"THE BIG BANG THEORY" IS THURSDAY'S #1 PROGRAM IN VIEWERS AND KEY DEMOGRAPHICS

"Two and a Half Men" Sweeps its Time Period, Topping "American Idol" in Adults 18-49 for the First Time

"Person of Interest" Places First in Viewers and Adults 25-54

CBS Wins Thursday in Viewers and Adults 25-54

THE BIG BANG THEORY was Thursday's #1 program in viewers and key demographics while TWO AND A HALF MEN swept its time period, out-rating "American Idol" in adults 18-49 for the first time, according to Nielsen preliminary live plus same day ratings for March 7.

THE BIG BANG THEORY was first in households (10.4/17), viewers (17.43m), adults 25-54 (7.0/19), adults 18-49 (5.4/16) and adults 18-34 (3.9/13). THE BIG BANG THEORY was the night's #1 program in households, viewers, adults 25-54, adults 18-49 and adults 18-34.

TWO AND A HALF MEN was first in households (8.3/13), viewers (13.56m), adults 25-54 (5.2/13) and adults 18-49 (3.9/11) at 8:30 PM. This is the first time TWO AND A HALF MEN beat "American Idol" in the common half-hour in adults 18-49. Compared to the last first-run episode (on Feb. 21, 2013), TWO AND A HALF MEN was up +2% in households (from 8.1/12), even in both adults 25-54 and adults 18-49 and added +150,000 viewers (from 13.41m, +1%).

PERSON OF INTEREST was first in households (9.0/14), viewers (14.39m) and adults 25-54 (4.1/10), and was second in adults 18-49 (2.8/08). In the 9:30 PM half-hour, PERSON OF INTEREST tied "Glee" in adults 18-49 (2.8/08 vs. 2.8/07). Compared to the last first-run episode (on Feb. 21, 2013), PERSON OF INTEREST was up +3% in households (from 8.7/13), even in adults 25-54 and added +170,000 viewers (from 14.22m, +1%).

ELEMENTARY (R) was first in households (5.7/10), viewers (8.72m), adults 25-54 (2.5/07) and adults 18-49 (1.6/05). ELEMENTARY beat its rebroadcast competition combined in households (vs. 5.4/09, +6%) and viewers (vs. 7.57m, +15%), and nearly matched the combined NBC and ABC adults 25-54 delivery (vs. 2.6/07).

For the night, CBS was first in households (8.0/13), viewers (12.87m) and adults 25-54 (4.2/11), and was second in adults 18-49 (3.0/09, -0.1 behind FOX).

Updated Thursday ratings will be available this afternoon.