NBC’s ‘Voice,’ ‘Blacklist’ Stand Tall Opposite the World Series

UPDATE: In updated nationals from Nielsen this afternoon, the World Series on Fox did a 4.1/11 in 18-49, just a hair below the 4.2/11 that ESPN did for “Monday Night Football” in their (virtually) head-to-head matchup. The Fall Classic led rather easily in total viewers (14.45 million to 10.76 million).

Among entertainment series, NBC’s “The Voice” edged up (4.3/11 in 18-49, 13.22m), matching its week-ago demo delivery, and “The Blacklist” held at its 3.1 demo rating, a three-week high.

CBS saw one-tenth upward adjustments in 18-49 for “How I Met Your Mother” (3.0/9 in 18-49, 7.75m) and “2 Broke Girls” (2.7/7 in 18-49, 7.71m), meaning the latter was up two-tenths week-to-week. At 10, though, “Hostages” was revised down in the nationals (1.2/3 in 18-49, 4.90m), matching its week-earlier demo score.

ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars” edged up (2.1/5 in 18-49, 13.28m), finishing up a tick vs. last week.

NBC and Fox were neck and neck for leadership among young adults on Monday, as the Peacock’s “The Voice” and “The Blacklist” held up nicely opposite the World Series.

According to preliminary national estimates from Nielsen, “The Voice” averaged a 4.2 rating/11 share in adults 18-49 and 13 million viewers overall from 8 to 10 p.m., on par with last week and winning in all four half-hours. And at 10, “The Blacklist” (3.1/8 in 18-49, 10.7 million viewers overall) looks to be up slightly vs. last week for a three-week high and a solid second-place finish among the broadcasters for its hour.

Among the Big Four in adults 18-49, NBC had won every Monday half-hour this season up until last night’s final hour, which was the highest-rated of the night for the World Series. And while Fox figures to edge ahead to win the final Monday of October in the demo, NBC will pull ahead with DVR playback.

At Fox, Game 5 of the World Series between the Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Cardinals averaged a 3.8/10 in 18-49 and 13.2 million viewers overall on the net’s stations from 8 to 11 p.m., with these averages expected to come up a bit when the nationals are released this afternoon. Fox will win the night outright in total viewers.

In metered-market overnights, the baseball game did a 9.2 rating on Fox while “Monday Night Football” did a 7.6 on ESPN. St. Louis had a team playing in each game, with baseball expected to dominate the ratings battle in that market.

CBS was pretty much on par with the previous week, led as usual by “How I Met Your Mother” (2.9/8 in 18-49, 7.6 million viewers overall) kicking off the night. It was followed by “2 Broke Girls” (2.6/7 in 18-49, 7.6 million viewers overall), a repeat of “The Big Bang Theory” (2.5/6 in 18-49, 7.9 million viewers overall) and “Mom” (2.1/5 in 18-49, 6.6 million viewers overall); the new Chuck Lorre comedy was down a bit from last week. And closing the night, “Hostages” (1.3/3 in 18-49, 5.0 million viewers overall) appears to have edged up in 18-49 week to week.

Next week, “Mike & Molly” makes its return as it moves into the 9 p.m. slot for CBS.

ABC also was in line with recent weeks with its combo of “Dancing With the Stars” (2.0/5 in 18-49, 13.0 million viewers overall) and “Castle” (2.1/5 in 18-49, 10.7 million viewers overall). “Dancing” ranked fourth among the Big Four for its time period in 18-49 and 25-54 while finishing neck and neck with both “The Voice” and the World Series in total viewers. “Castle” was up one or two-tenths, depending on round-offs in the nationals.

At CW, “Hart of Dixie” (0.4/1 in 18-49, 1.1 million viewers overall) and “Beauty and the Beast” (0.3/1 in 18-49, 0.9 million viewers overall) were comparable to the previous week.

Preliminary 18-49 averages for the night: NBC and Fox, 3.8/10; CBS, 2.1/5; ABC, 2.0/5; Univision, 1.3/3; Telemundo, 0.5/1; CW, 0.4/1.

In total viewers: Fox, 13.2 million; ABC and NBC, 12.2 million; CBS, 6.6 million; Univision, 3.3 million; Telemundo, 1.2 million; CW, 1.0 million.

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