Spotted Ratings, Friday 4/18/14

WHAT MATTERS:

• Once again, NBC's Hannibal (0.9) actually seemed to benefit from airing after Dateline (1.2) rather than Grimm, as it outrated the previous two post-Grimm eps.

• After premiering well last week, Kitchen Nightmares (1.0 at 8:00, 0.9 at 9:00) was down two ticks in each hour.

• ABC was down with Last Man Standing (1.1), which would be at a new low if it holds (but it had a prelim 1.1 that adjusted up last week), and Shark Tank (1.6), also at a new season low if it holds. But 20/20 (1.8) had a strange spike at 10/9c.

Above based on preliminary adults 18-49 ratings unless otherwise noted. Full table forthcoming!

Spotted Ratings, Thursday 4/17/14

WHAT MATTERS:

• A curiously packed mid-April night of season finales was of course highlighted by Scandal (3.4), which edged last year's finale (3.2) and tied this spring's premiere on February 27 as the second-highest rated episode in series history. An upward adjustment in total viewers (to 10.57 million) made it a series high in total viewership, barely edging the fall premiere (10.52 million).

• The other three finales were all for bubble shows, and probably the closest thing to good news was Parenthood (1.3) going a bit above average even in a head-to-head with Scandal. Community (1.0) rose a tenth week-to-week, but it also had less competition than usual due to a repeat The Big Bang Theory (2.2). And the loser was CBS' The Crazy Ones (1.6 at 9:00 and a pitiful 1.3 at 9:30), which went well below all previous results when sandwiched by repeat hours at 8 and 10 (though the 8:30 The Big Bang Theory (2.6) provided basically the same lead-in volume as it usually has).

• Fox reality was on the rebound as Hell's Kitchen (1.7) got pretty much back on track with no Shark Tank in the hour and American Idol (1.9) actually tied the Wednesday edition. But following decent holds in weeks two and three, Surviving Jack (1.0) took a week four hit.

• And the CW's nightmare week continued with The Vampire Diaries (0.7) plunging to a new low and Reign (0.4), like The 100 the night before, failing to rally even with an original lead-in reinstalled.

The Question, Thursday 4/17/14: Will the #ScandalFinale Blow Up?

When Scandal returned from its long winter hiatus, it was tied out to the hundredth with two-time reigning champ NCIS as the top drama on broadcast TV. But while Daylight Saving viewing depressions have battered NCIS' ratings in the spring, Scandal has remained stout in the 10/9c hour and pretty much wrapped up #1 broadcast drama honors for the first time. The only bad news for ABC is that the season must end tonight at just 18 episodes due to Kerry Washington's pregnancy. Will the #ScandalFinale blow up? That's The Question for Thursday, April 17, 2014.

Spotted Ratings, Wednesday 4/16/14

WHAT MATTERS:

• Even with Arrow (0.7) back in originals, albeit at a tie for a season low, The 100 (0.5) adjusted down in finals and thus was flat week-to-week. (As usual, it was pretty close to rounding up; the final was 0.53.) While a 0.6 would have put the show squarely in the likely renewal column, this non-rally keeps things pretty interesting. But maybe it will benefit from the network's softness in general this week.

• Everything scripted on the big four was in repeats except for Mixology (1.2), but this was of no help to the few originals in the mix. American Idol (1.9) got yet another new season low, while Survivor (2.3) adjusted up to tie its low.

SpotVault - Fargo (FX) - 2013-14 Ratings

Fargo

Tuesdays, 10/9c, FX

SpotVault - Kitchen Nightmares (Fox) - 2013-14 Ratings

Kitchen Nightmares

Fridays, 8/7c, Fox

SpotVault - Celebrity Wife Swap (ABC) - 2013-14 Ratings

Celebrity Wife Swap

Tuesdays, 10/9c, ABC

Spotted Ratings, Tuesday 4/15/14

WHAT MATTERS:

• A special 9/8c tryout for Agents of SHIELD (2.1) was of some benefit, amounting to a two-tenth uptick week-to-week. That doesn't seem like much, but given what happened on the other networks... anyway, more on that in a minute. ABC also launched a new season of Celebrity Wife Swap (1.0) at a mere shadow of what the show got in the regular season last year (including a 2.4 premiere on 2/26/13). But this was pretty close to what it averaged over the summer, and sadly an improvement on almost every regularly-scheduled original in the 10/9c slot this season. (Only the premieres of Lucky 7 and Mind Games did better!)

• The other good news was NBC's The Voice (3.0) and About a Boy (1.8) bouncing back a bit. But those really only look encouraging because they dropped so much last week.

• Then there was everybody else, where season lows were all over the place, though many of the outright lows were adjusted away after finals. Here are the details:
• CBS: NCIS (2.2, a low by two tenths even after a finals uptick), NCIS: Los Angeles (2.1, tie) and Person of Interest (1.8, adjusted up from a tie to not a low).
• NBC: Chicago Fire (1.7, new low).
• Fox: Glee (1.0, NOT A LOW!), New Girl (1.2, adjusted up to a tie), The Mindy Project (1.0, tie).
• CW: The Originals (0.7, adjusted up to a tie), Supernatural (0.7, adjusted down to a low by two tenths).

• FX launched new drama Fargo (0.8), which basically tied the 18-49 average of previous occupant Justified. But it was a bit below their last drama launch The Bridge (0.9 on 7/10/13), and most other recent launches of note on the network were in the 1's. This network has become somewhat famous for massive post-premiere drops, so they'll have to hope this modest premiere bucks the trend.

The True Top 25, Week Ending 4/13/14 (2013-14 Week 29)

We may be a month past Daylight Saving, but week 29 was at least as bad for TV ratings as that week was. And this showed up in bigger-picture ways; the downturn in overall viewing week-to-week was even more significant this week than four weeks ago, suggesting that some late winter weather may have kept ratings afloat to a certain degree in March. While this showed up in many a raw rating, it also meant that a show like NCIS that went against this gravity (getting its highest rating in five episodes, despite its lowest-viewed slot of the season) could post a really high-end True score.

The Big Bang Theory lost out to the NCAA basketball finals for the True crown this week, but it still demolished all other entertainment series. Scandal was the top drama again, edging its lead-in Grey's Anatomy and the surging NCIS. Agents of SHIELD, The Millers and the return of Resurrection represented the new shows, while Shark Tank and Saturday's NASCAR were the only weekend series.

Spotted Ratings, Monday 4/14/14

WHAT MATTERS:

• It was obvious coming into the first regular Monday after How I Met Your Mother's departure that CBS would not stack up nearly as well with the other networks. The best the shows could really hope for was to hold their regular numbers in a post-HIMYM world, and they did that quite well. I was most surprised that 2 Broke Girls (2.3) actually matched the episode that aired after the penultimate HIMYM. We'll see next week if Lindsay Lohan's 2BG guest turn actually moved the needle here. (Notably, it was also just a tick below the last time it was an "anchor" all the way back in October.) Friends with Better Lives (1.8) was the lineup's weak link out of the gate, but not by much. And Mike and Molly (2.1) and Mom (1.9) completely held up as well.

• Everybody was original from 8-10pm and repeat at 10:00, with the only other notables being another off night for Bones (1.4) and the CW's The Tomorrow People (0.4) inching back down after last week's growth.