overnights

The Billboard Music Awards soared to a 13-year high among total viewers and matched an 11-year best among adults 18-49 last night, giving ABC a dominant win on the final Sunday of the May sweeps. The Billboard special averaged 10.5 million total viewers and a 3.5 18-49 rating. In the demo that was even to 2013, but in total viewers it was up 1 million over last year. Some of that growth was fueled by teens, where the show posted a 3.6 rating, up 6 percent from last year and a 10-year high.

The Big Bang Theory rebounded nicely from last week’s season low. The No. 1 scripted series on broadcast had its most-watched season finale ever and surged among adults 18-49. Bang averaged a 4.8 18-49 rating at 8 p.m., up 26% from last week. It averaged 16.3 million total viewers, becoming the top finale in the program’s seven seasons and was easily the night’s top-rated show.

Last night broadcast bounced back from a number of season and series lows posted last week. Every Big 4 network had at least one show with double-digit percentage growth, including the 500th episode of Fox’s American Idol, which rose to a six-week high. Idol averaged a 2.1 adults 18-49 rating from 8 to 10 p.m., up 24% from last week, when the program sank to a Wednesday series low.

Little wonder Fox left Glee off the fall schedule. The musical comedy dropped to a series low last night in its finale, giving virtually no lead-in to the new improv program Riot, which bombed. Glee averaged a 0.6 at 8 p.m. for its fifth-season ender, down 25% from last week. The show finished a dismal sixth in the timeslot, well behind both the CW and Univision.

The networks have been emphasizing the importance of event programming heading into this week’s upfronts, but not every event draws big ratings. Case in point: NBC’s Rosemary’s Baby, which, despite a lot of hype, posted low numbers on Sunday. Part one of the two-part miniseries averaged a 1.1 adults 18-49 rating from 9 to 11 p.m., ranking fourth on broadcast over those two hours.

The NFL Draft saw a huge ratings surge this year, which led to a reciprocal ratings drain on broadcast. Usual Thursday night leaders CBS and ABC saw their lineups take a hit airing opposite the strong competition on ESPN and NFL Network, which both carried the draft. CBS’s lineup was off 9 percent from last week, with The Big Bang Theory, broadcast’s No. 1 scripted show, taking the biggest hit. ABC’s entire lineup, meanwhile, fell 13% from last week, with Grey’s Anatomy off 12% from last week.

A number of broadcast shows fell to season or series lows last night as overall TV usage from 8 to 10 p.m. declined. ABC, Fox and NBC programs took hits, though CBS actually saw ratings gains for all three of its shows.

Fox’s Tuesday comedies saw solid growth for their season finales last night, though they still posted relatively low ratings. The Mindy Project jumped 18% over last week in the 9:30 p.m. timeslot, to a 1.3 adults 18-49 rating, outdrawing lead-in New Girl, a rarity. Girl posted a 1.2 at 9 p.m., growing 9% from last week’s series-low 1.1. Both shows have already been renewed for next season. NBC’s The Voice was the night’s No. 1 program with a 2.4 at 8 p.m., though that was a series low for the singing program and down 11% from last week.

Jack Bauer’s still got it. 24 returned from a four-year layoff last night with the premiere of the new miniseries 24: Live Another Day. The show posted a solid 2.5 adults 18-49 rating from 8 to 10 p.m., finishing second in the timeslot and also lifting Fox to No. 2 for the night behind usual victor NBC, which once again won all six timeslots on the evening.

The much-hyped Lego episode of The Simpsons helped the long-running cartoon recover from a season low last week. Simpsons grew by 19% week to week, posting a 1.9 adults 18-49 rating at 8 p.m., up from a 1.5 last week. That rating was also a series low when airing on Sunday, where the program has been for the better part of its 25 seasons.

ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy got a boost last night from the highly anticipated return of Isaiah Washington, aka Dr. Preston Burke. Washington, who left the hit drama at the end of season three following some off-the-camera issues, made his first appearance on the program in seven seasons in a sweeps stunt. Grey’s averaged a 2.6 adults 18-49 rating at 9 p.m., up 13% over last week and finishing as the night’s No. 2 show behind CBS’s The Big Bang Theory (0.4).

