For once, ABC wasn’t exaggerating when it dubbed last night’s final rose ceremony the most unbelievable “Bachelor” finale yet. And the audience seemed to agree.
“The Bachelor’s” two-hour season-ender and one-hour post-finale wrap-up show, “After the Final Rose,” combined to give ABC a dominant 5.8 adults 18-49 rating and 14 share for the night, according to Nielsen overnights, well ahead of No. 2 CBS at 4.1/10.
“Bachelor” averaged a season-high 5.4 for the finale from 8 to 10 p.m., the show's best finale rating since 2004. In it, bachelor Jason chose Melissa over Molly and even proposed to her in the waning minutes.
But that engagement was shortlived. In the follow-up “Rose” special, in which cast members gathered for a postmortem, Jason shockingly revealed that he was no longer in love with Melissa.
Instead, he’d been pining for runner-up Molly for weeks. Jason dumped Melissa on camera and then asked Molly to give the relationship another try, to which she agreed.
It made for great TV for ABC, which jumped to an all-time high 6.7 for "Rose," but perhaps not-so-great publicity for Jason. One TV critic has already dubbed him “The Bastard.”
As a reminder, all ratings are based on live-plus-same-day DVR playback. Seven-day DVR data won’t be available for several weeks. Twenty-eight percent of Nielsen households have DVRs.
With ABC and CBS well ahead of the competition for the night, Fox snagged third at 3.3/8, NBC followed in fourth at 2.7/6, Univision fifth at 1.6/4 and CW sixth at 0.5/1.
At 8 p.m. ABC was first with a 4.9 for the first hour of “Bachelor,” with CBS second with a 4.1 for “The Big Bang Theory” (3.9) and “How I Met Your Mother” (4.2). Fox was third with a 3.1 for its first hour of “24,” NBC fourth with a 2.4 for “Chuck,” Univision fifth with a 1.8 for “Cuidado con el Angel” and CW sixth with a 0.5 for a “Gossip Girl” rerun.
ABC was first again at 9 p.m. with a 5.9 for more “Bachelor,” while CBS remained second with a 4.4 for “Two and a Half Men” (4.9) and the season premiere of “Rules of Engagement” (3.9). Fox was third with a 3.5 for another hour of “24,” NBC fourth with a 3.2 for “Heroes,” Univision fifth with a 2.0 for “Mañana Es para Siempre” and CW sixth with a 0.5 for a repeat of “One Tree Hill.”
At 10 p.m. ABC led once again with a 6.7 for “The Bachelor: After the Final Rose,” followed by CBS with a 3.8 for “CSI: Miami.” NBC was third with a 2.4 for “Medium” and Univision fourth with a 1.1 for “Cristina.”
ABC also led the night among households with a 10.6 average overnight rating and a 16 share. CBS was second at 7.8/12, Fox third at 6.5/9, NBC fourth at 4.4/7, Univision fifth at 2.0/3 and CW sixth at 0.8/1.
