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RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘The Voice’ Hits Low, ‘HIMYM’, ‘Castle’ & ‘2 Broke Girls’ Finales Down, ‘DWTS’ Ties Series Low

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Tuesday May 14, 2013 @ 10:44am PDTTags: 90210, Castle, How I Met Your Mother, Revolution, The Voice, TV Ratings

With upfronts happening in NYC this week, it feels like a lot of the TV action is occurring off-screen. But the reality wars and multiple finales Monday proved the small screen still has a lot of moving and shaking going on. Coming off three nights last week of the live playoff round and a season low, The Voice (3.6/10) took a hit last night — and not just because the AC wasn’t working in the studio for the first part of the show. The Voice was down 12% to hit a performance low for this season, and while it was the night’s top-rated show, CBS’ How I Met Your Mother bested it for the first time in their overlapping half hour. Of course, with a live show expect to see those numbers adjusted in final ratings. The Voice’s lead-out Revolution (1.9/5) was also down, but only 5% from last week. NBC still won in the adults 18-49 demo, while ABC was tops in total viewers.

Related: Christina Aguilera Returning To ‘Voice’ As Shakira Exits READ MORE »

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CBS’ ‘How I Met Your Mother’ Casts Title Role, Gives Glimpse Of Final-Season Story

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Tuesday May 14, 2013 @ 6:43am PDTTags: CBS, Cristin Milioti, How I Met Your Mother
Nellie Andreeva

As heavily promoted, CBS‘ How I Met Your Mother introduced the mother character in the final seconds of last night’s season finale when she was seen purchasing a train ticket to Farhampton, where she will eventually … Read More »

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Jason Segel Hatches ‘Nightmares!’ Book Series For Random House/Delacorte Imprint

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Tuesday April 23, 2013 @ 4:16pm PDTTags: How I Met Your Mother, Jason Segel, Nightmares!, Random House/Delacorte
Mike Fleming

BREAKING: If Jason Segel isn’t careful, the writer side of his brain might eclipse the actor side. Segel, whose script work includes The Muppets and Forgetting Sarah Marshall, has just made his first big publishing deal. Random House Children’s … Read More »

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‘HIMYM’ EP Stephen Lloyd Inks New Overall Deal With 20th TV, Will Join ‘Modern Family’

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Tuesday April 23, 2013 @ 4:01pm PDTTags: 20th Century Fox TV, Big Deals TV, How I Met Your Mother, Modern Family, Stephen Lloyd
Nellie Andreeva

How I Met Your Mother executive producer Stephen Lloyd has closed a new two-year overall deal with 20th Century Fox Television. Under the pact, Lloyd will continue as executive producer on the upcoming final … Read More »

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RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘The Following’ & ‘Biggest Loser’ Hit Lows, ‘Bachelor’ Hits Season High, ‘Deception’ & ‘Castle’ Rise

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Tuesday February 12, 2013 @ 9:14am PSTTags: How I Met Your Mother, The Bachelor, The Biggest Loser, The Following, TV Ratings

On a night where broadcast levels were down, it was partially a tale of two reality shows on TV on Monday. ABC kicked off primetime with a two-hour The Bachelor (2.7/7). After hitting a near season-low last week, the series rose 13% from its February 4 show to a season high. The same could not be said of NBC’s The Biggest Loser (2.0/5). Also two hours last night, the weight-loss show dipped 5% for a season low. Biggest Loser wasn’t the only show to hit a new low: Fox freshman The Following (2.4/6) was down 17% from last week to hit a series low. The Following’s lead-in, Bones was down too, slipping 8% from its February 4 episode. With 9.588 million watching, CBS won the night in viewers and the adults 18-49 demo. Read More »

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RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘HIMYM’ & ‘Carrie Diaries’ Hit Season Highs, ‘Following’ Slips

