‘Blake Shelton,’ something to sing about

Proving either that you can put anything behind “The Voice” and it will earn a decent rating, or that airing a special featuring one of “Voice’s” coaches after the show is a very smart idea, “Blake Shelton’s Not So Family Christmas” drew good numbers on NBC last night.

The goofy variety special averaged a 2.8 adults 18-49 rating at 10 p.m., according to Nielsen overnights, finishing comfortably ahead of the No. 2 show in the timeslot, CBS’s “Hawaii Five-0,” which drew a 2.2.

It had the perfect lead-in, in more ways than one. “Voice” is NBC’s highest-rated non-sports show and generally lifts whatever airs afterward to strong numbers, including the new hit show “Revolution,” which usually airs Monday at 10.

But Shelton is also a coach on the show, which made for some good promotional synergy. People watching “Voice” no doubt stayed tuned because they like Shelton on the show, never mind that he’s also a hugely successful country artist.

“Voice” and “Blake” helped NBC to its 11th straight Monday night victory, extending a record streak, though every network was down, including NBC. “Voice” fell 7 percent from last week’s performance, to a 3.9, the night’s top show.

CBS’s lineup, coming off season highs for three program last week, saw declines for all four of its originals on the night, with “2 Broke Girls” off the most, 15 percent, to a still-solid 3.5.

ABC’s lineup tanked with back-to-back episodes of the temporarily rebooted “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” managing just a 0.9 and 1.1.

And Fox’s “Bones” slid 21 percent from last week, to a 1.9.

Stronger competition from cable may have had something to do with broadcast’s woes. ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” was up sharply from the previous week with a close game between the New York Giants and Washington Redskins.

NBC finished first for the night among 18-49s with a 3.5 average overnight rating and a 9 share. CBS was second at 2.7/7, Univision third at 1.6/4, Fox fourth at 1.4/4, ABC fifth at 1.2/3, Telemundo sixth at 0.5/1 and CW seventh at 0.4/1.
 
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. NBC led with a 3.6 for "Voice," followed by CBS with a 2.6 for "How I Met Your Mother" (3.0) and a repeat of "Girls" (2.2). Fox was third with a 1.9 for "Bones," Univision fourth with a 1.7 for "Por Ella Soy Eva," ABC fifth with a 0.9 for "Makeover," CW sixth with a 0.5 for "90210" and Telemundo seventh with a 0.4 for "Rosa Diamante."
 
NBC was first again at 9 p.m. with a 4.1 for more "Voice," while CBS held onto second place with a 3.3 for a new "Girls" (3.5) and "Mike & Molly" (3.1). Univision was third with a 1.7 for "Amores Verdaderos," ABC fourth with a 1.1 for more "Makeover," Fox fifth with a 0.8 for "The Mob Doctor," Telemundo sixth with a 0.5 for "Corazon Valiente" and CW seventh with a 0.4 for "Gossip Girl."
 
At 10 p.m. NBC was first with a 2.8 for "Blake," with CBS second with a 2.2 for "Hawaii." ABC was third with a 1.7 for "Castle," Univision fourth with a 1.4 for "Amor Bravio" and Telemundo fifth with a 0.5 for "Pablo Escobar: El Patron del Mal" (0.7) and "El Rostro de la Venganza" (0.4).
 
NBC also led the night among households with a 6.7 average overnight rating and a 10 share. CBS was second at 5.7/9, ABC third at 3.9/6, Fox fourth at 3.3/5, Univision fifth at 1.9/3, and CW and Telemundo tied for sixth at 0.7/1.
 

Tags: abc, blake shelton, blake shelton not so family christmas, Broke Girls, cbs, Corazon Valiente, cw, dvr, espn, gossip girl, monday overnights, nbc, overnight ratings, overnights, the voice, univision, variety, voice, Washington Redskins