On a night marked largely by declines on broadcast, most notably for top shows like Modern Family and American Idol, two sweeps stunts paid off with gains for NBC and CBS. NBC’s Chicago P.D. grew to its best rating since Feb. 26 with the second half of a crossover episode with Chicago Fire, averaging a 1.9 adults 18-49 rating at 10 p.m. That was up 19% from its most recent original three weeks ago. Fire, the show that spun off P.D., posted a 1.8 for the first half of the crossover on Tuesday night.

Lucky for Glee and New Girl they’ve already been renewed because they aren’t showing much ratings pop lately. The veteran Tuesday shows fell once again last night, with both programs dropping to new series lows. Girl averaged a 1.0 at 9 p.m., off 17% from a 1.2 for its most recent original episode two weeks ago. Glee was also down a tenth, to a 0.8. Fox did have one promising sign on the night. Second-year comedy The Mindy Project rose 10% week to week, to a 1.1, beating its Girl lead-in for the first time ever. While Fox struggled, the CW surged on Tuesday.

Several Monday broadcast shows saw week-to-week gains last night, including a few on ABC and CBS as well as the season finale of The Following on Fox. But NBC once again won the night, as it has nearly every Monday this season.

Led by Once Upon a Time, the network crept past Fox and CBS, averaging a 1.7 adults 18-49 rating and 5 share in primetime, with the other two channels tied for second with a 1.5/4 apiece. Time posted a 2.1 at 8 p.m., tying with Fox’s Family Guy as the top show on broadcast for the night. That was up 24% from last week, when Time posted just a 1.7 on Easter.

Two new shows on ABC and CBS did well relative to the competition in their timeslots in their premieres Thursday night. CBS’s Bad Teacher bowed to a 2.1 adults 18-49 rating in the 9:30 timeslot, holding 84% of its 2.5 lead-in from Two and a Half Men. ABC’s Black Box was similarly competitive at 10 p.m., posting a 1.5 and finishing just a tenth behind CBS’s Elementary in the hour.

Fox’s American Idol rebounded from a recent stretch of series lows with a week-to-week gain. Idol averaged a 2.1 adults 18-49 rating, up 11% over last week. That paced Fox to a comfortable first-place finish on a night when NBC and CBS had mostly repeats. ABC’s Modern Family was broadcast’s No. 1 show, posting a 3.4 at 9 p.m., up 3% from its most recent original episode three weeks ago.

NBC’s About a Boy is making a case for a second-season pickup. For the second straight episode, the comedy saw week-to-week gains and finished as the No. 2 program of the night on an evening littered with repeats. Boy averaged a 1.9 adults 18-49 rating at 9 p.m., up 6 percent from last week.

The combination of The Voice and The Blacklist lifted NBC to yet another Monday night victory as the network won every half hour of the night. Its two programs finished as the No. 1 and No. 2 shows of the night, respectively, despite Voice suffering declines from last week. 

Easter is generally a slow night for broadcast, but two new midseason shows saw nice week-to-week gains last night. NBC’s Believe hit a four-week high with a 1.2 adults 18-49 rating at 9 p.m., up 20% from last week. In the same hour, Fox’s Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey grew 8% from last week, to a 1.4, tying CBS’s The Good Wife as the No. 1 program in the timeslot.

ABC’s Scandal closed its season very strong on Thursday, delivering the show’s best-ever finale numbers and its second highest rating overall. Not so hot in its exit on the night was CBS rookie comedy The Crazy Ones, which didn’t help its renewal with a modest one-hour season finale.

Fox won another low-rated Wednesday night full of repeats despite continued low ratings for American Idol. Idol averaged a 1.9 adults 18-49 rating from 8 to 10 p.m., off a tenth from last week and hovering near a series low, though Idol does usually grow by a tenth or two when the final ratings come out in the afternoon. The show started off at 8 p.m. with a 1.7 then grew to a 2.0 over the next hour before closing out with a 1.9 at 9:30. It faced minimal competition.

