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[03/18/11 - 08:50 AM]
Thursday's Broadcast Ratings: NCAA Knocks "Idol," NBC Comedies to Lows
By The Futon Critic Staff (TFC)

nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for thursday, march 17, 2011)

Here are the highlights of the 16 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night:

FOX (15.46 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 4.5, #1) held onto top honors on Thursday with new episodes of "American Idol" (19.00 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 5.6, #1) - another season low - and "Bones" (11.92 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.4, #2).

ABC (5.76 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.7, #2) then won a tight race for second with a new "Wipeout" (7.15 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.0, #3), a special earlier "Private Practice" (6.09 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.9, #4) and a repeat of "Off the Map" (4.05 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.1, #14).

Next up was CBS (4.75 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.6, #3) with its coverage of "NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: BYU/Wofford" (5.26 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.7, #T6), an "NCAA Men's Basketball Championship Update" (4.44 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.6, #9) and "NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: St. John's/Gonzaga" (4.15 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T10).

Meanwhile, NBC (3.79 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.5, #4) offered up its mix of "Community" (4.21 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.7, #T6), "Perfect Couples" (2.89 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 1.2, #13), a repeat of "The Office" (3.70 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T10), "Parks & Recreation" (4.06 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.8, #5), "30 Rock" (4.24 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.7, #T6) and "Outsourced" (3.64 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.4, #12) - all originals of which were season lows.

And finally, repeats of "The Vampire Diaries" (1.23 million viewers, #16; adults 18-49: 0.5, #16) and "Nikita" (1.53 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.5, #15) on The CW (1.38 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.5, #5) rounded out the evening.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): Bones (0.00%), Community (-5.60% vs. 2/24/11), Outsourced (-6.70% vs. 2/24/11), Wipeout (-9.10% vs. 2/24/11), American Idol (-13.80%), Perfect Couples (-14.30% vs. 2/24/11), Private Practice (-20.80% vs. 2/24/11), Parks & Recreation (-25.00% vs. 2/24/11), 30 Rock (-26.10% vs. 2/24/11).

In late-night metered market ratings (via NBC's press release):

In Nielsen's 56 metered markets, household results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 2.7/7; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 1.3/4 with an encore delayed by basketball; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 3.3/8; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.4/4.

In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 1.0/4; "Late Show," 0.4/2 with an encore delayed by basketball; "Nightline," 1.0/4; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.5/3.

At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.3/5 in metered-market households) beat CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (0.9/4 with an encore delayed by basketball). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.5/3 in 18-49) topped "Late Late Show" (0.3/3 with an encore delayed by basketball).

At 1:35 a.m., Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.8/3 in metered-market households and a 0.2/2 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.


Here are the highlights of the 13 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (3/18/10):

CBS (10.33 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.7, #1) was the network to beat with its opening round coverage of the "NCAA Basketball Championship" (10.33 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.7, #1).

Second place then went to NBC (6.59 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.7, #2) with its mix of "Community" (5.21 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 2.1, #5), "Parks & Recreation" (4.70 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 2.0, #T6), "The Office" (7.63 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.6, #2), "30 Rock" (6.86 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 3.0, #3) and "The Marriage Ref" (7.56 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.9, #4).

Next up was ABC (5.78 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.6, #3) with the return of "FlashForward" (6.61 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.9, #8), a second hour of "FlashForward" (6.49 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.0, #T6) and a repeat of "Private Practice" (4.25 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.1, #11).

Meanwhile, FOX (5.31 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.4, #4) served up repeats of "Bones" (6.25 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.6, #9) and "Fringe" (4.38 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.3, #10).

And finally, second runs of "The Vampire Diaries" (1.43 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.5, #13) and "Supernatural" (1.44 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.6, #12) on The CW (1.43 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.6, #5) rounded out the evening.

Source: Nielsen Media Research





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