RATINGS RECAP: 11/2/12

ABC 
8:00 Last Man Standing
Viewers: 8.1 million, 18-49 demo: 2.0
8:30 Malibu Country
Viewers: 9.1 million, 18-49 demo: 2.3
9:00 Shark Tank
Viewers: 7.4 million, 18-49 demo: 2.3
10:00 20/20
Viewers: 5.4 million, 18-49 demo: 1.5

CBS
8:00 Undercover Boss
Viewers: 8.0 million, 18-49 demo: 1.5
9:00 CSI: NY
Viewers: 10.1 million, 18-49 demo: 1.5
10:00 Blue Bloods
Viewers: 11.1 million, 18-49 demo: 1.3

NBC
8:00 Hurricane Sandy: Coming Together Telethon
N/A
9:00 Grimm
Viewers: 5.6 million, 18-49 demo: 1.8
10:00 Dateline NBC
Viewers: 3.8 million, 18-49 demo: 1.1

FOX
8:00 Kitchen Nightmares
Viewers: 2.9 million, 18-49 demo: 1.0
9:00 Fringe
Viewers: 2.6 million, 18-49 demo: 0.9

ABC made a splash on Friday night with the return of sitcoms to the evening and a series high for Shark Tank. It's only been one week but it looks like ABC's choice to restart comedies on Fridays was a good one. Season two of Last Man Standing was down from its big series premiere last year but up from where it ended in the spring and it did very well leading off the night on a Friday. The best news came after that though where Reba McEntire's Malibu Country had a great premiere. With a 2.3 demo, it is significantly higher than any other current new show on ABC. Reba really has a built in audience and they turned out for the premiere. So now we see how things go in future weeks but it's a great start. The move to 9pm for Shark Tank and the strong lead-in helped the show rise six tenths in viewers and half a demo point to a series high. 9pm will likely be even kinder to this growing show. At 10pm, 20/20 was down half a million viewers but up a tenth in the demo.

CBS had a good night in total viewer but the demos were low. At 8pm, the season premiere of Undercover Boss did ok for the slot and was definitely an improvement over CSI: NY when it started the year in the time period. It will be acceptable enough but CBS has some Friday issues to work through. At 9pm, CSI: NY was even in viewers and the demo while Blue Bloods closed out the night even in viewers but down two tenths in the demo. This show should be getting a little bit better demos than a 1.3. I wonder what would happen if this moved to 9pm? I'm not saying they should, I just wonder if the demo would go up. 

NBC aired a last minute telethon for Hurricane Sandy victims and it pulled the same demo as Mockingbird Lane a week ago though it did not count in final ratings. At 9pm, Grimm was down half a million viewers and two tenths in the demo from its big Halloween episode but this is still a good result. The top three networks got a 2.3, 1.8, and 1.5 at 9pm which is better than other higher profile timeslots such as Tuesday 10pm. Maybe Friday is coming back? At 10pm, Dateline NBC was down seven tenths in viewers and three tenths in the demo. FOX saw both its shows rise even against the competition but they were still a distant fourth place. Kitchen Nightmares was up two tenths in viewers and a tenth in the demo while Fringe was even in viewers and the demo.