overnights

Another scripted series saw improvement last night. NBC’s Camp, a new drama that has the good fortune to air behind top show America’s Got Talent, jumped 20% over last week to a 1.2 adults 18-49 rating at 10 p.m. Camp tied with CBS’s CSI repeat for first in the timeslot, though that did include one minute of overrun from Talent. Overnights are based on timeslot and not actual program ratings. When final ratings come out later today, that minute will be removed and could cause Camp’s rating to dip.

America’s Got Talent remains the show to beat on Tuesday night, and it appears no one can beat it. Talent averaged a 2.7 adults 18-49 rating from 9 to 11 p.m., easily the top program of the night. Talent nearly doubled the rating for the night’s No. 2 show on the Big Four, So You Think You Can Dance, which drew a 1.4. The NBC reality show did slide 4% from last week, but it still drew its second-best Tuesday night rating in six weeks. The program also airs on Wednesdays.

For once ABC wasn’t exaggerating when it teased a truly shocking development on part one of the season finale of The Bachelorette, which aired last night. One of the bachelors pulled himself out of contention, and all the drama helped boost the reality show to a season high. Bachelorette averaged a 2.3 adults 18-49 rating from 8 to 10 p.m., up 21% over last week and peaking with a 2.5 in its final hour. It also lifted ABC to its best summer Monday night rating in a year, a 2.0.

People didn’t exactly forget about Unforgettable, CBS’s canceled-then-revived drama that returned for its second season last night. But they weren’t exactly clamoring for the show, either. Unforgettable drew a 1.3 adults 18-49 rating last night at 9 p.m., finishing third in its timeslot behind Univision’s Amores Verdaderos finale and Fox’s animated repeats. Even so, Unforgettable improved significantly on the repeats of The Good Wife that had been airing in the timeslot.

The two-hour season finale of Fox’s Hell’s Kitchen led the network to a first-place finish Thursday night among viewers 18-49. Kitchen averaged a 2.2 overnight rating in the demo from 8 to 10 p.m., up 10% from a 2.0 rating last week. However, the season finale was off 12% from last year’s season-ender, which posted a 2.5 overnight rating. It should be noted that last year’s finale was only an hour long, and it aired several weeks later, on Sept. 10.

America’s Got Talent and MasterChef tied as the top-rated show on Wednesday night. Both programs averaged a 2.3 adults 18-49 rating at 9 p.m. But while Talent, airing its first results show of the season, was actually down 21% from last week and fell to a season low on the night, MasterChef was actually up 5% week to week. Talent was even to the same night last year.

America’s Got Talent grew a solid 12% from last week to lead NBC to another Tuesday night victory. Talent averaged a 2.8 adults 18-49 rating from 9 to 11 p.m., easily the night’s top-rated program. In fact, it was the best rating for any non-sports Tuesday night broadcast show since The Voice aired its season finale June 18, drawing a 4.4. That lifted NBC to an easy victory on a night where CBS was in all repeats.

It’s been unusual this summer for any broadcast show to see week to week growth, let alone four Big Three shows in one night. ABC, CBS and NBC programs all increased over last week last night, with CBS’s hit Under the Dome finishing as the night’s top show with a 2.8 adults 18-49 rating. ABC, CBS and Univision all tied for first for the night among 18-49s, each with a 1.7 average overnight rating and a 5 share. NBC was fourth at 1.3/4, Fox fifth at 0.7/2, Telemundo sixth at 0.6/2 and CW seventh at 0.2/1.

Big Brother’s hot streak continues. The veteran CBS reality show, now in its 15^th season, was easily the night’s top show among adults 18-49 Sunday night, averaging a 2.4 18-49 rating. That matched Thursday’s season high. The program also set a season high among total viewers with 6.84 million, the second straight episode the show has reached a new high.

In any language, Univision won the night on Thursday. Univision came in first in ratings with a 1.8 rating/6 share among adults18-49 and third in total viewers with 4.5 million. CBS was second in ratings with a 1.7/5 and first in total viewers with 6 million. In between reruns, Big Brother at 9 p.m. earned the highest ratings of the night with a 2.3/7. It drew 6.7 million viewers.

