On a Monday night marked by ratings dips almost across the board, ABC's "Castle" was hit particularly hard, dropping to a series low, while NBC won the night overall on the strength of "The Voice," according to preliminary numbers.
NBC took a commanding first place in the advertiser-cherished 18-49 demographic with a 3.5 rating/9 share and in total viewers with 11 million. Though down slightly from last week, "The Voice" at 8 p.m. grabbed the night's best ratings with a 3.9/10 and the largest total viewers with 12 million. The special "Blake Shelton's Not So Family Christmas," featuring "Voice" coach Blake Shelton, followed at 10, posting a strong 2.8/7 and grabbing 9 million total viewers.
CBS drew second place in ratings and total viewers with a 2.7/7 and 8.9 million. "How I Met Your Mother" at 8, which dipped to a 3.0/9 with 8.2 million total viewers. Following a repeat of "2 Broke Girls," a new episode of the comedy aired at 9, sliding 15 percent to a 3.5/9 with 10.1 million total viewers. "Mike & Molly" at 9:30 dropped 14 percent to a 3.1/8 and drew 10.2 million total viewers, while "Hawaii Five-0" fell slightly to a 2.2/6 and had 9.2 million total viewers.
Fox grabbed third place in ratings and fourth in total viewers. "Bones" at 8 dropped 21 percent to a 1.9/5 and had 7.3 million total viewers, while the freshman drama "The Mob Doctor" the following hour dropped 27 percent for a 0.8/2 and had 3.3 million total viewers.
ABC drew fourth place in ratings and third in total viewers with a 1.2/3 and 5.8 million. "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" at 8 posted a 0.9/3 with 4.2 million total viewers, while a second episode at 9 drew a 1.1/3 — down 15 percent from last week's premiere — with 4.5 million total viewers. "Castle" the following hour fell 15 percent from last week to hit a series low of 1.7/4 and had 8.4 million total viewers.
