RATINGS RECAP: 2/24/14

ABC
8:00 The Bachelor
Viewers: 8.2 million, 18-49 demo: 2.5
10:00 Castle
Viewers: 8.7 million, 18-49 demo: 1.7

CBS
8:00 How I Met Your Mother
Viewers: 9.3 million, 18-49 demo: 3.6
8:30 2 Broke Girls
Viewers: 8.0 million, 18-49 demo: 2.5
9:00 Mike & Molly
Viewers: 8.2 million, 18-49 demo: 2.1
9:30 Mom
Viewers: 7.3 million, 18-49 demo: 1.9
10:00 Intelligence
Viewers: 5.4 million, 18-49 demo: 1.2

NBC
8:00 The Voice
Viewers: 15.9 million, 18-49 demo: 4.7
10:00 The Blacklist
Viewers: 11.2 million, 18-49 demo: 3.1

FOX
8:00 Almost Human
Viewers: 5.3 million, 18-49 demo: 1.6
9:00 The Following
Viewers: 4.6 million, 18-49 demo: 1.6 

The day after the Olympics continued to be strong for NBC thanks to the return of The Voice and The Blacklist. With Usher and Shakira returning to the chairs, the sixth edition of The Voice was up nine tenths in viewers but down three tenths in the demo from its fall premiere numbers. This is still a great showing, as expected. As usual, it looks like the blind auditions will be very strong while the rest of the run may drop from there. The return of The Voice obviously helped The Blacklist, which was up a million viewers and six tenths in the demo from its last airing, which was without The Voice. It was very close to what the fall finale got in December, which was the last time it aired with The Voice as a lead-in. The Blacklist proved it could be a success without The Voice in January but it will get a few more months to pad its numbers. I think NBC will move it somewhere else next season. 

The CBS lineup returned after a couple weeks off. How I Met Your Mother was barely affected by the return of The Voice as it was down just seven tenths in viewers and two tenths in the demo with a still-strong 3.6 demo. CBS is going to miss this show a lot, it is entering its final month. The rest of the comedies took a much bigger hit. At 8:30pm, 2 Broke Girls was down 1.2 million viewers and half a demo point. In the 9pm hour, Mike & Molly was down a rough 2.1 million viewers and six tenths in the demo while Mom was down 1.8 million viewers and half a demo point. These shows are going to be in trouble without their anchor as they seem like they can only look strong when the competition is limited. At 10pm, Intelligence was down 1.7 million viewers and a tenth in the demo.

On ABC, The Bachelor was up half a million viewers and three tenths in the demo from last week, back to being right around what it was getting before the Olympics. At 10pm, Castle was up nine tenths in viewers and even in the demo as it was clearly hurt by the return of The Blacklist. As expected, the FOX dramas were lost in the shuffle. At 8pm, Almost Human was down a tenth in viewers and the demo. At 9pm, The Following was down six tenths in viewers and a tenth in the demo for another series low. The Following is really starting to fall apart and with a star like Kevin Bacon, it can't be a cheap show. Will FOX renew this show? I think it depends on how it returns when it gets Bones back as a lead-in in a few weeks.