TV Ratings: 'Fringe' Stumbles, ABC and CBS Tie for Friday Victory

Fox

"Fringe"

The see-sawing continued in the ratings for Fringe.

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The serialized Fox drama slipped back to a series low on Friday to an average of 3.2 million total viewers and a 1.1 rating among adults 18-49. Fringe placed fourth in the 9 p.m. hour, topping the CW's Supernatural. As the future of Fringe continues to be debated, lead-in Kitchen Nightmares (3.8 million, 1.6) forged ahead, winning its 8 p.m. time slot opposite a competitive ABC's Shark Tank.

With CBS back in originals, the network couldn't find a way to take home the Friday victory; instead, ABC tied the Eye with a 1.5 rating in primetime on the strength of 20/20 and Shark Tank.

Since its season premiere in late January, Shark Tank (5.2 million, 1.5) has been down every episode and Friday's was no different. It was followed by newsmagazine What Would You Do? (5 million, 1.4) and 20/20 (5.6 million, 1.7), which tied CBS' Blue Bloods for the 10 p.m. win.

CBS' A Gifted Man (8.4 million, 1.2) returned around the range it normally averages in the demo, followed by CSI: NY (10.2 million, 1.6), down a tenth from its last original in mid-January. Blue Bloods (11.3 million, 1.7), the night's most-watched program, was also down.

NBC launched Who Do You Think You Are? (6 million, 1.1), down from the second season premiere last February. Fairytale procedural Grimm (4.7 million, 1.4) sank more than 1 million viewers and nearly half a point in the demo since the Jan. 20 episode. Dateline (4.7 million, 1.1) followed.

The CW's Nikita (1.5 million, 0.5) and Supernatural (1.6 million, 0.7) were steady.