Welcome to summer TV. Collectively, the broadcast networks declined 22% from the same night last year.
NBC: The network can’t get rid of the awful SAVE ME fast enough, as NBC is double-pumping it on Thursdays to make the pain pass quicker. It debuted last night with twin 0.7 ratings, the same as the sitcom reruns that followed it. At 10PM, despite much weaker competition on CBS and ABC, HANNIBAL tied its series low 1.0, down 0.1 from last week.
ABC: WIPEOUT started the night with 1.2, up 0.2 from last week (when it faced the season finale of American Idol, among others). That was the same number for the timeslot premiere of MOTIVE–actually not a terrible result, down just 0.1 from its Monday run (where it had the Dancing With the Stars finale as its lead-in), and just slightly in 2d place for the hour. Yet another 1.2 followed for the season premiere of ROOKIE BLUE, which was down 0.2 from last season’s premiere but still enough to win the 10PM hour.
FOX: HELL’S KITCHEN looked pretty good in the context of the night with a 2.1, up 0.3 from a Monday run last week. That provided a sufficient springboard for DOES SOMEONE HAVE TO GO? to win its premiere hour at 9PM with a 1.3, although that show didn’t hold its lead-in particularly well.
CBS: One of the network’s strengths is that its shows are among the only ones to do well in reruns, and the highest rated show of the night was THE BIG BANG THEORY at 2.2, with 2 1/2 MEN‘s 1.8 not far behind. The PERSON OF INTEREST rerun continued to hold its own with a 1.2 at 9PM, although ELEMENTARY fell behind with a 0.9 at 10PM.
CW: Reruns at 0.3/0.2.
Apart from the newsmagazines, the only thing new tonight is the ABC reality show BRAIN GAMES. It’s going to be a quiet Memorial Day Weekend, highlighted (so to speak) by the 2-hour series finale of SMASH on Sunday night.
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