Tuesday Ratings: NBC's 'Chicago Fire' Douses 'Person of Interest,' 'Forever' Finales

By Rick Kissell

In a result that doesn’t bode well for its future, on-the-bubble CBS veteran drama Person of Interest hit a season low in its finale Tuesday night, tying with ABC’s modestly performing freshman drama Forever — with both shows finishing well behind NBC’s hot Chicago Fire. CBS fared better leading off the night with NCIS, which edged out NBC’s fading The Voice as Tuesday’s top draw among young adults.

NBC and CBS tied for the night’s lead in adults 18-49, with the Eye winning easily in total viewers.

According to preliminary national estimates from Nielsen, NCIS averaged a 2.0 rating/7 share in adults 18-49 and 14.2 million viewers overall in the 8 o’clock hour, matching the show’s season low set with its prior two originals. The drama, which wraps its 12th season next week, was Tuesday’s No. 1 show in 18-49, 25-54 and total viewers.

NCIS was followed by NCIS: New Orleans (1.6/5 in 18-49, 13.2 million viewers overall), which led its hour in most categories but matched its low, and Person of Interest (1.¼ in 18-49, 8.2 million viewers overall), which cleared its previous low of 1.3 by two tenths (though it has the chance to hit a 1.2 in the nationals). CBS has a lot of dramas with somewhat similar ratings portfolios, so Person didn’t score any points with Tuesday’s finale performance. (Two weeks earlier, a special CSI: Cyber did a 1.2 demo rating in the same timeslot on a night when its lead-in was a repeat NCIS: New Orleans).

Elsewhere, NBC’s The Voice (1.9/7 in 18-49, 8.8 million viewers overall) was down another three tenths to a Tuesday season low; it finished a tick behind NCIS to mark the first time that an original hour of the music competition show wasn’t the top-rated series in this hour in 18-49. It was followed by an hourlong live episode of comedy Undateable (1.¾ in 18-49, 4.3 million viewers overall), which was able to improve the time period week to week by 30% in 18-49 (1.3 vs. 1.0 for the combo of Undateable and One Big Happy); in its regular 9 p.m. timeslot, Undateable was up 17% vs. last week (1.4 vs. 1.2) even though its lead-in was lower.

Closing out the night, Chicago Fire (1.6/5 in 18-49, 6.7 million viewers overall) impressively matched its week-ago result when it was part of a three-show crossover storyline; it beat the finales of Person of Interest and Forever by 45% (0.5) in 18-49. (Chicago is also looking likely to round up to a 1.7 in the nationals, which would match its top score with a comedy lead-in since January.)

At ABC, a special Dancing With the Stars results show (1.4/5 in 18-49, 10.1 million viewers overall) led into average numbers for Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD (1.5/5 in 18-49, 4.5 million viewers overall), with the drama pulling within a tenth of CBS’ NCIS: New Orleans for the 18-49 lead at 9 o’clock. And at 10 p.m., Forever (1.¼ in 18-49, 4.1 million viewers overall) was up 10% from its prior original to match its top demo rating of 2015.

While Forever didn’t do gangbuster numbers in its rookie season, it was able to solidify what has been a very tough hour for ABC of late. In most current Nielsen averages, Forever improved upon last year’s trio of dramas to air in the timeslot (Lucky 7, Killer Women and Mind Games) by 70% (1.7 vs. 1.0).

Fox’s Hell’s Kitchen (1.2/4 in 18-49, 3.4 million viewers overall) was up slightly from last week, as was New Girl with its season finale (1.1/3 in 18-49, 2.2 million viewers overall). The finale of Weird Loners at 9:30 p.m. (0.6/2 in 18-49, 1.6 million viewers overall) was steady.

CW’s The Flash (1.4/5 in 18-49, 3.6 million viewers overall) continued to look good two weeks from its finale, winning its hour in persons 12-34 (1.2/6) and men 18-34 (1.4/7). And “iZombie” (0.7/2 in 18-49, 1.9 million viewers overall) has been a consistent performer since its mid-March bow.

Preliminary 18-49 averages for the night: NBC and CBS, 1.6/5; ABC, 1.¾; CW, 1.¼; Fox and Univision, 1.0/3; Telemundo, 0.7/2.

In total viewers: CBS, 11.9 million; ABC, 6.2 million; NBC, 6.1 million; CW, 2.8 million; Fox, 2.7 million; Univision, 2.6 million; Telemundo, 1.5 million.

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