"A Very Gaga Thanksgiving" proved plenty bounteous for ABC.
Though it failed to grab the ratings crown for the night, the holiday special presided over by the "Alejandro" chanteuse provided a significant boost for the network Thursday night, generating a four-year Thanksgiving best in the timeslot and handily beating last year's Turkey Day music offering, "Beyoncé's I Am World Tour."
"A Very Gaga Thanksgiving," airing from 9:30 p.m. to 11, averaged a 1.6/3 in the adults 18-49 demographic, a 23 percent improvement over the concert special delivered by her former collaborator Beyoncé on the network last season.
The special also averaged 5.4 million total viewers — an increase of 1.3 million total viewers compared to last year.
Prior to the Gaga special, ABC ran "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" at 8, which averaged a 1.7/6 share in the demo, and 5.7 million total viewers — a 16 percent increase over last year's viewership. A repeat of "The Middle" was sandwiched between the two specials.
CBS, however, won the night's top ratings and best overall performance of the night. A repeat of "The Big Bang Theory" at 8 drew a 3.6/12 in the demo, easily the night's best performance, and 8.4 million total viewers, which also made it the most-watched program of the night. The rest of the network's primetime slate also consisted of repeats, but despite the lack of fresh programming the network pulled out an overall win, averaging a 2.1/6 in the demo and 8.4 million total viewers.
Fox's night began with the special "Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas" at 8, which drew a 2.3/7 in the demo with 7 million total viewers, while another special, "Happiness Is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown," from 8:30 to 9:30 averaged a 1.6/5 in the demo and 4.9 million total viewers. The network finished the night out with a "Simpsons" rerun.
NBC ran the Dr. Seuss movie "Horton Hears a Who" from 8 to 10, which averaged a 1.1/3 in the demo and 3.7 million total viewers, followed by "The 85th Anniversary of the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade," which also averaged a 1.1/3 in the demo and 3.7 million total viewers.
