By James Hibberd
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - After winning the season
by a wide margin, Fox burst into summer last week with the
return of "So You Think You Can Dance," finishing in front of
other reality premieres.
Thursday's "Dance" (8.7 million viewers, 3.5 rating/10
share among the key adults demographic of 18-49) was up 59%
over Fox's previous four-week Thursday night average and was
only down a slight 5% year-to-year compared with the more
dramatically eroded season finales it ran against: ABC's "Ugly
Betty" (8.8 million, 2.8/9) and "Grey's Anatomy" (18 million,
7.0/19) were both down double digits. (Still, the "Grey's"
finale marked the highest-rated scripted telecast on any
network in four months.)
NBC's easing into its "All-American Summer" reality lineup
has been a bit bumpy. "Last Comic Standing" (5.9 million,
2.4/6) returned Thursday opposite the "Grey's" finale to match
its lowest rating ever. The second cycle of "American
Gladiators" (4 million, 1.7/5) continued to drop.
Also on Monday, the premiere of ABC's "The Bachelorette"
was down slightly from last year.
The week was led by Wednesday night's "American Idol"
finale (31.7 million, 11.4/30), which improved slightly among
total viewers and nearly matched last year's finish in the
demo. On Tuesday, ABC's "Dancing With the Stars" (20.1 million,
5.4/14) was the show's lowest-rated finale to date but was the
highest-rated results show of the spring cycle.
In addition to "Grey's" and "Betty," a flurry of other
dramas also had their finales last week.
The CW's "Gossip Girl" (3 million, 1.4/4) concluded its
freshman season with its best rating in months. The two-hour
"NCIS" finale (16.6 million, 3.4/9) delivered the show's best
performance for CBS since November despite competing against an
"Idol" finale. The fourth-season ender of ABC's "Boston Legal"
had its worst performance to date (6.5 million, 1.6/4). CBS'
"Criminal Minds" (13.2 million, 3.4/8) closer was up 10%
week-to-week, but "CSI: NY" (11.8 million, 3.2/9) matched its
second-lowest rating ever. The 18th finale of NBC's "Law &
Order" (8.6 million, 2.6/7) matched the previous week's season
low.
For the week, Fox came in first place (12.5 million,
4.5/14), followed by ABC (8.4 million, 2.6/8), CBS (8.5
million, 2.1/6), NBC (5.3 million, 1.6/5) and the CW (2.2
million, 0.8/3).
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
