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NBC Comedies’ Season Finales Fall to Historic Lows

May 11, 2012  •  Post A Comment

Two NBC comedy series had their lowest-rated finales ever Thursday night, as the trend on most of the broadcast networks was down, TVbytheNumbers.com reports.

According to Nielsen overnights, NBC’s “The Office” scored a modest 2.2 average rating in the key 18-49 demo — the show’s lowest-rated season finale ever. The number was also down one-tenth of a ratings point from last week’s 2.3.

NBC’s “Parks and Recreation” also had its lowest season finale, pulling a 1.7 in 18-49.

That was better than most of the NBC lineup, as the Peacock found itself in familiar territory with a distant fourth-place finish for prime time overall. “Community” managed a 1.4 in the 18-49 demo, “30 Rock” drew a 1.5 — an improvement from last week’s 1.4 — and the network’s 10 p.m. drama “Awake” managed a modest 0.9, up two-tenths from last week.

Programming on other broadcast networks also struggled. ABC’s “Missing” fell to a series-low 1.1 average rating in 18-49, while “Grey’s Anatomy” was up one-tenth to a 3.4 and “Scandal” climbed one-tenth to a 2.0. Fox’s “American Idol” fell off one-tenth from last week to a 3.9, while “Touch” held steady with a 2.0.

CBS had the distinction of the night’s top program, “The Big Bang Theory,” even though the show was off a whopping five-tenths of a ratings point from last week. “Bang” pulled a 4.2 in viewers 18-49, down from last week’s 4.7.

Elsewhere on CBS, “Rules of Engagement” held even with a 2.7 in 18-49, “Person of Interest” ticked up a tenth to a 2.6 and “The Mentalist” slipped one-tenth to a 2.4.

For prime time overall, Fox got the win in 18-49 by a narrow margin over CBS, while CBS edged ahead in total viewers. In adults 18-49, Fox led with a 2.9 average rating to CBS’s 2.8, ABC’s 2.2 and NBC’s 1.4. Total viewers saw CBS out front with 12.1 million to Fox’s 11.0 million, ABC’s 7.5 million and NBC’s 3.2 million.

One Comment

  1. The networks have stopped marketing. I never see any promotion of network programming, except on the networks themselves. There is no consistency to the progrmming any more. No one knows when the shows will be reruns and when they are new. And no one knows when season and series finales are scheduled. This lack of support from the networks results in lack of support from the fans.

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