The disclaimer that CBS added to the beginning of Big Brother warning viewers about potentially prejudiced viewpoints, following a flap over racist language on the show, doesn’t seem to be stopping people from watching. The show grew to a 2.1 adults 18-49 rating last night, easily winning the 8 p.m. timeslot. That was up a tenth, or 5% over last week. It tied Fox’s MasterChef as the No. 2 program of the night behind NBC’s America’s Got Talent.

NBC’s America’s Got Talent held up well against Fox’s Major League Baseball All-Star Game coverage Tuesday night. Talent averaged a 2.5 adults 18-49 rating at 9 p.m., down only 4% from last week, when it faced lower-rated competition on Fox. Talent, which grew from a 2.3 in its first hour to a 2.7 in its second, was easily the top-rated non-sports program of the evening. The No. 2 show was Univision’s Amores Verdaderos at 9 p.m., which drew a 1.9.

Four weeks into its run, CBS’s Under the Dome remains the summer’s top show, and its ratings held steady week to week for the first time. Dome averaged a 2.7 adults 18-49 rating last night, equal to last week. It’s the first time the show has not declined week to week, an indication that viewership levels have probably settled in three weeks after the program bowed to a 3.3, become the highest-rated summer premiere on broadcast in years.

The theme for Sunday nights continues to be low ratings. Though ABC’s two original shows definitely fit that theme, they both saw solid gains over last week. Celebrity Wife Swap saw the biggest week-to-week gain of any program, up 33% in the 8 p.m. hour to a 1.2 adults 18-49 rating. And Swap’s 9 p.m. lead-out, Whodunnit?, was up 10% from last week to a 1.1.

NBC’s new Hollywood Game Night drew okay ratings in last night’s debut, though another new show on the network, The Winner Is, was limp. Hollywood averaged a 1.3 adults 18-49 rating, rising from a 1.2 in its first half hour in the 10 p.m. timeslot to a 1.4 in its second. The show won its timeslot, finishing 0.1 ahead of Univision’s Que Bonito Amor. But earlier in the night NBC’s other new show didn’t fare as well. The Winner Is, which averaged a 1.9 behind The Voice in a two-episode sneak peek last month, managed just a 1.0 at 9 p.m.

The highest-rated Wednesday show of the summer lifted NBC’s new dramedy Camp to a decent debut Wednesday night. Camp averaged a 1.5 adults 18-49 rating at 10 p.m., the second-best bow for any of the nine scripted series that have premiered this summer on broadcast. It was behind only CBS’s hit Under the Dome, whose first episode averaged a 3.3 last month.

America’s Got Talent rose week to week and boosted NBC to another easy Tuesday night win. The veteran reality show averaged a 2.5 adults 18-49 rating, up 4% over last week. It was easily the No. 1 show of the night, well ahead of Univision’s Amores Verdaderos, which was second with a 1.6. That lifted Univision into a second-place tie on the night with Fox.

CBS’s new hit show Under the Dome slid again in its third episode, but it remains one of the summer’s top-rated programs. Dome averaged a 2.7 adults 18-49 rating on Monday night at 10 p.m., down 7% from last week’s 2.9. It was the night’s No. 1 program across virtually every demographic, and it lifted CBS into a tie for first place on the night in 18-49s, despite the fact that the network only aired one original show. Dome bettered the combined ratings of ABC’s Mistresses and NBC’s Siberia in the 10 p.m. timeslot.

Controversies certainly have a way of goosing ratings. Big Brother’s numbers surged after several days of online outrage over racist, misogynist and homophobic comments made by several houseguests. Brother averaged a 2.1 adults 18-49 rating, up 11% over a 1.9 last week. The show has been mired in controversy after the 24-7 live feed of Brother on the Web showed several contestants making ethnic and other slurs against other players. Two were even fired from their real-life jobs for their comments.

Airing against blocks of repeats on the rest of the broadcast networks, NBC’s telecast of the Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular was Thursday’s lone original offering. The two-hour special, expanded from last summer’s one-hour offering, averaged a 1.5 rating among adults 18-49. And while that’s down two-tenths of a point from 2012, the show was actually up two-tenths in the common 9 p.m. hour.

CBS’s Big Brother drew 5.4 million total viewers to this season’s first live eviction show, while scoring a 1.6 demo rating.Those numbers topped a quiet Independence Day Eve on both counts, yet marked drops of 17% and 27% week-to-week and hit an all-time demo for the series for a consecutive night.

