Stats Spotlight - Thursday Night - Season and Series Lows All Round - Scandal Shines Through

(Check out my website, www.seriesmonitor.com) 

It wasn't a great night for most TV shows to be scheduled on a Thursday last night, with many shows pulling series low ratings, but there was one who shone above.

8pm saw the usually dominant The Big Bang Theory on CBS earn a season low equaling 4.5 adults 18-49 rating, and a season low audience of 15.05 million viewers. That's a 0.7 ratings point, and 2.2 million viewer drop on the last original episode which, like most other shows, aired on April 4, and it could have been made much worse if it wasn't for the 0.3 point upward ratings adjustment on the preliminary ratings. The Big Bang Theory led in another comedy in the form of Two and a Half Men at 8:30pm which earned a new season low 2.8 rating along with a season low audience of 11.32 million viewers - down from a 3.9 rating and 13.71 million viewers.

Switch back to 8pm, where NBC's Community equaled its series low 1.0 rating and 2.33 million viewers - just 10,000 viewers more than its current series low 2.32 million viewers. A repeat of The Office earned a 0.9 rating and 1.84 million viewers.

Once again, we switch back to 8pm where ABC's Wife Swap earned a 1.1 rating and 3.42 million viewers, and FOX's American Idol which earned a 2.8 rating and 11.40 million viewers - the equal second highest rated show of the night despite its continued downward slide as its season progresses. The CW's The Vampire Diaries equaled its series low 1.0 rating, and its 2.24 million viewer audience was marginally above its current series low

Moving on to 9pm now, with Person of Interest on CBS for starters, which clearly didn't benefit from the poor performance of its two lead-in comedies. The first of the final 3 episodes of the season earned a series low equaling 2.4 rating, and 13.22 million viewers. Interestingly, the three week gap this time last season led to a large drop in its ratings - a 2.4 to be exact - as did its lead-in, seen clearly on these graphs here.

ABC's Grey's Anatomy won the 9pm timeslot in ratings, despite its episode earning the second lowest rating in series history - a 2.7, and 8.24 million viewers. Remember it has been off for three weeks like Person of Interest though. The other 9pm ompetitor, in the form of FOX's Glee, earned a 1.8 rating and 5.24 million viewers - well down on the previous two episodes, and with two episodes remaining this season. Glee has already been renewed for a further two seasons by FOX though, so there's nothing major to worry about for Glee fans for a long while yet - though I have to say I thought it was a very odd decision by FOX

The minor 9pm competitors were NBC's The Office - an original episode this time - which earned a 1.7 rating and 3.25 million viewers - a series low for both data points. Who would have thought The Office and Glee would have rated so close together? The CW's Beauty and The Beast's numbers weren't pretty (get it??) equaling its series low 1.0 rating, and setting a new series low audience if just 1.24 million viewers

Records were broken, but this time in a positive direction at 10pm, thanks to the poor performance of Grey's Anatomy, with ABC's Scandal surpassing the ratings of its lead-in for the first time in its history. Scandal earned a series high equaling 2.8 rating, which is 0.1 of a point superior to Grey's Anatomy's 2.7 effort. The gap in the audience between Scandal and Grey's Anatomy continues to shrink, with Scandal earning 7.90 million viewers to Grey's Anatomy's 8.24. The graphs at the bottom of this page paint the full picture. To rub it in more, Scandal, along with Two and a Half Men and American Idol, all earned 2.8 ratings. I for one never expected Scandal to rate anywhere near the other two shows, but there we have it!

Also at 10pm, Elementary on CBS wouldn't have benefited from the poor performance of its 3 lead-in shows, earning a series low 2.0 rating, and series low audience of 10.07 million. Elementary definitely skews toward the older demographic.

Wind the click back to 9:30pm on NBC, with Parks and Recreation earning a new series low 1.3 rating and 2.59 million viewers - also a series low. That led in the fourth episode of Hannibal, to a series low 1.0 rating, and series low 2.40 million viewers

So there's Thursday's ratings. What are your thoughts on the multiple season and series lows?? Make yourself heard in the comments below, check out my website, www.seriesmonitor.com, and follow me on Twitter!

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Thanks for reading!
Jimmy