Ratings News - 20th January 2012 *Full Tables Added*

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METERED MARKET THURSDAY RATINGS
CBS Wins; American Idol Populated Fox Second

Thursday 1/19/12
Metered Market Results

Household
Rating/Share
CBS 8.8/14
Fox 8.1/12
ABC 5.1/ 8
NBC 2.9/ 5
CW 1.9/ 3

-Percent Change from Year-Ago Evening – Thursday 1/20/11
CW: +111, ABC: +42, CBS: + 1, NBC: -22, Fox: -24

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-Winners:
American Idol (Fox), The Big Bang Theory (CBS), Person of Interest (CBS), The Mentalist (CBS)

-Deteriorating Rapidly:
The Office (NBC)

-Losers (excluding repeats):
30 Rock (NBC), Parks and Recreation (NBC), The Finder (Fox), Up All Night (NBC), The Secret Circle (CW), The Firm (NBC)

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-Ratings Breakdown:
CBS led this third Thursday in January in the overnights, with a 0.7 rating point advantage over Fox, which featured one-hour of officially deteriorating American Idol. In the distant No. 3 spot was ABC, followed by notably weak NBC and, of course, The CW.

The Thursday return of American Idol on Fox won the 8 p.m. hour, with an 11.7 rating/18 share in the overnights. But compared to one year earlier (14.4/22 on 1/20/11), that was a loss of 19 percent. With stronger lead-in support, week two of Bones spin-off The Finder (which debuted out of Bones last week) perked up to a 4.7/ 7 in the overnights at 9 p.m. While that was 24 percent above its lackluster week-ago opener (3.8/ 6 on 1/12/11), retention out of the 8:30 p.m. portion of American Idol (12.4/19) was only 38 percent. And, yes, that makes it a “loser” for the second consecutive week.

Also in week two news, sitcom Rob! on CBS dipped to a second-place 7.2/11 at 8:30 p.m., which was a typical 13 percent below its week-ago debut (8.3/13 on 1/12/11). Although overnight retention out of lead-in The Big Bang Theory (10.0/16 at 8 p.m.) was only 72 percent, Rob! built from failed year-ago occupant $#*! My Dad Says (6.6/10 on 1/20/11) by nine percent.

Next on CBS was freshman drama Person of Interest at a dominant 9.1/14 at 9 p.m. (five percent above year-ago occupant CSI), followed by compatible The Mentalist at an also first-place 9.0/15 at 10 p.m. Comparably, older skewing Person of Interest was the top-rated show of the evening in the overnights. At this point, you can count on Person of Interest returning next season.

Over at ABC, there was nothing unusual to report with its line-up of Wipeout (#3: 3.5/ 5), Grey’s Anatomy (#2: 7.1/11) and spin-off Private Practice (#2: 4.8/ 8). Sluggish NBC dipped by 22 percent year-to-year in the overnights with its revamped combination of 30 Rock (#4: 3.1/ 5), Parks and Recreation (#4: 2.8/ 4), The Office (#4: 3.8/ 6), Up All Night (#4: 2.7/ 4) and episode three of legal drama The Firm (#3: 2.6/ 4), which dropped by 22 percent from the year-ago 10-11 p.m. combination of 30 Rock (3.7/ 6) and Outsourced (3.0/ 5) on 1/20/11. Once the Thursday standout, The Office dipped year-to-year by 28 percent in the overnights.

Last, and least, was The CW’s line-up of The Vampire Diaries (#5: 2.2/ 3), its most-watched series, and freshman drama The Secret Circle (#5: 1.5/ 2), which dropped by an extensive 32 percent.

Source: Nielsen Media Research data

Source: Marc Berman@TVMediaInsights