TV Ratings: Rising CBS Finales Top Monday, ‘America’s Got Talent’ Returns Steady-ish

CBS topped Monday night in adults 18-49 with a 3.3 rating, placing a close second to ABC’s dominant haul of total viewers with 10.4 million.

CBS offered up three hours of season finales, starting with an extended How I Met Your Mother. The comedy brought in a 3.6 rating among adults 18-49, climbing three-tenths of a point from last week. Two and a Half Men was even with the previous week’s 3.8 demo rating, while Mike & Molly (3.3) and Hawaii Five-0 (2.7) also saw gains.

America’s Got Talent returned to the NBC lineup with the addition of judge Howard Stern. The two-hour premiere was only two-tenths of a point shy of last week’s Monday episode of The Voice, earning a 3.6 rating among adults 18-49. It’s a drop from last year’s season premiere, which led into The Voice, but topped the previous two debuts. At 10 p.m., Smash matched its most recent performance, pulling a 1.8 rating among adults 18-49. The network earned 3.0 demo rating overall, grabbing 8.9 million viewers.

On ABC, Dancing With the Stars pulled a 2.6 rating among adults 18-49, down a tenth from the previous week but also short of the 9:30 p.m. half-hour that normally sees its strongest showing. The 90-minute premiere of The Bachelorette followed with a 2.5 rating in the demo. That’s three-tenths of a point shy of last summer’s premiere and finale, both of which scored a 2.8. ABC placed third for the night with 18-49-ers, posting a 2.5 rating. It topped in total viewers with 11.9 million.

Bones hit a low for season finales, though it retained its numbers from the previous week. The seventh-season ender brought in a 1.9 rating among adults 18-49, leading into the penultimate episode of House (2.2) and giving Fox a 2.0 adults 18-49 rating for the night and 6.8 million viewers.

On The CW, Gossip Girl climbed two-tenths of a point for a 0.6 in the demo, matching an even Hart of Dixie at 9 p.m.