Primetime Ratings: CBS Wins Despite Comedy Drop

CBS won the Thursday ratings race, its comedies leading the network to a 1.1 in viewers 18-49, per the Nielsen overnights, and a 5 share. That squeaked by the 1.0/5 put up by ABC.

CBS’ comedies showed stiff slides. The Big Bang Theory was down 17% to 1.9 and Young Sheldon was off 22% at 1.4. Mom fell 15% to 1.1 and Fam slid 22% to 0.7, before SWAT was down 13% for a 0.7.

On ABC, Grey’s Anatomy did a level 1.5 and Station 19 fell 10% to 0.9, then For the People was a flat 0.6.

NBC did a 0.7/3. Superstore rated a 0.8 and AP Bio a 0.5. The Will & Grace finale did a 0.7 and Abby’s a 0.5, all four comedies flat with last week. Law & Order: SVU was also flat at 0.8.

Telemundo did a 0.5/2, with Exatlon Estados Unidos and Betty en NY both at 0.5. Univision did a 0.4/2.

Fox got a 0.3/2 with repeats.

The CW did a 0.3/1. Supernatural lost a tenth for a 0.3 and the premiere of In the Dark, about a blind and boozy twenty-something woman, got a 0.2. 

Michael Malone

Michael Malone is content director at B+C and Multichannel News. He joined B+C in 2005 and has covered network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television, including writing the "Local News Close-Up" market profiles. He also hosted the podcasts "Busted Pilot" and "Series Business." His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The L.A. Times, The Boston Globe and New York magazine.