(Spoiler alert: Please do not read on if you haven’t watched Wednesday’s finale of “America’s Got Talent.”)
Did magician Shin Lim just make much of the “America’s Got Talent” audience disappear? That appears to be the case when comparing the Season 13 finale with last summer’s final episode.
“AGT” sunk 31 percent in TV ratings from 2017’s Season 12 finale when Darci Lynne Farmer won the competition. That previous coronation had hit a six-year high in the key 18-49 demographic. This time around, not so much.
Still, NBC easily won each half-hour of primetime — including the final two, when it debuted new sitcom “I Feel Bad.” “I Feel Bad” didn’t do badly, but its second episode could not hold the series premiere’s “Talent”-boosted Nielsen numbers.
NBC was first in ratings with a 1.7 rating/8 in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic and in total viewers with an average of 10.2 million, according to preliminary numbers. “America’s Got Talent” from 8 to 10 p.m. averaged a 2.0/10 and 12.6 million viewers. The “I Feel Bad” premiere at 10 had a 1.2/5 and 6.6 million viewers. A second episode at 10:30 slipped to a 0.8/4 and 4.2 million viewers.
Fox was second in ratings with a 1.0/5 and third in viewers with 3.6 million. The “MasterChef” season finale was the only show on Fox’s schedule, putting up those numbers.
CBS was third in ratings with a 0.8/4 and second in viewers with 3.7 million. “Big Brother” at 8 put up a 1.4/7 and 5.5 million viewers. Reruns followed.
ABC was fourth in ratings with a 0.6/3 and in viewers with 2.4 million, airing all repeats.
Telemundo was fifth in ratings with a 0.5/2 and in viewers with 1.5 million.
Univision was sixth in ratings with a 0.3/2 and in viewers with 901,000.
The CW was seventh in ratings with a 0.1/1 and in viewers with 572,000. “Burden of Truth” at 8 received a 0.1/1 and 712,000 viewers. A rerun followed.