Ratings News - 11th May 2012 *Full Tables Added*

We'll have the full tables and updated Cancellation Chart online shortly. Check the Twitter feed for updates.



Thursday Primetime Metered Market Ratings
CBS Wins; Mixed Results for Quartet of Season-Finales

Thursday 5/10/12

Household
Rating/Share
CBS 8.0/13
Fox 7.5/12
ABC 5.7/ 9
NBC 2.4/ 4
CW 1.7/ 3

-Percent Change from Year-Ago Evening – Thursday 5/12/11
ABC: + 8, CBS: + 5, CW: -11, NBC: -14, Fox: -29

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-Winners:
American Idol (Fox), The Big Bang Theory (CBS), Person of Interest (CBS), The Mentalist (CBS)

-Honorable Mention:
Grey’s Anatomy (ABC)

-Losers (excluding repeats):
Community (NBC), 30 Rock (NBC), Touch (Fox), The Secret Circle (CW), Awake (NBC)

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-Ratings Breakdown:
CBS topped the Thursday metered markets, with a 0.5 household rating point advantage over second-place Fox. Next was ABC, followed by NBC and The CW, which featured two season-enders: The Vampire Diaries, which is confirmed to return, and The Secret Circle, which is not. Reliable The Vampire Dairies was right on par with last year’s season-finale at a 2.2 rating/ 4 share at 8 p.m. (#5), while freshman The Secret Circle dipped by 45 percent to a 1.2/ 2 at 9 p.m. (#5: 20 percent below year-ago occupant Nikita). What sounded like a good fit out of The Vampire Diaries at this very time last year was obviously not.

On CBS, the wedding of Howard and Bernadette on the season-finale of The Big Bang Theory finished second in the overnights behind American Idol with a 9.3/16. And that, no doubt, will top the evening among adults 18-49. Idol, which concludes for the season next Thursday, scored a dominant 10.8/18 from 8-9 p.m. -- down 24 percent from one year earlier. Just-renewed lead-out Touch dipped to third with a 4.2/ 7 at 9 p.m., which was 64 percent below the 8:30 p.m. portion of Idol (11.7/19). Maybe Fox should rethink its decision to re-up the Kiefer Sutherland drama.

Next on the Eye net was tired Rules of Engagement, which dipped to a 5.8/ 9 at 8:30 p.m. (38 percent below The Big Bang Theory), followed by dominant overnight performances for Person of Interest (8.5/14) and The Mentalist (8.0/14) from 9-11 p.m. As CBS finalizes its schedule for next fall, another potential option for Person of Interest is Sunday at 9 p.m. Stay tuned.

There was one other season-finale last night, The Office on NBC, and it finished fourth at 9 p.m. with a 3.4/ 5 -- 23 percent below the year-ago telecast. So, long James Spader! Next on NBC was Parks and Recreation (#4: 2.6/ 4), which was NBC’s best overnight performance in the Thursday 9:30 p.m. half-hour since Up All Night on March 15, followed by sure-to-be axed drama Awake at a very last-place 1.9/ 3 at 10 p.m.

Earlier in the evening on NBC were just renewed Community (#4: 2.2/ 4) and 30 Rock (#4: 2.4/ 4), which once again struggled all season to find an audience. 30 Rock will officially conclude next season.

Elsewhere, ABC had nothing unusual to report with its combination of dramas Missing (#3: 4.7/ 8), just renewed Grey’s Anatomy (#2: 7.3/12) and Scandal (#2: 5.2/ 9). Clarification: The listing of shows on ABC's "Primetime Talking Points for the Upfront,” which we mentioned yesterday, is not a final indication of what series may, or may not, be returning next season. It was simply the highlights worth noting for the network’s series as we head into upfront week.

Source: Nielsen Media Research data

Source: Marc Berman@TVMediaInsights