RATINGS RECAP: 4/2/15

ABC
8:00 Grey's Anatomy
Viewers: 6.6 million, 18-49 demo: 1.9
9:00 Scandal
Viewers: 7.3 million, 18-49 demo: 2.1
10:00 American Crime
Viewers: 4.7 million, 18-49 demo: 1.1

CBS
8:00 The Big Bang Theory
Viewers: 13.9 million, 18-49 demo: 3.4
8:30 The Odd Couple
Viewers: 8.7 million, 18-49 demo: 1.9
9:00 The Big Bang Theory (Repeat)
Viewers: 8.3 million, 18-49 demo: 1.8
9:30 Mom
Viewers: 8.6 million, 18-49 demo: 2.0
10:00 Elementary
Viewers: 7.5 million, 18-49 demo: 1.2

NBC
8:00 Dateline NBC
Viewers: 6.6 million, 18-49 demo: 1.3
9:00 The Blacklist
Viewers: 7.7 million, 18-49 demo: 1.6
10:00 The Slap
Viewers: 3.1 million, 18-49 demo: 0.7

FOX
8:00 Bones
Viewers: 4.7 million, 18-49 demo: 1.1
9:00 Backstrom
Viewers: 3.2 million, 18-49 demo: 0.8

It was a positively brutal Thursday night ahead of a holiday weekend and the two biggest hits of Thursday had the most troubling performances. Easily the most shocking performance came from The Big Bang Theory, which tumbled 2.2 million viewers and a FULL demo point from its last airing three weeks ago. Did people not know it was back? Either way, this was its worst performance since May 12, 2011 and very troubling. It'll need to have a big rebound to prove this was a fluke. It brought down The Odd Couple with it as that show was down 1.5 million viewers and six tenths in the demo. Might be time for CBS to stop calling it the "#1 New Comedy" since Black-ish beat it by half a demo point this week. The best news for CBS came at 9:30pm where Mom was down half a million viewers and two tenths in the demo. This was a very slight drop considering how the 8pm hour went. It even beat The Odd Couple in the demo. At 10pm, Elementary was down a tenth in viewers and two tenths in the demo for its worst performance since November.

Over on ABC, Grey's Anatomy was down a rough 1.4 million viewers and three tenths in the demo to a new series low, dipping below a 2.0 demo for the first time. After a surprisingly strong hold last week, it fell apart this week. Then the shedding kept happening for Scandal. It was down eight tenths in viewers and two tenths in the demo for its worst performance since November 15, 2012. What is happening to this show? It's coming close to its series low demo (1.9). At 10pm, American Crime was down nine tenths in viewers and a tenth in the demo for a series low. ABC had the hottest three hour lineup on network TV in the fall with the TGIT trio but a lot has gone wrong for multiple reasons. There's the normal spring dip and the fact that American Crime is no How to Get Away with Murder tonally or in the ratings. We may not know if it can recover until the fall and return of Murder.

Over on NBC, Dateline NBC was up four tenths in viewers and three tenths in the demo for a better week. It didn't make a difference to The Blacklist however as that show was down four tenths in viewers and even in the demo. At 10pm, the season finale of The Slap was down a tenth in viewers and even in the demo. There's no way this show will be back but it was always conceived as a limited series anyway. Finally on FOX, Bones was down 1.1 million viewers and two tenths in the demo for a new series low while Backstrom was down four tenths in viewers and a tenth in the demo. I think it's going to be a pretty rough spring for these two shows.

WINNER OF THE NIGHT: Mom (CBS)
LOSER OF THE NIGHT: The Big Bang Theory (CBS)