Fast National ratings for Sunday, March 30, 2014.
A tight NCAA Tournament Elite 8 game stretched 20 minutes into Sunday primetime and boosted CBS to primetime-winning numbers in all key measures.
Meanwhile, all of Sunday's new programming continued to drop with weekly declines for “Resurrection,” “Cosmos,” “Believe” and “Crisis.”
If you're looking for some good news, ABC's “Once Upon a Time” posted a small gain among young viewers, though “Revenge” was down week-to-week.
[We'll have “Walking Dead” finale ratings later in the day. They'll be higher than anything on-network.]
On to the numbers…
Among adults 18-49, CBS averaged a 2.3 rating for Sunday night, comfortably topping ABC's 1.8 rating in the key demographic. FOX was third with a 1.5 key demo rating, followed by NBC's 0.9 key demo rating.
Overall, CBS averaged an estimated 11.73 million viewers and a 7.3 rating/12 share for Sunday, opening a wide gap ahead of the 6.45 million viewers and 3.9/6 for ABC. NBC averaged an estimated 3.86 million viewers and a 2.5/4, nipping the 2.0/3 and 3.48 million viewers for FOX on the night.
7 p.m. – The combination of NCAA overrun and the start of “60 Minutes” averaged 16.44 million viewers and a 3.9 rating among adults 18-49 for CBS in the 7 p.m. hour. ABC's “America's Funniest Home Videos” averaged 5.94 million viewers for second and tied for second with a 1.2 key demo rating. NBC's “The Voice” encore was third with 3.04 million viewers and fourth with a 0.7 key demo rating. FOX was tied for second in the key demo and fourth overall with “Bob's Burgers” (2.27 million and a 1.0 key demo) and “American Dad” (2.78 million and a 1.4 key demo).
8 p.m. – CBS remained in first overall for the 8 p.m. hour with 10.42 million viewers for “60 Minutes” and “The Amazing Race: All-Stars,” but slipped into a tie for second with a 2.0 rating among adults 18-49. ABC's “Once Upon a Time” was second with 6.46 million viewers and won a narrow victory with a 2.1 key demo rating. FOX was third overall and tied for second in the key demo with “The Simpsons” (3.94 million and a 1.9 key demo) and “Family Guy” (4.1 million and a 2.1 key demo). NBC's “American Dream Builders” struggled with 3.275 million viewers and a 0.8 key demo rating.
9 p.m. – “The Amazing Race: All-Stars” and “The Good Wife” averaged 10.52 million viewers and a 1.9 rating among adults 18-49 for the 9 p.m. hour. [Early estimates put “Good Wife” at 10.39 million and a 1.7 key demo rating, which would be its second largest audience and tie for its second highest key demo of the season.] ABC's “Resurrection averaged 8.18 million viewers for second and an hour-winning 2.3 key demo rating. [In Fast Nationals, “Resurrection” has gone from 3.6 to a 3.0 a 2.5 to this in the key demo, while the overall audience has gone from 13.3 million to 10.8 million to 9.22 million to this, so the drops appear to be slowing.] NBC's “Believe” averaged 4.81 million viewers for third and a 1.1 key demo rating for fourth, compared to the 3.89 million viewers and 1.5 key demo rating for “Cosmos” on FOX.
10 p.m. – CBS won the 10 p.m. hour with 9.535 million viewers and a 1.6 rating among adults 18-49 for “The Good Wife” and “The Mentalist.” ABC's “Revenge” dropped to 5.24 million and a 1.4 key demo rating in second, topping the 4.32 million viewers and 1.0 key demo rating for NBC's “Crisis.”
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.