Image Credit: Michael Becker/Fox
On an otherwise dreary night of programming, the first season finale of The X Factor easily won its time slot and helped to propel Fox to a viewer and demo win on Thursday. The talent show posted a 3.8 rating/11 share, up 31 percent in the key demographic of adults 18-49 versus a week ago, and up 25 percent in viewers (12.4 million versus 9.9 million), according to early results.
The finale delivered Fox’s most-watched entertainment telecast since premiere week.
We can talk about how the other nets did on Thursday but honestly — who cares? Everyone mostly aired reruns, save for NBC’s Who’s Still Standing, which only posted a 1.5/5, down 12 percent from last week. And how terribly sad to see an original of Prime Suspect wedged into the schedule: The canceled drama earned a 1.0/3.
So let’s go back to The X Factor, and give Fox a chance to pound its chest. Among the bragging points: The X Factor was the No. 1 unscripted programming this fall, averaging a 4.2/12 among 18-49 and 12.4 viewers. It was the No. 2 new series among teens this season, second only to Fox’s New Girl.
And thanks to Simon Cowell and Co., Fox finished the first half of the season as the No. 1 network on Thursdays for the first time in the net’s history. And let’s not leave out this little dig at NBC’s talent show: The finale of The X Factor outperformed The Voice’s results finale in adults 18-49 (3.8 vs. 3.7) and viewers (12.4 vs. 11.0).
Bottom line: Fox was the most-watched net on Thursday with 12.4 million viewers, followed by CBS (8 million), NBC (3.9 million), Univision (3.6 million), ABC (3.2 million), and CW (1.4 million). In 18-49, Fox won with a 3.8/11, followed by CBS (1.8/5), Univision (1.4/4), NBC (1.1/3), ABC (1.0/3), and CW (.5/1).