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Tuesday February 5, 2013 @ 9:48am PSTTags: 2 Broke Girls, How I Met Your Mother, The Carrie Diaries, The Following, TV Ratings
Nellie Andreeva

Not much of a post-Super Bowl ratings bump for CBS’ Monday lineup, which was heavily promoted during the game — especially sophomore 2 Broke Girls, which got a glitzy David LaChapelle-directed pole-dancing ad. CBS still won every half hour of primetime last night led by veteran How I Met Your Mother, the only CBS series to post ratings gains vs. its most recent original. A special “Robin Sparkles 4″ episode of the show, featuring Robin Scherbatsky (Cobie Smulders) as her former Canadian pop starlet self and a slew of celebrity cameos, drew a 4.0/11 among adults 18-49, up 8% from its last original two weeks ago and a season high. HIMYM, which was just renewed for a ninth and final season, was the top program of the night in 18-49. The seventh-season premiere of Rules Of Engagement (3.1/8) was down 14% from the veteran’s season premiere last season, which aired on Thursday following The Big Bang Theory, but a 29% improvement vs. the fall debut of the show Rules is replacing in the Monday 8:30 PM slot, the now defunct Partners. 2 Broke Girls (3.6/9, 11.2 million) was down a tenth from its last original and the most watched program of the night. Mike & Molly (3.1/8) and Hawaii Five-0 (2.3/6) were flat. Read More »

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It’s Official: CBS’ ‘How I Met Your Mother’ To Return For Ninth & Final Season

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Wednesday January 30, 2013 @ 11:00am PSTTags: Big Deals TV, Carter Bays, CBS, Craig Thomas, Endeavor, How I Met Your Mother, Jason Segel
Nellie Andreeva

How I Met Your Mother Returns Final SeasonAfter a month of last-minute haggling between CBS and 20th Century Fox TV over deal points, the network and studio have sealed an agreement for a ninth season of How I Met Your Mother. It will be the veteran comedy’s last season, and the show will finally reveal the identity of the mother. I hear it will be for 24 episodes. All series regulars — Josh Radnor, Jason Segel, Cobie Smulders, Neil Patrick Harris and Alyson Hannigan — are back, as are creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas. To show the cast their commitment to the show, Bays and Thomas were first to close a one-year show deal. Then came the dramatic actor negotiations as chronicled in Nikki Finke’s story that broke the news about HIMYM‘s pending renewal. The prospects of a ninth season appeared all but dead after Segel had held firmly to his decision to leave until an eleventh-hour turnaround. I hear Segel finally changed his mind after reviewing detailed records of the relatively light workload the hybrid series requires for a fat paycheck while also allowing busy actors like him to also pursue a feature career. Read More »

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CBS’ Nina Tassler On Pending ‘How I Met Your Mother’ Renewal, Jennifer Esposito’s ‘Blue Bloods’ Exit: TCA

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Saturday January 12, 2013 @ 10:32am PSTTags: Blue Bloods, How I Met Your Mother, Nina Tassler
Nellie Andreeva

No doubt CBS would’ve liked to announce a ninth season renewal for How I Met Your Mother at TCA today but it didn’t as the network and producer 20th Century Fox TV are still haggling over some license fee deal points. (The pacts with creators/showrunners Craig Thomas and Carter Bays and the cast, including Jason Segel are done.) Things are very close. “I will be happy to report in a very few days (a renewal),” CBS’ Nina Tassler said. “I’m confident and excited that all will be resolved. Almost everything is completed.” As for where the show will go next season story-wise, “(Bays and Thomas) had two CBSplans in place — if they had to resolve this year and or if they came back next year,” Tassler said after the session. “So we’ll sit down and talk to them in about a month about their plans for next year.” She assured that “this would be the end as designed by Carter and Craig.”

Tassler was asked about the network’s reputation of being tough on actors on procedural dramas in light of the recent decision to sideline and eventually drop Jennifer Esposito from Blue Bloods. “Oh, I don’t think we are tougher on our actors,” she said. “We employ them for many, many years. In a situation like this we are sorry to see her go, we tried to resolve it, it didn’t quite work out and we wish her the best.”