Viewers apparently weren’t as interested in broadcast TV last night heading into the long holiday weekend, with several shows falling to season lows. One of them was NBC’s America’s Got Talent, though it was still easily the highest-rated program of the night. Talent averaged a 2.3 adults 18-49 rating from 9 to 11 p.m., down 12% from last week. It lifted NBC to a nightly win and outrated the No. 2 show, CBS’s Big Brother, by 28%.

Under the Dome declined a bit in its second week, as nearly every show on broadcast does these days, but it still pulled very strong numbers for CBS. Last night’s episode at 10 p.m. drew a 2.8 in adults 18-49, down 15% from a 3.3 last week. It was still easily the night’s No. 1 program, topping No. 2 The Bachelorette on ABC by 56% Bachelorette drew a 1.8.

Big Brother is seeing some big ratings declines to start the season.After Wednesday’s debut saw a 15% dip in adults 18-49, the CBS program’s Sunday bow saw an even steeper slide. Brother averaged a 1.7 18-49 rating last night, down 26% from last year’s Sunday debut. It was also down from the 2.2 that Brother averaged in its Wednesday bow. Brother, now in its 15th season, did finish as the top show of the night, 0.3 ahead of Fox’s Family Guy repeat.

Big Brother returned with a smaller audience last night. The veteran CBS reality show bowed to a 2.1 adults 18-49 rating, down 19% from last year’s premiere. It also tied for the lowest debut ever for the show, now in its 15th season. Its rating dipped from a 2.2 in the first half hour to a 2.0 in the second. It still tied with MasterChef for first in the 8 p.m. timeslot, and it finished as the No. 2 show of the night on broadcast behind only the two-hour MasterChef, which averaged a 2.3. The Gordon Ramsay reality show rose 5% from last week.

America’s Got Talent saw a week-to-week decline, but it still drew a far better rating than anything else on broadcast last night. From 9 to 11 p.m. Talent averaged a 2.6 adults 18-49 rating, off 13% from last week’s 3.0. But it was almost a point higher than the night’s No. 2 show, Univision’s Amores Verdaderos, which averaged a 1.7 at 9 p.m. Two original shows on other broadcasters did see gains. Fox’s So You Think You Can Dance averaged a 1.6, up 14% from last week, when it faced game six of the NBA Finals.

CBS’s Under the Dome lived up to the hype. The new scripted series became the second-highest-rated drama launch of the past year, despite airing during the summer, when households using television levels are lower than during the regular season. Dome averaged a 3.2 adults 18-49 rating, the highest-rated show of the night on broadcast. That was behind only the premiere for Revolution during the recent broadcast season. It was CBS’s best summer bow in the demo since 2005’s Fire Me Please drew a 3.3.

The premiere of Whodunnit, ABC’s new mystery show, helped the network tie Fox for first place on Sunday night. The 9 p.m. show averaged a 1.3 adults 18-49 rating, and held 100% of Celebrity Wife Swap’s 8 p.m. lead-in. That tied with Fox’s Does Someone Have to Go? for the second-best debut of the summer for a reality show, behind the sneak preview of NBC’s And the Winner Is … (1.8), which aired behind The Voice. And it lifted ABC into a tie for first-place on a night dominated by repeats.

Game seven of the NBA Finals did not disappoint, on the court or in the ratings. The game became the second-highest-rated NBA game in ABC history, averaging a 17.7 metered-market household rating. That boosted the seven-game series to an average 12.4 rating, up 5 percent from an 11.8 for the 2012 finals. Nothing else on broadcast pulled anywhere near the NBA numbers last night, not surprisingly. But nothing saw huge drop-offs, either, suggesting the game drew in either those who wouldn’t otherwise be watching TV or cable viewers.

Another thriller in the Chicago Blackhawks-Boston Bruins series lifted NBC to a victory among adults 18-49 last night. The primetime portion of game four, which lasted until well after 11 p.m., averaged a 2.2 adults 18-49 rating, nearly triple what game four earned on NBC Sports Network last year.

