Last night the May sweep and the broadcast season ended with a whimper. For the season as a whole, (757 prime time hours in the 34 1/2 weeks between Monday, September 24, 2012 and last night), CBS finished at #1 as expected, with a 2.40 rating in the Adults 18-49 demographic. FOX was #2 with a 2.07 rating (a 2.1 as far as the networks are concerned, since they still express ratings to only one decimal). NBC finished in third with a 2.03 (i.e., 2.0), while ABC trailed with a 1.80 rating. The CW pulled a 0.52 (0.5) for the season.
ABC: A night dotted with season finales started with THE MIDDLE, which was impressively steady as it held even with last year’s finale at 2.0 (up 0.1 from last week). After 1.6 for a rerun, the MODERN FAMILY Season 4 finale held up less well, with a 3.6 that was down half a point from last year (and down 0.1 from last week). A regular episode of the canceled HOW TO LIVE WITH YOUR PARENTS was up 0.2 from last week to 2.2. The NASHVILLE season finale was up 0.2 from last week to 1.9, an average number for the show for the season overall, but its best rating in more than a month.
CBS: The CRIMINAL MINDS 2-hour season finale was barely up from last week at 2.7, a below-average rating for the season and down a huge 0.9 from last season’s finale (needless to say, its lowest finale to date). This is indicative of why, despite its high and mighty status right now, CBS needs to be worried just like the other networks. The night started with 1.1/1.2 for a pair of sitcom reruns.
NBC: The network keeps trying to convince people (and itself) that CHICAGO FIRE isn’t just a hit, it’s a franchise, but its season finale managed only a 1.7 rating, last place in its hour, below average for the season, and down 0.3 from last week. Admittedly, it faced stronger than normal competition on CBS, but not by a huge amount. Earlier, the SVU season finale was up 0.1 from last week to 1.6, down 0.4 from last season’s finale and its lowest finale ever. The network kicked off the night with 1.4 for DATELINE.
FOX: The 2-hour season premiere of MASTERCHEF had a 2.1, down 0.2 from last year’s premiere. That was enough to win the 8PM hour.
CW: An airing of the Jennifer Aniston flop LOVE HAPPENS had a 0.3.
Goodbye to the regular season; hello to the summer season. Tonight NBC begins its burn-off of the dreadful SAVE ME, FOX introduces the disquieting reality show DOES SOMEONE HAVE TO GO? (employees decide who among them should be fired) behind HELL’S KITCHEN, and ABC debuts its all-new line-up of WIPEOUT, the regular timeslot premiere of MOTIVE, and the Season 4 premiere of ROOKIE BLUE.
About the Author