Related: CBS’ Nina Tassler: TV Violence Conversation Shouldn’t “Devolve Into Discussion Of One Show Vs. The Other”

CBS gave a rare “shout out” to veteran Rules Of Engagement, which has been used to successfully plug holes on the schedule for most of its run, summoned to do it again this midseason on Mondays where it will replace cancelled Partners. “A show that serves us well, it is the best utility warrior on television.”

Asked whether there is a point where CBS would ask 2 Broke Girls executive producer Michael Patrick King to curb the racy content on the show, Tassler said, “I say to Michael as long as you keep us laughing, and as long as we vet stuff through standards and practices, we’re good. It’s an adult comedy. People enjoy it.”

Tassler spent a long time talking about summer series Under The Dome, a Steven Spielberg-produced adaptation of Stephen King’s novel, which was originally developed for sibling pay cable network Showtime. Read More »

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EXCLUSIVE: ‘How I Met Your Mother’ To Return For Season 9; Cast Deals Closed Today After Jason Segel Turnaround; Show Was Given Up For Dead Until 11th Hour

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Friday December 21, 2012 @ 6:33pm PSTTags: Big Deals TV, Carter Bays, CBS, Craig Thomas, How I Met Your Mother

EXCLUSIVE: My news will be cheered by fans of the CBS comedy and follows the network logging a second consecutive Monday win in adults 18-49 and total viewers. For those keeping score, the hourlong winter finale of How I Met Your Mother (3.4/9) was up 6% from last week’s half-hour episode. … Read More »

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Ratings Rat Race: ‘Gossip Girl’ Up In Finale, ‘HIMYM’ & ‘Voice’ Up, ’1600 Penn’ Sampled

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Tuesday December 18, 2012 @ 10:38am PSTTags: 1600 Penn, Gossip Girl, How I Met Your Mother, The Voice, TV Ratings
Nellie Andreeva

We now finally know who the Gossip Girl is (spoiler: It’s a boy!). Last night’s series finale of the CW’s Gossip Girl posted across-the-board season highs. It was the show’s most-watched (1.51 million) episode and highest-rated in adults 18-49 (0.8/2, up 2 tenths) since April 2011. In 18-34 (1.1/3), it was Gossip Girl‘s strongest performance since September 2011. With a Gossip Girl retrospective special at 8 PM, the CW posted its most-watched Monday night (1.41 million) since January. In the 9 PM hour, the network outrated ABC and NBC among adults 18-34 (1.1/3) and women 18-34 (1.8/5).

From 8-9:30 PM, the performance finale of NBC’s The Voice (4.1/11 in 18-49) was up 8% from last week, when it aired from 8-9 PM, and up 8% vs. the performance finale of the reality series’ previous cycle in May. The Voice was the highest-rated program of the night in 18-49 and provided strong lead-in for a preview of NBC’s new comedy 1600 Penn (2.3/6), which got decent sampling though it was down 8% from what The New Normal scored in its September preview with the same 4.1 demo rating lead-in from The Voice. Howie Mandel’s Take It All (1.5/4) dropped 32% from last Monday’s premiere when it immediately followed The Voice. Read More »

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‘How I Met Your Mother’ Renewal Deadline Looms: Will The Cast Return?

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Friday December 7, 2012 @ 5:00pm PSTTags: Carter Bays, CBS, David Shore, How I Met Your Mother
Nellie Andreeva

Exactly a year ago, David Shore, creator/executive producer of Fox’s drama House was pushing the network to make a decision on the future of the show by the end of 2011 so he can give it a proper ending if faced with cancellation. At the time, House was in its eighth season, with Shore and star Hugh Laurie’s contracts coming up. Fox and producing studio Universal TV didn’t have a license fee deal for another season. The network didn’t make a decision by end of December as Shore wished, but by the beginning of February, the verdict was in - House would end its run after eight seasons.

