‘Big Bang’ and ‘American Idol’ both fall

As it did at the end of last season, CBS’s “The Big Bang Theory” topped Fox’s “American Idol” in their first real square-off this year.

But “Idol” also appeared to take a bit of “Bang’s” audience, as both shows were down from their previous outings.

“Bang,” which hadn’t aired an original episode in three weeks, averaged a 5.3 adults 18-49 rating at 8 p.m., down 17 percent from a series-high 6.4 on Jan. 10.

“Idol” averaged a 4.1 in its first half-hour against “Bang” and a 4.5 for the full hour, airing opposite CBS’s “Two and a Half Men” in its second half.

“Idol” was off 12 percent from last week’s 5.4 rating.

Clearly the two shows made an impact on each other, but there was also an X factor in the timeslot.

The series finale of NBC’s “30 Rock” spiked to a season-high 1.9 in the hour, jumping 36 percent from last week’s 1.3.

It marked the show’s best rating since March of last year.

The news was not all good for NBC. The new drama “Do No Harm” did poorly at 10 p.m., drawing a 0.9 in its debut.

That was down slightly from what “Rock Center with Brian Williams” had been averaging in the timeslot and marked the network’s lowest in-season drama premiere ever.

Elsewhere on the night, Fox’s “Glee” tumbled 21 percent from last week at 9 p.m. with a 2.1.

And ABC’s “Scandal” continued to draw solid numbers at 10 p.m., averaging a 2.7 and winning the timeslot.

It had its best-ever retention out of “Grey’s Anatomy” (2.8, tying a series low), 96 percent.

It was a strong overall night for CBS, which won the opening Thursday of the February sweeps for the first time since 2006.

The network finished first for the night among 18-49s with a 3.4 average overnight rating and a 9 share. Fox was a close second at 3.3/9, with ABC third at 2.2/6, NBC and Univision tied for fourth at 1.6/4, CW sixth at 1.0/3 and Telemundo seventh at 0.5/1.

As a reminder, all ratings are based on live-plus-same-day DVR playback, which includes shows replayed before 3 a.m. the night before. Seven-day DVR data won’t be available for several weeks. Forty-six percent of Nielsen households have DVRs.

At 8 p.m. CBS was first with a 4.6 for “Bang” (5.3) and “Men” (3.9), followed by Fox with a 4.5 for “Idol.” NBC was third with a 1.9 for “Rock,” Univision fourth with a 1.8 for “Por Ella Soy Eva,” CW fifth with a 1.3 for “The Vampire Diaries,” ABC sixth with a 1.1 for a repeat of “Shark Tank” and Telemundo seventh with a 0.5 for “Pasion Prohibida.”

CBS was first again at 9 p.m. with a 3.2 for “Person of Interest,” while ABC moved to second with a 2.8 for “Grey’s.” Fox was third with a 2.1 for “Glee,” NBC fourth with a 2.0 for “The Office,” Univision fifth with a 1.8 for “Amores Verdaderos,” CW sixth with a 0.7 for “Beauty and the Beast” and Telemundo seventh with a 0.6 for “La Patrona.”

ABC took the lead at 10 p.m. with a 2.7 for “Scandal,” while CBS slipped to second with a 2.2 for “Elementary.” Univision was third with a 1.4 for “Amor Bravio,” NBC fourth with a 0.9 for “Harm” and Telemundo fifth with a 0.4 for “El Rostro de la Venganza.”

CBS also led the night among households with an 8.7 average overnight rating and a 14 share. Fox was second at 5.7/9, ABC third at 4.9/8, NBC fourth at 2.6/4, Univision fifth at 1.6/4, CW sixth at 1.3/2 and Telemundo seventh at 0.7/1.

CBSWikipedia: CBS Broadcasting Inc. (CBS) is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network, and continues to operate a radio network and a portfolio of large market television and radio stations. →

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