Preliminary Ratings: Thursday 04/23/15

Just like Wednesday night, ABC and CBS were neck and neck in the nightly ratings. Both networks posted a 2.0 in the A18-49 demographic, but CBS edged out ahead with a 2.8 rating in the A25-54 demo and in total viewers, with 9.4 million. The two networks accounted for all five most watched programs. THE BIG BANG THEORY was #1 with 14.4 million, and SCANDAL with 9.8 million.

FOX and NBC had a battle of their own, fighting for a weak third place. NBC was up, week-to-week, now that THE BLACKLIST is back in original episodes, but it still posted a season low in the A18-49 ratings. It surrounding programs are nothing more than filler and no threat to draw viewers away from another network.

FOX is destroying its decent shows with terrible shows being pared with it. BONES is now looking no better than BACKSTROM, while being left out to die on Thursday nights. if 70% of the network's line up is not replaced during up-fronts, someone needs to seek other employment.

Preliminary L+SD Network Averages:

	Total viewers	A18-49	A25-54
ABC	7.8 million	2.0	2.4
CBS	9.4 million	2.0	2.8
CW	1.1 million	0.5	0.5
FOX	3.8 million	0.9	1.2
NBC	5.5 million	0.9	1.4

Time	Net	Program	Viewers*	A18-49	A25-54
8:00	ABC	Grey's Anatomy	9.40	2.8	3.2
9:00	ABC	Scandal	9.80	2.3	2.8
10:00	ABC	American Crime	4.10	0.9	1.3
8:00	CBS	The Big Bang Theory	14.40	3.5	4.9
8:30	CBS	The Odd Couple	9.50	2.0	3.0
9:00	CBS	Mom	9.00	1.9	2.9
9:30	CBS	TBBT [R]	8.30	1.7	2.5
10:00	CBS	Elementary	7.60	1.3	1.8
8:00	CW	The Vampire Diaries	1.40	0.6	0.7
9:00	CW	Reign	0.80	0.3	0.3
8:00	FOX	Bones	4.60	1.0	1.4
9:00	FOX	Backstrom	3.00	0.8	1.0
8:00	NBC	Law & Order: SVU [R]	3.40	0.5	0.8
9:00	NBC	The Blacklist [R]	7.20	1.4	2.1
10:00	NBC	Dateline	5.80	0.9	1.4

* - in millions