RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘Dancing With The Stars’ Premiere Hits Low, ‘Biggest Loser’ & ‘Deception’ Finales Up, ’2 Broke Girls’ & ‘Mike & Molly’ Hit Lows
One reality competition veteran began its season last night as another ended its latest one. ABC’s Dancing With The Stars (3.1/8) returned for Season 16 with a two-hour debut Monday as The Biggest Loser (2.6/7) wrapped up its 14th cycle. Coming off record lows and double-digit declines a season ago, DWTS is hoping to pull out all the stops to find its footing. (One such attempt was the addition of The Bachelor star Sean Lowe last week to this year’s celeb contestants.) DWTS also didn’t have to face NBC’s The Voice like it did for last spring’s season premiere. The dance series’ season debut last night was up 24% over its Season 15 premiere on September 24, making it the highest-rated show of the night among adults 18-49 and the most-watched show overall with 16.76 million viewers. However, head-to-head with Biggest Loser and CBS’ comedy lineup, DWTS was down 11% from last year’s Season 14 premiere on March 19, marking the lowest spring debut ever for the long-running series. And the landscape will change even more next week when ratings heavyweight The Voice and the J.J. Abrams-produced Revolution return to NBC.
Related: ‘The Voice’ Expands 2 Tuesday Episodes, Adds Wednesday One
Having been one of the few shows to top a 2.0 rating this year for in network’s faltering primetime, Biggest Loser ended this season strong. Coming off last week’s season low, the weight loss series was up 30% from its March 11 show. Loser also rose 18% from last season’s finale May 1. Following Loser, Deception (1.3/3) also wrapped its season to make room for the return of Revolution next week. The freshman soap drama was up 18% over last week’s show. ABC won the night in total viewers and among 18-49s.
After DWTS, ABC ended Monday with Castle (2.2/6), which dipped 4% from its last original on February 25. CBS had a full comedy load last night starting with How I Met Your Mother (2.9/9), which was down 12% from its last new show three weeks ago. Rules of Engagement (2.2/6) bopped up 5% from last week, while 2 Broke Girls (2.7/7) had an 18% slide from its last original three weeks ago, a series low for the comedy. Mike & Molly (2.4/6) also was down: The Chuck Lorre-produced show fell 11% from its February 25 original to a season low. On the other hand, Hawaii Five-O (2.1/6) saw a slight 5% rise last night from its last original February 18.
Bones (2.0/6) started the night for Fox. The procedural was down 9% from its last original two weeks ago. Freshman The Following (2.4/6) followed, falling 11% from last week.
The CW had an original The Carrie Diaries (0.5/1), with the Sex And The City prequel hitting its highest-rated show since February 11. Diaries was followed by an encore of Hart Of Dixie (0.2/0).
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