‘Voice’ surges to season high with finale

The third-season finale of “The Voice” hit a season high and became the highest-rated finale ever for the hit NBC show last night.

“Voice” averaged a 4.9 adults 18-49 rating from 9 to 11 p.m., according to Nielsen overnights, up 11 percent from last spring’s finale, which averaged a 4.4.

It drew 14 million total viewers, also a new finale high, 18 percent better than the 11.9 million who watched season two’s ender.

The show also drew its best overall rating since the March 12 episode and posted NBC’s biggest non-Olympic rating in the timeslot since May 31, 2011.

“Voice” peaked with a 5.2 in its final half hour at 10:30 and was easily the top show of the night.

Elsewhere last night, CBS saw strong gains for its drama lineup despite the stronger competition from NBC. “NCIS” was up 18 percent from last week, to a 3.3.

Lead-out “NCIS: Los Angeles” drew a 2.9, up 12 percent, and the 10 p.m. new drama “Vegas” was up 7 percent, to a 1.6. All had registered season lows last week.

NBC was first for the night among 18-49s with a 4.0 average overnight rating and an 11 share. CBS was second at 2.6/7, Univision third at 1.6/4, ABC fourth at 1.4/4, Fox fifth at 0.8/2, Telemundo sixth at 0.5/2 and CW 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.

CBS led at 8 p.m. with a 3.3 for “NCIS,” followed by NBC with a 2.4 for a repeat of “Voice.” ABC and Univision tied for third at 1.7, ABC for “A Charlie Brown Christmas” and Univision for “Por Ella Soy Eva.” Fox was fifth with a 0.9 for reruns of “Raising Hope” and “Ben and Kate,” Telemundo sixth with a 0.6 for “Rosa Diamante,” and CW seventh with a 0.5 for the first hour of the movie “It’s a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie.”

NBC took the lead at 9 p.m. with a 4.7 for the first hour of the “Voice” finale, while CBS slipped to second with a 2.9 for “NCIS: Los Angeles.” Univision was third with a 1.7 for “Amores Verdaderos,” ABC fourth with a 1.2 for “Happy Endings” (1.3) and “Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23″ (1.1), Fox fifth with a 0.7 for repeats of “New Girl” and “The Mindy Project,” and CW and Telemundo tied for sixth at 0.5, CW for its movie and Telemundo for “Corazon Valiente.”

At 10 p.m. NBC was first again with a 5.0 for more “Voice,” with CBS second with a 1.6 for “Vegas.” Univision was third with a 1.4 for “Amor Bravio,” ABC fourth with a 1.2 for “Private Practice” and Telemundo fifth with a 0.6 for “Pablo Escobar: El Patron del Mal” (0.7) and “El Rostro de la Venganza” (0.5).

CBS finished first for the night among households with a 9.4 average overnight rating and a 15 share. NBC was second at 7.1/11, ABC third at 2.6/4, Univision fourth at 1.9/3, Fox fifth at 1.2/2, CW sixth at 0.9/1 and Telemundo seventh at 0.7/1.

Tags: abc, cbs, cw, dvr, nbc, ncis, overnight ratings, overnights, season high, the voice, the voice finale, the voice ratings, tuesday overnights, univision, viewers