RATINGS RECAP: 2/16/12

ABC
8:00 Wipeout
Viewers: 5.1 million, 18-49 demo: 1.5
9:00 Grey's Anatomy
Viewers: 8.3 million, 18-49 demo: 3.2
10:00 Private Practice
Viewers: 7.1 million, 18-49 demo: 2.6

CBS
8:00 The Big Bang Theory
Viewers: 15.7 million, 18-49 demo: 5.1
8:30 Rob
Viewers: 10.7 million, 18-49 demo: 3.2
9:00 Person of Interest
Viewers: 13.2 million, 18-49 demo: 2.8
10:00 The Mentalist
Viewers: 13.6 million, 18-49 demo: 2.7

NBC
8:00 30 Rock
Viewers: 3.6 million, 18-49 demo: 1.5
8:30 Parks and Recreation
Viewers: 3.5 million, 18-49 demo: 1.7
9:00 The Office
Viewers: 4.4 million, 18-49 demo: 2.3
9:30 Up All Night
Viewers: 3.0 million, 18-49 demo: 1.5
10:00 Grimm (Repeat)
Viewers: 1.9 million, 18-49 demo: 0.6

FOX
8:00 American Idol
Viewers: 16.7 million, 18-49 demo: 5.1 

It was another night of declines for the broadcast networks and the trend is so big and widespread this week that the broadcast networks are asking Nielsen for an explanation. We'll see if anything comes from that but for now we deal with the numbers we have. On ABC, Wipeout started off the night down a tenth in viewers and even in the demo. Grey's Anatomy suffered one of the biggest drops this week as it was down 2 million viewers and eight tenths in the demo for a season low. This was despite it being a crossover with Private Practice. The crossover did help Practice though as that show was up six tenths in viewers and four tenths in the demo.

Over on CBS, the ratings finally came back down a bit for The Big Bang Theory like so many other shows as it was down half a million viewers and half a demo point. It remained the top demo draw for scripted programming and tied American Idol yet again for the night. At 8:30pm, Rob was even in viewers and down just a tenth in the demo. While a series low, the retention was significantly better. At 9pm, Person of Interest was down a big 1.9 million viewers and half a demo point. All the 9pm shows were hit hard, possibly because of the two hour Idol. Finally at 10pm, The Mentalist was down 1.1 million viewers and three tenths in the demo. 

NBC had another disastrous outing. At 8pm, 30 Rock was down three tenths in viewers and a tenth in the demo from last week's one hour episode. Parks and Recreation returned from a week off down a tenth in viewers and even in the demo. At 9pm, The Office was down eight tenths in viewers and two tenths in the demo for another season low and it tied a series low in the demo. This show is sinking fast and let's face it, its time for this one to end. At 9:30pm, Up All Night was down seven tenths in viewers and two tenths in the demo. So now, let's get this straight - Whitney, which was banished to Wednesdays from this slot is now outperforming Up All Night. Who saw that one coming?  A Grimm repeat did absolutely nothing at 10pm. Despite moving to two hours, American Idol was down 1.4 million viewers and seven tenths in the demo for a season low.