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Veteran ABC Drama and NBC Sitcom Sink to Historic Ratings Lows; NBC Falls Below CW for Prime Time

Nov 22, 2013  •  Post A Comment

A long-running ABC drama series and an NBC comedy series both fell to all-time lows Thursday night, based on Nielsen overnights for the key 18-49 demo.

TVbytheNumbers.com reports that "Grey’s Anatomy," which is in its 10th season on ABC, fell to a series low with a 2.5 average in viewers 18-49, losing one-tenth from a week ago.

ABC’s "Once Upon a Time in Wonderland," meanwhile, continued at its series low, equaling last week’s 0.9 average in the 18-49 demo. "Scandal" was the network’s highest-rated show with a 2.9, equaling last week’s number.

On NBC, back-to-back fresh episodes of "Parks and Recreation" failed to ignite viewer interest as both installments delivered 1.0 averages in 18-49, a series low for the six-season comedy series. That number was down from a 1.1 a week ago.

The rest of NBC’s lineup was even with last week: a series-low 0.9 for "Seas Saves the World" in the 18-49 demo, a 0.9 for "The Michael J. Fox Show," also a series low, and a 1.2 for "Parenthood." NBC had the rare achievement of finishing sixth for prime time overall, below not only its big four rivals but also Univision and the CW.

The report notes that the "Thursday Night Football" game between the New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons was simulcast on the CW affiliate in Atlanta and the Fox affiliate in New Orleans, meaning numbers for CW and Fox may be inflated and are subject to more than the usual adjustments.

CBS coasted to a relatively easy win for prime time overall, with "The Big Bang Theory" by far the top-rated broadcast show of the night. "Bang" equaled last week’s 5.2 average rating in viewers 18-49 and delivered 18.59 million total viewers.

CBS’s "The Millers" rose two-tenths from the previous week to deliver a 2.8 average in 18-49, while "The Crazy Ones" inched up one-tenth to a 2.2 and "Elementary" rose two-tenths to a 1.8. "Two and a Half Men" was flat with a 2.1.

Fox got a 1.6 out of "The X Factor," up three-tenths from a week ago, and a 1.6 for "Glee," up two-tenths from last week’s series low.

The CW gave the big four’s bottom feeders a run for their money with "The Vampire Diaries," which matched its 1.3 average from a week earlier in the 18-49 demo, and "Reign," which rose two-tenths to a 0.9.

When the dust settled, CBS was comfortably ahead for prime time overall with a 2.6 average in adults 18-49, followed by ABC (2.1 average), Univision (1.7), Fox (1.6), CW (1.1) and NBC (1.0). In total viewers, CBS remained at No. 1 with 11.0 million, followed by ABC (6.9 million), Fox (5.2 million), Univision (4.3 million), NBC (3.1 million) and CW (2.5 million).

Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for big-bang-theory.png"The Big Bang Theory"

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