CBS's "Big Brother" and ABC's "Wipeout" showed considerable growth Thursday night, while Fox took a ratings win on the strength of its NFL pre-season coverage, according to preliminary numbers.
While final numbers for the Cincinnati-Atlanta game will be issued later Friday, at the moment Fox sits in first place in the advertiser-cherished 18-49 demographic and second in total viewers with a 1.9 rating/6 share in the demo and 5.2 million.
CBS took a close second in the demo and first in total viewers with a 1.8/6 and 6.2 million. The network ran repeats with the exception of "Big Brother" at 9 p.m., which grew 28 percent in the demo from last week for a 2.3/7 — its best performance in the demo since its season premiere — and drew 6.3 million total viewers.
ABC came in third in ratings and total viewers with a 1.4/4 and 4.6 million. "Wipeout" at 8 jumped 33 percent from last week, when it was up against the Olympics, drawing a 1.6/6 and taking 5.5 million total viewers. The special "Time Machine Chefs" the following hour posted a 1.2/3 with 3.5 million total viewers, while "Rookie Blue" at 10 also grew without the Olympics as competition, growing 18 percent in the demo for 1.3/4 and taking 5 million total viewers.
NBC drew fourth place in ratings and total viewers with a 1.0/3 and 4.2 million. Despite the poor showing, the network's original programs showed impressive post-Olympics growth. Following repeats of "The Office" and "Parks & Recreation," "Saving Hope" at 9 jumped 50 percent in the demo from its last airing three weeks ago, taking a 0.9/3 with 4.2 million total viewers.
"Rock Center With Brian Williams" also jumped 50 percent in the demo from its last airing three weeks ago, drawing a 1.2/4 and 5.2 million total viewers.
