The season premiere of "Big Brother" pushed CBS to an overall win on Thursday, while Fox's "The Choice" slipped in its season finale and NBC's "Saving Hope" and "Rock Center With Brian Williams" both enjoyed ratings surges, according to preliminary numbers.
CBS took first place in ratings and total viewers, averaging a 2.1 rating/7 share in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic and 7 million total viewers.
The network ran repeats throughout the night, save for the "Big Brother" premiere at 9 p.m. While the premiere was down slightly from last July's premiere with a 2.8/8, it was nonetheless the night's highest-rated program and represented the second-highest ratings performance for the series since 2008. It also was the most-watched program of the night with 7 million total viewers.
ABC took a distant second place in ratings and total viewers with a 1.3/4 and 5 million. "Duets" at 8 ran flat with last week, tying its series low of 1.0/3 and taking 4.6 million total viewers. "Wipeout" at 9 was down slightly from last week with a 1.7/5 and drew 5.4 million total viewers, while "Rookie Blue" the following hour ran even, posting a 1.3/4 and taking 4.8 million total viewers.
Fox came in third in ratings and fourth in total viewers with 1.2/4 and 3 million. "Take Me Out" at 8 was flat with last week, receiving a 1.2/4 and drawing 3 million total viewers, while "The Choice" the following hour closed out its season down 25 percent, also receiving a 1.2/4 in the demo and taking 3 million total viewers.
NBC took fourth place in ratings and third in total viewers with a 0.8/2 and 3.4 million total viewers. Despite the poor showing, the network's original programming saw ratings boosts over last week.
Following "The Office" and "Parks and Recreation" repeats, "Saving Hope" grew 25 percent to a 0.5/2 and drew 3.2 million total viewers, while "Rock Center With Brian Williams" the following hour jumped 33 percent for a 1.2/4 and attracted 5.2 million total viewers.
