TV ratings: NBC tops Tuesday with ‘Talent’; ‘Food Fighters’ soft

Although NBC won Tuesday night’s ratings with help from reality show “America’s Got Talent,” its premiere of Adam Richman’s reality show “Food Fighters” didn’t fare as well with audiences, according to preliminary numbers from Nielsen.

“America’s Got Talent” continued its intense “judgment week,” during which performers compete for a chance to move on to the live shows.

Despite a 8% decrease from its most recent non-recap original, the show still had a strong rating of 2.4 among the key 18-to-49-year-old demographic. More than 10 million viewers tuned in to see the make-or-break performances on Tuesday.

With about 4.5 million viewers, “Food Fighters” rounded out the top five in total viewership. The series premiere had an average rating of 1.0 among the key demo, though it managed to increase from its first half-hour to its second.

The culinary competition show pits home cooks against professional chefs for a chance to win $100,000. Earlier this month, the Travel Channel postponed the premiere of Richman’s series “Man Finds Food” after controversy over an Instagram brawl.

The two shows helped NBC earn the No. 1 spot for the night with an average of more than 8 million viewers total and a rating of 2.0 in the key demo.

Spanish-language network Univision took second in viewership among the key demo, with a rating of 1.2.

CBS’ “NCIS,” which had a rating of 1.0, was the second-most-viewed program overall for the night, with about 8 million viewers. “NCIS: L.A.” trailed closely behind with about 6.5 million viewers.

On ABC, “Extreme Weight Loss” and “Celebrity Wife Swap” were both down from last week, with ratings of 0.9 and 0.8, respectively. “Celebrity Wife Swap” saw a 27% decrease, tying with its series low.

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