RATINGS RECAP: 5/14/12

ABC
8:00 Dancing with the Stars
Viewers: 15.8 million, 18-49 demo: 2.6
9:30 The Bachelorette
Viewers: 8.1 million, 18-49 demo: 2.6

CBS
8:00 How I Met Your Mother
Viewers: 8.6 million, 18-49 demo: 3.7
9:00 Two and a Half Men
Viewers: 11.6 million, 18-49 demo: 3.9
9:30 Mike & Molly
Viewers: 11.8 million, 18-49 demo: 3.4
10:00 Hawaii Five-0
Viewers: 11.4 million, 18-49 demo: 2.7

NBC
8:00 America's Got Talent
Viewers: 10.5 million, 18-49 demo: 3.7
10:00 Smash
Viewers: 6.0 million, 18-49 demo: 1.8

FOX
8:00 Bones
Viewers: 7.2 million, 18-49 demo: 1.9
9:00 House
Viewers: 6.5 million, 18-49 demo: 2.2 

On Monday night, NBC started with the season premiere of America's Got Talent featuring new judge Howard Stern. The always successful summer entry was on par with The Voice's numbers from last week but well below the 15.3 million/4.3 demo debut from last year at the end of May. Maybe it was due to much more competition? At 10pm, the season finale of Smash was up three tenths in viewers and even in the demo as we won't see it again until midseason. 

CBS was full of season finales that were up across the board. At 8pm, the one hour season finale of How I Met Your Mother was up six tenths in viewers and four tenths in the demo from its last airing. The demo is the best since February 20 as this show really had a revitalized season. At 9pm, Two and a Half Men was up two tenths in viewers and a tenth in the demo for its finale while Mike & Molly was up a strong 1.7 million viewers and three tenths in the demo for its best numbers since February 20 as well. It was also the most viewed show of the night on CBS which is a rarity for this show. At 10pm, the season finale of Hawaii Five-0 was up an excellent 2 million viewers and three tenths in the demo as it did not have to compete with Castle.

Over on ABC, the final performance night of Dancing with the Stars was down six tenths in viewers and a tenth in the demo. This is a really disappointing season for Dancing because it just keeps dropping as it heads toward the final week. This is probably why ABC is going with an all-star edition next time to revitalize the aging franchise. At 9:30pm, the season premiere of annual summer entry The Bachelorette was down from last year's premiere but it held 100% of Dancing's demo which is very good. On FOX, the season finale of Bones was up two tenths in viewers and even in the demo while the penultimate episode of House was up four tenths in viewers and two tenths in the demo.