NETWORK UPDATE: The only change from this morning was a 0.1 increase for the 8PM DANCING WITH THE STARS clip show.
TUESDAY CABLE: The Miami/Indiana NBA PLAYOFFS game on ESPN came within an inch (at 3.2) of matching THE VOICE as the highest rated show on all of television last night. Almost as impressive was the 1.4 for the NBA DRAFT LOTTERY that aired prior to the game, considering that it was a half-hour of people waiting nervously while balls were picked and envelopes were opened, with no players actually picked. THE DEADLIEST CATCH (Discovery) rose 0.1 to 1.1. INK MASTER (Spike) held at 0.8. On TLC, 19 KIDS AND COUNTING was at 0.8/0.7 for its 2 half-hours (up 0.1 for the first), and THE LITTLE COUPLE slipped 0.1 to 0.7. Comedy Central had a down night, as TOSH.0 fell 0.1 to 0.7 and INSIDE AMY SCHUMER tumbled 0.2 to 0.4. FARGO (FX) climbed 0.1 to 0.6. On MTV, AWKWARD and FAKING IT continued to be a compatible pair at 0.5/0.4 (both, of course, are aimed at an audience younger than the 18-49 demo). PLAYING HOUSE (USA) stayed at 0.4.
A night heavy on unscripted programming didn’t work out for everyone.
NBC: THE VOICE‘s season finale was the dominant show of the night, and up 0.7 from last week to 3.3, but down a very worrisome 1.1 from last year’s finale, which aired after the end of the regular network season. (The finale was merely even with the non-finale Voice that aired on the final Tuesday of last season.) FOX could tell NBC all about what happens when once-mighty competition shows start to slide. The finale was preceded by a Voice clip show at 1.9.
ABC; The DANCING WITH THE STARS season finale was below The Voice at 2.4, but much healthier in terms of stability, down 0.3 from last year’s finale. It, too, was preceded by a clip show, which was at 1.6.
FOX: The first part of the AMERICAN IDOL season finale had an ugly 1.7 rating, even though it only had to air against the Voice and Dancing clip shows. That was down 1.2 from last year’s first finale night (which aired on a Wednesday). The new reality series I WANNA MARRY HARRY was far from royal at 0.7.
CBS: After 0.9 for a JUDGE JUDY PRIMETIME special, the country-themed ACM PRESENTS: ALL-STAR SALUTE TO THE TROOPS was no better at another 0.9.
CW: The season finale of SUPERNATURAL was at 1.1, up 0.3 from last week and perhaps even more impressively up 0.2 from last season’s finale. It was preceded by a rerun at 0.5.
The curtain rings down on the 2013-14 broadcast network season tonight. It includes the final flood of season finales, with SURVIVOR on CBS, REVOLUTION (the series finale), SVU and CHICAGO PD on NBC, THE MIDDLE (a 1-hour episode), MODERN FAMILY and MIXOLOGY on ABC, and AMERICAN IDOL on FOX. Joining in the finale fun is FX, with the season 2 finale of THE AMERICANS. ABC will also launch the 2d season of its summer procedural MOTIVE.
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