TV Ratings: ‘Scandal’, ‘Grey’s Up, ‘Vampire Diaries’, ‘Reign’ Flat

Not even a ratings monster like NBC’s The Sound Of Music could stop ABC‘s hot drama Scandal, which managed to post a week-to-week increase against the NBC special last Thursday. In its fall finale last night, the soapy thriller (3.2 in 18-49, 9.3 million viewers) was up again, by 7% in 18-49 and by 12% in viewers, to post two-month highs in both categories. Scandal again ranked as the second-highest-rated program of the night behind CBS‘ The Big Bang Theory, building on its lead-in, Grey’s Anatomy. The veteran ABC medical drama (2.7, 8.5 million) rebounded from taking a hit against The Sound Of Music last week, up 17% in 18-49 and 20% in total viewers. Vs. last year’s fall finale, Grey’s was down 7% in the 18-49 demo but up 4% in viewers. Grey’s once again was a self-starter, as its lead-in, Once Upon A Time In Wonderland, drew only a 0.9 and 3.5 million viewers to finish flat week-to-week and tied a series low.

Also closing their fall runs were the CW’s The Vampire Diaries (1.0) and Reign (0.6), which both slipped against the NBC musical last Thursday. Neither quite recovered, both finishing even with their 18-49 ratings from last week, but Reign gained 12% in total viewers (1.86 million) to log its most-watched episode since the premiere.

After the ratings fireworks last week with The Sound Of Music, NBC went back to normal on Thursday with ratings around 1 in 18-49. The Sing-Off (1.4) did the best, despite dropping 22% from its Wednesday telecast. It actually matched the strongest ratings any NBC regular Thursday series has delivered this fall since Week 2 of the season. The Sing-Off also topped Fox’s The X Factor (1.2) for a second straight night and gave a small boost to Sean Saves The World (1.0), which was up a tenth in his return after two weeks off. The Michael J. Fox Show (0.9) and Parenthood (1.2) were flat with their most recent originals. X Factor was down 14% from last week.

CBS’ The Big Bang Theory once again will finish as the top program of the night in 18-49 and will likely be up from last week when it logged a 4.6 demo rating in the fast nationals that went to a 4.8 in the finals. But by how much is hard to tell. CBS’ primetime was pre-empted for an NFL game in Denver for the entire night and in San Diego from 8 PM to about 9:30 PM, so the network’s fast nationals, especially in the 8-9 PM hour, are likely inflated. For now, Big Bang is averaging a 5.3 in 18-49, while The Millers at 8:30 PM is at a 2.9, up 23%. The Crazy Ones (2.1) was flat, Two And A Half Men (2.1) down a tenth and Elementary (1.8) flat.