RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘2 Broke Girls’, ‘Hostages’ & ‘Blacklist’ Inch Up Against World Series

UPDATE 1:30 PM: Things are looking brighter for 2 Broke Girls, which was adjusted up a tenth to a 2.7, the best Live+Same Day rating to date in the new 8:30 PM slot and only a tenth off the series’ season high number posted in the September opener. Also up .1 in the finals are the usual suspects, The Voice (4.3), How I Met Your Mother (3.0) and Dancing With The Stars (2.1). But Hostages couldn’t hold on, slipping to a 1.2 to match its rating for the past couple of weeks. Meanwhile, the CW’s series retained their fast nationals despite an NFL pre-emption. Baseball was adjusted up, lifting Fox (4.1) past NBC (3.9) to an outright No.1 finish for the night in 18-49.

PREVIOUS: Proving that sports largely bring new audiences to TV and don’t cannibalize existing ones, ratings for NBC, CBS and ABC were virtually unaffected by Game 5 of the World Series on Fox, which is expected to bag a nightly victory in adults 18-49 (possibly tied with NBC) and total viewers. NBC’s The Voice (4.2 in 18-49) was even with its fast national last Monday, while The Blacklist (3.1) was up a tenth and has a good chance of holding on to that number — a three-week Live+7 Day high — in the finals despite a minute of a Voice overrun. Another Monday freshman drama, CBS’ Hostages (1.3), saw a much-needed uptick (+.1), posting its best 18-49 result in a month. The series has a limited first-season order and doesn’t need a Back 9 pickup, but any improvement helps to justify CBS’ decision to keep the show in its Monday 10 PM slot. Hostages picked up 8% despite its lead-in, Mom (2.1) slipping 9% from last week. (more…)