RATINGS RECAP: 3/19/13

ABC
8:00 Splash
Viewers: 9.0 million, 18-49 demo: 2.6
9:00 Dancing with the Stars Special
Viewers: 9.8 million, 18-49 demo: 2.1 
10:00 Body of Proof
Viewers: 8.4 million, 18-49 demo: 1.5

CBS
8:00 NCIS
Viewers: 19.8 million, 18-49 demo: 3.2
9:00 NCIS: Los Angeles
Viewers: 16.8 million, 18-49 demo: 2.9
10:00 Golden Boy
Viewers: 9.3 million, 18-49 demo: 1.7

NBC
8:00 Betty White's Off Their Rockers
Viewers: 3.7 million, 18-49 demo: 1.0
8:30 Betty White's Off Their Rockers
Viewers: 3.7 million, 18-49 demo: 1.1
9:00 Go On
Viewers: 2.9 million, 18-49 demo: 1.0
9:30 The New Normal
Viewers: 2.1 million, 18-49 demo: 0.7
10:00 Smash
Viewers: 2.7 million, 18-49 demo: 0.7

FOX 
8:00 Hell's Kitchen
Viewers: 4.6 million, 18-49 demo: 2.0
9:00 New Girl
Viewers: 4.3 million, 18-49 demo: 2.3
9:30 The Mindy Project
Viewers: 3.1 million, 18-49 demo: 1.7

On Tuesday night, ABC had a very surprising night with the series premiere of Splash. The celebrity diving competition outperformed expectations with a very solid 2.6 demo premiere. This is good for the show but I'm expecting a big fall next week with less curiosity factor and the return of The Voice. A Dancing with the Stars special at 9pm helped ABC to have its best night in months. The lead-in brought Body of Proof up a bit as it rose 1.8 million viewers and three tenths in the demo. I don't think this rise is solid enough for the show to earn a fourth season but we'll see how things go in the next couple weeks. 

CBS started off with NCIS which was down a million viewers and two tenths in the demo for its lowest showing since December 11. With Daylight Savings and The Voice coming back, its best numbers of the season are most certainly behind it. At 9pm, NCIS: Los Angeles with the unofficial premiere of NCIS: Red was up six tenths in viewers and a tenth in the demo. At 10pm, Golden Boy was up eight tenths in viewers and two tenths in the demo. It is outperforming the last couple episodes of Vegas ever so slightly. 

NBC just keeps finding new lows on Tuesday night as all their scripted shows hit series lows and the 8:30pm episode of Betty White's Off Their Rockers was the top performer of the night with 3.7 million viewers and a 1.1 demo. Yikes. The good news is The Voice comes back next week. It will be interesting to see how much it can bring the comedies back up or if they're too far gone at this point. This night has been the worst in a disastrous winter. On FOX, Hell's Kitchen was down seven tenths in viewers and a tenth in the demo but it was still a big improvement in the hour. Despite the stronger lead-in, New Girl was dead even with its last airing. At 9:30pm, The Mindy Project was down two tenths in viewers and even in the demo. Why did this get renewed?