Fast National ratings for Friday, March 1, 2013.
With CBS going repeat-only on the first Friday after the February sweeps period, ABC’s “Last Man Standing” and “Shark Tank” both posted small gains and helped the network lead Friday both overall and among young viewers.
The absence of CBS competition helped FOX’s “Kitchen Nightmares” and “Touch” rise a little, but The CW’s “Nikita” wasn’t as lucky and actually dropped a few viewers.
Among adults 18-49, ABC averaged a 1.6 rating for Friday night, tops in the key demographic. NBC was second with a 1.2 key demo rating, followed by FOX’s 1.0 key demo rating and the 0.9 key demo rating for CBS. The CW averaged a 0.2 key demo rating for the night.
Overall, ABC averaged an estimated 6.17 million viewers and a 3.9 rating/7 share, compared to CBS’ 6.12 million viewers and 4.1/7. NBC was a reasonably close third with a 3.8/7 and 5.345 million viewers. There was a drop to FOX’s 1.9/3 and 3.1 million viewers and to The CW’s 0.5/1 and 811,000 viewers.
8 p.m. – ABC started primetime in first with “Last Man Standing” (7.07 million viewers and a 1.6 key demo), which was Friday’s most watched show, and “Malibu Country” (6.14 million and a 1.4 key demo). CBS’ repeat of “Undercover Boss” was second with 5.59 million viewers and fourth with a 1.1 rating among adults 18-49. NBC’s “Dateline” was third with 5.47 million viewers and a 1.2 key demo rating. FOX’s “Kitchen Nightmares” took second with a 1.3 key demo rating and was fourth with 3.29 million viewers. The CW’s “Nikita” was flat with a 0.3 key demo rating, but lost some viewers to 1.06 million.
9 p.m. – “Shark Tank” drew 6.57 million viewers for ABC in the 9 p.m. hour and did a 1.9 rating for the night’s top number among adults 18-49. NBC’s “Dateline” rose to 6.32 million viewers and a 1.5 key demo rating in its second hour. On CBS, a repeat of “Blue Bloods” averaged 5.79 million viewers and a 0.8 key demo rating. FOX’s “Touch” drew 2.91 million and a 0.8 key demo rating, which were both up, but not so much up that it’s likely to make a difference. The CW’s repeat of “The Vampire Diaries” averaged 560,000 viewers and a 0.2 key demo rating in the slot that will be occupied by “Cult” next week.
10 p.m. – CBS moved into first overall in the 10 p.m. hour with 6.99 million viewers for a repeat of “Blue Bloods,” which was tied for second with a 1.0 rating among adults 18-49. ABC’s “20/20” was second with 5.34 million viewers and won the hour with a 1.5 key demo rating. NBC’s “Rock Center” averaged 4.25 million viewers and a 1.0 key demo rating.
All ratings information comes from preliminary Fast National Nielsen data, which includes live and same-day DVR viewing. All numbers are subject to change.