ABC's 'Bachelorette' a ratings standout

NBC nabs solid numbers with Jackson doc

By RICK KISSELL

In a tough summer for ABC, "The Bachelorette" remains one of the news few standouts. On Monday, the dating show delivered its best numbers since its mid-May premiere, teaming with "Here Come the Newlyweds" to give the Alphabet net the night in key young-adult demos. NBC, meanwhile, did OK with its repackaged hour of a 2003 Michael Jackson documentary.

According to preliminary nationals from Nielsen, "The Bachelorette" averaged a solid 2.7 rating/8 share in adults 18-49 from 8 to 10 p.m., winning its two-hour block and rising 17% week to week. Also up vs. the previous week was fellow alternative series "Here Come the Newlyweds" (1.8/5 in 18-49, 5.0 million viewers overall). "The Bachelorette," along with Wednesday's "Wipeout," are keeping ABC afloat in an otherwise bummer of a summer for the net.

CBS remained potent even with all repeats of its regular lineup, led by "Two and a Half Men" (2.7/8 in 18-49, 9.1 million viewers overall), which tied "Bachelorette" as the night's No. 1 program in adults 18-49 and ruled as Monday's outright top-rated program in both adults 25-54 and total viewers. "The Big Bang Theory" (2.6/7 in 18-49, 8.0 million viewers overall) again held onto nearly all of its "Men" lead-in, and the net also received solid showings from "How I Met Your Mother" (1.7/6 in 18-49, 5.4 million viewers overall), "Rules of Engagement" (1.8/6 in 18-49, 5.7 million viewers overall) and "CSI: Miami" (2.0/6 in 18-49, 8.0 million viewers overall).

NBC started slowly with repeats of crime staples "Law & Order" (1.1/4 in 18-49, 5.0 million viewers overall) and "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" (1.3/4 in 18-49, 5.6 million viewers overall) before moving to a narrow lead in young adults at 10 p.m. with the special "Dateline: Living With Michael Jackson" (1.8/5 in 18-49, 5.0 million viewers overall). The newsmag franchise aired a slimmed down hourlong version of the highly watched ABC documentary "Living With Michael Jackson" from six years ago.

Fox, also tapping into nostalgia for Michael Jackson, couldn't drum up a whole lot of interest for its two-hour "American Idol" special (1.4/4 in 18-49, 4.2 million viewers overall), a repeat from last season in which contestants performed songs previously recorded by Jackson's.

Preliminary 18-49 averages for the night: ABC, 2.4/7; CBS, 2.1/6; NBC, 1.5/5; Fox, 1.4/4; CW, 0.4/1.

In total viewers: CBS, 7.4 million; ABC, 7.0 million; NBC, 5.8 million; Fox, 4.2 million; CW, 0.8 million.