TV ratings: ‘Rookie Blue’ opens lower, ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ heats up

Gordon Ramsay’s ratings temperature rose Thursday night, while the fifth season of the ABC cop show “Rookie Blue” premiered with lower numbers than last time around.

Ramsay’s Fox show “Hell’s Kitchen” earned a rating of 1.8 in the key 18- to 49-year-old demographic, up 13% from last week’s episode. It was the top show of the night in the advertiser-targeted young adults category. Well, sort of. It tied a rerun of “The Big Bang Theory” on CBS.

In terms of total viewership, the popular CBS comedy was No. 1, averaging 7.5 million people watching.

“Rookie Blue” started its season with a two-hour premiere that averaged 5.7 million viewers, down just 5% from its last kickoff in May 2013. But in 18-49, “Rookie” drew a 1.0, down 17% from last year’s debut.

A couple things worth noting: The Season 4 premiere had a better lead-in with “Motive,” instead of Thursday night’s low-rated episode of “Black Box.” Also, “Rookie Blue” had its biggest audience in more than a year, since the second episode of Season 4.

“Black Box” suffered in 18-49 from its move to the 8 p.m. time slot. It fell 13% to a low of 0.7 in the demo compared with its last original airing three weeks ago, but rose slightly in total viewership.

On NBC, “Undateable” was flat week-to-week with a 0.9 average in 18-49, while the rebooted “Last Comic Standing” surged 17% to a 1.4.

The CW aired the “Critics Choice TV Awards” and got about 1.04 million people to tune in, with a mere 0.3 in 18-49.

Follow Ryan Faughnder on Twitter: @rfaughnder