Fast forward a year to this week. CBS‘ comedy How I Met Your Mother is in Season 8 and the last year of its current license deal with the network, with the contracts of creators Craig Thomas and Carter Bays and the cast all up at the end of the season. Like Shore, Thomas and Bays had requested a decision to be made by the end of this month because of the overarching mythology of the show, which needs to begin building toward the big mother reveal when an end date is set. Three weeks before the end of the year, there is activity on all three fronts — talks are underway between CBS and HIMYM producer 20th Century Fox TV as well as between 20th TV and Thomas and Bays and between the studio and reps for the series’ stars, Jason Segel, Josh Radnor, Cobie Smulders, Neil Patrick Harris and Alyson Hannigan.

CBS has been open about its desire to bring HIMYM for another season. “We want the show to come back next year,” the network’s entertainment president Nina Tassler said in August. “We’re not there yet in terms of resolving the situation, but we’re pretty optimistic.” It appears that the studio, 20th TV, and Thomas & Bays are also open to the idea of another season. But what about the cast? A virtual unknown when the show launched in 2005, Segel has seen his feature career take off over the past seven years. I hear that as of now, Segel has indicated that it is unlikely for him to return. He has not shut the door though. Read More »

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CBS’ Nina Tassler Skewers Rivals, Says She’s “Optimistic” About ‘HIMYM’ Renewal

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Sunday July 29, 2012 @ 10:48am PDTTags: CBS, How I Met Your Mother, Nina Tassler, TCA, TCA Wrap-Up
Nellie Andreeva

CBS is known to take shots at its competitors, and the network’s entertainment president Nina Tassler came out swinging this morning. She walked out on stage for the CBS TCA executive session carrying a plush monkey, a jab at NBC, which brought in the monkey from its new comedy series Animal Practice to its TCA presentation and party, where she shared the lion’s share of attention with fellow guest Sarah Palin.

Related: CBS’ ‘Vegas’ Vs. ‘Elementary’ And What Makes A Procedural: TCA

“It’s been a TCA full of cell phone announcements from the stage, monkeys, Sarah Palin, renegotiations.  I couldn’t resist,” Tassler said of the TCA events from this past week that also included Fox Entertainment president calling new American Idol judge Mariah Carey during Fox’s executive session. While boasting about CBS’ ratings success (the network finished again as the most watched network and No. 2 in 18-49 to Fox this past season), Tassler took issue with another comment from Reilly who said on Monday that Fox’s reign as the top network among adults 18-49 may come to an end next season when CBS has the Super Bowl and AFC Championship Game. “According to Kevin Reilly ‑‑ thank you, Kevin ‑‑ we’ve just been awarded the 18‑49 crown for next year.  Thanks, Kevin, but I think we’ll try to earn it before we claim it.”

Related: CBS Keeps ‘Elementary’s “Secrets” But Teases Moriarty: TCA

Tassler confirmed that the network is in talks with 20th Century Fox TV and creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas for a ninth season of veteran comedy How I Met Your Mother. (Tassler’s “pet monkey” wore a HIMYM tie too!) “The show had an incredible year last year,” Tassler said. “We’re having conversations right now about extending it, we want the show to come back next year. We’re still in early conversations, we’re not there yet in terms of resolving the situation, but we’re pretty optimistic.” Talks for a potential Season 9 are starting early because of the concept of HIMYM, which will lead to the reveal of who the mother is, so planning for a final season has to start way in advance. “Craig and Carter have a very strategic wrapup for the show,” Tassler said. Read More »

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CBS Snags Rob Greenberg Pilot As First Order Of 2013-14 Season

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Tuesday July 10, 2012 @ 5:07pm PDTTags: CBS, Ex-Men, How I Met Your Mother, Rob Greenberg

