RATINGS RECAP: 5/5/15

ABC
8:00 Dancing with the Stars
Viewers: 10.3 million, 18-49 demo: 1.4
9:00 Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Viewers: 4.5 million, 18-49 demo: 1.5
10:00 Forever
Viewers: 4.1 million, 18-49 demo: 1.1

CBS
8:00 NCIS
Viewers: 14.1 million, 18-49 demo: 2.0
9:00 NCIS: New Orleans
Viewers: 13.4 million, 18-49 demo: 1.6
10:00 Person of Interest
Viewers: 8.2 million, 18-49 demo: 1.1

NBC
8:00 The Voice
Viewers: 9.0 million, 18-49 demo: 2.0
9:00 Undateable
Viewers: 4.2 million, 18-49 demo: 1.3
10:00 Chicago Fire
Viewers: 6.8 million, 18-49 demo: 1.6

FOX
8:00 Hell's Kitchen
Viewers: 3.8 million, 18-49 demo: 1.2
9:00 New Girl
Viewers: 2.2 million, 18-49 demo: 1.1
9:30 Weird Loners
Viewers: 1.6 million, 18-49 demo: 0.6

On Tuesday night, there were some troubling numbers for some of the veteran series. It started with The Voice on NBC, which was down half a million viewers and two tenths in the demo for a series low. The Voice really shouldn't be near a demo in the 1s and its dangling awfully close. This has been a pretty rough late spring run for the show. We'll see in the in the fall if it's a trend of an aberration. At 9pm, a one hour live episode of Undateable was down three tenths in viewers but up a tenth in the demo. It could have been better but could have been worse too. I still think this has built enough goodwill to at least get a half season renewal. At 10pm, Chicago Fire was down a tenth in viewers and even in the demo.

On CBS, NCIS was down eight tenths in viewers but even in the demo, once again avoiding a dip below the 2.0 demo. At 9pm, NCIS: New Orleans had a bad night as it was down 1.2 million viewers and three tenths in the demo. I don't understand this show. With the competition and lead-in basically the same, it overperforms last week with a great showing that nearly ties the parent show in the demo. Then it collapses this week and ties a series low. It doesn't seem that a show in the NCIS family should be so wildly inconsistent. But the news got even worse for CBS at 10pm where the season finale of Person of Interest crashed three tenths in viewers and the demo to a series low. It tied Forever in the demo and was two tenths below its previous series low in the demo. This probably won't hurt its chances at this point and I think it's coming back, but if it was slotted to return to Tuesday at 10pm, this might give CBS pause. It really couldn't have gone worse for a season finale.

Over on ABC, a special edition of Dancing with the Stars skewed ancient as The Voice and Dancing seemed to both damage each other pretty severely. It's interesting because they don't seem to do that on Mondays. At 9pm, Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was down a tenth in viewers and even in the demo. The season finale of Forever was up a tenth in viewers and the demo. It's probably not enough for a renewal but this show deserves credit for keeping the lights on for ABC in a slot where three shows quickly failed last season. Finally on FOX, Hell's Kitchen was up half a million viewers and a tenth in the demo. The season finale of New Girl was up a tenth in viewers and the demo. Was this the last episode to air in the Tuesday 9pm slot it has always known? At 9:30pm, the season (and most certainly series) finale of Weird Loners was up two tenths in viewers and even in the demo.

WINNER OF THE NIGHT: Chicago Fire (NBC)
LOSER OF THE NIGHT: Person of Interest (CBS)