"The Voice" and news coverage of the Boston marathon bombings pushed NBC to an overall win Monday night, while CBS's Monday night primetime roster returned after three weeks off, hitting or matching ratings lows across the board, according to preliminary numbers.
NBC grabbed first place in the advertiser-sought 18-49 demographic with a 4.5 rating/12 share and in total viewers with 12.5 million. "The Voice" at 8 p.m. inched up in the demo from last Monday for a 5.1/14 and drew the night's largest audience with 14.3 million total viewers.
The news special "Terror in Boston" at 10, which preempted Revolution," improved markedly — as would be expected — on that show's previous episode, drawing a 3.1/8 compared to "Revolution's" 2.3/6 last week and bringing in 8.4 million total viewers but only marginally affecting the competition's 10 p.m. fare.
ABC drew a distant second place in ratings and a narrow second place in total viewers with a 2.2/6 and 12.4 million. "Dancing With the Stars" at 8 inched up to a 2.26 and had 13.4 million total viewers. "Castle" at 10 dropped slightly to a 2.1/5 and drew 10.4 million total viewers.
CBS, whose primetime slate returned with originals after three weeks off, came in third in ratings and total viewers with a 2.1/6 and 7.2 million. "How I Met Your Mother" inched down to a season low of 2.6/8 and had 6.6 million total viewers, while "Rules of Engagement" at 8:30 also dipped to a season low, drawing a 2.0/5 and taking 6.1 million total viewers.
"2 Broke Girls" at 9 fell 23 percent, hitting a series low of 2.3/6 and taking 7.5 million total viewers, while "Mike & Molly" at 9:30 dropped 15 percent for a season low of 2.2/5 and drew 7.7 million total viewers. "Hawaii 5-0" at 10 fell off 14 percent to tie a series low of 1.8/5 and took 7.8 million total viewers.
Fox took fourth place in ratings and total viewers with a 2.0/5 and 6.7 million. "Bones" at 8 inched down to a 1.9/5 and drew 6.5 million total viewers, while "The Following" was also down slightly in the demo with a 2.1/5 but inched up in total viewers for 6.4 million.
