‘Big Bang’ lifts CBS to Thursday win

CBS won the third Thursday of sweeps with relative ease despite the fact that ABC and NBC saw gains on the night.

CBS averaged a 3.2 adults 18-49 rating and 9 share in primetime, according to Nielsen overnights, 33 percent better than second-place Fox with a 2.4/6.

“The Big Bang Theory” was easily the highest-rated show of the night with a 5.0, matching a season best in the demo. It also averaged 16.54 million total viewers, tying its best-ever performance.

Lead-out “Two and a Half Men” was the night’s No. 2 show in 18-49s with a 4.0, 11 percent better than last week.

NBC and ABC both saw gains during their first two hours. NBC aired a special edition of “The Voice” at 8 p.m., which hit a three-year non-sports timeslot high with a 3.0.

That lifted lead-out “The Office” to a season-high 2.5, its best rating since March. Lead-out “Parks and Recreation” was also up over its previous outing two weeks ago, to a 1.8.

On ABC, the 8 p.m. drama “Last Resort,” still hoping to secure a full-season order, was up 8 percent to a still-small 1.4 rating. It was preempted last week by the “CMA Awards.”

Lead-out “Grey’s Anatomy” at 9 p.m. drew a 3.2, up 7 percent from two weeks ago.

Fox’s “The X Factor” was even to two weeks ago with a 2.3. Lead-out “Glee,” returning from a month-long hiatus due to baseball playoffs, drew a 2.4, down 8 percent from its most recent outing but growing on its lead-in.

With CBS in first and Fox second for the night, ABC finished third at 2.2/6, NBC fourth at 2.1/6, Univision fifth at 1.4/4, CW sixth at 1.1/3 and Telemundo seventh at 0.6/2.
 
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 4.5 for "Bang" (5.0) and "Men" (4.0), followed by NBC with a 3.0 for "Voice." Fox was third with a 2.3 for "Factor" and Univision fourth with a 1.6 for "Por Ella Soy Eva." ABC and CW tied for fifth at 1.4, ABC for "Last Resort" and CW for "The Vampire Diaries," and Telemundo was seventh with a 0.6 for "Rosa Diamante."
 
ABC moved to first at 9 p.m. with a 3.2 for "Grey's," while CBS slipped to second with a 2.9 for "Person of Interest." Fox was third with a 2.4 for "Glee," NBC fourth with a 2.2 for "Office" (2.5) and "Parks" (1.8), Univision fifth with a 1.5 for "Amores Verdaderos," CW sixth with a 0.7 for "Beauty and the Beast" and Telemundo seventh with a 0.6 for "Corazon Valiente."
 
CBS regained the lead at 10 p.m. with a 2.2 for "Elementary," with ABC second with a 2.0 for "Scandal." Univision was third with a 1.2 for "Amor Bravio," NBC fourth with a 1.1 for "Rock Center with Brian Williams" and Telemundo fifth with a 0.6 for "Pablo Escobar: El Patron del Mal" (0.8) and "El Rostro de la Venganza" (0.5).
 
Among households, CBS was first for the night with an 8.6 average overnight rating and a 14 share. ABC was second at 4.6/7, NBC third at 3.8/6, Fox fourth at 3.6/5, Univision fifth at 1.9/3, CW sixth at 1.5/2 and Telemundo seventh at 0.8/1.
 

Tags: abc, cbs, cw, dvr, fox, Grey, last resort, nbc, overnight ratings, overnights, season high, the big bang theory, the voice, thursday overnights, two and a half men