Fast National ratings for Sunday, March 23, 2014.
CBS got 41 minutes of overrun from a tight NCAA Tournament thriller between North Carolina and Iowa State, which boosted the network's lineup to Sunday primetime wins in most measures.
Due to that NCAA Tournament overrun, I have to remind you that these numbers are time period data and thus we don't have any sort of exact ratings for Sunday night's pivotal episodes of both “The Good Wife” and “The Mentalist.”
On the other three networks, there was some consistency, at least: Nearly everything went down. ABC got a second straight week of fairly steep declines from “Resurrection,” though the freshman hit was still easily Sunday's top drama. Also drooping were FOX's “Cosmos,” as well as NBC's “Believe” and “Crisis,” which shed viewers after a weak premiere for “American Dream Builders.”
Let's get to the numbers…
Among adults 18-49, CBS averaged a 2.1 rating for Sunday night, edging out ABC's 1.9 rating in the key demography. FOX was a close third with a 1.7 key demo rating, while NBC averaged only a 1.0 key demo rating.
While the key demo race may tighten when Final numbers come in, the overall race is pretty comfortably in CBS' corner, as the network averaged an estimated 10.27 million viewers and a 6.5 rating/10 share for Sunday. ABC was a distant second with 7.07 million viewers and a 4.3/7, still well ahead of the 4.27 million viewers and 2.7/4 for NBC. FOX averaged a 2.1/3 and 3.65 million viewers in fourth.
7 p.m. – CBS dominated the 8 p.m. hour with 13.51 million viewers for and a 3.5 rating among adults 18-49 for NCAA overrun and the start of “60 Minutes.” ABC's “America's Funniest Home Videos” was second overall with 6.74 million viewers and tied for second with a 1.3 key demo rating. NBC's “The Voice” encore averaged 3.41 million viewers for third and a 0.8 key demo rating for fourth. FOX was tied for second in the demo and fourth overall with “Bob's Burgers” (2.535 million viewers and a 1.2 key demo) and “American Dad” (2.71 million and a 1.3 key demo).
8 p.m. – Most of “60 Minutes” and the start of “The Amazing Race” won the 8 p.m. hour with 9.97 million viewers, but slipped to third with a 1.9 rating among adults 18-49 for CBS. ABC's “Once Upon a Time” slipped from last week with 6.61 million viewers for second, but tied for the hour lead with a 2.0 key demo rating. FOX was third overall and tied for first in the key demo with “The Simpsons” (3.93 million and a 1.9 key demo) and “Family Guy” (4.28 million and a 2.2 key demo). On NBC, the premiere of “American Dream Builders” averaged only 3.57 million viewers and a 0.9 key demo rating in fourth.
9 p.m. – “Resurrection” won the 9 p.m. hour for ABC with 9.22 million viewers and a 2.5 rating among adults 18-49, though ABC can't love that the show's demo numbers have gone from a 3.6 to a 3.0 to this, while the overall audience has gone from 13.3 million to 10.8 million to this. CBS was second with 8.84 million viewers and a 1.7 key demo rating for “The Amazing Race: All-Stars” and “The Good Wife.” NBC's “Believe” was down to 5.06 million viewers and a 1.2 key demo rating in its second airing, compared to the 4.23 million viewers and 1.7 key demo rating for the third airing for “Cosmos” on FOX.
10 p.m. – CBS closed primetime in first overall with 8.745 million viewers for “The Good Wife” and “The Mentalist,” which tied for second with a 1.3 rating among adults 18-49. ABC's “Revenge” suffered a smaller decline than “Once” or “Resurrection,” coming in second overall with 5.71 million viewers and winning the hour with a 1.6 key demo rating. The second week of “Crisis” on NBC averaged 5.04 million viewers and a 1.3 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, particularly in the case of live events.