Fast National ratings for Tuesday, March 6, 2012.
An encouraging time period premiere for “Raising Hope,” steady numbers for “New Girl” and unimpressive numbers for “I Hate My Teenage Daughter” and “Breaking In” helped FOX’s new Tuesday comedy block win its launch night among young viewers. Overall, though, it was a commanding win for CBS and its three hours of procedural repeats.
Note, of course, that Super Tuesday election coverage led to random preemptions by different networks in different markets at different times.
Among adults 18-49, FOX averaged a 2.0 rating, nipping the 1.8 rating for CBS in the key demographic. NBC averaged a 1.6 rating for third, beating ABC’s 1.3 rating and the 0.6 rating for The CW.
Overall, though, CBS averaged 11.5 million viewers and a 7.7 rating/12 share for Tuesday night, scoring a whopping win over the 3.2/5 and 4.85 million viewers for NBC. ABC also delivered a 3.2/5, with 4.605 million viewers, ahead of the 2.8/4 and 4.53 million viewers for FOX. The CW averaged a 0.9/1 and 1.26 million viewers.
[Univision averaged 3.31 million viewers and a 1.3 rating among adults 18-49 for Tuesday night.]
8 p.m. – An “NCIS” repeat dominated the 8 p.m. hour for CBS with 14.37 million viewers and a 2.4 rating among adults 18-49. NBC was second overall with 5.4 million viewers for “The Biggest Loser,” which also finished third with a 1.7 key demo rating. ABC was third overall and fourth in the key demo with a “Last Man Standing” repeat (5.55 million viewers and a 1.4 key demo) and a new “Cougar Town” (4.375 million and a 1.5 key demo), which didn’t get the hoped-for bump without “Glee”/”Idol” as competition. FOX’s “Raising Hope” (4.79 million and a 2.1 key demo) retained almost all of its normal 9:30 audience as a self-starter, which has to make FOX pleased, while “I Hate My Teenage Daughter” (3.78 million and a 1.6 key demo) had a weak time period premiere. The CW’s new “90210” averaged 1.29 million viewers and a 0.7 key demo rating.
9 p.m. – CBS stayed in first overall with 11.87 million viewers for an “NCIS: Los Angeles” repeat, which averaged a 1.9 rating among adults 18-49 for second. NBC’s “The Biggest Loser” averaged 6.02 million viewers and a 2.1 key demo rating for second. FOX won the hour among young viewers with “New Girl” (5.95 million and a 3.0 key demo) and the season premiere of “Breaking In” (3.6 million and a 1.7 key demo rating). [Generous observers will praise “Breaking In” for improving over last May’s season finale, a barely promoted out-of-time-slot airing after a low-rated episode of “Raising Hope.” It’s more relevant that “Breaking In” didn’t come close to equalling the season-average “New Girl” retention delivered by “Raising Hope.”] ABC’s “The River” continued to limp along with just under 4.2 million viewers and a 1.5 key demo rating. On The CW, “Ringer” was up a hair from last week with 1.235 million viewers and a 0.5 key demo rating.
10 p.m. – An “Unforgettable” repeat averaged 8.25 million viewers and a 1.4 rating among adults 18-49 for CBS. ABC’s “Body of Proof” repeat averaged 4.65 million viewers and a 0.9 key demo rating compared to the 3.14 million viewers and a 1.0 key demo rating for NBC’s election coverage.
All ratings information comes from preliminary Fast National Nielsen data, which includes live and same-day DVR viewing. All numbers are subject to change.