Thursday Ratings: X Factor Rises, Still Down From Last Year, Glee Falls

By On 09/14/2012 · 63 Comments · In America's Got Talent, Glee, X Factor

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Ratings Breakdown from Marc Berman per Household. Stay tuned for demo numbers.

It was the battle of NBC versus Fox last night, with the two tied for first in the overnights (and Fox likely to win among adults 18-49 because of older skewing Rock Center With Brian Williams on NBC). A one-hour edition of The X Factor dominated the 8 p.m. hour, with a 6.4/11 versus a 6.2/10 for the first half of the America’s Got Talent season-ender on NBC. While you have to give The X Factor credit, do keep in mind that the year-ago Thursday opener of the singing competition scored an 8.3/13 (from 8-10 p.m.) on 9/22/11. This is a loss of 23 percent.

Leading out of The X Factor was the fourth season-premiere of Glee at a still respectable (and second-place) 5.6/ 8 in the overnights at 9 p.m. Comparably, this was down by 15 percent from the year-ago season-opener (6.6/10 on Tuesday, 9/20/11), with retention out of the 8:30 p.m. portion of The X Factor (6.7/11) of 84 percent. The prognosis on Fox last night: Down, but far from out.

On NBC, two hours of the America’s Got Talent season-ender averaged 6.9/11 from 8-10 p.m., peaking in the 9 p.m. hour with a 7.6/12. Comparably, this declined by a notable 26 percent from the year-ago finale (9.3/15 on Wednesday 9/14/11). Unfortunately, America’s Got Talent got off on the wrong foot this season by opening during the traditional TV season, and the arrival of new judge Howard Stern did not help.

It’s not looking great for anybody, really. We’ll see how things play out as the season progresses.

Preliminary Ratings with Demos (Marc Berman):

8:00 p.m.

ABC – Wipeout
Viewers: 3.60 million (#4), A18-49: 1.1/ 4 (#4)

CBS – The Big Bang Theory (R)
Viewers: 6.83 million (#3), A18-49: 1.9/ 6 (#2)

NBC – America’s Got Talent (season finale)
Viewers: 8.51 million (#1), A18-49: 1.8/ 6 (#3)

Fox – The X Factor
Viewers: 7.54 million (#2), A18-49: 2.7/ 9 (#1)

CW – The Vampire Diaries (R)
Viewers: 1.06 million (#5), A18-49: 0.4/ 1 (#5)

———-

8:30 p.m.

ABC – Wipeout
Viewers: 3.59 million (#4), A18-49: 1.1/ 3 (#4)

CBS – Two and a Half Men (R)
Viewers: 5.40 million (#3), A18-49: 1.5/ 4 (#3)

NBC – America’s Got Talent (season finale)
Viewers: 9.81 million (#1), A18-49: 2.1/ 6 (#2)

Fox – The X Factor
Viewers: 9.27 million (#2), A18-49: 3.4/10 (#1)

CW – The Vampire Diaries (R)
Viewers: 1.01 million (#5), A18-49: 0.4/ 1 (#5)

———-

9:00 p.m.

ABC – Grey’s Anatomy (R)
Viewers: 2.66 million (#4), A18-49: 0.7/ 2 (#4)

CBS – Big Brother
Viewers: 5.95 million (#3), A18-49: 2.1/ 6 (#3)

NBC – America’s Got Talent
Viewers: 11.72 million (#1), A18-49: 2.7/ 7 (#2)

Fox – Glee (season premiere)
Viewers: 8.49 million (#2), A18-49: 3.4/ 9 (#1)

CW – The Next
Viewers: 755,000 (#5), A18-49: 0.2/ 1 (#5)

———-

9:30 p.m.

ABC – Grey’s Anatomy (R)
Viewers: 2.60 million (#4), A18-49: 0.7/ 2 (#4)

CBS – Big Brother
Viewers: 5.59 million (#3), A18-49: 1.9/ 5 (#3)

NBC – America’s Got Talent
Viewers: 12.00 million (#1), A18-49: 3.4/ 9 (#1)

Fox – Glee (season premiere)
Viewers: 7.68 million (#2), A18-49: 3.2/ 8 (#1)

CW – The Next
Viewers: 658,000 (#5), A18-49: 0.2/ 1 (#5)

———-

10:00 p.m.

ABC – Scandal (R)
Viewers: 2.48 million (#3), A18-49: 0.6/ 2 (#3)

CBS – Person of Interest (R)
Viewers: 5.45 million (#2), A18-49: 1.1/ 3 (#2)

NBC – Rock Center With Brian Williams (season premiere)
Viewers: 6.98 million (#1), A18-49: 1.7/ 4 (#1)

———-

10:30 p.m.

ABC – Scandal (R)
Viewers: 2.43 million (#3), A18-49: 0.6/ 2 (#3)

CBS – Person of Interest (R)
Viewers: 5.52 million (#1), A18-49: 1.0/ 3 (#2)

NBC – Rock Center With Brian Williams (season premiere)
Viewers: 5.06 million (#2), A18-49: 1.2/ 3 (#1)

Wow. Look at the Next! Yikes. I wonder if Simon Cowell is hiding in his bed under the covers?

