Ratings News - 19th March 2012 *Full Tables Added*

We'll have the full tables and updated Cancellation Chart online shortly. Check the Twitter feed for updates.



SUNDAY 3/18/12 Metered Markets

Household
Rating/Share
CBS 7.0/11
ABC 5.3/ 9
NBC 4.7/ 8
Fox 2.5/ 4

-Percent Change from Year-Ago Evening – Sunday 3/20/11
ABC: +26, NBC: no change, CBS: - 4, Fox: -11

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-Winners:
60 Minutes (CBS), The Amazing Race (CBS), Once Upon a Time (ABC)

-Worthy of Renewal:
Harry’s Law (NBC)

Going Out in Style:
Desperate Housewives

-Losers (excluding repeats):
The Cleveland Show (Fox), Bob’s Burgers (Fox)

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-Rating Results:
CBS won Sunday in the overnights, beating second-place ABC by an average 32 percent. But due to the ongoing NCAA Basketball Tournament, CBS’ primetime line-up did not begin until 7:43 p.m. ET. Individual program results for the Eye net are approximate. Third overall was NBC, followed by distant Fox, which continues to see its animated comedy block erode.

CBS fared as follows by half-hour:

CBS/Sunday
7:00 p.m. - NCAA Basketball: 6.6/12 (#1)
7:30 p.m. – NCAA Basketball: 5.7/10 (#1) / 60 Minutes: 7.0/12 (#1)
8:00 p.m. – 60 Minutes: 8.2/13 (#1)
8:30 p.m. – 60 Minutes: 8.2/13 (#1) / The Amazing Race: 6.4/10 (#1)
9:00 p.m. – The Amazing Race: 6.7/10 (#1)
9:30 p.m. – The Amazing Race: 6.9/10 (#1) / The Good Wife: 6.5/10 (#2)
10:00 p.m. - The Good Wife: 7.3/12 (#1)
10:30 p.m. – The Good Wife: 7.4/12 (#1) / CSI: Miami: 5.8/10 (#1)

As it stands, 60 Minutes, The Amazing Race and The Good Wife have all been renewed by CBS for next season. No decision has been made on CSI: Miami, which it likely to return over also on the fence CSI: NY.

In week three news, GCB on ABC lost steam with a 4.7/ 8 at 10 p.m., which tied the second half of Celebrity Apprentice on NBC with retention out of the 9:30 p.m. portion of Desperate Housewives (6.7/10) of 70 percent. Comparably, that was down by 15 percent from one week earlier and 22 percent from it series debut on March 4. But GCB was still an improvement of 52 percent from failed crime solver Detroit 1-8-7 on the year-ago evening (3.1/ 5 on 3/20/11). Three-week overnight track for GCB: 6.0/10 – 5.5/ 9 – 4.7/ 8.

Earlier in the evening on ABC was veteran America’s Funniest Home Videos at a third-place 3.9/ 7 in the overnights at 7 p.m. (flat from a repeat one year earlier), followed by consistent Once Upon a Time (#2: 6.0/10 at 8 p.m.) and soon-to-conclude Desperate Housewives (#2: 6.6/10). There are only four original episodes of Desperate Housewives left.

Over at NBC, older skewing drama Harry’s Law took top-rated Sunday overnight honors on the network with a third-place 5.7/ 9 at 8 p.m. Comparably, that built from lead-in Dateline (#2: 4.4/ 8 at 7 p.m.) by 30 percent and year-ago occupant America’s Next Great Restaurant (3.0/ 5 on 3/20/11) by a significant 90 percent. The decision NBC needs to make is whether or not it has room for a show that attracts mainly adults 50+, and the answer should be an absolute “yes.”

Harry’s Law led into guilty pleasure Celebrity Apprentice, which averaged a 4.3/ 7 from 9-11 p.m., with the half-hour breakdown as follows:

Celebrity Apprentice (NBC)
9:00 p.m.: 3.9/ 6 (#3)
9:30 p.m.: 4.0/ 6 (#3)
10:00 p.m.: 4.5/ 7 (#3)
10:30 p.m.: 4.9/ 8 (#2)

While Celebrity Apprentice will clearly beat lead-in Harry’s Law among adults 18-49, year-to-year it dipped by 27 percent in the overnights (versus a 5.9/ 9 on 3/20/11).

Fox capped off the evening with a year-to-year loss of 11 percent, on average, care of its line-up of a repeat of The Simpsons (#4: 1.7/ 3), The Cleveland Show (#4: 1.9/ 3), the regularly scheduled installment of The Simpsons (#4: 3.1/ 5), Bob’s Burgers (#4: 2.3/ 4), Family Guy (#4: 3.5/ 5) and American Dad (#4: 2.7/ 4). While the strength of Fox’s animated comedies falls within the younger demos, its Sunday line-up could stand to be jump-started at this point.

Source: Nielsen Media Research data

Source: Marc Berman@TVMediaInsights