Thursday’s ongoing fall from grace continued this week, as what was once the week’s most competitive night for primetime television is becoming a night of mediocrity.
While the well-rated primetime coverage of the NFL draft likely played a small part in dampening the ratings for network shows, it certainly cannot be used to explain away all of the decline. It was simply a disappointing night for some of television’s biggest franchises.
Over on NBC, all of the comedies disappointed. Renewed freshman series “Community” scored a mere 1.6 adults 18-49 rating with 3.67 million viewers. It led into a poorly-rated episode of “30 Rock,” which posted just a 1.9 with 4.00 million viewers in the timeslot.
Demo hit “The Office” posted its worst original mark in some time, averaging just a 3.2 with 6.30 million viewers. A 9:30PM “30 Rock” posted a 2.5 with 5.16 million viewers, while renewed “The Marriage Ref” only scored a 1.9 with 4.27 million watchers.
The struggle also extended to CBS. “Survivor” was solid as the night’s top performer (11.89 million, 3.6), but “CSI” continued its descent with one of its lowest all-time figures–a 2.8 rating with 13.35 million viewers. “The Mentalist” was also down with a 3.0 and 13.96 million watching.
ABC’s lineup included the highly-unlikely-to-be-renewed “FlashForward” marking a slight gain (5.53 million, 1.6 rating) and a disappointing 9PM edition of “Private Practice” (7.49 million, 2.3).
FOX’s “Bones” (9.01 million, 2.5) and “Fringe” (5.84 million, 2.1) were both soft, while “The CW” held up fairly well with “The Vampire Diaries” (3.33 million, 1.6) and “Supernatural” (2.82 million, 1.4).
Ratings Source: Mediaweek
The Mentalist may be a copy, but it’s a well-done copy sparked by an actor who has come into his own as a TV star.