Ratings Race: 'Persons Unknown' Continues Sliding, 'The Bachelorette' Dominates

ABC (2.4/7, 7.796 million) continues to steamroll the competition on Monday nights with this summer's red-hot season of 'The Bachelorette.'

And proving that it doesn't take new programming to bring in viewers, CBS (1.8/5, 6.929) was right there with them in total viewers with their lineup of comedy repeats and a franchise procedural.

Say what you want about CBS, but they know how to make a product that the masses can't get enough of. Repeats of 'The Big Bang Theory' and 'Two and a Half Men' are doing numbers this summer that some comedies on other networks can't touch with new episodes during the fall season. They may not always get that sexy 18-49 demo crown, but they're doing just fine.

Meanwhile, NBC (1.5/4, 3.888 million)'s all-new content barely edged out repeats on Fox (0.9/3, 3.056 million). 'Persons Unknown' is fading right off of the radar for the Peacock, and being banished to Saturdays as a result, but it's still not as bad as The CW's (0.2/1, .622 million) numbers.


8PM

The first half of 'The Bachelorette' (2.5/8, 8.478 million) dominated the hour for ABC, growing in viewership throughout its two-hour installment. Even better, the franchise is up nearly 16 percent in total viewers and 18 percent in the 18-49 demo from last summer. 'Rules of Engagement' (1.8/6, 5.665 million) continues to improve on its 'How I Met Your Mother' (1.5/5, 4.782 million) lead-in with these summer repeats. Could fans of the veteran series be reaching their limit on waiting to find out the identity of the titular 'Mother'?

Fox went with a repeat of 'Lie to Me' (1.0/3, 3.423 million) which lost nearly half the viewers of the new episodes we've seen in recent weeks. NBC gave 'Persons Unknown' (0.8/3, 2.955 million) a final week on Mondays before punting it to the Saturday wastelands, and the show responded by achieving a new series low in the demo, though it was up slightly in overall viewers. The CW barely registered with a repeat of '90210' (0.3/1, .797 million).

9PM

'The Bachelorette' (3.0/9, 9.719 million) ended the night with numbers impressive for any time of year. Making a strong case for itself as TV's number one sitcom, 'The Big Bang Theory' (2.4/7, 8.446 million) came in second on the night, retaking the lead in both total viewers and the demo from 'Two and a Half Men' (2.2/6, 8.275 million). The two Chuck Lorre series have been neck-and-neck at the top of the comedy heap since last season, and the competition has continued into the summer.

'Last Comic Standing' (1.5/4, 3.785 million) started off a little tepid for NBC, but grew throughout the night as well. Fox almost beat that new 'Persons Unknown' with a repeat of the under-performing 'The Good Guys' (0.8/2, 2.689 million). 'Gossip Girl' (0.2/0, .448 million) continues to slip with summer repeats to dangerous levels, scoring a zero in the demo share this week.

10PM

'Last Comic Standing' (2.0/6, 4.925 million) gained approximately 25 percent in both viewers and the demo from the first hour to the second. CBS took the viewers title for the hour with a repeat of 'CSI: Miami' (1.6/5, 7.203 million), though it was down about 35 percent in the demo and 15 percent in viewers from 'Big Bang' -- maybe that's where 'Last Comic' found at least some of its audience.

'True Beauty' (1.7/5, 5.11 million) is losing nearly half of 'The Bachelorette' viewers for ABC, who could be switching over to 'Last Comic' as well. While 'Beauty' still performs well for the network, they have to be disappointed that its losing so much from what would seem like a perfect lead-in. This week, the final two minutes of 'The Bachelorette' bled into the start of 'True Beauty,' so these numbers might adjust even lower.

Adults 18-49

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