UPDATED:The finale of NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” dominated primetime Wednesday evening, putting some pressure on the second week of Fox’s “So You Think You Can Dance” and “Glee.”
But the big surprise is what did not happen. Rather than continue its downhill slide from its mammoth series premiere, NBC’s “The Jay Leno Show” shattered expectations by rising slightly in the adult demographic for its third episode.
NBC won the night with a two-hour “Talent” (15.8 million viewers, 3.5 adults 18-49 rating), up 6% in the demo compared to last year. “Talent” had a 4.3 in the demo its final half hour, powering “The Jay Leno Show” (13.4 million, 3.5) to win 10 p.m. and gain slightly on Tuesday’s adult demo number.
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Though “Got Talent” significantly helped Leno with strong lead-in, its final half hour had a nearly identical rating to Leno’s lead-in on Tuesday night from the “Biggest Loser” premiere. One would have expected Leno to drop once again after falling 36% his second night — yet didn’t.
In second place, Fox’s “Dance” (5.7 million, 2.4) dropped 12% in the demo and “Glee” (6.7 million, 3.2) fell 9%. That’s a particularly mild drop for “Glee” considering it’s the second episode of highly rated scripted premiere going against steeper competition.
CBS was third with repeats, ABC fourth with “Wipeout” (6.2 million, 2.1), “Crash Course” (3.7 million, 1.4) and “Primetime” (4 million, 1.4).
On the CW, the debut of “Beautiful Life” (1.4 million, 0.6) tanked just like even worse than everybody seemed to expect. It’s lead-in, the second week of “America’s Next Top Model” (2.8 million, 1.4), fell a tenth from its two-hour opener.