CBS Pilot Ex-MenAnd so it begins. CBS has picked up Ex-Men, a new comedy from Rob Greenberg, as the network’s first pilot order of the 2013-2014 season. Written and directed by Greenberg, it details the exploits of a … Read More »

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EMMYS: Series Creators On Why We’re Laughing

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Thursday June 14, 2012 @ 5:04pm PDTTags: Curb Your Enthusiasm, Emmy, Family Guy, How I Met Your Mother

Anthony D’Alessandro, Diane Haithman and Ray Richmond are AwardsLine contributors

Boardwalk EmpireAwardsLine staffers threatened to send singing telegrams to the offices of TV’s biggest sitcom creators and showrunners unless they agreed to participate in this feature and divulge their … Read More »

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‘How I Met Your Mother’ EP Chuck Tatham Inks Overall Deal With 20th Century Fox TV

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Tuesday June 12, 2012 @ 3:01pm PDTTags: 20th Century Fox Televsion, Big Deals TV, Chuck Tatham, How I Met Your Mother
Nellie Andreeva

How I Met Your Mother Chuck TathamHow I Met Your Mother executive producer Chuck Tatham has signed a two-year overall deal with the studio behind the long-running CBS comedy series, 20th Century Fox TV. The pact will keep him … Read More »

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‘How I Met Your Mother’ May Go Beyond 8 Seasons: TCA

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Wednesday January 11, 2012 @ 12:32pm PSTTags: Carter Bays, How I Met Your Mother, Jason Segel

Ray Richmond is contributing to Deadline’s TCA coverage.

The trendy new term at TCA is, “That’s a high-class problem,” and the CBS comedy How I Met Your Mother has one. The show is improbably enjoying its best ratings ever during its seventh season and is also CBS’ youngest-skewing series. And while the series is contracted to remain on the air through next season, that doesn’t necessarily mean it will be “8 and out” for the show. Its co-creator and co-showrunner Carter Bays said during a TCA panel this morning that there hasn’t been a discussion about setting a series end date. “Oh, we’ve talked about it,” he admitted, “because we’ve gotten the question a lot. But I don’t think we can say what it will be just now. It’s not a high priority for us. I imagine when we’re going into the final season, we’ll get people hip to that. But right now it’s hard for us to say it will be May 14, 2000-whatever. It will happen when we’re officially out of ideas.” Bays added that he knows what the Mother endgame is going to be but naturally had no inclination to share it. Star Jason Segel added that he’d simply love to see the show go on long enough so the story comes to a natural conclusion, “whether that be 8 or 9 years. I was so relieved when I found out there was an actual plan,” he said. Read More »

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Ratings Rat Race: ‘Hawaii’, ‘Charlie Brown’ & Country Awards Up; ‘You Deserve It’ Dives

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Tuesday December 6, 2011 @ 9:40am PSTTags: 2 Broke Girls, Castle, Gossip Girl, Hart of Dixie, Hawaii Five-0, How I Met Your Mother, Mike & Molly, Ratings Rat Race, Rock Center With Brian Williams, The Sing-Off, TV Ratings, Two and a Half Men, Univision, You Deserve It
Nellie Andreeva

