With NBC enduring a highly-publicized ratings dip this midseason, attention has been fixed on the return of The Voice -- and whether or not the fourth season of network's new flagship could drive numbers closer to the highs from this past fall.
The singing competition finally returned on Monday night, and Fast National returns have it coming in it delivering stronger numbers than the fall -- though and taking an expected plunge from last spring's Super Bowl-driven kick-off. The two-hour blind auditions round averaged a 4.7 rating with adults 18-49 and 13.4 million viewers. In the key demographic, that's half of a point (or about 12 percent) north of the fall opener (4.2 adults).
For those anxious for American Idol comparisons, the number comes in 22 percent shy of the Fox series' January premiere. That pulled a 6.0 rating among adults 18-49. As for this week, however, The Voice seems very likely to outdo American Idol. After two months back on the air, American Idol pulled a 3.6 rating with adults 18-49 and 12.94 million viewers during last week's Wednesday performance episode.
PHOTOS: Broadcast TV's Returning Shows 2013-14
As for NBC's other big return, Revolution had a lengthy hiatus to combat. The freshman drama brought in a 2.7 rating with adults 18-49. That's two tenths of a point south of its winter finale (2.9 adults) and a steeper drop from from its handsome fall debut (4.1 adults). Revolution also came up 13 percent shy of its recent average. The network topped all other broadcast competition for the night, averaging a 4.0 with adults 18-49. It fell short of ABC in total viewers, however, with 11.3 million.
CBS aired originals of its Monday lineup, kicking the night off with season lows for How I Met Your Mother (2.7 adults) and Rules of Engagement (2.1 adults). The comedies were down a respective three and two tenths of a point. 2 Broke Girls (2.9 adults) was up a tenth of a point, and Mike & Molly (2.6 adults) was up by two tenths. Hawaii Five-0 (2.0 adults) shed a tenth, giving CBS an average 2.4 rating with adults 18-49 and 7.8 million viewers for the night.
Dancing With the Stars might be the biggest casualty of The Voice returning to the line-up. The ABC competition fell a significant nine tenths of a point, about 23 percent, from last week's premiere to a 2.3 rating among adults 18-49. The series still topped in total viewers with 14.1 million. Castle (2.1 adults) was off a tenth of a point from last week, giving ABC a nightly average if a 2.2 adults rating and 12.95 million viewers.
Bones (1.9 adults) and The Following (2.3 adults) were both down by two tenths of a point from the previous originals, giving Fox a nightly average of a 2.1 rating with adults 18-49 and 6.7 million viewers.
On the CW, The Carrie Diaries pulled a steady 0.4 rating with adults 18-49 rating. The network averaged a 0.3 adults rating and 681,000 viewers.
Univision averaged a 1.5 rating with adults 18-49 and 3.7 million viewers.
