Fast National ratings for Thursday, March 26, 2015.
Round of 16 coverage from the NCAA Tournament helped CBS score Thursday victories overall, in the key demographic and in all male demographics.
While “Scandal” was down, “Grey's Anatomy” ticked up a hair and helped ABC win most of the female demos for the night, though usually these stories don't break down the ratings numbers like that.
Basketball helped eat into last week's bump for NBC's “Blacklist” and probably prevented “Backstrom” from getting any bump from an OK return for “Bones.”
Oh and expect these ratings to shift, of course, due to the nature of live events.
On to the numbers…
Among adults 18-49, CBS averaged a 2.4 rating for Thursday night, tops in the key demographic. ABC was second with a 1.9 key demo rating, followed by the 1.1 key demo rating for NBC and FOX. The CW's repeats averaged a 0.2 key demo rating for the night.
Overall, CBS averaged an estimated 7.79 million viewers and a 4.9 rating/8 share for Thursday night, compared to the 7.25 million viewers and 5.0/8 for ABC. NBC was third with nearly 5.9 million viewers and a 3.8/6, topping the 2.9/5 and 4.69 million viewers for FOX. The CW averaged 684,000 viewers and a 0.4/1 for the night.
8 p.m. – “Grey's Anatomy” won the 8 p.m. hour with 8.16 million viewers and a 2.2 rating among adults 18-49, beating the 7.23 million viewers and 2.1 key demo rating for CBS' basketball coverage. NBC's “Dateline: The Real Blacklist” averaged 6.275 million viewers for third and a 1.0 key demo rating for fourth, compared to the 5.75 million viewers and 1.3 key demo rating for FOX's “Bones” return. The CW's “Vampire Diaries” repeat averaged 689,000 viewers and a 0.3 key demo rating.
9 p.m. – ABC stayed in first for the 9 p.m. hour with 8.05 million viewers and a 2.3 rating among adults 18-49 for “Scandal.” NBC's “The Blacklist” averaged 7.99 million viewers for second and a 1.6 key demo rating for third, compared to the 6.51 million viewers and 2.0 key demo rating for CBS' basketball. FOX's “Backstrom” averaged 3.64 million viewers and a 0.9 key demo rating, taking care of business against the 679,000 viewers and 0.2 key demo rating for The CW's “The Flash” repeat.
10 p.m. – CBS' basketball coverage moved up to 9.63 million viewers and a 3.3 rating among adults 18-49 to win the 10 p.m. hour. ABC's “American Crime” was a distant second with 5.54 million viewers and a 1.2 key demo rating, still crushing the 3.43 million viewers and 0.7 key demo rating for NBC's “The Slap.”
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.