Against mostly atypical competition, CBS’ regular Monday lineup dominated every half-hour in its return to originals last night after a week of repeats. ABC’s Dancing With The Stars, a huge draw among total viewers, sucks out (mostly older) audiences from the competition. As they didn’t face Dancing with originals for the first time this season, CBS’ comedies boosted their viewership. How I Met Your Mother (4.5/12 in adults 18-49, 11.7 million total viewers) was up a tenth in the demo vs. two weeks ago and drew its largest audience with a regularly scheduled episode in almost three years. (since January 12, 2009). Rookie 2 Broke Girls (4.6/11, 12.8 million) was flat in 18-49 and logged its largest audience since the premiere, which followed the Ashton Kutcher debut on Two And A Half Men. Speaking of Men (5.0/12, 15 million), it was down two tenths in 18-49 from its last original, while Mike & Molly (4.2/10, 12.8 million) was even. Men ranked as the top program of the night in 18-49 and total viewers, as did CBS as a network. The net’s wins were solidified by Hawaii Five-0‘s 3.0/8 in 18-49, up 7%, and 10.8 million total viewers. In the 10 PM hour, the CBS procedural easily topped ABC’s Castle (2.0/5, 8 million), which was down 13% from its last original two weeks ago to hit a season low. Castle was hurt by its underwhelming lead-in, new game show You Deserve It (1.0/2), which continued its rapid ratings descent, down 29% from last week. ABC’s best ratings came from the holiday specials in the 8 PM hour: A Charlie Brown Christmas (2.8/8, 9.1 million) was up 8% from last year’s telecast in 18-49, while Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice (2.2/6, 7 million) was even with its premiere last year. Read More »

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RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘You Deserve It’ Off To Soft Start, ‘Rock Center’ Hits Series Low

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Tuesday November 22, 2011 @ 9:22am PSTTags: 2 Broke Girls, Castle, Dancing With The Stars Ratings, Gossip Girl, Hart of Dixie, Hawaii Five-0, How I Met Your Mother, Mike & Molly, Rock Center With Brian Williams, Terra Nova, The Sing-Off, You Deserve It
Nellie Andreeva

With Thanksgiving trips and meals on viewers’ minds, watching TV is taking a back seat as most programs last night were down week-to-week. Additionally, ABC’s lineup is headed to a downward adjustment in the finals as its fast nationals … Read More »

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RATINGS RAT RACE: CBS Series & NBC’s ‘Rock Center’ Rise, Fox Dramas Slide

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Tuesday November 15, 2011 @ 9:39am PSTTags: 2 Broke Girls, 20/20, Dancing With The Stars, Hawaii Five-0, House, How I Met Your Mother, Mike & Molly, Monday Night Football, Ratings Rat Race, Rock Center With Brian Williams, Terra Nova, The Sing-Off, TV Ratings, Two and a Half Men
Nellie Andreeva

CBS’ Monday lineup posted across-the-board gains for a second straight week. How I Met Your Mother (4.5/12 in adults 18-49, 10.4 million total viewers) was up a tenth in 18-49 from last Monday, 2 Broke Girls (4.8/12, 11.7 million) was up 7% from its fast national last week to post its best 18-49 rating in the 8:30 PM slot, Two And A Half Men (5.3/12, 14.6 million) was up 4% to once again rank as the top program of the night in 18-49, and Mike & Molly (4.4/10, 12.2 million) was up 5%. Hawaii Five-0 (3.3/8, 11.5 million) flourished without scripted broadcast competition in the 10 PM hour, up 10% in the demo from its fast national last week to post its best demo and total viewer number since the season premiere. Hawaii will likely tie its season-high opener in the finals if it’s adjusted up a tenth as it normally is. CBS (4.2/10, 12 million) easily won the night in 18-49.

NBC’s Rock Center With Brian Williams (1.3/3, 4.5 million) last night boasted the biggest news “get” of the moment, an exclusive interview with former Penn State football coach and accused child molester Jerry Sandusky. The one-on-one with Bob Costas boosted the struggling newsmagazine to its highest rating to date, up 30% from the 1.0 Rock Center posted in its first two weeks. Still, the show was dwarfed in the 10 PM hour by another newsmagazine, ABC’s special edition of 20/20 (2.8/7, 13.4 million) featuring Diane Sawyer’s interview with recovering shooting victim U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, as well as CBS’ Hawaii Five-0. Rock Center also ranked as the lowest-rated program on the Big 4 networks, and its fast national numbers may have been inflated by a local NFL pre-emption in Minneapolis, so an adjustment down is likely. Read More »

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