RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘MasterChef’ Down, ‘Big Brother’ Up, ‘Camp’ Debuts Soft, ‘American Baking Competition’ Finale Even
Having taken a week off for the 4th of July holiday, MasterChef (2.1/7) came back with its kitchen knives sharpened last night. There was a Mexican Freshness Challenge and a guest judge appearance by Eva Longoria joining Gordon Ramsay, Joe Bastianich and Graham Elliot as the show went head-to-head with America’s Got Talent in its second hour. The Fox cooking competition also saw its contestants trimmed down to the final 9 and its pull among adults 18-49 drop 13% from its June 26 show. However, Fox still won the night among the key demo as NBC took the top spot among overall viewers.
And NBC had a lot of talent on TV last night – by that I mean America’s Got Talent. First there was an AGT encore at 8 PM (1.3/5) and then the first Wednesday edition of this season ran at 9 PM (2.7/8). Up 4% from its July 2 show, not only was the original AGT the top rated and most watched (6.2 million) show of the night but it was NBC’s best result in the slot since November 28, 2012 when the network ran a two-hour Saturday Night Live Christmas special that got a 2.8 in the hour. After that, NBC debuted the Australian dramedy Camp (1.5/5) at 10PM. With a big drop off from it’s AGT lead-in in both the key demo and overall viewers (5.22 million), the soft kick-off of Camp’s 10 episode run did still win its time slot. Starring former Six Feet Under alumna Rachel Griffiths and from creators Liz Heldens and Peter Elkoff, Matchbox Pictures and BermanBraun, Camp also beat the network’s July 1 premiere of Siberia by 36% among adults 18-49.
Coming off a series low on the eve of the Independence Day holiday last Wednesday, Big Brother (2.0/7) was up 18% from its July 3 show last night. With the final contestants going all Stars and Stripes-themed with a trio of desserts, The American Baking Competition (1.1/3) wrapped up its freshman season last night. Having premiered May 29, the Jeff Foxworthy-hosted show crowned a kitchen winner with a $250,000 grand prize. It also saw the as-yet-unrenewed show holding steady among adults 18-49 for the fifth week in a row.
The faltering and now cancelled Family Tools (0.6/2) ended its run on ABC last night. The comedy was even with last week’s performance to tie for a season low. Otherwise, the only original on ABC was Nightline: The Lookout (0.7/2), which fell 13% from its July 3 show to hit a season low.
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