Prime-Time Ratings:
Friday 3/28/08
-Total Viewers:
CBS: 8.84 million, NBC: 8.71, ABC: 5.37, Fox: 5.03, CW: 4.05
-Adults 18-49:
CBS: 3.1 rating/10 share, NBC: 2.6/ 8, ABC: 1.7/ 5, Fox: 1.3/ 4, CW: 1.2/ 4
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Note: Any prior rating results are based on the final nationals. Since the level of DVR penetration has increased from 13 percent at this same point last year to approximately 23 percent at present, the overall results may be negatively impacted.
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-Friday’s Winners:
Dateline (NBC)
-Friday’s Losers (excluding repeats):
Amnesia (NBC), 20/20 (ABC), Canterbury’s Law (Fox)
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-Ratings Breakdown:
It was a Friday of split leadership, with NBC first in households (with a one-tenth of a rating point advantage over CBS), and basketball-ignited CBS No. 1 in both total viewers and key adults 18-49. Third overall was ABC, followed by Fox and the CW.
The 2008 NCAA Basketball Regional Semi-Finals, Day 2 on CBS was on the map, with 8.84 million viewers and a 3.1 rating/10 share among adults 18-49 for the prime-time portion. The peak half-hour was 9 p.m., with 10.24 million viewers and a 3.5/11 in the demo.
NBC started out slow with waiting-to-be axed game show Amnesia third in both total viewers (5.02 million) and adults 18-49 (1.3/ 5) at 8 p.m. But a two-hour edition of Dateline rose to the occasion, averaging 10.55 million viewers and a 3.2/10 among adults 18-49 from 9-11 p.m., and building by half-hour as follows:
Dateline (NBC)
9:00 p.m. Viewers: 7.86 million (#2), A18-49: 2.3/ 7 (#2)
9:30 p.m. Viewers: 9.52 million (#1), A18-49: 2.8/ 8 (#2)
10:00 p.m. Viewers: 11.83 million (#1), A18-49: 3.6/11 (#1)
10:30 p.m. Viewers: 12.98 million (#1), A18-49: 4.1/12 (#1)
ABC left little to be desired, meanwhile, with its combination of a repeat of Grey’s Anatomy (Viewers: #4, 4.15 million; A18-49: #5: 1.1/ 4) and a two-hour edition of 20/20 (Viewers: #3: 6.01 million; A18-49: 2.0/ 6 from 9-11 p.m.). In the battle of the expanded newsmagazines, Dateline bested 20/20 by a considerable 4.54 million viewers and 60 percent among adults 18-49.
The Friday 9 p.m. time period debut of Fox legal drama Canterbury’s Law finished fourth in total viewers (4.87 million) and fifth among adults 18-49 (1.2/ 4). But an encore telecast of lead-in Bones fared slightly better with 5.18 million viewers (#2) and a 1.4/ 5 among adults 18-49 (#2) at 8 p.m. The CW’s soon-to-be relocated Friday Night Smackdown! was below average, at a last-place 4.05 million viewers and a 1.2/ 4 among adults 18-49 from 8-10 p.m.
Source: Nielsen Media Research data (R = repeat)
