Broadcast TV Ratings for Thursday, March 20, 2008

It was a very competitive Thursday night, as NBC, CBS, ABC and FOX all finished within 750,000 viewers of each other.

The reason for the closeness was a reduced showing from CBS, which aired the first round of the NCAA tournament. CBS was off by 2.03 million or 19% among viewers and 13% among adults 18-49 from last year’s round 1 coverage, allowing NBC to take first place among both households and viewers, but the network was third among adults 18-49.

Despite the lower than average numbers for CBS, the network still managed to take first among adults 18-49, holding off ABC who was a competitive second place in the demo.

In time period debut news Miss Guided fell off by a disappointing 2.94 million or 32% among viewers and 19% among adults 18-49 from its series debut back on Tuesday. The weak showing bled into Lost, which took another weekly dip, falling by 7% among viewers and 10% among adults 18-49, while Eli Stone remained consistent from the week prior.

And rounding out the rest of the evening, Fox saw a slight drop from Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader, but Don’t Forget the Lyrics! kept the network within its normal viewer levels, while on The CW Smallville turned out a below-average performance, but that didn’t hurt Reaper, which saw a nice bump from the week prior.

NBC finished in first place for the evening with a 5.8/10 household rating/share and 8.64 million viewers, but was third among adults with a 2.8/8 rating/share.

• Last Week:
  • 4.1/7 HH rating [#4]
  • 5.99M viewers [#4]
  • 2.4/7 A18-49 rating [#4]

• 8:00 p.m.: Deal or No Deal (6.6/11 HH rating/share, 10.21M viewers, 2.6/8 A18-49 rating/share).
  • Episode-to-episode numbers (Wednesday, March 12, 2008):
    • Households – 6.7/11 to 6.6/11
    • Viewers – 10.19M to 10.21M
    • Adults 18-49 – 2.5/7 to 2.6/8
• 9:00 p.m.: The Celebrity Apprentice (5.9/9 HH rating/share, 8.62M viewers, 3.1/8 A18-49 rating/share).
  • Week-to-week numbers:
    • Households – 5.4/8 to 5.9/9
    • Viewers – 8.24M to 8.62M
    • Adults 18-49 – 3.2/8 to 3.1/8
• 10:00 p.m.: Lipstick Jungle (5.1/9 HH rating/share, 7.09M viewers, 2.6/7 A18-49 rating/share).
  • Week-to-week numbers:
    • Households – 3.9/7 to 5.1/9
    • Viewers – 5.37M to 7.09M
    • Adults 18-49 – 2.3/7 to 2.6/7

CBS followed in second place for the evening with a 5.5/9 household rating/share and 8.45 million viewers, but managed a first place finish among adults 18-49 with a 3.3/9 rating/share.

• Last Week:
  • 7.3/12 HH rating [#1]
  • 11.47M viewers [#1]
  • 3.2/9 A18-49 rating [#1]

• 8:00-11:00 p.m.: 2008 NCAA Basketball Tournament: Round 1 (5.5/9 HH rating/share, 8.45M viewers, 3.3/9 A18-49 rating/share).
  • Year-to-year numbers (March 22, 2007):
    • Households – 6.2/12 to 5.5/9
    • Viewers – 10.48M to 8.45M
    • Adults 18-49 – 3.8/11 to 3.3/9
  • Last week’s numbers (Survivor: Micronesia):
    • Households – 7.9/13
    • Viewers – 13.22M
    • Adults 18-49 – 4.3/13

ABC finished in third place for the evening with a 5.4/9 household rating/share and 8.37 million viewers, but was a little stronger in second place among adults 18-49 with a 3.0/9 rating/share.

