As it turned out, you could stop the beat after all.
DEMOGRAPHIC DETAIL: For each broadcast program (or hour segment), the chart below displays preliminary key advertiser demographics (adult 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54 ratings), audience skews (women 18-49, men 18-49 and adults 50+ shares) and total viewership (thousands of people over the age of 2).
Ratings analysis and comparisons follow the chart.
NBC: Pending final numbers this afternoon, HAIRSPRAY is the lowest rated of the live Broadway musicals aired by the networks over the past 4 years, with a 2.3 that was even slightly lower than the 2.4 for PETER PAN. Even worse, it slid throughout the broadcast, falling to 1.9 in the last segment. (That was still higher, though, then the 1.6 FOX had for its non-Broadway live musical THE PASSION earlier this year.) Next year’s vehicle BYE BYE BIRDIE is far less familiar to contemporary audiences than HAIRSPRAY, so NBC will have to hope Jennifer Lopez’s presence changes things.
FOX: The news wasn’t better elsewhere on the dial. LETHAL WEAPON fell 0.2 to a new low 1.4, and EMPIRE dropped 0.4 to a new series low 2.5.
ABC: THE GOLDBERGS fell 0.2 to 1.5, SPEECHLESS was down 0.2 to 1.3, and after a 1.1 rerun of MODERN FAMILY, BLACK-ISH slumped by half a point to 1.2. DESIGNATED SURVIVOR ended the night down 0.2 to a new low 1.1.
CBS: SURVIVOR was off by 0.2 to 1.7, but CRIMINAL MINDS resisted the trend, rising 0.1 to 1.4. CODE BLACK dipped 0.1 to 1.0.
CW: The post-crossover ARROW midseason finale plunged 0.6 to 0.7, and FREQUENCY was down 0.1 to 0.2.
FOX follows this year’s installment of TARAJI’S WHITE-HOT HOLIDAY with what PITCH hopes will only be its season finale. ABC has the season’s final hour of NOTORIOUS, which is likely to be the last we see of it.
COMPARISONS TO SIMILAR NIGHTS: Preliminary adult 18-49 ratings versus the same night last year and same night last week.
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