At 8 p.m., “Mercy” averaged a 1.5/5 in adults 18-49 and 6.3 million viewers overall. Week to week, “Mercy” is up 6 percent in total viewers (6.3 million vs. 6.0 million).
At 9 p.m. ET, an encore telecast of “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” averaged a 1.4/4 in adults 18-49 and 5.4 million viewers overall. From its first half-hour to its second, the “SVU” rebroadcast increased its 18-49 rating by 25 percent (to a 1.5 from a 1.2) and its overall viewership by 16 percent (5.8 million vs. 5.0 million).
At 10 p.m. ET, “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (2.6/8 in adults 18-49, 8.7 million viewers overall) is currently tied for #1 in the time period with CBS’s “CSI: NY” in adults, men and women 18-49 and is #1 outright among the major networks in adults, men and women 18-34. “Law & Order: SVU” also tied “CSI: NY” in 18-49 rating from 10-11 p.m. last week, which made it the first slot regular to match an original “CSI: NY” in the demo in more than two years (since February 6, 2008, “Law and Order”). Last night’s SVU apprehended the show’s biggest overall audience since January 6 and second-biggest since November 11.
“Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” is up 24 percent versus NBC’s 2.1 average in this slot for the traditional 2008-09 season (“live plus same day”). In total viewers, “SVU” is up 22% or more than 1.5 million persons versus NBC’s 7.032 million average in the hour during the traditional ’08-09 season.
From its first half-hour to its second, the “SVU” increased its adult 18-49 rating by 12 percent (to a 2.8 from a 2.5) and its overall viewership by 6 percent (to 8.8 million from 8.3 million) while competing dramas on CBS and ABC declined half-hour to half-hour in both categories.
In the 10:30 lead-in to local news, “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” finished within a tenth of a rating point of first place in the key news demo of adults 25-54 (3.3 vs. 3.4 for “CSI: NY”), narrowing a gap that stood at 0.5 of a point in the prior half-hour. “SVU” was #1 among the major networks in the 10:30 half-hour in adults, men and women 18-34; adults, men and women 18-49; and men 25-54.
(source: information provided by NBC)