• Last Week:
  • 5.3/9 HH rating [#3]
  • 8.18M viewers [#3]
  • 3.0/8 A18-49 rating [#2]

• 8:00 & 8:30 p.m.: A new episode of Miss Guided (4.3/8 HH rating/share, 6.34M viewers, 2.1/7 A18-49 rating/share) was followed by another episode of Miss Guided (4.3/7 HH rating/share, 6.34M viewers, 2.3/7 A18-49 rating/share).
  • The following comparison combines the full hour against the most recently aired episode.
  • Episode-to-episode numbers (Tuesday, March 18, 2008 – 10:32):
    • Households – 6.2/11 to 4.3/7
    • Viewers – 9.28M to 6.34M
    • Adults 18-49 – 2.7/8 to 2.2/7
  • Last week’s numbers (Lost “Enhanced”-Repeat):
    • Households – 3.6/6
    • Viewers – 5.33M
    • Adults 18-49 – 1.8/5
• 9:00 p.m.: Lost (7.0/11 HH rating/share, 11.28M viewers, 4.4/12 A18-49 rating/share).
  • Week-to-week numbers:
    • Households – 7.5/12 to 7.0/11
    • Viewers – 12.08M to 11.28M
    • Adults 18-49 – 4.9/13 to 4.4/12
• 10:00 (10:02) p.m.: Eli Stone (4.9/8 HH rating/share, 7.54M viewers, 2.5/7 A18-49 rating/share).
  • Week-to-week numbers:
    • Households – 4.5/8 to 4.9/8
    • Viewers – 6.92M to 7.54M
    • Adults 18-49 – 2.3/6 to 2.5/7

FOX followed in fourth place for the evening with a 4.7/8 household rating/share, 7.91 million viewers and a 2.4/7 rating/share among adults 18-49.

• Last Week:
  • 5.7/9 HH rating [#2]
  • 9.07M viewers [#2]
  • 2.9/8 A18-49 rating [#3]

• 8:00 p.m.: Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader? (4.4/8 HH rating/share, 7.31M viewers, 2.1/7 A18-49 rating/share).
  • Week-to-week numbers:
    • Households – 5.9/10 to 4.4/8
    • Viewers – 9.42M to 7.31M
    • Adults 18-49 – 2.8/8 to 2.1/7
• 9:00 p.m.: Don’t Forget the Lyrics! (4.9/8 HH rating/share, 8.51M viewers, 2.7/7 A18-49 rating/share).
  • Week-to-week numbers:
    • Households – 5.4/8 to 4.9/8
    • Viewers – 8.74M to 8.51M
    • Adults 18-49 – 3.1/8 to 2.7/7

The CW finished in fifth place for the evening with a 2.1/3 household rating/share, 3.18 million viewers and a 1.3/4 rating/share among adults 18-49.

• Last Week:
  • 2.1/3 HH rating [#5]
  • 3.30M viewers [#5]
  • 1.4/4 A18-49 rating [#5]

• 8:00 p.m.: Smallville (2.2/4 HH rating/share, 3.41M viewers, 1.4/4 A18-49 rating/share).
  • Week-to-week numbers:
    • Households – 2.4/4 to 2.2/4
    • Viewers – 3.80M to 3.41M
    • Adults 18-49 – 1.6/5 to 1.4/4
• 9:00 p.m.: Reaper (1.9/3 HH rating/share, 2.95M viewers, 1.2/3 A18-49 rating/share).
  • Week-to-week numbers:
    • Households – 1.6/3 to 1.9/3
    • Viewers – 2.52M to 2.95M
    • Adults 18-49 – 1.1/3 to 1.2/3

GO TO WEEKLY RATINGS PAGE

Note: Network average numbers from the week prior are based on fast national data. Comparison’s from the week prior (or episode-to-episode, etc.) on specific shows are based on final national data. Ratings for the current day are based on fast nationals. (Expect all three scenarios to be the case at all times, unless otherwise noted). The final rating for first-run episodes that aired this evening will be reported the following week. So for example, the final rating for tonights episode of “Lost” will be reported in next weeks report for Thursday, March 27, 2008.

Also keep in mind that because these are fast national ratings, numbers may increase or decrease when the final nationals are released.

Source: Fast/Final National Ratings Data from Nielsen Media Research. Daily ratings figures can be found at PIFeedback and Zap2It.