There is, it turns out, an audience for scripted network drama during the summer.
CBS: Airing in the dead of network summer, and against what turned out to be the last hour of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals, UNDER THE DOME had a huge 3.2 debut in 18-49s and over 13M viewers, numbers that just about any new drama would be happy to get in September–by way of comparison, the 18-49 result just about equaled last season’s average for Grey’s Anatomy. The show built massively from its 2.0 lead-in from a BIG BANG THEORY rerun (which was nevertheless the highest-rated show of the night other than Dome and hockey). Dome dropped a bit in the second half (from a 3.3 in the 10:00 half hour to a 3.1 at 10:30), but if it settles around a 2.9 or 3.0 in the next few weeks, it looks to be a dominating hit.
NBC: Per Mitch Metcalf: the final game of the NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS, won in stunning fashion by the Chicago Blackhawks, scored a 3.1 adult 18-49 rating in the preliminary fast nationals for NBC, possibly going up to a 3.4 rating in the official nationals this afternoon. A very strong end to a great series. (See complete series track above.) The final half hour of the game at 10:30 averaged a 3.8 in the fast nationals (which should be over a 4.0 rating in the official nationals), making the premiere of Under the Dome all the more impressive.
ABC: Although the competition on CBS and NBC was huge, it wasn’t as female-skewing as the ABC line-up (or last week’s finale of The Voice), so THE BACHELORETTE rose 0.2 from last week to 1.9, and MISTRESSES dipped only 0.1 from last week to 1.1 (nonetheless a series low).
FOX: The network’s highest rating last night was 0.8 for a RAISING HOPE rerun. The burned-off THE GOODWIN GAMES was at 0.6 (up a tick from last week), and a repurposed FX ANGER MANAGEMENT only managed an 0.5.
CW: OH SIT was flat at 0.3, which looked good compared to 0.1 for the CARRIE DIARIES rerun that followed..
CBS goes back to rerun mode tonight, but the other networks have an assortment of fresh unscripted shows, with AMERICA’S GOT TALENT on NBC, EXTREME WEIGHT LOSS on ABC and SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE on FOX. On cable, TNT launches its Tuesday summer line-up with the returns of RIZZOLI & ISLES and PERCEPTION.
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