“V” Finale Ratings Hold Steady, “NCIS: LA” Sees Big Gain

The subject of an intriguing programming strategy at ABC, “V” ended its four-episode introductory run Tuesday; new episodes are not due until next year. As such a scheduling strategy risks killing any momentum the sci-fi drama accumulated over the past few weeks, it seemed imperative that “V” show some ratings stability for its fall finale. Having suffered a ratings decline of about 40% in the two weeks following its succesful premiere, any further drop would have put “V” in a dangerous position for its 2010 return.

Luckily for ABC, the show held steady, posting a 3.1/9 adults 18-49 rating with 9.2 million viewers. Unluckily for ABC, the episode benefited from finale buzz and being scheduled on the same night as the season finale of reliable hit “Dancing with the Stars” (4.3/12, 19.2 million) So while the news was not terrible for ABC and its freshman drama, it was not fantastic either.

Elsewhere, freshman series “NCIS: Los Angeles” made a sudden escalation in conjunction with a crossover from “NCIS”–it rose to a 4.3/11 rating with 17.2 million. Lead-in “NCIS” was still CBS’ powerhouse; it opened the night with 20.3 million viewers and a 4.4/13. “The Good Wife” was in usual territory with a 2.8/8 and 12.5 million viewers.

Hurt by the “Dancing with the Stars” finale (granted, it has not been making too much of a Tuesday mark anyway), “So You Think You Can Dance” dropped FOX to 5.4 million viewers with a 2.1/6 for the night. NBC’s “The Biggest Loser” (8.9 million, 3.5/10) and “The Jay Leno Show” (4.9 million, 1.9) were as expected.

Data Sources: Nielsen, THR, Media Week