NBC’s Community returned from its too-long hiatus to 4.9 million total viewers and a demo rating of 2.2, delivering increases of 36 and 47 percent over the comedy’s most recent outing (on Dec. 8 ) and a 14-month, non-sports time slot demo high for NBC.
What’s more, NBC points out that Community – with Bang Bang Theory benched by NCAA hoops — was No. 1 among Adults 18-34 and Men 18-34 during its half hour, besting even a little show called American Idol. Cool, cool, cool…
Year-over-year, Community was up 29 percent in the demo, while versus its season-to-date average it delivered a 38 percent gain.
That teed up 30 Rock, now in the 8:30 slot, for week-to-week gains of 18 and 43 percent, hitting 4.1 million viewers and a 2.0 rating.
In other good news for NBC, Awake in its third week saw a 17 percent bump in audience (to 5.1 mil) while matching last Thursday’s 1.6 demo rating (which marks a 33 percent improvement over the Peacock’s previous Thursdays-at-10 performances via Prime Suspect and The Firm).
Thursday’s other headline goes to the premiere of Ashley Judd’s Missing, which drew 10.6 million total viewers — aka ABC’s most-watched drama of the night, and the network’s biggest audience in the 8 pm spot in 14 months — while netting a 2.0 rating with the 18-49 crowd. For comparison’s sake, ABC’s other drama premieres this season netted out as follows:
* Once Upon a Time: 12.8 million viewers, 3.9 rating * Pan Am: 10.8 mil, 3.1 * Revenge: 10 mil, 3.3 * Charlie’s Angels: 8.7 mil, 2.1 * GCB: 7.6 mil, 2.2 * The River: 7.5 mil, 2.4
Elsewhere on Thursday:
* American Idol, with 15.5 million total viewers and a 4.5 rating, was down 10 and 8 percent week-to-week. Fox’s repeat of the Touch pilot placed second in the 9 o’clock hour with 8.7 million viewers.
* The Vampire Diaries (2.6 mil/1.2) dipped 8 percent, while Secret Circle (1.6 mil/0.7) was down 12 percent in the demo.
* Grey’s Anatomy (9.7 mil/3.0) gained a few eyeballs but lost a tenth in the demo; Private Practice (7 mil/2.2) enjoyed gains of 11 and 5 percent with The Mentalist MIA.
* Of NBC’s other comedies, The Office (4.9 mil/2.3) dropped 12 percent in the demo, Up All Night (3.63 mil/1.7) was flat.
Community just went from being on death row to beating American Idol in the 18-34 demo, and tying The Office in total viewers.
You could make a great case for this being the ratings upset of the century. It's practically unprecedented, and all but guarantees another season of the show.
-- Hey, you ever coming back? You kidding? I am Queens Boulevard.
TheCodeisBosco posted... Community just went from being on death row to beating American Idol in the 18-34 demo, and tying The Office in total viewers.
You could make a great case for this being the ratings upset of the century. It's practically unprecedented, and all but guarantees another season of the show.
xfd
I love Community and all, but holy ****.
No BBT and march madness being on.
Couple that with American Idol being at an all time low in terms of it's ratings, and... well...
with that said I will say that it does bode well for Community, and hopefully the extra boost was in new viewers, not in viewers that chose to watch it live over next day huluing or something. Part of me hopes that it was a stronger episode to come back for the premiere instead of one of the weaker Season 3 episodes, but eh, what can you do.
It was a ratings upset for the night. Nobody expected it to do as well as it did. Especially in a week where everything else seemed to be down. Of course, no BBT helped it a lot but to see it do so well against AI is great news. Despite the fact that it will most likely drop it's almost guaranteed renewal at this point, proving that it can have an audience and that it's more just the time slot being almost impenetrable for any show.
Aecioo posted... TheCodeisBosco posted... Community just went from being on death row to beating American Idol in the 18-34 demo, and tying The Office in total viewers.
You could make a great case for this being the ratings upset of the century. It's practically unprecedented, and all but guarantees another season of the show.
xfd
I love Community and all, but holy ****.
No BBT and march madness being on.
Couple that with American Idol being at an all time low in terms of it's ratings, and... well...
Community's definitely going to fall next week once BBT comes back, no question about that. This is the first good news NBC's had about any of their comedies in months, though... and they're known for renewing shows at the drop of a hat if good news comes in. Whitney, for instance, got a full-season pickup two weeks into its run, even though its ratings were merely average at the time. Plus, now NBC knows that the BBT competition actually is a legitimate problem, and if (when?) Community's next season starts, it'll almost certainly be in a better timeslot.
FYI, I'm not even a big Community fan, though I do like it. But this actually is very exciting. A niche comedy on a dying network just had a major ratings spike, after being on hiatus... and on top of that, the ratings spike happened in March, a time notoriously bad for TV ratings. I've been following TV ratings for years, and I can't recall seeing anything like this.
-- Hey, you ever coming back? You kidding? I am Queens Boulevard.
DirkStrider posted... Ship off The Office there to die. They have to know that next year is the last. At least it'll be bringing along a little notoriety.
Best idea. 30 Rock at 8:30, Community at 9, Parks and Recs 9:30.
bryans7 posted... DirkStrider posted... Ship off The Office there to die. They have to know that next year is the last. At least it'll be bringing along a little notoriety.
Best idea. 30 Rock at 8:30, Community at 9, Parks and Recs 9:30.
This is actually brilliant! The Office and 30 Rock are older-skewing, so they wouldn't be as hurt by Big Bang Theory (and the other CBS sitcom)... and Community and P&R would be up against Grey's Anatomy and Person of Interest, two shows that attract older audiences.
-- Hey, you ever coming back? You kidding? I am Queens Boulevard.
This is the first thing I checked when I woke up and it was the best possible way to start my day.
Sure, BBT coming back will hurt, but getting so many more people to watch it tonight still bodes well for it having higher ratings than it did earlier in the season, and it really doesn't need too mich of a bump to survive on NBC