Tops its Last Thursday Premiere by +32% in Adults 18-49 and by +22% in Viewers
“The Big Bang Theory” Matches All-Time Thursday 8:00 PM High in Adults 18-49
“Person of Interest” and “The Mentalist” Post Week-to-Week Increases in Viewers Against the World Series
The sixth season premiere of RULES OF ENGAGEMENT delivered its best fall premiere in viewers and key demographics since 2007, while THE BIG BANG THEORY matched its highest adult 18-49 rating for a regularly-scheduled Thursday broadcast, according to Nielsen preliminary live plus same day ratings for Oct. 20.
THE BIG BANG THEORY was first in households (8.9/15), viewers (14.69m), adults 25-54 (6.5/18) and adults 18-49 (4.9/15). THE BIG BANG THEORY was the night’s top broadcast in households, viewers, adults 25-54 and adults 18-49 for the fifth consecutive week. THE BIG BANG THEORY posted Thursday highs for a regularly-scheduled episode in adults 25-54, matched Thursday regularly scheduled highs in adults 18-49 and posted the second largest Thursday audience for a regularly-scheduled episode.
RULES OF ENGAGEMENT (P) was first in adults 25-54 (5.0/12), adults 18-49 (3.7/10) and second in both households (6.8/11) and viewers (11.47m). Compared to its Fall 2010 premiere (Monday, September 20, 2010), RULES was up +31% in households (from 5.2/08), +32% in adults 25-54 (from 3.8/09), +19% in adults 18-49 (from 3.1/08) and added +3.10m viewers (from 8.37m, +37%). Compared to the Thursday premiere in February 2011, RULES OF ENGAGEMENT was up +19% in households (from 5.7/09), +35% in adults 25-54 (from 3.7/09), +32% in adults 18-49 (2.8/08) and added +2.04m viewers (from 9.43m, +22%).
PERSON OF INTEREST was second in households (7.6/12) and viewers (12.27m) while averaging 3.9/09 in adults 25-54 and 2.7/07 in adults 18-49. Compared to last week, PERSON OF INTEREST added +230,000 viewers (from 12.04m, +2%).
THE MENTALIST was second behind FOX’s baseball in households (8.1/13), viewers (12.50m), adults 25-54 (3.7/09) and adults 18-49 (2.5/07). Compared to last week, THE MENTALIST was up +4% in households (from 7.8/13), +6% in adults 25-54 (from 3.5/08), even in adults 18-49 and added +110,000 viewers (from 12.39m, +1%).
For the night, CBS was tied for first in adults 25-54 (4.5/11, with FOX’s baseball), second behind FOX’s baseball in households (7.8/12), viewers (12.62m) and adults 18-49 (3.2/09).
Updated Thursday ratings will be available this afternoon.
Note:  DVR penetration is at 42%, up from 38% last year.  Last fall, Live+7 audiences for original entertainment series on CBS gained over 1.8 million viewers, on average, over Live+ Same Day ratings, more than any other network. This season, we expect DVR penetration to continue to increase and, as a result, we expect DVR playback audiences to grow as well.