"THE BIG BANG THEORY" REMAINS THURSDAY'S #1 PROGRAM IN ADULTS 18-49, ADULTS 25-54 AND ADULTS 18-34

"Person of Interest" and "The Mentalist" Return with Time Period Wins in Viewers and Key Demos

"Rules of Engagement" Up in Adults 18-49 from Last Original Broadcast

CBS Wins Thursday in Viewers

With CBS back in originals, THE BIG BANG THEORY remained Thursday's #1 program in adults 18-49 while PERSON OF INTEREST and THE MENTALIST swept their time periods, according to Nielsen preliminary live plus same day ratings for March 29.

THE BIG BANG THEORY (8.3/14, 13.64m) was first in adults 25-54 (5.9/17), adults 18-49 (4.5/15) and adults 18-34 (3.2/12). THE BIG BANG THEORY is the night's #1 program in adults 25-54, adults 18-49 and adults 18-34.

RULES OF ENGAGEMENT (P) was second in households (5.4/09), viewers (8.82m), adults 25-54 (3.7/10), adults 18-49 (2.8/08) and adults 18-34 (1.6/06). Compared to the last first-run episode (on Dec. 15, 2011), RULES OF ENGAGEMENT was up +4% in adults 18-49 (from 2.7/08) and even in both adults 25-54 and adults 18-34.

PERSON OF INTEREST was first in households (8.9/14), viewers (14.41m), adults 25-54 (4.7/11) and adults 18-49 (3.3/09).

THE MENTALIST was first in households (8.5/14), viewers (13.48m), adults 25-54 (4.1/10) and adults 18-49 (2.7/08). THE MENTALIST was up +3% in adults 25-54 (from 4.0/10) from the last first-run episode on March 8, 2012.

For the night, CBS was first in households (8.1/13), viewers (13.04m) and second in adults 25-54 (4.5/11, -0.1 behind FOX) and adults 18-49 (3.2/09). In the common two hours (from 8:00-10:00 PM), CBS topped FOX in adults 25-54 (4.8/12 vs. 4.6/12, +4%) and tied FOX in adults 18-49 (3.5/10, each).

Updated Thursday ratings will be available this afternoon.