VIA TVByTheNumbers

On FOX, The X Factor notched a 3.1 18-49 rating for day two, down three tenths from to yesterday’s 3.4 premiere rating. Glee premiered to a 3.3 adults 18-49 rating, down considerably from last year’s 4.0 premiere rating.

On NBC, America’s Got Talent earned a 2.4 18-49 rating, its lowest for a finale ever and down considerably from last years’ finale which earned a 3.6 adults 18-49 rating. It should be noted that this year’s finale ran on Thursday, where it’s only aired one other original this season, while last season’s finale came on Talent’s 13th consecutive Wednesday telecast.

8:00PM
FOX The X Factor 3.1 10 8.247
NBC America’s Got Talent (8-10PM) 2.4 7 10.512
CBS The Big Bang Theory -R 1.9 6 6.831
ABC Wipeout 1.1 4 3.598
CW The Vampire Diaries -R 0.4 1 1.032

8:30PM
CBS Two and a Half Men -R 1.5 4 5.398

9:00PM
FOX Glee 3.3 9 8.087
CBS Big Brother 2.0 5 5.774
ABC Grey’s Anatomy -R 0.7 2 2.633
CW The Next 0.2 1 0.706

10:00 PM
NBC Rock Center With Brian Williams 1.4 4 6.02
CBS Person Of Interest – R 1.1 3 5.482
ABC Scandal -R 0.6 2 2.454

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← Older Comments
  • girlygirltoo

    The ratings have been dropping steadily. I don’t know if it is one of the higher rated hows on FOX but there are always new shows in production or development that could replace it. It just seems like people are losing interest in it.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_CHZSJKJQRO5OEV7XUDSORCRJAI anonoymous

    Do the rating systems factor in people who DVR the programs? A lot of people don’t watch the show live and watch it on their DVR. Does this system factor that in? Just curious.

  • elliegrll

    Fox got Nielsen to post the finals already.  The X Factor was adjusted up a tenth of a point to a 3.2, but Glee didn’t see any adjustments.

  • elliegrll

    Do the rating systems factor in people who DVR the programs? A lot of people don’t watch the show live and watch it on their DVR. Does this system factor that in? Just curious.

    Only live plus same day dvr viewing count in the ratings that we see.  Which means that people have to watch the show by 3 am.  Nielsen does collect Live plus seven day viewing numbers, but I don’t know how much those numbers mean to advertisers or networks.  There have been a lot of shows that have been canceled, even though their live plus seven day numbers were pretty good.

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/PVEFG2TOUIXSROKUSO2O2DOWWE Taylor

    Other than Big Bang? lol

    That will be huge competition! It was for Idol last spring and it will be for X Factor this fall.

  • idolgleek92

    Actually the overall 8.08 viewers for The New Rachel is the highest overall viewers Glee has seen since the Michael Jackson episode, back in January, and is higher than 20 of S3′s episodes. And last season, especially in the latter half, Glee was consistently right around the 3.0 mark for the 18-49 ratings, even dipping below it, so a 3.3 is encouraging. I fully expected it to be down from the S3 premiere, because, well, so were all 21 other episodes of S3. But I’m encouraged that they didn’t fall, and rather slightly rose, from what they were seeing through the majority of S3. There’s still a very dedicated fanbase there. And with the reviews so positive for The New Rachel, I could see the show picking up some fans if they keep the quality up. 

  • mjsbigblog

    Do you know which fan base is even more bat shit than Idol’s? Yep. Glee. The show has an extremely dedicated fanbase of young viewers.  And the show does really well all over the world. Those kids are international stars, for real.

    The ratings would have to dip lower for FOX to pull the plug, I think.

  • http://twitter.com/raya4 raya

    I don’t think Glee is in any danger of being cancelled, though I do expect the ratings to drop from the premiere somewhat.  The other thing to consider with Glee is the music & iTunes aspect, not to mention other merchandising, so it’s also a show that brings in money in more ways than most scripted shows.  As long as it’s making money, Glee will continue.  Or I guess I should say, as long as the money coming in is offsetting the production costs, which I would imagine are relatively high.

  • fantoo1

    What happens if The X Factor starts averaging 2s later on in the season? Is it in danger of getting canceled? Or maybe sponsors will start pulling away? Ditch the $5 million dollar prize? Get rid of expensive Britney?

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/PVEFG2TOUIXSROKUSO2O2DOWWE Taylor

    I agree, Gleeks are some hard-core stans!

    The show is watched all over the world and the songs on iTunes, CDs, DVDs and merchandise sell all over the world.

  • Ratna12

    I forgot that it was Glee premiere last night, oops.
    I tuned in in the middle of Kate Hudson’s number, I need to see the whole thing. Didn’t she just have a new baby ? It kind of depressing to see her body.

    I kind of FF the rest of the show.

  • elliegrll

    Nielsen changed their earlier statement about the X Factor’s rating’s going up by a tenth of a point.  The final rating stayed at 3.1.

    Glee went down three tenths of a point, so it tied the X Factor.

    http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2012/09/14/thursday-final-ratings-glee-adjusted-down-no-adjustment-for-the-x-factor/148647/ 

  • http://twitter.com/ealbino ealbino

    I don’t think so. Glee was down from last years premiere but it was UP from last year according to Ryan Murphy’s tweet and article in Vulture
    http://www.vulture.com/2012/09/ratings-a-great-start-for-glee-on-thursdays.html

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