CBS won its ninth straight Thursday, and its third of May sweeps, with “Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains” the top show in the key 18-49 demographic and “The Mentalist” tops in total viewers.
The third-season finale of ABC’s “Private Practice” won the 10 p.m. hour in the key demographic.
STRONG NIGHT FOR CBS: The penultimate episode of this season’s “Survivors” (3.9/12, 13 million total viewers) kicked off a great Thursday for the network, which won the night with an average of 3.3/10 in 18-49 and 13.6 million total viewers. A two-hour season finale is set for 8 p.m. Sunday, May 16, followed by a reunion show hosted by Jeff Probst. At 9 p.m., “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” was first in total viewers with 13.3 million and averaged a 2.9/8 in the 18-49 demo. And at 10, “The Mentalist” (3.1/9, 14.6m) led the way in viewers and 25-54, finishing second to “Private Practice” in 18-49.
VAMPING: At 8 p.m., the first-season finale of The CW’s “The Vampire Diaries” (1.7/5, 3.5m) did much better in the key demo than ABC’s “FlashForward” (1.3/4, 4.8m); latter show reportedly won’t be back next season. ABC did better at 9 with “Grey’s Anatomy” (3.8/11, 10.9m), which led its hour in 18-49. The season finale of "Private Practice" (3.2/9, 9.3m) at 10 hit a three-month high and edged out “The Mentalist” in the key demo.
KEEPING PACE: NBC’s comedies were in line with last week’s numbers, and the network finished fourth for the night in the key demo (behind CBS, ABC and Fox). At 8:30, “Parks and Recreation” (2.0/6, 4.3m) welcomed new cast member Rob Lowe, matching its highest 18-49 rating since March 11 and attracting its biggest overall audience since March 25; it was up 5 percent in the key demo and 6 percent in total viewers week-to-week. "Community" (1.9/6, 4.4m), “The Office” (3.4/10, 6.6m) and "30 Rock" (2.5/7, 5.0m) did fine, followed by “The Marriage Ref” (1.6/5, 4.0m), down 27 percent in the demo to an all-time low.
