NBC aired the final installment of its splashy but ratings-challenged game show "The Million Second Quiz" — at least for now — Thursday night, seeing a bump in its Nielsen numbers for the finale, based on overnights for the key 18-49 demo.
TVbytheNumbers.com reports that the two-hour finale delivered a 1.4 average rating in viewers 18-49, up 27% from last week’s number. Leading out from it, NBC’s "Valerie’s Story: A Meredith Vieira Special" settled for a 1.0.
CBS won the night with a lineup of repeats, highlighted by a 2.2 and a 2.1 for two episodes of "The Big Bang Theory."
Second-place Fox saw "The X Factor" fall to a series low in the 18-49 demo, a 1.9 — down 14% from last week’s two-hour installment.
ABC’s only fresh program in prime time was a one-hour "Wipeout," which ticked up 9% from the two-hour episode aired Sept. 5, delivering a 1.2 average in 18-49.
The report notes that simulcasts of the Thursday Night Football game in some cities mean that numbers on ABC and NBC may be inflated and are subject to more than the usual adjustments.
For prime time overall, CBS won the night with a 1.6 average rating in viewers 18-49, followed by Fox (1.5 average), NBC (1.3), ABC (1.3) and Univision (1.2). CBS also won total viewers, averaging 6.7 million to lead NBC (5.1 million), ABC (4.5 million), Fox (4.5 million) and Univision (3.1 million).
Simple reason why that show had dismal ratings. For nine nights, nobody could win a dime,not one dime. There was no reason to watch it. The only night that mattered was the final, when somebody would actually win money. Remember how successful Who Wants To Be A Millionaire was? That was because every night, somebody could actually win something. Million Second Quiz needs to change its’ whole concept.