RATINGS RECAP: 3/12/15

ABC
8:00 Grey's Anatomy
Viewers: 7.4 million, 18-49 demo: 2.1
9:00 Scandal
Viewers: 8.2 million, 18-49 demo: 2.7
10:00 American Crime
Viewers: 5.8 million, 18-49 demo: 1.4

CBS
8:00 The Big Bang Theory
Viewers: 16.1 million, 18-49 demo: 4.4
8:30 The Odd Couple
Viewers: 10.2 million, 18-49 demo: 2.5
9:00 The Big Bang Theory (Repeat)
Viewers: 9.4 million, 18-49 demo: 2.2
9:30 Mom
Viewers: 9.1 million, 18-49 demo: 2.2
10:00 Elementary
Viewers: 7.6 million, 18-49 demo: 1.4

NBC
8:00 Dateline NBC: The Real Blacklist
Viewers: 4.5 million, 18-49 demo: 0.9
9:00 The Blacklist
Viewers: 7.5 million, 18-49 demo: 1.7
10:00 The Slap
Viewers: 2.7 million, 18-49 demo: 0.6

FOX
8:00 American Idol
Viewers: 8.3 million, 18-49 demo: 1.8

It was a bit of a bloodbath on Thursday night with nearly every show taking heavy drops and many seeing or tying series lows. On ABC, Grey's Anatomy started things out down seven tenths in viewers and three tenths in the demo for a series low. Scandal was down 1.4 million viewers and three tenths in the demo for a season low. But the worst news for ABC came at 10pm as week two of American Crime tumbled 2.6 million viewers and six tenths in the demo. This was a devastating drop from a weak premiere, it's hard to imagine this show lasting beyond a season despite critical acclaim with that kind of rejection. On CBS, The Big Bang Theory was down 2.1 million viewers and four tenths in the demo while The Odd Couple was down a worse 2.2 million viewers and half a demo point. It's interesting how Daylight Savings seems to just kill certain shows while others don't feel much of an effect. At 9:30pm, Mom was up six tenths in viewers and even in the demo. Elementary was the only show of the night to rise week to week as it maybe got some of American Crime's audience back. It was down a tenth in viewers but up a tenth in the demo.

NBC shuffled its lineup after cancelling Allegiance. A Dateline special was an ever-so-slight improvement from what The Slap was doing at 8pm while The Slap was actually worse at 10pm than Allegiance had been. So basically, not much different for NBC. In-between, The Blacklist was down seven tenths in viewers and a tenth in the demo. I actually think The Blacklist has been quite impressive here because it's literally having to do these numbers with no help. FOX had an alarming performance from American Idol as a two hour episode was down 1.1 million viewers and four tenths in the demo from last week. It would have been even worse if it had just aired in the 8pm hour. This is not a good sign of things to come this spring for Idol.

WINNER OF THE NIGHT: Elementary (CBS)
LOSER OF THE NIGHT: American Crime (ABC)