In what could be a preview of next fall’s schedule, ABC moved Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. to a later timeslot and got better results, undoubtedly helped by the TV show’s tie-in with the hit movie Captain America. S.H.I.E.L.D. posted a 2.1 adults 18-49 rating, up 18% over last week’s overnight rating of 1.7. S.H.I.E.L.D. grew to a 1.9 last week when final numbers were released, and there’s a good chance last night’s episode will improve as well. The show has been jumping by a tenth or two each week in the final numbers.

Replacing How I Met Your Mother will be a difficult task for CBS. Its Monday night lineup took a hit in its first outing without the veteran show, which aired its series finale two weeks ago. Last week CBS aired the NCAA title game on Monday. There weren’t a lot of shows that saw ratings gains last night. NBC easily finished first for the night among 18-49s with a 2.7 average overnight rating and an 8 share.

Here’s a bit of TV irony: On the night of a rare blood moon, Fox’s astronomy show Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey slid to a new low. Cosmos posted a 1.2 adults 18-49 rating last night, off 20% from the previous week. In fact, Fox’s entire Sunday lineup took a week-to-week hit, with The Simpsons also seeing a double-digit percentage slide (off 16 percent to a 1.6 at 8 p.m.). Earlier in the night, Bob’s Burgers and American Dad both slid a tenth from last week, and Family Guy was down 9% from last week, to a 2.1.

Could this be a preview of next fall? ABC aired a special Thursday night edition of Shark Tank at 8 p.m. last night and the reality show, which usually airs Friday, hit a six-month high in the network’s troubled timeslot, boosting ABC into a tie for first place for the night with CBS. Shark averaged a 1.6 adults 18-49 rating, according to Nielsen overnights, the network’s best rating in the slot since Oct. 10.

With ABC littered with repeats and NBC airing a rerun to start off the night, the evening’s No. 1 show was CBS’s long-running Survivor, which has pulled comfortably ahead of reality competitor American Idol on Fox in recent weeks. Survivor averaged a 2.4 adults 18-49 rating at 8 p.m., up a tenth over last week. It was well ahead of Idol, which posted a 1.9 in its first hour and finished with a 2.0 from 8 to 10 p.m., down a tenth from last week. If that number holds, it will mark a new Wednesday night series low, but Idol has been rising a tenth when final numbers come out most weeks.

NBC stayed just barely ahead of CBS on Tuesday night, though most of its shows suffered week-to-week declines. NBC averaged a 2.1 adults 18-49 rating and 6 share, while CBS posted a 2.0/6. The Voice was the night’s top show with a 2.8 at 8 p.m., but the hit NBC reality program was off 10% from the previous week and posted a season-low rating. NBC’s comedies also slid from their previous outings to season lows, with About a Boy falling to a 1.8 and Growing Up Fisher sliding to a 1.5.

The top show on Monday night held up against some major additional competition. NBC’s The Voice was even to last week despite facing CBS’s coverage of the NCAA men’s basketball championship game in its final hour. Voice posted a 3.4 adults 18-49 rating from 8 to 10 p.m., finishing as the No. 1 non-sports program of the night on broadcast.

The Academy of Country Music Awards took a hit compared to last year, but they were still strong enough to boost CBS to an easy victory last night. The special averaged a 3.3 adults 18-49 rating, off 23% from last year’s 4.3. Of course, last year the awards show surged to a 12-year high, so the decline was not a surprise. Last night’s ACM Awards were actually up 0.2 in the demo compared to 2012 and finished as the top show of the night on any broadcast network.

The CBS sitcom, preempted the past two weeks by NCAA men’s basketball tournament coverage, surged in its return last night, growing 21% over its most recent episode on March 13. The Millers averaged a 2.9 adults 18-49 rating, finishing as the night’s No. 2 show behind its lead-in, The Big Bang Theory.

