Fast National ratings for Friday, March 11, 2011.
CBS’ normal procedurals dominated primetime overall and even were able to eke out a demographic win on Friday night.
Meanwhile, on the front most readers are likely to care about, “Fringe” held steady among young viewers, but dipped back below 4 million viewers overall to its second smallest audience since moving to Fridays.
Among adults 18-49, CBS averaged a 1.8 rating for the night, topping FOX’s 1.6 rating in the key demographic. ABC and NBC posted 1.4 ratings to tie for third, beating The CW’s 0.5 rating.
Overall, CBS won comfortably, averaged an estimated 10.605 million viewers to go with a 6.5 rating/12 share. NBC was second with a 3.8/7 and 5.81 million viewers. ABC’s 2.9/5 and 4.745 million viewers bettered the 2.3/4 and 3.95 million viewers for FOX. The CW was last with a 0.9/2 and 1.44 million viewers.
8 p.m. – The season (series?) finale of “The Defenders” delivered a solid 9.03 million viewers to win the 8 p.m. hour for CBS, but finished second with a 1.5 rating among adults 18-49. FOX was second with 4.13 million viewers for “Kitchen Nightmares,” winning the hour in the key demo with a 1.7 rating. ABC’s “Supernanny” was a close third with 4.01 million viewers, just ahead of NBC’s 3.94 million viewers for “Who Do You Think You Are?” The CW was fifth with 1.56 million viewers for a repeat of “Smallville.”
9 p.m. – “CSI: NY” won the 9 p.m. hour with 11.04 million viewers and a 2.0 demo rating for CBS. NBC was well back in second overall with 6.375 million viewers for “Dateline,” better than the 4.35 million viewers for ABC’s “Primetime: What Would You Do?” FOX’s “Fringe” maintained its 1.5 rating among adults 18-49, second for the hour, but dipped to 3.76 million viewers. The CW’s “Supernatural” repeat averaged 1.32 million.
10 p.m. – “Blue Bloods” drew the night’s biggest audience, bringing 11.75 million viewers to CBS, also tying for the hourly win with a 1.9 demo rating. NBC’s “Dateline” was second overall with 7.11 million viewers and tied with NBC in the demo. ABC’s “20/20” was third for the hour with 5.88 million viewers.
All ratings information comes from preliminary Fast National Nielsen data, which includes live and same-day DVR viewing. All numbers are subject to change.