Image Credit: Trae Patton/NBC

The kids are alright (for ratings) on The Biggest Loser: The addition of three youths to the NBC competition show gave it double-digit increase in the key adult demographic on Sunday, according to early results from Nielsen.

The two-hour premiere of Loser averaged a 2.9 rating/7 share, up 21% from last year’s winter premiere (2.4/6 on 1/3/12). It lured 6.9 million viewers.

Fox still won the night in the key demo (5.6/14) and viewers (13.6 million), thanks to an overrun of the Redskins-Seahawks game. In fact, Fox expects Sunday to be its highest-rated night of the season among 18-49 and 18-34. As a result, all of Fox’s animated comedies saw double-digit upticks in their ratings. The Simpsons earned a 4.4/11, up 29% from its last original, while Bob Burgers earned a 3.1/8, Family Guy, a 3.5/8, and American Dad, a 2.8/7.

Buoyed by the Loser premiere, NBC was second for the night in the demo (2.2/6). ABC was third (1.8/5), with Once Upon A Time earning a 3.1/8, followed by Revenge (2.3/5), and special runs of Happy Endings (1.0/3) and Don’t Trust the B—- in Apt. 23 (.9/2).

CBS was fourth (1.7/4) with 60 Minutes earning a 1.4/4, followed by a repeat of Person of Interest, an original of The Good Wife (1.8/4) and an original of The Mentalist (2.1/6).

NBC posted an easy win on Wednesday opposite mostly repeats on the other broadcast networks. The Peacock posted a 2.1 rating/6 share in adults 18-49, according to early results from Nielsen, and 6.9 million viewers. The highlight of its night was Chicago Fire, which was up 26% versus two weeks ago and earned a 2.4/6 in the demo. At 8.4 million, it was also the most-watched show of the night.

Whitney lure a d1.8/5 and 4.9 million eyeballs, up 29% from its last original three weeks ago, while Guys with Kids got a 1.7/5 (up 21%) and 4.3 million. Law & Order: SVU earned a 2.1/5 and 7.7 million, up 31% from its last original one month ago.

ABC and CBS were tied for second in the demo (1.5/4); both aired repeats. Fox aired back-to-back special episodes of Mobbed that earned an underwhelming 1.0/3 at 8 and a 1.1/3 at 9. CW also aired repeats of Arrow and Supernatural. Snooze.

Even with many viewers still away on vacation, NBC managed to set a new ratings record Sunday night with its NFL coverage.

Sunday Night Football‘s telecast of the Cowboys vs. Redskins game delivered the best overnight rating for a regular season NFL game in the network’s history.

The game, which saw the Redskins beat the Cowboys 28-18, delivered a 18.3 in the household ratings (which networks carrying live sports typically use for next-day game measurement). That’s the highest-rated NFL regular-season primetime game on any network in 15 years. The previous NBC record-holder was the Steelers vs. Broncos game during the first week of the current broadcast season.

Fox’s X-Factor performance finale led Wednesday night in the ratings, though slipped 18 percent from last year’s similar episode.

Simon Cowell’s singing competition series was seen by 8.3 million viewers and had a 2.7 adults 18-49 rating. That’s soft considering the show’s overall importance to the network and that it faced a weak playing field filled with repeats. Still, a win’s a win.

Over on NBC, the 61st Annual Miss Universe Pageant was up 13 percent from last year, while Chicago Fire jumped 36 percent from last week’s season low to top 10 p.m. (CSI was a repeat, which almost certainly helped).

Full chart: READ FULL STORY »

NBC’s The Voice finished its first fall edition with a triumphant finale performance.

The two-hour live closer delivered 14 million viewers and a 4.9 rating among adults 18-49, making it the most-watched and highest-rated Voice finale yet — and that includes last spring’s edition, which received a significant initial boost premiering out of the Super Bowl. The Voice was up 11 percent to a season high Tuesday evening and crowned winner Cassadee Pope.

NBC took a risk doubling down with The Voice, deciding to run the relatively new hit twice a year. But so far it’s paid off. The Voice’s third cycle outshined the second round of Fox’s rival X-Factor and helped NBC reverse a nine-year fall losing trend. Now the network has to see if it can maintain its momentum going into the new year.

Despite NBC’s strong performance, CBS’ dramas improved. NCIS, NCIS: LA and Vegas all posted gains ranging from 7 to 18 percent, climbing from last week’s season lows. ABC’s block continued to perform modestly, even with another airing of A Charlie Brown Christmas to get the night started. Fox got out of the way, running comedy repeats.

Full chart: READ FULL STORY »

Image Credit: Monty Brinton/CBS

It was another great night for the CBS comedies and dramas: All four series were up in the key adult demo versus last week, starting with The Big Bang Theory — which not only averaged a mighty 16.7 million, but notched a 5.4 rating/17 share in 18-49, according to early numbers from Nielsen. It was the No. 1 show of the night in viewers and the key demo.

Two and A Half Men was also first in viewers (13.5 million) and adults 18-49 (up .2 percent to a 4.2/12).  Person of Interest averaged 14.2 million viewers and a 3.0/8 — up a slight .1 — while Elementary averaged 10.6 million and was up .2 in 18-49 (2.3/6). Overall, CBS easily took the night in the demo (3.4/10) and viewers (13.3 million). READ FULL STORY »

Storage Wars might be faked. But the first set of ratings data since a blockbuster lawsuit accused the show of fraud suggests fans might not care.

Tuesday night’s back-to-back episodes of the A&E’s reality hit were right on par with the previous week. Storage Wars averaged 4 million viewers across the 9 p.m. hour. The prior week averaged … 4 million viewers.

Former castmember Dave Hester accused the network and the show’s production company of wrongful termination yesterday, saying he was fired after complaining that producers “salted” storage units with valuables for cast members to discover.

Fans online reacted with a mix of disappointment and the usual cynically dismissive, “What do you expect from a ‘reality’ show?”

The Storage Wars claim seemed like it might make a ratings dent, since pre-stocking the units would make the drama seem kinda pointless, if true. Yet other show have thrived despite convincing accusations of fakery. TLC’s Breaking Amish wasn’t hurt by the network admitting aspects of the show weren’t accurate. And MTV’s The Hills continued for years despite fans assuming it was mostly scripted.

The numbers just represent the first couple episodes since the news broke, so maybe ratings will shift in the coming weeks. So far, however, A&E looks like it doesn’t have much to worry about (aside from fighting a lawsuit).