The substantial hiatus did not seem to work for NBC's Smash.
The musical drama returned with a two-hour sophomore premiere Tuesday night, averaging just a 1.1 rating with adults 18-49 and 4.47 million viewers. Although it obviously benefited from Super Bowl buzz and a strong lead-in from The Voice during its original launch, it still marks a 71 percent drop from its premiere's 3.8 adults rating. The last half-hour of the Smash premiere, starting at 10:30 p.m., fell to a 1.0 rating in the demo.
Ahead of Smash, NBC aired Betty White's Second Annual 90th Birthday Special. And with a 1.5 rating in the key demo and 6 million viewers, it outperformed Smash by more than 25 percent.
CBS won the night in total viewers (16.1 million) and adults 18-49 (2.8 adults rating), with NCIS (3.7 adults) and NCIS: LA (3.1 adults) the night's top performers.
More to come...
