TV Ratings: ‘Body of Proof’ and ‘Smash’ Hit Lows, ‘Cult’ Premiere Finds No Following

Body of Proof Season 3 Premiere Episodic - H 2013

ABC/MICHAEL DESMOND

"Body of Proof"

Tuesday night wasn't particularly pretty for any of the broadcast networks, but it did give a decisive victory to CBS in both the key adults 18-49 demo (2.6 rating) and total viewers (15.6 million). The night's leader, NCIS (3.5 adults), was off two tenths of a point from its last original. NCIS: LA (2.7 adults) was down four tenths of a point, while Vegas (1.5 adults) was steady with two weeks ago.

The Taste (1.6 adults) got a tenth of a point boost from last week's State of the Union night low on ABC. The special Bachelor: Sean Tells All (2.6 adults) was off from Monday's season high for the series. Body of Proof (1.2 adults) returned to the schedule at 10 p.m., dropping an unfortunate full point from last season's premiere and matching a series low in the process. ABC averaged a 1.8 rating with adults 18-49 and 6.6 million viewers.

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Fox comedies were all down from most recent originals, with Raising Hope (1.5 adults) falling the least by just a tenth of a point. New Girl (2.2 adults) dropped four tenths of a point and The Mindy Project (1.6 adults) fell three tenths. The network averaged a 1.7 rating in the key demo and 3.5 million viewers.

Back-to-back episodes of Betty White's Off Their Rockers were a mixed bag on NBC. The 8 p.m. broadcast (1.3 adults) was down a tenth of a point, while the 8:30 p.m. outing rose a tenth of a point. Go On (1.1 adults) and The New Normal (1.0 adults) were both at series lows, falling a respective one and two tenths of a point. Smash also hit a series low, dropping three tenths of a point from its premiere two weeks ago to an even more dangerous 0.9 rating in the key demo and just 3.3 million viewers. NBC averaged a 1.1 adults rating and 3.7 million viewers.

After a dipping Hart of Dixie (0.5 adults, off by a tenth of a point) on The CW, Cult opened to to just a 0.3 rating with adults 18-49 and 940,000 viewers. It underperformed the now canceled Emily Owens, M.D. The CW averaged a 0.4 rating with 18-49-ers and 1.2 million viewers.

Univision averaged a 1.7 rating with adults 18-49 and 4 million viewers.

Michael O'Connell