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NBC Back on Top on Thursday Night — But These Aren’t Exactly ‘Must-See TV’ Numbers

May 23, 2014  •  Post A Comment

It wasn't exactly a flashback to the glory days of NBC's "Must-See TV" Thursday night lineup, but NBC did bring in enough viewers in the key 18-49 demo to win Thursday prime time among the broadcast networks, based on Nielsen overnights.

TVbytheNumbers.com reports that NBC rolled out the two-hour premiere of "Last Comic Standing" to a 1.7 average in the 18-49 demo — down from a 2.0 for the show's previous season premiere, back in 2010. NBC's 1.1 average for "Hollywood Game Night" — equaling last week's rating — gave the Peacock Network an overall 1.5 for prime time, good enough to win on a night punctuated by repeat programs on other broadcast nets.

CBS came in second in the 18-49 demo — and first in total viewers, even with a modest average of 5.8 million for prime time — getting by with an almost all-repeat lineup. The Tiffany Network's lone original program, "Bad Teacher," produced one of its lowest numbers in 18-49, a 1.1 average, off three-tenths from a week ago.

Among the CBS reruns, "The Big Bang Theory" did the best with a 2.2 average in 18-49, followed by "The Millers" (1.5 average), "Two and a Half Men" (1.3) and "Elementary" (0.9).

Fox and Univision tied for third place overall in viewers 18-49, as Fox's new "Gang Related" premiered to a soft 0.9 average. "Hell's Kitchen" dipped two-tenths from a week ago to a 1.5.

ABC aired repeats of "The Bachelorette" (0.6 average in 18-49) and "Modern Family" (0.8), along with a fresh "Black Box," which fell three-tenths from what was already a series low a week ago and hit a new series low with a 0.8.

For prime time overall, NBC's 1.5 average was the best the broadcast networks could do in the 18-49 demo, followed by CBS (1.3 average), Fox and Univision (both 1.2) and ABC (0.7). The numbers in total viewers weren't much better, with CBS on top with 5.8 million, ahead of NBC (4.9 million), Fox (3.6 million), ABC (3.1 million) and Univision (2.7 million).

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