TV Ratings: 'Big Brother' Steady, 'Expedition: Impossible' Rises

CBS

CBS' Big Brother was Thursday's highest-rated and most-watched program.

The fiery episode, which featured newbie Dominic getting evicted from the house, averaged 7 million total viewers at 9 p.m. and a 2.6 rating in the ad-coveted 18-49 demographic. Reruns of The Big Bang Theory, Rules of Engagement and The Mentalist aired. Big Brother's steady performance powered the network to the nightly victory in both viewers and the demo.

Over on Fox, Lady Gaga and Rob Marshall's guest judging stints on So You Think You Can Dance (5.3 million, 1.7) boosted ratings 6 percent compared to last Thursday's telecast, but Dance ranked third in its 8 p.m. time slot.

It was ABC's Wipeout (6.6 million, 1.9) that topped the hour, with its lead-out Expedition: Impossible (5 million, 1.6) increasing 23 percent from last week's season low. Recently-renewed cop drama Rookie Blue (4.9 million, 1.3) remained flat, inching out The Mentalist for the demo win at 10 p.m.

The CW aired repeats of The Vampire Diaries and Plain Jane, while NBC aired reruns of its Thursday night comedies and Law & Order: SVU.

Below, the networks ranked by demo:

CBS - 1.9
·        The Big Bang Theory (R):  1.9, 7.1 million viewers
·        Rules of Engagement (R):  1.6, 5.7 million viewers
·        Big Brother:  2.6, 7 million viewers
·        The Mentalist (R):  1.2, 6.1 million viewers

ABC - 1.6
·        Wipeout:  1.9, 6.6 million viewers
·        Expedition: Impossible:  1.6, 5 million viewers
·        Rookie Blue:  1.3, 4.9 million viewers

Fox - 1.3
·        So You Think You Can Dance:  1.7, 5.3 million viewers
·        Glee (R):  1.0, 3.5 million viewers

NBC - 0.8
·        Community (R):  0.6, 2.2 million viewers
·        Parks & Recreation (R):  0.7, 2.1 million viewers
·        The Office (R):  0.9, 2.3 million viewers
·        30 Rock (R):  0.8, 2.1 million viewers
·        Law & Order: SVU (R):  0.9, 3.3 million viewers

The CW - 0.4
·        The Vampire Diaries (R):  0.5, 1.1 million viewers
·        Plain Jane (R):  0.3, 789,000 viewers

Email: philiana.ng@thr.com