“Glee” fans who blamed the alarming 2/14 rating on the Valentine’s Day holiday received some vindication this week; Thursday’s original delivered a much-improved 2.5 adults 18-49 rating with 7.05 million viewers.
The rating by no means represents an unequivocal success. “Idol” aired without the usual barrage of young adult competition from originals of “Grey’s Anatomy” and “The Office.” It also benefited from the 9:30PM start time, which by virtue of coming at the bottom of the hour, likely helped it better retain from “American Idol” (3.9 rating in the 9-9:30PM slot, 3.5 rating overall).
And, most notably, it lost a considerable number of viewers from start-to-finish; its 9:30-10PM portion averaged a 2.8 with 7.78 million viewers (likely subject to a slight downward adjustment due to the “Idol” overrun), while the 10-10:30PM portion garnered a 2.2 with 6.32 million.
Though “Idol” delivered respectable marks (given the greatly reduced standards for its run this season) Thursday, it was still no match for CBS’ lineup. “The Big Bang Theory” won the night with a 5.4 and 17.43 million viewers, while “Two and a Half Men” delivered a 3.9 with 13.56 million in the latter portion of the 8PM hour.
“Person of Interest” scored a 2.8 and 14.40 million viewers at 9PM, while “Elementary” posted a 1.7 and 8.72 million.
