Ratings: NBC’s Hockey Draws Men Away From Fox

CBS wins the night in total viewers but NBC’s Stanley Cup game wins night in 18-49 demo

CBS continued its regular season total viewer dominance Monday night, kicking off the first week of the summer season by averaging 7.7 million viewers — but Fox did not mimic its regular season 18-49 demo ratings, finishing fourth for the night with a paltry 0.9.

CBS series have always done well in repeat, and Memorial Day Monday night was no different with its two signature sitcoms "Two and a Half Men" and "The Big Bang Theory" recording 2.6 and 2.9 respectively in the 18-49 demo, according to Nielsen’s fast nationals data. 

Both shows also drew over 9 million viewers, with "Men" pulling in 9.7 million and "Big Bang" drawing 9.4 million.

ABC’s two-hour telecast of "The Bachelorette" from 8-10 p.m. averaged a 2.4 18-49 rating with 8 million viewers and, as expected, was dominant among women and younger viewers. "The Bachelorette" won its time period for the second straight week among women 18-34 and won the night in both women 18-34 and women 18-49. But "The Bachelorette" was also down 14 percent in it’s 18-49 rating from its season premiere episode last week.

Fox, meanwhile, was barely on the map with repeats of two dramas "Lie to Me" and "The Good Guys," both of which recorded only a 0.9 18-49 rating.

Some of that may have been due to those two male-skewing dramas being up against NBC’s telecast of the second game of the National Hockey League Stanley Cup finals, which drew a heavy load of men.

While the 18-49 of the three-hour hockey telecast, which saw the Chicago Blackhawks defeat the Philadelphia Flyers 2-1, was virtually flat with last year’s comparable telecast with a 2.4 (last year’s second game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings was a 2.3), the hockey game won the three hour time period in the demo.

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