From 8-8:30 p.m. ET, “Community” (2.3/7 in 18-49, 5.1 million viewers overall) matched its top 18-49 rating since January 14 in a slot that included special competition from Fox’s “American Idol.” In the time period, “Community” ranked #2 among the major networks behind only “Idol” in adults 18-34 and men 18-34 and in men 18-34, “Community” finished within 0.3 of a rating point of “Idol” (3.2 vs. 3.5). Last night’s “Community” is up 35 percent versus NBC’s 18-49 average in the time period this season prior to the “Community” debut in the slot (2.3 vs. 1.7).
From 8:30-9 p.m. ET, “Parks and Recreation” (2.3/6 in 18-49, 4.6 million viewers overall) matched its season high in adults 18-49, equaling its highest rating since the second episode of “Parks'” opening season on April 16, 2009, and that’s despite special competition last night from Fox’s “American Idol.” “Parks and Recreation” is currently retaining 100 percent of its 18-49 lead-in from “Community” and has now retained 95 percent or more of its 18-49 lead-in with 16 of 17 original telecasts this season. Last night’s “Parks and Recreation” is currently #2 among the major networks in the slot behind only Fox’s special Thursday edition of “American Idol” in adults 18-34 and men 18-34.
From 9-10 p.m. ET, an hour-long telecast of “The Office” (4.7/12 in 18-49, 9.0 million viewers overall), featuring the birth of Pam and Jim’s baby, won the time period in adults 18-49 over ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy,” CBS’s “CSI” and Fox’s “Kitchen Nightmares,” marking the first time “The Office” has beaten an original “Grey’s Anatomy.” “The Office” also won the highly competitive time period among adults 18-34 and men 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54. These are the top 18-49 and total-viewer results for “The Office” since the October 8, 2009 wedding episode (4.8/12 in 18-49, 9.4 million viewers overall from 9-10:01 p.m.).
“The Office” was the #2 show of the night in adults 18-49, behind only Fox’s special Thursday “American Idol.”
At 10 p.m., the regular-slot debut of “The Marriage Ref” (3.4/10 in 18-49, 7.7 million viewers overall) is #1 for the hour in adults 18-49, adults 18-34, men 18-49 and men 18-34 ahead of CBS’s “The Mentalist” and ABC’s “Private Practice.”
“The Marriage Ref” scored NBC’s highest 18-49 rating in this time period with non-sports programming since the “ER” finale on April 2, 2009.
Excluding Olympics, this is NBC’s top-rated Thursday of the season in adults 18-49 (3.5) and #1 Thursday in total viewers (7.2 million) since September 17, when NBC debuted its Thursday lineup the week before the traditional season began.
NOTE: All national and metered-market ratings are “live plus same day” from Nielsen Media Research unless otherwise indicated.
(source: information provided by NBC)
