TV Ratings: ‘Dancing with the Stars’ return bites into CBS comedies, ‘The Following’ on Monday

Fast National ratings for Monday, March 18, 2013.

The new installment of “Dancing with the Stars” returned well above the fall All-Stars installment (albeit slight below last spring’s premiere) and took a big bite out of the competition as ABC scored Monday wins overall and in the key demo.

Among the shows posting double-digit demo declines against “Dancing” (and NBC’s “Biggest Loser” finale) were most of CBS’ comedies and FOX’s “The Following.”

In addition to “Dancing” and “Loser,” Monday also saw demo bumps for NBC’s “Deception” finale, The CW’s “The Carrie Diaries” and CBS’ “Rules of Engagement” (with an asterisk, since last week’s episode aired after a “How I Met Your Mother” repeat).

For the night, ABC averaged a 2.8 rating among adults 18-49, tops in the key demographic. CBS was second with a 2.4 key demo rating, followed closely by NBC and FOX’s 2.2 key demo ratings. The CW averaged a 0.3 key demo rating for Monday.

Overall, ABC won easily, averaging an estimated 14.91 million viewers to go with a 9.5 rating/15 share. CBS was second for Monday primetime with a 5.1/8 and 8.01 million viewers, edging out FOX’s 7.2 million and 4.4/7 and the 3.7/6 and 6.06 million viewers for NBC. The CW averaged 775,000 viewers and a 0.5/1.

8 p.m. – The “Dancing with the Stars” premiere drew 16.625 million viewers and a 3.0 rating among adults 18-49 to lead ABC in the 8 p.m. hour. CBS was second with “How I Met Your Mother” (7.35 million and a 2.9 key demo) and “Rules of Engagement” (6.63 million and a 2.2 key demo). FOX’s “Bones” was third overall with 7.31 million viewers and finished fourth with a 2.0 key demo rating. NBC’s “The Biggest Loser” started its finale with 7.085 million viewers and a 2.4 key demo rating. On The CW, “The Carrie Diaries” averaged 1.04 million viewers and a 0.5 key demo rating, with the network calling it the show’s highest rated episode among adults 18-49 and 18-34 in five weeks.

9 p.m. – “Dancing with the Stars” rose to 16.89 million viewers and a 3.1 rating among adults 18-49 in its second hour for NBC. CBS was second overall and third in the key demo with “2 Broke Girls” (8.35 million and a 2.7 key demo) and “Mike & Molly” (8.23 million and a 2.4 key demo), both season lows. NBC’s “The Biggest Loser” finale closed with 7.58 million viewers and a 2.8 key demo rating. FOX’s “The Following” average 7.09 million viewers and a 2.4 key demo rating, both good for fourth. The CW aired a repeat of “Hart of Dixie” and averaged 507,000 viewers and a 0.2 key demo rating.

10 p.m. – “Castle” won the 10 p.m. hour with 11.23 million viewers for its biggest audience of the season, though its 2.2 rating among adults 18-49 was down a hair from its last airing. CBS’ “Hawaii Five-0” was second with 8.75 million viewers and a 2.1 key demo rating. The season [series?] finale of “Deception” averaged 3.52 million viewers and a 1.3 key demo rating, both up from last week.