RATINGS RECAP: 12/8/11

ABC
8:00 Winter Wipeout Special
Viewers: 6.7 million, 18-49 demo: 1.9
9:00 America's Funniest Home Videos Special
Viewers: 6.5 million, 18-49 demo: 1.9
10:00 The Great Big American Auction
Viewers: 4.8 million, 18-49 demo: 1.4

CBS
8:00 The Big Bang Theory
Viewers: 14.0 million, 18-49 demo: 4.6
8:30 Rules of Engagement
Viewers: 10.0 million, 18-49 demo: 3.0
9:00 Person of Interest
Viewers: 12.7 million, 18-49 demo: 2.8
10:00 The Mentalist
Viewers: 13.0 million, 18-49 demo: 2.7

NBC
8:00 Community
Viewers: 3.6 million, 18-49 demo: 1.5
8:30 Parks and Recreation
Viewers: 3.6 million, 18-49 demo: 1.8
9:00 The Office
Viewers: 5.8 million, 18-49 demo: 2.9
9:30 Whitney
Viewers: 4.1 million, 18-49 demo: 1.9
10:00 Grimm
Viewers: 4.1 million, 18-49 demo: 1.6

FOX
8:00 The X-Factor
Viewers: 9.8 million, 18-49 demo: 2.9
9:00 Bones
Viewers: 8.1 million, 18-49 demo: 2.4

On Thursday night, CBS was on top with its first new lineup in three weeks. The Big Bang Theory started things off down 1.1 million viewers and seven tenths in the demo which isn't too surprising since its December and it had been in repeats for a couple weeks. Rules of Engagement was down nine tenths in viewers and six tenths in the demo for season lows. It will be interesting to see if Rob can do any better in this slot but I'm skeptical. At 9pm, Person of Interest was up a million viewers and two tenths in the demo for its best total viewer numbers since the series premiere and best demo since October 13. Maybe the Sunday airings helped as did less competition from ABC. At 10pm, The Mentalist was up eight tenths in viewers and two tenths in the demo. ABC filled the night with specials and saw modest results.  

Over on NBC, the last Thursday of originals before the lineup changes in January was underwhelming as usual. At 8pm, Community was down a tenth in viewers and the demo, clearly earning its upcoming hiatus. No word on when it will be back at this point. At 8:30pm, Parks and Recreation was down a tenth in viewers and even in the demo. It's surprising how much younger this show skews than Community and it may be helped slightly by 30 Rock as a lead-in in January. At 9pm, The Office was up a tenth in viewers and even in the demo. The last new Thursday airing of Whitney was up two tenths in viewers and even in the demo. It will be thrown to the wolves on Wednesday in January. At 10pm, a special airing of Grimm replaced Prime Suspect. It was no better than Friday numbers but it did do better in the demo than Prime Suspect in the demo. If it got new eyeballs to Grimm, it was worth the sampling.

Finally on FOX, The X-Factor was down half a million viewers and two tenths in the demo for a series low on Thursday. This show is not growing towards the finale which isn't a great sign for interest in the series. At 9pm, Bones was down eight tenths in viewers and four tenths in the demo, easily hitting a season low despite no Grey's Anatomy on ABC. Not an impressive night overall for FOX.