Primetime Ratings: Winter Finales Heat Up ABC

ABC took the Thursday broadcast ratings title, with a 2.4 score in viewers 18-49, per Nielsen overnights, and an 8 share. That easily topped CBS’ 1.9/6, NBC’s 1.1/4, Fox’s 0.9/3 and The CW’s 0.4/1.

ABC aired the winter finales of its TGIT block. Grey’s Anatomy was up 14% to a 2.5, Scandal up 9% at 2.4, and How to Get Away With Murder up a noisy 21% at 2.3.

CBS had a rougher night. Big Bang Theory notched its typical 3.8, then Life in Pieces, featuring a particularly dyspeptic Thanksgiving dinner gathering, fell 13% to 2.0. Mom had a 1.8, off 18%, and 2 Broke Girls a 1.9, off 5% from last week. Drama Elementary could not buck the trend, down 23% at 1.0.

On NBC, Heroes Reborn had a flat 1.1, before Blacklist was up 7% to 1.5. The Player rewarded the network’s patience with a 0.8, 14% better than last week.

Fox featured Bones with a 1.0, down 8%, and Sleepy Hollow down 11% at 0.8.

On The CW, Vampire Diaries was off 17% at 0.5, followed by The Originals at a flat 0.4.

Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.