Fox’s new Christopher Meloni comedy “Surviving Jack” got off to a tepid start in the ratings Thursday night, as CBS won the night thanks to NCAA basketball, according to preliminary numbers.
The series premiere of “Surviving Jack” at 9:30 p.m. on Fox drew a soft 1.3 rating/4 share in the 18-49 demographic most important to advertisers, and had 5.1 million total viewers. Combined with “Hell’s Kitchen” in the 8 p.m. hour (1.8/6 in the demo with 5.2 million total viewers) and “American Idol” at 9 (1.9/6 with 7.9 million total viewers), Fox was third in the demo for the night with a 1.7/5, and also took third in total viewers with 5.9 million.
While the nature of live sports renders CBS’ numbers approximate, the network, which aired NCAA basketball, was first in the demo and total viewers with a 2.5/8 and 7.8 million.
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ABC was second in ratings and total viewers with a 2.2/7 and 6.8 million. “Once Upon a Time in Wonderland” at 8 drew a 0.9/3 and had 3.3 million total viewers, while “Grey’s Anatomy” the following hour had a 2.5/7 with 8.1 million total viewers. “Scandal” at 10 had a 3.1/9 rating — the night’s highest individual rating for a program — and averaged 8.8 million total viewers.
NBC was fourth in ratings and total viewers with a 1.2/4 and 4.3 million. The network aired repeats aside from “Parenthood” at 10, which posted a 1.4/4 — its best showing since October — with 4.4 million total viewers.
The CW averaged a 0.7/2 with 1.6 million total viewers.
