RATINGS RECAP: 2/5/13

ABC
8:00 The Taste
Viewers: 5.3 million, 18-49 demo: 1.8
9:00 The Bachelor
Viewers: 7.9 million, 18-49 demo: 2.7

CBS
8:00 NCIS
Viewers: 21.8 million, 18-49 demo: 3.7
9:00 NCIS: Los Angeles
Viewers: 16.7 million, 18-49 demo: 3.1
10:00 Vegas
Viewers: 10.3 million, 18-49 demo: 1.5

NBC
8:00 Betty White's 2nd Annual 90th Birthday Special
Viewers: 6.0 million, 18-49 demo: 1.4
9:00 Smash
Viewers: 4.5 million, 18-49 demo: 1.2

FOX 
8:00 Raising Hope
Viewers: 3.9 million, 18-49 demo: 1.6
8:30 Raising Hope
Viewers: 3.5 million, 18-49 demo: 1.5
9:00 New Girl
Viewers: 4.8 million, 18-49 demo: 2.6
9:30 The Mindy Project
Viewers: 3.6 million, 18-49 demo: 1.9

Tuesday night marked the return of Smash to NBC. But first a new Betty White birthday special didn't come anywhere close to last year's special. Betty White is still beloved but the nationwide obsession with her seems to be wearing off now. But then it was bad news for Smash with a two hour premiere that was well below anything the show got last year in its modestly rated freshman season. This show was widely talked about for a show that never got great ratings and the season two premiere has been promoted by NBC for months so this has to be considered a huge disappointment with Deception-like numbers. NBC is having real trouble across the board at midseason but especially at 10pm. 

On CBS, NCIS continued to be a beast though it was down three tenths in viewers and a tenth in the demo from last week. At 9pm, NCIS: Los Angeles was down six tenths in viewers and even in the demo. Will the NCIS: Los Angeles spinoff being planned join this night in the fall to make an entire night of this franchise? At 10pm, Vegas showed last week's was a mirage as it tumbled nine tenths in viewers and four tenths in the demo. I don't think this show is even strong enough to move to Fridays. It's probably a goner. 

Over on ABC, The Taste was up half a million viewers and two tenths in the demo, rebounding a bit from its bad second week drop. If it can level out here, ABC might have a decent filler on its hands. At 9pm, a special airing of The Bachelor was programmed by ABC as counter-programming to Smash and it did very well - better than any Monday airing this season. This makes me wonder if ABC should move Dancing with the Stars/The Bachelor to Tuesday nights and out of The Voice's crossfire. Then they could put the Dancing results on the troubled Thursday 8pm slot for ABC. It would compete with the Idol results show but I think it could shore up the hour for ABC. It's something I think they should consider for next season. 

Finally on FOX, two episodes of Raising Hope were both slightly down from last week's episodes. At 9pm, New Girl was up a tenth in viewers and even in the demo. This show has really perked back up nicely since Ben and Kate was cancelled so that was a smart move by FOX. At 9:30pm, The Mindy Project was up four tenths in viewers and two tenths in the demo, posting its best demo since the second episode. This show may be helping its case lately with a couple weeks of solid growth.