Ratings: ‘America’s Got Talent’ premiere beats NBC’s ‘The Voice,’ down vs. 2012

“America’s Got Talent” has long held the crown as king of summer. However, the show started to really let in some vulnerability last year against the rising competition of Fox’s “MasterChef,” which has grown progressively stronger ever since it first started on the air.

So is it vulnerable yet again now? We’re betting “yes,” given that the series’ premiere numbers (a 3.1 rating in the 18-49 demographic) are down six tenths from where the show was at this point last year. However, there is also a little bit of silver lining here. This drop is not so bad when you compare it to the massive decline in “American Idol” viewership, and this is also around where the ratings were for the show most of last year. We rather enjoyed the series in spite of its flaws last night, and it succeeded in giving us exactly what we would hope to have: Pure summer fun with a group of judges who seem to genuinely like each other. This alone has to make this better than “American Idol” or the chemistry-free season of “The X Factor” earlier this year.

“America’s Got Talent” can put a feather in its cap that it also managed to beat “The Voice” over the course of its two hours, as the results show to NBC’s other competition drew a 3.0. It is starting to slowly near its finale, and will probably help out “America’s Got Talent” moving forward when it comes to its lead-in.

What do you think about the ratings for “America’s Got Talent”? In case you missed the highlight of last night’s show, the brilliant-while-simultaneously-awful “Booty Song” can be heard below. We still love it when someone aspires to be a one-hit wonder.

If you want to read our full review of the show, you can do so over at the link here.

Photo: NBC