RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘MasterChef’ & ‘American Ninja Warrior’ Down In Return

Jack Bauer…a ninja warrior? Fox’s 24: Live Another Day took on a new 9 PM competitor last night, NBC’s American Ninja Warrior, with the two shows tying to top a typically slow Memorial Day. Every original was down last night, including the two season premieres, Ninja Warrior from 9-10 PM (1.5 in adults 18-49, down 12% from last summer’s debut on July 1) and Fox’s MasterChef from 8-9 PM (1.4). The Gordon Ramsay cooking competition was down 33% from the 8-9 PM premiere episode last year when MasterChef launched on the final Wednesday of the season with two back-t0-back episodes. Fox originally had the reality series again returning just before the end of the season last Monday but pushed the premiere by a week to give 24: Live Another Day another week of Bones lead-in. Vs. the season finale of Bones last week, MasterChef was down 13%. 24 (1.5) was down 12% to a new low. Fox still won the night in 18-49. Also hitting series lows were the two other originals last night, ABC’s The Bachelorette (1.4, down 30% from last week’s season premiere) and CBS’ Friends With Better Lives (1.4, down 13%). The CW continues to be a movie network early in the summer, with a thematic entry last night, Memorial Day (0.3).