ABC’s Nashville, CBS’s Criminal Minds and NBC’s Chicago P.D. and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit were all up double-digit percentages over last week, notable at a time, early spring, when most shows are seeing ratings declines with daylight savings. ABC had the night’s top show with Modern Family, which averaged a 3.2, though that was down 11 percent from last week.

A number of shows saw week-to-week declines or even fell to series or season lows last night on broadcast. CBS won the night despite two of its dramas falling from last week, posting a 2.2 adults 18-49 rating and 7 share, NBC was just behind at 2.0/6. CBS’s NCIS slipped to a season low with a 2.3, off 8% from last week. At 10 p.m., Person of Interest slid a tenth from last week to a 1.9, but it still dominated its timeslot. The top show of the night, NBC’s The Voice, posted a season-low 3.0, off 12% from last week.

How I Met Your Mother’s twisty ending polarized fans; some loved it and some hated it. But a lot of them sure watched it. The series finale posted all-time bests among adults 18-49 and total viewers last night, and also lifted its lead-out, the premiere of Friends with Better Lives, to decent numbers. The one-hour episode of Mother at 8 p.m. averaged a 5.3 18-49 rating, a new record and up 51% from last week’s penultimate episode. It was easily the top show of the night in the demo. Mother drew a series-high 12.94 million total viewers.

The NCAA men’s basketball tournament gave CBS another Sunday night victory, its second straight. The network averaged a 2.3 adults 18-49 rating and 6 share in primetime, comfortably ahead of No. 2 ABC, which posted a 1.8/5. It was boosted by a 4.8 rating from 7 to 7:30 p.m. for the final 20 minutes of the Kentucky-Michigan game, which also averaged 18.3 million total viewers. That delayed CBS’s primetime start to 7:20 p.m. but also lifted the network’s entire lineup.

An American Idol lead-in isn’t what it used to be, and so shows premiering out of the Fox singing competition are no longer guaranteed hits. Last night the new comedy Surviving Jack got off to a slow start behind Idol. Jack averaged a 1.3 adults 18-49 rating in the 9:30 p.m. timeslot, holding 68% of “Idol’s” 1.9 lead-in at 9 p.m. That was 18% better than Fox’s season-to-date average in the timeslot, but it’s also a timeslot where the network has struggled, with previous occupants Glee and Rake posting low ratings.

What happens in Vegas raises ratings. The cast of ABC’s hit sitcom Modern Family took a much-hyped trip to Las Vegas last night, and the show matched a four-month ratings high. Family posted a 3.5 adults 18-49 rating at 9 p.m., up 3% from last week and tying its best rating since Nov. 11. The program was easily the top-rated show of the night and lifted ABC into second place in primetime in the demo.

With all three of its dramas seeing week-to-week gains, CBS jumped ahead of NBC on Tuesday night. CBS averaged a 2.3 adults 18-49 rating and 7 share for the night, just ahead of a 2.1/6 for NBC. CBS was up 10 percent versus last week, while NBC was off 16% dragged down in part by a repeat in the 10 p.m. hour. CBS’s top show, NCIS, averaged a 2.5 at 8 p.m., up a tenth from last week, and lead-out NCIS: Los Angeles also grew a tenth, to a 2.4.

Ted still hasn’t met the mother, but the next-to-last episode of How I Met Your Mother saw ratings surge last night. The CBS comedy jumped 17% from last week, to a 3.4 adults 18-49 rating at 8 p.m. The show was the No. 2 program of the night in the demo just behind NBC’s The Voice, which averaged a 3.6 from 8 to 10 p.m. Mother will air its series finale next Monday with a special one-hour episode

A game that came down to the final minute gave CBS’s primetime lineup a lift last night. The network finished No. 1 Sunday night, boosted by the Iowa State-North Carolina contest that the Cyclones won 85-83 despite trailing by three with 56 seconds remaining. The final half hour of the game, which aired from 7 to 7:30 p.m., averaged a 3.9 adults 18-49 rating, easily the highest-rated program of the night on broadcast. That helped CBS to a 2.1 rating and 6 share in primetime, just ahead of No. 2 ABC at 1.9/5.