Blame Daylight Savings time. Blame the return of warm weather. Blame the broadcast television fatigue that always seems to develop in the spring.<\/p>\n
Whatever the culprit, ratings woes continued Thursday, with “The Big Bang Theory,” “American Idol,” “Touch,” “Community” and many key shows posting very disappointing numbers.<\/p>\n
Just a few months after delivering monster numbers in the mid-5s, “Big Bang” delivered just a 4.2 adults 18-49 rating and 13.0 million viewers for its latest episode, which featured a guest appearance from Stephen Hawking.<\/p>\n
Despite the big drop, “Big Bang” still topped “American Idol” in the timeslot, which averaged a shockingly low 3.8 adults 18-49 rating for its hourlong results show. Viewership was just 13.8 million. “Idol” is not totally dead, but it has fallen farther than anyone expected this season.<\/p>\n
“Big Bang” led into a modestly-rated “Rules of Engagement” (2.8, 8.8 million), while “Idol” segued into FOX’s new series “Touch” (2.3, 7.5 million). “Touch” has been steadily dropping since its premiere, and while its lead-in has also been getting weaker, numbers like this for an early episode of a high-concept drama featuring Kiefer Sutherland are nothing to celebrate.<\/p>\n
CBS also aired “Person of Interest” (a timeslot winner with a 2.9 and 13.5 million at 9PM) and “The Mentalist” (first at 10PM with a 2.4 and 12.5 million).<\/p>\n
The weak showings for “Big Bang” and “Idol” were not, however, a score for NBC’s comedies. After showing some life with its return a few weeks ago, “Community” slid right back into embarrassing territory with a 1.3 and 3.1 million. “30 Rock” was even worse, delivering just a 1.2 and 2.9 million.<\/p>\n
“Up All Night” led out of an “Office” repeat with a 1.1 and 2.6 million, while “Awake” (more properly known as “Dead”) delivered a 0.9 with 2.5 million.<\/p>\n
ABC debuted “Scandal” (a bland 2.1 with 7.5 million) out of “Grey’s Anatomy” (very low at a 2.8 with 8.1 million). “Missing” opened earlier in the night and should, really, be searching for young adult viewers–its 1.4 with 7.2 million hardly makes the future seems bright.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"adace-sponsor":[],"yoast_head":"\n