Spotted Ratings, Thursday 5/3/12

WHAT MATTERS:

• I guess last week's NFL Draft did matter, as the seemingly most-damaged network (CBS) bounced back. The Big Bang Theory was up double-digits and widened its head-to-head thumping of American Idol. It also tied the Wednesday Idol for tops on all of TV this week. Rules of Engagement and The Mentalist also rallied by multiple ticks. Their only bad news: it is rather concerning that Person of Interest didn't make much of a comeback.

• NBC saw 30 Rock drop from its live episode ratings last week but was even to a little up with Community, The Office and Parks and Recreation.

• On Fox, Touch mercifully stopped bleeding, but it was a really weak episode for ABC's Missing, which dropped well below previous results and could only tie The Vampire Diaries.

FULL TABLE:

Info				Show				Timeslot		TRUE
	Viewers	A18-49	Skew	Last	LeLa	Avg	Rank	Tavg	Lead
Missing	6.32	1.2	24%	-14%	n/a	-23%	8/8	-25%	n/a	1.56
Grey's Anatomy	9.24	3.3	46%	+0%	-14%	-7%	13/21	-2%	+175%	4.04
Scandal	6.69	1.9	36%	-5%	+0%	-5%	5/5	-21%	-42%	1.54
The Big Bang Theory	13.91	4.7	43%	+15%	n/a	-6%	16/23	-6%	n/a	7.56
Rules of Engagement	8.88	2.7	39%	+8%	+15%	-10%	7/13	-15%	-43%	2.72
Person of Interest	13.27	2.5	24%	+4%	+8%	-15%	20/21	-15%	-7%	2.70
The Mentalist	12.94	2.5	25%	+14%	+4%	-5%	15/22	-6%	+0%	2.37
Community	3.20	1.4	56%	+0%	n/a	-12%	13/18	-10%	n/a	2.00
30 Rock	3.04	1.4	59%	-13%	+0%	-10%	14/19	-21%	+0%	1.70
The Office	4.44	2.3	66%	+10%	-13%	-18%	19/23	-15%	+64%	2.76
Parks and Recreation	3.26	1.7	67%	+6%	+10%	-8%	14/21	-8%	-26%	1.75
Awake	2.15	0.7	42%	-13%	+6%	-42%	10/10	-42%	-59%	0.48
American Idol Thu	15.56	4.0	33%	+0%	n/a	-17%	13/16	-3%	n/a	5.89
Touch	6.72	2.0	38%	+5%	+0%	-24%	7/8	-34%	-50%	1.72
The Vampire Diaries	2.54	1.2	60%	+9%	n/a	-8%	12/21	-7%	n/a	1.75
The Secret Circle	1.23	0.5	52%	+0%	+9%	-37%	19/21	-36%	-58%	0.39

KEY (click to expand)

Viewers - The total number of viewers (age 2+, in millions) that watched the program.
A18-49 - Adults 18-49 rating. Percentage of US TV-owning adults 18-49 watching the program.
Skew - Percentage of the total audience that falls in the 18-49 demo.
Last - A18-49 percent difference from previous episode.
Lead - A18-49 percent difference from lead-in program.
LeLa - A18-49 percent difference between the show's lead-in and its lead-in for the previous episode.
Avg - A18-49 percent difference from the show's average demo for previous original episodes this season.
Rank - The A18-49 rating's rank among the show's episodes that have aired so far this season.
Tavg - A18-49 percent difference from its timeslot's previous original entertainment average this season.
TRUE - True Strength, a metric that adjusts the A18-49 rating for overall viewing levels, competition and lead-in. (Note: these are PRELIMINARY TRUE calculations. Finals come next week.)

(R) - Repeat.

Much more detail on these numbers at the New Daily Spotted Ratings page.

More Spotted Ratings in the Index.