Ratings: ABC’s ‘Murder’ Ends Season Strong; CBS’ ‘Odd Couple’ Solid in Week 2
Even without a “Scandal” lead-in, ABC’s rookie drama “How to Get Away With Murder” delivered a strong performance as its wrapped its season Thursday, dominating its timeslot in key demos. CBS’ “The Big Bang Theory” was easily the night’s top program, and lead-out “The Odd Couple” looked solid in its second week.
According to preliminary national estimates from Nielsen, ABC opened the night with “Grey’s Anatomy” (2.2/7 in 18-49, 7.5 million viewers overall), which was a bit below average; as we saw last spring, the show seems to be a bit off when “Scandal” isn’t behind it.
From 9 to 11 p.m., “How to Get Away With Murder” averaged a 2.8 rating/9 share in adults 18-49 and about 9 million viewers overall. It was in line with last week’s hourlong score (2.9), opening with a 2.7 in the demo at 9 and closing at 10:30 with a dominant 3.0 — the show’s best score in the half-hour since its fall finale. Especially considering it had a special, earlier start time and a new lead-in (and one that was about 33% lower than “Scandal”), this is a very strong finish for “Murder.”
ABC won Thursday in adults 18-49 for a fifth straight week since its “TGIT” dramas returned.
CBS, which edged out ABC in adults 25-54 as well as total viewers, opened with dynamo “The Big Bang Theory” (4.5/15 in 18-49, 16.3 million viewers overall), which matched last week’s demo score (and may end up slightly ahead in the nationals). It more than doubled up both “Grey’s Anatomy” and “American Idol” (2.1 apiece) in the 8 o’clock half-hour.
In its second week, “The Odd Couple” (2.8/9 in 18-49, 11.0 million viewers overall) held 90% of last week’s premiere score, winning its timeslot and standing as Thursday’s No. 2 show in 18-49 (tie), 25-54 (4.0/11) and total viewers. The 2.8 matches the high-water mark in the timeslot earlier this season for “Mom.”
Following a special “Big Bang Theory” repeat at 9 p.m. (2.1/6 in 18-49, 8.9 million viewers overall), “Mom” had a good start in its new 9:30 p.m. timeslot (2.1/6 in 18-49, 8.2 million viewers overall), matching its prior original following a “Big Bang” repeat and beating “The Blacklist” in 18-49 (2.1 vs. 1.8). CBS didn’t do much at 10 p.m. with its “Sports Illustrated Swim Special” (1.0/3 in 18-49, 4.0 million viewers overall), which came in below the net’s timeslot average with “Elementary” originals (1.35).
At NBC, Thursday bookends “The Slap” (0.7/2 in 18-49, 3.6 million viewers overall) and “Allegiance” (0.8/3 in 18-49, 3.6 million viewers overall) continue to sag, but “The Blacklist” picked up a bit (1.8/6 in 18-49, 7.9 million viewers overall) and may have benefited in these same-night numbers from the absence of “Scandal” in the timeslot. This is the top score for “Blacklist” since its first Thursday outing on Feb. 5 (2.4), which was the conclusion of its post-Super Bowl episode.
Fox’s “American Idol” (2.1/7 in 18-49, 9.3 million viewers overall) and “Backstrom” (0.9/3 in 18-49, 3.8 million viewers overall) were on par with last week, with the latter up about 20% in male demos (perhaps picking up some of the “Two and a Half Men” viewers).
CW aired repeats of “The Vampire Diaries” (0.3/1 in 18-49, 0.8 million viewers overall) and “Supernatural” (0.2/1 in 18-49, 0.7 million viewers overall).
Preliminary 18-49 averages for the night: ABC, 2.6/8; CBS, 2.2/7; Fox, 1.5/5; NBC, 1.1/4; Telemundo, 1.1/3; Telemundo, 0.5/2; CW, 0.2/1.
In total viewers: CBS, 8.7 million; ABC, 8.5 million; Fox, 6.5 million; NBC, 5.0 million; Univision, 2.8 million; Telemundo, 1.3 million; CW, 0.7 million.
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