RATINGS RECAP: 10/30/12

ABC
8:00 Dancing with the Stars
Viewers: 11.5 million, 18-49 demo: 1.8
9:00 Happy Endings
Viewers: 4.3 million, 18-49 demo: 1.4
9:30 Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23
Viewers: 3.3 million, 18-49 demo: 1.2
10:00 20/20 Special: Hurricane Sandy
Viewers: 4.8 million, 18-49 demo: 1.3

CBS
8:00 NCIS
Viewers: 18.8 million, 18-49 demo: 3.4
9:00 NCIS: Los Angeles
Viewers: 16.3 million, 18-49 demo: 2.8
10:00 Vegas
Viewers: 10.8 million, 18-49 demo: 1.7

NBC
8:00 The Voice
Viewers: 12.1 million, 18-49 demo: 4.6
10:00 NBC News Special: Hurricane Sandy
Viewers: 8.3 million, 18-49 demo: 2.9

FOX
8:00 Raising Hope
Viewers: 4.1 million, 18-49 demo: 1.7
8:30 Ben and Kate
Viewers: 3.0 million, 18-49 demo: 1.4
9:00 New Girl
Viewers: 4.8 million, 18-49 demo: 2.3
9:30 The Mindy Project
Viewers: 3.1 million, 18-49 demo: 1.5

Hurricane Sandy continued to alter lineups on Tuesday night but CBS was actually up in two of the three hours. At 8pm, NCIS was up a million viewers and two tenths in the demo. NCIS: Los Angeles was down two tenths in viewers and even in the demo. Vegas recovered ever so slightly as it was even in viewers and up a tenth in the demo. The bad news is that it proves that last week's big drop wasn't really a fluke and this show is one of the oldest skewing on TV. NBC had a two hour edition of The Voice which was up nine tenths in viewers and three tenths in the demo from last week's one hour episode. An NBC news special replaced a planned special airing of Go On and The New Normal and did quite well.

ABC had a rough night. Some of it can be blamed on the storm but I don't think things will look much better next week for this lineup. At 8pm, Dancing with the Stars slipped 1.4 million viewers and a big half a demo point for a season low. The worst news came at 9pm though where the comedies took a nosedive. Happy Endings was down 1.3 million viewers and four tenths in the demo while Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23 was down nine tenths in viewers and half a demo point. I'm willing to give some slack because of the weirdness of the week with the hurricane and scheduling, but I also don't think the picture is going to look that much prettier next week. After all, the other networks weren't down as much. This comedy lineup is not going to work. A last-minute 20/20 special replaced the scheduled Private Practice at 10pm. 

FOX's comedy lineup took a hit in the 9pm hour but the 8pm combo of Raising Hope and Ben and Kate remained exactly the same week to week. It's worth noting that in light of how much trouble FOX has had across the board this season, Raising Hope has been remarkably consistent in a difficult timeslot. At 9pm, New Girl took a hit (maybe from The Voice?) as it was down four tenths in viewers and the demo for a season low. The Mindy Project was on for the first time in three weeks but it returned down half a million viewers and four tenths in the demo. It could barely out-rate Ben and Kate despite having a much better lead-in.