CBS's 'BIG BANG THEORY' Repeat Trumps Original Competition

CBS (7.77 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.7, #1) was the network to beat on Thursday despite an all-repeat lineup of "The Big Bang Theory" (8.13 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.1, #2), another "The Big Bang Theory" (8.86 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.4, #1), "Person of Interest" (8.05 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.5, #5) and "The Mentalist" (6.75 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.2, #8).

Here are the other highlights of the 15 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night:

FOX (3.44 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.4, #2) then claimed the silver with the Saturday-bound "Take Me Out" (3.13 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T6) plus the penultimate week of "The Choice" (3.76 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.6, #4).

Next up was ABC (5.15 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.3, #3) with originals from "Duets" (4.82 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.0, #9), "Wipeout" (5.51 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.7, #3) and "Rookie Blue" (5.14 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T6).

Meanwhile, NBC (2.41 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.6, #4) offered up repeats of "The Office" (2.07 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T11) and "Parks & Recreation" (1.55 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T11) followed by new episodes of "Saving Hope" (2.18 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.4, #13) and "Rock Center With BrIan Williams" (3.26 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.9, #10).

And finally, the season finale of "The Catalina" (0.92 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.3, #14) and a repeat of "The Vampire Diaries" (0.48 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.2, #15) on The CW (0.70 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #5) closed out the nigiht. In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), "Catalina" posted a 0.4 rating while "Diaries" delivered a 0.4 rating.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+33.33% - The Choice
+30.00% - Take Me Out
+18.18% - Rookie Blue
+12.50% - Rock Center With BrIan Williams
0.00% - Duets
0.00% - The Catalina
-10.53% - Wipeout
-42.86% - Saving Hope
Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+77.78% - The Choice (vs. Glee (Repeat))
+28.57% - Rock Center With BrIan Williams (vs. Love Bites)
+6.25% - Wipeout (vs. Expedition Impossible)
-13.33% - Rookie Blue
-18.75% - Take Me Out (vs. So You Think You Can Dance 8)
-25.00% - The Catalina (vs. The Vampire Diaries (Repeat))
-50.00% - Duets (vs. Wipeout)
-52.94% - Saving Hope (vs. The Office (Repeat)/30 Rock (Repeat))
In late-night metered market ratings (via NBC's press release):
In Nielsen's 56 metered markets, household results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 2.6/7 with an encore telecast; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.1/5 with an encore; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 2.9/7; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.4/4 with an encore.

In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 0.9/4 with an encore; "Late Show," 0.5/2 with an encore; "Nightline," 0.9/4; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.5/3 with an encore.

At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.2/4 in metered-market households with an encore) beat CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (1.1/4 with an encore). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.5/3 in 18-49 with an encore) topped "Late Late Show" (0.3/2 with an encore).