Ratings Rat Race: 'Voice' & 'Smash' Rise

After taking a hit from facing Daytona 500 last week, NBC’s The Voice (6.1/16) bounced back with its first battle round, which was up 13% from last week for the show’s best result since the post-Super Bowl Monday episode. At 10 PM, Smash (2.7/7) was up a big 17% to reverse its initial ratings downtrend. After two weeks of double-digit drops following the premiere, Smash held steady last Monday before heading up last night — it’s great news for NBC’s new regime, which put almost all of its eggs in the Smash basket this season. NBC’s lineup, which won the night in 18-49 (4.9/13) and total viewers (13.7 million), was helped by CBS, which aired reruns. (ABC’s 10 PM drama Castle also was a repeat.) Fox’s Alcatraz aired two back-to-back episodes (1.9/5, 1.8/4). The first was up a tenth while the second was flat with the series’ most recent hourlong original two weeks ago. ABC’s aired a two-hour The Bachelor: The Women Tell All special (2.5/6), which was down a tenth from last week and down 19% from last spring’s special when The Bachelor did not face The Voice. The CW also aired repeats.