RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘Happy Endings’ Hits Series Low, ‘Shark Tank’ & ‘Fashion Star’ Down, ‘Vegas’ Up, CBS Wins Night
While more of the NFL Draft ran in primetime on ESPN and the NFL Network on Friday, the second night of May sweeps saw things improve across all the networks from the lows of Thursday. Of course, because of the extensive primetime coverage of the capture of the second suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing on April 19, almost all comparisons are to broadcasts of two weeks ago or more. On CBS, Friday brought a full night of rises, some small and one large. Kicking off CBS’s night, Undercover Boss (1.6/6) was up 7% from its last original on April 12. Up from its low of two weeks ago, Vegas (1.0/3) rose 25% from its last original. With 10.36 million viewers watching, Blue Bloods (1.4/4) was the most watched show of Friday night over Undercover Boss by more than 1.6 million. The cop family drama saw a upward turn of 8% from its April 12 show. With 8.82 million watching, CBS was tops in viewers as well as number one among Adults 18-49.
ABC had its double shot of Happy Endings with the 8 PM (0.5/2) show and the 8:30 PM (0.6/2) show. That was a fall of 38% for the first show from its April 12 airing to hit a new series low for the comedy, while the 8:30 PM was even with the last original two weeks ago. Though easily the top rated show of the night, Shark Tank (1.9/6) was down 10% from it last original on April 5. However, in what is turning out to be the show’s best season, last night’s Shark Tank is up 36% in the key demo over its 8 PM to 9 PM performance on April 27 of last year. Like Rock Center, 20/20 (1.2/4) was actually on last week covering the situation in Boston. And like its NBC news magazine rival, the ABC show was down, in this case 33% from its April 18 show.
In its first new show since March 15, Fox’s Kitchen Nightmares (1.0/4) dipped 9%. The unsteady Kiefer Sutherland starrer Touch (0.6/2) was even with its last original on April 5. On The CW, Nikita (0.3/1) was also even with last week’s result. Coming off a second season high two weeks ago, Fashion Star (0.7/3) was down 13% from its April 12 show. In its last Friday slot before moving to Tuesdays on April 30 for the rest of the season Grimm (1.3/4) was down two tenths from its last original on April 5. One of the few shows on last week as it covered the end of the Boston manhunt, Rock Center With Brian Williams (0.9/3) fell 53% from its April 18 broadcast, which was a series ratings record.
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