Ratings: CBS’ ‘Essential Heroes’ Special Was Not Essential Viewing

CBS courageously aired an “Essential Heroes” special last night. While we applaud the sentiment, no one there is clapping over the TV ratings. “Essential Heroes: A Momento Latino Event” managed just 819,000 total viewers at 9 p.m. — and that’s with a solid “Big Brother” lead-in. Also performing relatively well (like “Big Brother,” and definitely not like “Essential Heroes”) on Monday was NBC’s “The Voice” and ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars.” ESPN’s NFL property “Monday Night Football” aired on a few local ABC stations, which may have boosted that broadcast network’s initial Nielsen numbers.

NBC and ABC tied for first in ratings, both with a 0.9 rating/5 share in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic. NBC was first in total viewers with an average of 6.1 million, according to preliminary numbers. ABC was second with 5.3 million viewers.

For NBC, “The Voice” from 8-10 p.m. averaged a 1.0/5 and 7.3 million viewers. At 10 p.m., “The Weakest Link” got a 0.6/4 and 3.7 million viewers. For ABC, “Dancing With the Stars” from 8-10 p.m. put up a 1.0/5 and 6.1 million viewers. “Emergency Call” at 10 p.m. had a 0.6/4 and 3.6 million viewers.

CBS was third in ratings with a 0.4/3 and in viewers with 1.9 million. “Big Brother” at 8 p.m. drew a 1.0/5 and 3.8 million viewers. “Essential Heroes” at settled for a 0.2/1 and those 819,000 viewers. A pair of “One Day at a Time” episodes in the 10 o’clock hour didn’t do a whole heck of a lot better.

Fox and Univision tied for fourth in ratings with a 0.3/2. Fox was fourth in total viewers with 1.5 million, Univision was fifth with 1.2 million. For Fox, “L.A.’s Finest” at 8 received a 0.4/2 and 1.7 million viewers. At 9, “Filthy Rich” had a 0.3/2 and 1.4 million viewers.

The CW and Telemundo tied for sixth in ratings, both with a 0.2/1. The CW was sixth in total viewers with 937,000 and Telemundo was seventh with 842,000.

For The CW, following reruns, “Penn & Teller: Fool Us” at 9 got a 0.2/1 and 838,000 viewers.