A surprise Thursday night victory for NBC last night, which had less to do with America’s Got Talent and much more to do with President Obama. NBC started the night at 8 pm with a displaced America’s Got Talent episode (which would have run Wednesday were it not for the NFL kick off game). AGT averaged a 1.8 rating, incredibly disappointing for the once mighty summer reality show. The episode would have scored around a 2.3 on Wednesday, which is already way down from prior seasons, but to fall below a 2 for an original episode (even on a special night) is pretty bad.
But then NBC’s luck started to turn. Because the network did not carry any convention coverage Wednesday during the NFL game, NBC News covered two hours last night for equal time reasons. The convention started at a modest 1.4 rating in the 9:00 half hour, building to a 1.8 at 9:30, a 2.3 at 10:00, and finishing at a phenomenal 2.8 at 10:30 while the President spoke. Except for the NFL game, the 2.8 rating for the Obama speech should be the highest rated half hour of the week. ABC and CBS were in the 0.9-1.0 range at 10 pm with their coverage, and NBC had a clear advantage getting a running start at 9 pm. Perhaps people caught former Governor Jennifer Granholm’s speech (some say she was impassioned — others thought she was drunk). In any case, maybe the audience thought NBC had finally found a good comedy for the 9 pm time period. Overall, the 9-11 pm convention coverage averaged a 2.1 rating, and the entire night scored a 2.0 rating.
CBS was second for the night with 1.7 rating. Big Bang Theory repeat did its usual solid 2.0 rating at 8 pm, followed by a 1.7 for Two and a Half Men. Big Brother averaged a 2.1 from 9-10 pm, rebounding from a 1.9 last week but still a little weak for the series. The CBS News coverage of the DNC averaged a 0.9 at 10 pm.
ABC was third with a 1.2 rating. Wipeout rebounded from a 1.1 last week to a 1.3 this week, still a disappointing number as well. Then Rookie Blue, the Canadian import drama, ended its summer run with a 1.2 rating at 9 pm, a touch higher than recent originals but well below the season high of a 1.5 rating on July 26, around the time ABC prematurely picked up another season of the show. ABC News coverage at 10 pm averaged a 1.0 rating.
FOX threw in the towel with a 0.7 from 8-10 pm: repeats of Raising Hope and New Girl (0.7 each) and Glee (0.6).
Cable numbers when they are released this afternoon.
