Fast National ratings for Friday, March 14, 2014.
Stop me if you've heard this before: “Shark Tank” (and a strong “20/20”) helped ABC win Friday night among young viewers, while “Blue Bloods” anchored CBS' commanding primetime sweep overall.
Pretty dull, right?
There were a couple little wrinkles.
Over on FOX, “Rake” moved to its new time period and showed that its dismal Thursday numbers were somehow still inflated by “Idol,” as it predictably hit series lows and also send “Enlisted” down a hair.
The news was a bit better over on NBC, where “Grimm” had its best performance since its October premiere and gave “Hannibal” a small bump among young viewers.
On to the familiar numbers…
Among adults 18-49, ABC averaged a 1.6 rating for Friday night, topping CBS' 1.4 rating in the key demographic. NBC averaged a 1.2 key demo rating for Friday, followed by FOX's 0.5 and The CW's 0.4 key demo rating.
Overall, though, CBS averaged an estimated 9.72 million viewers and a 6.2 rating/11 share for Friday night. ABC was well back in second with a 4.1/7 and 6.32 million viewers, topping the 4.8 million viewers and 3.2/6 for NBC. FOX averaged 1.73 million viewers and a 1.1/2 for Friday, ahead of the 1.15 million viewers and 0.7/1 for The CW.
[Note that once again, CBS had NCAA preemptions for SEC and ACC tournament basketball. In this case, the preemptions and delays were for 4.3 percent of the country. Obviously, these preemptions won't impact the order of Friday finish, but the actual numbers themselves will probably change a little.]
8 p.m. – “Undercover Boss” wrapped its season with 7.07 million viewers and a 1.3 rating among adults 18-49, winning the 8 p.m. hour for CBS. NBC's “Dateline” was second with 6.39 million viewers and a 1.2 key demo rating. A “Last Man Standing” repeat (4.9 million and a 0.8 key demo) and a new “The Neighbors” (3.92 million and a 0.9 key demo) had ABC in third. On FOX, “Rake” moved to its new time period and averaged 1.91 million viewers and a 0.5 key demo rating, edging out the 1.36 million viewers and 0.4 key demo rating for repeats of “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” on The CW. [New “Whose Line” episodes premiere next Friday and may crush “Rake.”]
9 p.m. – “Hawaii Five-0” kept CBS in first overall for the 9 p.m. with 10.06 million viewers, finishing third with a 1.4 rating among adults 18-49. ABC's “Shark Tank” was second with 7.42 million viewers and ruled the hour with a 1.9 key demo rating. NBC's “Grimm” was up with 5.41 million viewers and a 1.6 key demo rating. FOX's “Enlisted” (1.57 million and a 0.6 key demo) was down a hair, while “Raising Hope” (1.55 million and a 0.5 key demo) was flat. The CW's “Colin & Brad: Two Man Group” special averaged 946,000 viewers and a 0.3 key demo rating.
10 p.m. – “Blue Bloods” closed primetime with an hour-winning 12.02 million viewers for CBS, averaging a 1.5 rating among adults 18-49 for second. ABC's “20/20” averaged 7.13 million viewers and led the hour with a 1.9 key demo rating. The 0.9 key demo rating for NBC's “Hannibal” was up from last week, while the 2.59 million viewers was down.
All ratings information comes from preliminary Fast National Nielsen data, which includes live and same-day DVR viewing. All numbers are subject to change, particularly in the case of live events.