November 25, 2011

CBS Repeats Draw More Viewers Than Lady Gaga’s Thanksgiving Special.

Thursday was a real off-night for the major networks, probably due to Thanksgiving and the NFL football game. CBS easily topped the night with a slate full of repeats, even though both Fox and ABC aired specials.

CBS won the night with 8.43 million viewers and a 2.1 rating in the 18-49 demographic overall, reports Hit Fix. The network kicked off the night with a repeat of The Big Bang Theory, which grabbed the night’s largest audience with 11.2 million viewers and a 3.6 18-49 rating, while Rules of Engagement came in with 7.88 million and a 2.4 19-49 rating. A repeat of Person of Interest had 8 million viewers. CBS ended the night with a The Mentalist repeat, which pulled in 7.76 million viewers.

ABC had just 5.4 million viewers overall, which was enough for second place, according to Zap 2 It. However, the network’s 1.6 18-49 rating was not enough to top Fox. ABC started the night with A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, which had 5.8 million viewers. A repeat of The Middle drew 4.25 million viewers, just before A Very Gaga Christmas. The pop star’s special drew 5.75 million viewers in its first half-hour, but dropped to 5.39 million in the full hour at 10 p.m. The 18-49 ratings were just as mediocre, noted TV By The Numbers. In the first half-hour, it managed a 1.8 rating, which dropped to 1.6 in the full hour. 

Fox wound up in third with 5.1 million viewers, but had a 1.7 18-49 rating. The Ice Age special drew 7.1 million viewers, while Happiness is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown started with 5.3 million viewers. That dropped in its second half hour, though to 4.6 million. A repeat of The Simpsons ended the night with 3.4 million viewers.

An off-night for everyone else means that NBC’s ratings are almost non-existent in fourth place. The network grabbed just 3.7 million viewers and a tiny 1.1 18-49 rating. They ran Horton Hears A Who!, which drew 3.4 million in the first hour and 4 million viewers in the second. A condensed version of their Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade coverage aired at 10 p.m., drawing 3.7 million viewers.

SOURCE