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[04/04/21 - 10:21 AM]
Saturday's Broadcast Ratings: NCAA's Final Four Puts CBS on Top
By The Futon Critic Staff (TFC)

Primetime Preliminary Fast National Nielsen Data
(includes all DVR playback through 3:00 am)

Here are the highlights of the eight ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night (4/3/21):

[Note: Fast affiliate ratings are inaccurate for live events.]

CBS (10.733 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.5, #1) was of course the network to beat thanks to its Final Four coverage of the "NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament: (1) Baylor vs. (2) Houston" (9.399 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.2, #2) and "NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament: (1) Gonzaga vs. (11) UCLA" (10.999 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.6, #1).

ABC (3.997 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.4, #2) took home the silver with its annual presentation of "The Ten Commandments" (3.997 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.4, #3).

Next up was NBC (1.768 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.3, #3) with encores of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (1.599 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.2, #T6), "Law & Order: Organized Crime" (2.070 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T4) and "SNL Vintage" (1.635 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T4).

And finally, FOX (0.789 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.2, #4) closed out the night with repeats of "The Masked Singer" (0.858 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.2, #T6) and "Game of Talents" (0.720 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.2, #T6).


Here are the highlights of the eight ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (4/4/20):

ABC (5.140 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T1) was the top Saturday draw with its annual telecast of "The Ten Commandments" (5.140 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T1).

NBC (3.552 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T1) shared in the demo honors with a two-hour "Dateline Saturday Night Mystery" (4.056 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T1) and "SNL Vintage" (2.543 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.5, #3).

Next up was CBS (2.751 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.3, #3) with repeats of "Hawaii Five-0" (2.410 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T5) and "SWAT" (2.200 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T5) plus a new "48 Hours" (3.644 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.4, #4).

And finally, second runs of "9-1-1" (1.285 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.2, #T7) and "Gordon Ramsay's 24 Hours to Hell and Back" (1.017 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.2, #T7) closed out the night on FOX (1.151 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.2, #4).

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

An April 4 encore edition of "Saturday Night Live," with host RuPaul and musical guest Justin Bieber, has averaged a 2.4 rating in "live plus same day" household results from 44 local markets metered by Nielsen Media Research and a 0.8 rating in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

Versus primetime programming on the Big 4 networks Saturday night, the "SNL" rebroadcast is the #2 show of the night in 18-49 in the local people meters, behind only ABC's telecast of "The Ten Commandments."

Note that current metered-market results are not compatible with data issued before Oct. 5 due to changes in Nielsen methodology.

Source: Nielsen Media Research, ShowBuzzDaily.com





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