RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘The Voice’ Finale Down From Last Year, ‘POI’ Slips In Return

NBC and CBS were the only game in town Tuesday and split the nightly crown, with NBC taking adults 18-49 (3.3) and CBS total viewers (15.6 million). NBC aired the live finale of The Voice (3.9/11 in 18-49, 13.8 million viewers) from 9-11 PM. It  jumped 26% from last Tuesday in 18-49 but was down 20% from last fall’s finale. For the season, The Voice averaged a 3.9 in 18-49, slightly down from the last two cycles (4.3 last fall, 4.1 in spring) and the lowest cycle ever. Still, the NBC singing competition remains a cut above any other broadcast reality series. Leading into The Voice, The Biggest Loser (2.0) was up a tenth from last week. CBS’ NCIS (2.8) matched its 18-49 fast national from last week as did NCIS: LA (2.4). NCIS  once again was the most-watched program of the night with 19.4 million viewers. Person Of Interest (1.9) was down 14% from its last original three weeks ago to tie a series low. The only other original on the broadcast networks last night was the season finale of ABC News’ What Would You Do? (0.7) at 10 PM. With a repeat lead-in, it dropped 22% from last week and was down 56% from last fall’s finale when the program aired on Friday.