scandal (2.7/8) rose 4%. The CW ran encores of The Vampire Diaries (0.4/1) and Beauty And The Beast (0.2/1).
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