Spotted Ratings, Thursday 12/11/14

WHAT MATTERS:

• FINALS UPDATE: The finals were not too harsh to CBS adjustment-wise, leaving the network with some pretty favorable numbers in spite of a new season low for The Big Bang Theory (3.9). Mom (2.6) tied its season/series high, Two and a Half Men (2.3) and The McCarthys (1.6) both zoomed up to near their premiere numbers and Elementary (1.4) hit a new season high. The CW's night brightened further as The Vampire Diaries upticked to 0.9, putting both its dramas at a tie for their season highs. But Bones got no finals help, so the new season low 1.2 sticks.

• As usual, any observations about Thursday's top-ranked lineup on CBS (including the return of The Big Bang Theory in originals) will have to wait for finals due to preemptions in both of the Thursday Night Football markets.

• Though there's not much Thursday competition these days, not many shows stepped up:
• NBC's regular series in the first two hours were back for the first time in three weeks; The Biggest Loser (1.1) tied its season low at 8/7c, though Bad Judge (1.1) hopped up in its first episode without Scandal competition. (Hey, maybe the Shonda audience would've been interested in a Kate Walsh comedy after all!) 
• ABC's The Taste (0.8) inched down in week two.
• Bones had another preliminary new low 1.2 (though the last one ended up adjusting up), while the Gracepoint finale (0.9) was even with last week but slightly above most of the middle of the run.
• The CW perhaps fared best of all, as the fall finales of The Vampire Diaries (0.8) and Reign (0.5) were each up a tenth.

Spotted Ratings, Thursday 10/16/14

WHAT MATTERS:

• FINALS UPDATE: A finals uptick reduced the drop for How to Get Away with Murder (2.8), though it still remained narrowly behind Scandal. Bones (1.7) actually went up to a new season high, while Reign (0.4) returned to its usual low level. Thursday Night Football (5.4) was exactly even week-to-week.

• After a surprise turn as the top drama on ABC Thursday, How to Get Away with Murder (2.7) fell back behind Scandal (2.9) in week four. Grey's Anatomy (2.4) steadied at 8/7c.

• NBC's Bad Judge (1.2) was down a tenth in week three, but the show remains quite close to its 1.3 premiere number, while Fox's Gracepoint (0.8) got even uglier. The CW got some relief after a couple bad Thursdays to open its season; The Vampire Diaries (0.9) rebounded to the premiere number, while Reign was up to its first 0.5 of the season.

• All of this came against what should've been one of CBS' better Thursday Night Football games, combining a tight game with a higher-end matchup. But surprisingly, the preliminary numbers are very close to even week-to-week. We'll see how the finals look.

First Two Weeks, Gracepoint

Reminder: Games for Selfie and Manhattan Love Story are still open till Wednesday! Stalker open till Thursday!

WEEK ONE
Rating: 1.2
Lead-in: Bones (1.5 overall, 1.6 at 8:30)
Competition: Scandal (3.4 before Nielsen revision), Thursday Night Football (5.9 overall, 6.6/6.7 in 9:00 hour), Bad Judge/A to Z (1.3/1.2), Reign (0.4).

Spotted Ratings, Thursday 10/9/14

WHAT MATTERS:

• FINALS UPDATE: Hours after a Nielsen announcement about a "technical error" affecting broadcast final ratings for months, ABC's three series did not adjust up. This is likely not a coincidence, and there's a good chance that many of ABC's sizable adjustments in recent weeks will be wiped out or reduced after the revisions are released on October 17. (Though it's not clear whether we'll actually see these new numbers.) However, Bones (1.6) and The Vampire Diaries (0.8) did go up by a tenth.

• Week three of TGIT remained the definitive entertainment lineup, but it came down a little more. Grey's Anatomy (2.4) and Scandal (3.0) were each down just over 10% more (though likely just less than 10% after finals). The really good news was that How to Get Away with Murder (3.1) actually took a smaller drop, and at least in preliminaries was ABC's outright biggest show of the night.

• Among last week's soft premieres, the only one that kept things kinda interesting in week two was NBC's Bad Judge (1.3). It was even week-to-week even as The Biggest Loser (1.2) declined. That's not half bad, really. However, its lead-out A to Z (1.0) was down a typical amount, and Gracepoint (0.9) became the season's third sub-1.0 Fox newbie (with Mulaney likely to follow it soon).

• Bones (1.5) and Parenthood (1.3) continued to hang in rather respectably, but the CW had a week two decline from The Vampire Diaries (0.7).

SpotVault - Gracepoint (Fox) - 2014-15 Ratings

Gracepoint

Thursdays, 9/8c, Fox

Spotted Ratings, Thursday 10/2/14

WHAT MATTERS:

• FINALS UPDATE: ABC's shows each went up a tenth.

• ABC's second edition of Thank God It's Thursday took a significant drop from the first one, but it was nothing too alarming. Grey's Anatomy (2.6) remained an outstanding option in the 8/7c hour, Scandal (3.3) was down a similar amount at 9/8c, and How to Get Away with Murder (3.2) only barely dropped more than the returnees (a good sign for a new series). As usual, the ABC finals will likely make this look even better.

• It was pretty much "bombs away" for the competing networks in the 9/8c hour. Only one big-four series premiere prior to this night had gone below 1.5, but it looks that number has instantly quadrupled. NBC's Bad Judge (1.3) attracted a surprising amount of total viewer interest but little in the demo, roughly matching its lead-in from The Biggest Loser (1.4 at 8:30). This was just behind last year's launch of Sean Saves the World (1.4) in the same slot. Lead-out A to Z (1.2) was not far behind. The best these shows can probably hope for is what happened to Sean (a small extension as schedule filler). And Fox went even behind Red Band Society numbers with mystery event series Gracepoint (1.2).

• The CW opened up its 2014-15 drama season with a "meh" start from The Vampire Diaries (0.9), which was a bit above its horrible spring returns but still down 25% year-to-year. But sophomore lead-out Reign (0.4) was a debacle, only tying its series low from the spring. It looks like it could be an even more serious problem than expected.

The Question, Thursday 10/2/14: What's the Verdict on Bad Judge, A to Z and Gracepoint?

Thursday #2 brings the fall's only case of series premieres competing head-to-head, with NBC's comedy block of Bad Judge and A to Z dueling with Fox's limited mystery series Gracepoint. These shows may have been held a week to avoid an inflated premiere of Scandal, but they also may have been simple "hide the weenie" situations. Both hours will have pretty low-rated veteran lead-ins from The Biggest Loser and Bones, so actual success is going to require bringing in some outside interest. Scandal and Thursday Night Football are not exactly soft opponents, but maybe there's an entertainment programming audience available that isn't interested in Scandal. What's the verdict on Bad Judge, A to Z and Gracepoint? That's The Question for Thursday, October 2, 2014.

Fall 2014 Best Case/Worst Case, Thursday 9/8c

Best Case/Worst Case moves to the Thursday 9/8c hour. All eyes will be on the biggest broadcast drama of 2013-14, as Scandal moves into the centerpiece slot that Grey's Anatomy occupied for eight years.