ABC kicked off the May sweep with its first No.1 demo ratings finish (tied with CBS) on the May opening night in six years, powered by veteran Grey’s Anatomy. The episode, which featured a life-and-death situation involving original male lead Patrick Dempsey, drew a 2.8 rating among adults 18-49 in the fast nationals, up +33% from last week and the show’s best since the Season 11 premiere in September. That number that will likely go up more in the finals later today. The ratings tidal wave didn’t carry over to ABC’s Scandal (2.3) which was down a tenth from last Thursday when it too featured a major character’s brush with death. American Crime (0.9) continued its ratings see-saw performance, down -18% from last week after rebounding by the same percentage last Thursday.
It is sad to watch what’s been happening to NBC’s once-flagship drama series The Blacklist since it relocated to Thursdays. With no support at 8 PM or 10 PM, the James Spader-starring drama had been wilting, and its DVR prowess cannot make up for the steep declines in live viewing. Last night, The Blacklist (1.4) came back from a three-week break to a new low, down -13% from its last original on April 2. That was below the most recent original Live+same day deliveries of all other established NBC dramas outside of the low-trafficked Friday night, Law & Order: SVU, Chicago Fire and Chicago PD.
After a promising uptick last week in its Thursday 9 PM test run, Mom (1.9) slipped -14% last night in its temporary new slot to a potential season low in Live+same day. All CBS originals shaved off a tenth or two last night. The Big Bang Theory (3.5) was down -10%, The Odd Couple (2.0) down -5% and Elementary (1.3) down -7%. In addition to tying ABC for No.1 in 18-49 (2.0), CBS was tops for the night in total viewers (9.4 million)
Fox’s Bones (1.0) and Backstrom (0.8) and the CW’s The Vampire Diaries (0.6) and Reign (0.3) were all flat.
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