Fox takes third Thursday of sweeps

Fox grabbed its first Thursday sweeps win last night with a double dose of “American Idol.”

A two-hour episode of the show boosted Fox past CBS, which won the first two Thursdays of the February sweeps.

“Idol” averaged a 3.9 adults 18-49 rating from 8 to 10 p.m., according to Nielsen, jumping 8 percent week to week in the demo.

It grew from a 3.8 in its first hour to a 4.0 in its second.

But CBS still had the night’s top-rated show, “The Big Bang Theory,” which averaged a 5.4 at 8 p.m. Lead-out “Two and a Half Men” tied with “Idol” as the night’s No. 2 show with a 3.9 at 8:30.

The CW had a strong showing at 8 as well. It finished in fourth place, ahead of ABC and NBC in the hour, with “The Vampire Diaries.”

“Diaries” drew a 1.3, soaring 30 percent over last week.

ABC and NBC struggled in that hour. Week two of ABC’s new drama “Zero Hour” dipped to a 1.1, while NBC’s “Community” (1.1) and “Parks and Recreation” (1.3) posted series lows.

Despite facing stronger competition from “Idol” this week, ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” grew 7 percent to a 3.0 at 9 p.m.

Univision’s “Premio Lo Nuestro,” a music awards show, had a strong showing. It averaged a 2.5 from 8 to 11 p.m. and finished second in its timeslot for its final hour at 10 p.m.

Fox was first fort the night among 18-49s with a 3.9 average overnight rating and a 10 share. CBS was second at 3.3/9, Univision third at 2.5/7, ABC fourth at 2.2/6, NBC fifth at 1.2/3, CW sixth at 0.9/2 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-seven percent of Nielsen households have DVRs.

CBS led at 8 p.m. with a 4.7 for “Bang” (5.4) and “Men” (3.9), followed by Fox with a 3.8 for “Idol.” Univision was third with a 2.4 for “Premio,” CW fourth with a 1.3 for “Diaries,” NBC fifth with a 1.2 for “Community” (1.1) and “Parks ” (1.3), ABC sixth with a 1.1 for “Zero” and Telemundo seventh with a 0.4 for “Pasion Prohibida.”

Fox took the lead at 9 p.m. with a 4.0 for more “Idol,” while ABC moved to second with a 3.0 for “Grey’s.” CBS was third with a 2.9 for “Person of Interest,” Univision fourth with a 2.6 for “Premio,” NBC fifth with a 1.2 for another episode of “Parks” (1.4) and “1600 Penn” (1.0), Telemundo sixth with a 0.7 for “La Patrona” and CW seventh with a 0.6 for “Beauty and the Beast.”

ABC led at 10 p.m. with a 2.7 for “Scandal,” with Univision second with a 2.5 for “Premio.” CBS was third with a 2.3 for “Elementary,” NBC fourth with a 1.1 for a repeat of “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” and Telemundo fifth with a 0.4 for “El Rostro de la Venganza.”

CBS was first for the night among households with an 8.3 average overnight rating and a 13 share. Fox was second at 7.9/12, ABC third at 4.9/8, Univision fourth at 2.9/4, NBC fifth at 2.1/3, CW sixth at 1.4/2 and Telemundo seventh at 0.7/1.

Tags: abc, american idol, big bang theory, cbs, cw, dvr, february sweeps, fox, Grey, nbc, overnight ratings, overnights, sweeps, thursday overnights