Despite airing against very tough competition from the NBA Finals, NBC’s The Voice notched its biggest total viewers audience ever for a finale and drew a strong number in adults 18-49. The two-hour program posted a 4.3 18-49 rating at 9 p.m., down just a tenth from last spring’s season ender. It was the highest-rated episode of the show since April 22. It drew 15.3 million total viewers, 1 million more than the 14.3 million who watched the most recent American Idol finale. This year the Voice finale aired during the summer, while last year’s took place during the regular TV season, when viewership levels are higher.

Nielsen isn’t abandoning set-top-box (STB) data, but it is substantially scaling back plans to use it for local measurement. It boils down to the need for speed. In the 55 largest markets, Nielsen has determined — at least for now — that it’s not possible to collect and process the data quickly enough to continue with overnight ratings, a major client need. So, Nielsen has altered the new “hybrid” system it laid out last summer.

In its penultimate episode of the fourth season, NBC’s The Voice saw its rating rise from last week, once again lifting the network to a nightly victory. Voice averaged a 3.5 adults 18-49 rating from 8 to 10 p.m., up 6 percent from a 3.3 last week. Last night was the final performance show of the season, and the program peaked with a 3.9 from 9 to 9:30 p.m. The finale will air tonight at 9 p.m.

The San Antonio Spurs are within one victory of claiming the NBA Finals title with a 114-104 win over the Miami Heat last night that drew strong numbers on ABC. The game averaged an 11.4 metered-market household rating, down slightly from a 12.0 for Miami’s win in game four on Thursday, the highest-rated game of the series so far. But it was up from the first three games, none of which drew more than a 10.6. And it lifted ABC to a dominant victory on the night in every demographic, against minimal competition.

The NBA Finals put up more dominant numbers on Thursday night. Game four of the series averaged a 5.9 adults 18-49 rating in primetime, with each half hour averaging more than the other major broadcast networks put together. It peaked with a 6.4 at 10:30 p.m. The Miami Heat beat the San Antonio Spurs 109-93 to even the series at two games apiece.

The Stanley Cup Finals got off to a thrilling start last night with a triple-overtime game that didn’t end until 1:06 a.m. The payoff was pretty good for NBC. The network finished first in primetime with the Chicago Blackhawks’ 4-3 victory over the Boston Bruins, which averaged a 2.4 adults 18-49 rating from 8 to 11 p.m. Note that overnight ratings do not account for time zone differences, and they do not include the post-primetime portion of the game. The numbers will probably adjust when final ratings are released later today. The game peaked with a 2.7 in its final half hour at 10:30 p.m.

The NBA Finals once again topped the competition, though the series continues to see declines versus last year. The San Antonio Spurs’ 113-77 victory over the Miami Heat averaged a 10.0 household rating. That was the third-widest margin of victory in finals history, and it no doubt led to many viewers changing the channel on the rout. It was down from a 10.2 for game two and a 10.6 for game one, the only contest in the series that’s been close.

The Voice lifted The Winner Is … to decent numbers for the first of two sneak peeks. Voice was, as usual, the top program of the evening, and Winner finished as last night’s No. 2 show. Winner averaged a 1.9 adults 18-49 rating at 10 p.m., winning its timeslot and finishing 0.5 ahead of the No. 2 program in the hour, ABC’s Mistresses. Winner became summer’s top debut so far on any network and the best summer bow on NBC since American Ninja Warrior in May 2012.

It seems as though a pattern is developing for these NBA Finals: Good numbers, though not nearly as good as last year. Sunday night’s game two, airing on ABC from 8 to 10:30 p.m., averaged a 10.2 household rating, down from a 10.6 for Thursday’s opener, which was a much closer contest. It was also off 14% from last year’s game two between the Miami Heat and Oklahoma City Thunder, which drew the best game two rating since 2004, an 11.8.

The NBA Finals tipped off last night with the third-highest game one overnight rating since 2004. The contest averaged a 10.6 household rating, peaking with a 13.1 from 11:30 to 11:45 p.m. during the final 15 minutes of the San Antonio Spurs’ victory. The San Antonio Spurs scored a 92-88 victory over the Miami Heat, the defending NBA champions. The game one rating was off 10 percent from last year, when the Heat squared off with the Oklahoma City Thunder and drew an 11.8, the highest rating for any game one since ABC acquired NBA rights in 2003.