RATINGS RECAP: 4/10/12

ABC
8:00 Last Man Standing
Viewers: 6.8 million, 18-49 demo: 1.8
8:30 Cougar Town
Viewers: 4.8 million, 18-49 demo: 1.5
9:00 Dancing with the Stars Results
Viewers: 13.4 million, 18-49 demo: 2.3
10:00 Body of Proof
Viewers: 10.1 million, 18-49 demo: 1.9

CBS
8:00 NCIS
Viewers: 17.7 million, 18-49 demo: 3.1
9:00 NCIS: Los Angeles
Viewers: 12.9 million, 18-49 demo: 2.4
10:00 Unforgettable
Viewers: 9.5 million, 18-49 demo: 1.8

NBC
8:00 The Biggest Loser
Viewers: 6.5 million, 18-49 demo: 2.1
9:00 The Voice Results
Viewers: 9.0 million, 18-49 demo: 3.5
10:00 Fashion Star
Viewers: 4.7 million, 18-49 demo: 1.8

FOX
8:00 Glee
Viewers: 6.8 million, 18-49 demo: 2.7
9:00 New Girl
Viewers: 5.2 million, 18-49 demo: 2.8
9:30 Raising Hope
Viewers: 3.8 million, 18-49 demo: 1.8

On Tuesday night, FOX returned to the competition as Glee propelled the lineup to better numbers after the troubling four sitcom results. Airing for the first time since February 21, Glee was down two tenths in viewers and a tenth in the demo which is not bad considering that was in the pre-Daylight Savings time. It also was a huge improvement over the sitcoms that were airing in its place. At 9pm, New Girl was up six tenths in viewers and half a demo point. The demo was the best since March 13 and it reversed the bad downward trend the show had been on. At 9:30pm, Raising Hope was actually down a tenth in viewers but up two tenths in the demo. It really should have done better in this slot but it's been renewed already. 

NBC saw increases across the board starting with The Biggest Loser which was up a tenth in viewers and the demo. NBC should not let this go back to two hours. The one hour episode is so much stronger. At 9pm, the results edition of The Voice was up half a million viewers and three tenths in the demo which is a great showing in a tough time period. At 10pm, Fashion Star was up six tenths in viewers and three tenths in the demo, tying a series high in the latter category. It's still probably not enough though. It would be interesting to see what Parenthood would be doing with this better lead-in.

CBS had a rough night as their dramas were down across the board. At 8pm, NCIS was down a million viewers and four tenths in the demo for its worst demo number in years. At 9pm, NCIS: Los Angeles was down a really rough 1.9 million viewers and six tenths in the demo for a series low. The competition is fierce in the 9pm hour but Los Angeles was only in third in the demo which isn't great. I still think this series is ready to fly on its own at 10pm or on another night next season. At 10pm, Unforgettable was down a million viewers and three tenths in the demo for a series low. There's no way this one was coming back anyway, but to tie with Fashion Star in the demo seals its fate.

Over on ABC, Last Man Standing returned after two weeks off and was down two tenths in viewers and the demo for a series low. This isn't too surprising considering the time of year but ABC really needs to find a companion for this show next season and there are plenty of pilots on their list that might fit that role. At 8:30pm, Cougar Town was up four tenths in viewers but down a tenth in the demo. At 9pm, the results of Dancing with the Stars was down 2.2 million viewers and half a demo point. This is awfully low for Dancing and it finished in fourth in the 9pm half hour which is troubling. This show is skewing older and older. The news was better at 10pm where Body of Proof was down four tenths in viewers and a tenth in the demo but it posted much better retention and won the hour. This show was dead in the water a few weeks ago but has had a bit of a rebirth with the Dancing lead-in. We'll see how Private Practice does starting next week but Body of Proof may have reentered the conversation which I did not see coming.