"THE BIG BANG THEORY" TOPS THURSDAY IN VIEWERS AND ADULTS 18-49

"Person of Interest" Matches "Grey's Anatomy" in Adults 18-49 for the First Time

CBS Places First on Thursday in Viewers and Key Demos

THE BIG BANG THEORY was Thursday's #1 show in viewers, adults 18-49 and adults 25-54, while PERSON OF INTEREST matched "Grey's Anatomy" in adults 18-49 for the first time, according to Nielsen preliminary live plus same day ratings for Feb. 23.

THE BIG BANG THEORY was first in households (9.7/16), viewers (16.11m), adults 25-54 (6.6/17), adults 18-49 (5.2/17) and adults 18-34 (3.9/13). Compared to last week, THE BIG BANG THEORY was up +4% in households (from 9.3/15), +2% in adults 18-49 (from 5.1/15), +5% in adults 18-34 (from 3.7/12) and added +460,000 viewers (from 15.65m, +3%). THE BIG BANG THEORY was the night's #1 program in households, viewers, adults 25-54 and adults 18-49.

THE BIG BANG THEORY beat "American Idol" in the common half-hour by its largest margin ever in adults 25-54 (vs. 5.3/14, +1.3 rtg pts), adults 18-49 (vs. 4.0/12, +1.2 rtg pts), adults 18-34 (vs. 2.6/09, +1.3 rtg pts) and by +2.14m viewers (vs. 13.97m).

PERSON OF INTEREST was first in households (8.7/13), viewers (14.41m), adults 25-54 (4.2/10) and tied for first in adults 18-49 (3.1/08, with ABC). PERSON OF INTEREST tied a first-run "Grey's" in adults 18-49 for the first time ever. Compared to last week, PERSON OF INTEREST was up +9% in households (from 8.0/12), +2% in adults 25-54 (from 4.1/09), +11% in adults 18-49 (from 2.8/07) and added +1.25m viewers (from 13.16m, +9%).

For the night, CBS was first in households (8.3/13), viewers (13.65m), adults 25-54 (4.4/11) and tied for first in adults 18-49 (3.2/09, with FOX).