Ratings News - 5th April 2011

Prime-Time Metered Market Monday Ratings:
ABC Dances to Victory; Basketball Populated CBS Solid

Monday 4/04/11
Note: The following six markets are excluding from the following averages: Atlanta, Memphis, Nashville, Charlotte, Grand Rapids, and Greenville-Spartanburg. Also, the overnight data now includes DVR playback until 3 a.m. local time. One year earlier it was based on Live data only.

HH
Rtg/Shr
ABC 13.1/20
CBS 9.7/15
NBC 3.4/ 5
Fox 2.7/ 4
CW 0.5/ 1

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-Percent Change from the Year-Ago Evening (Monday 4/05/10):
ABC: + 3, NBC: - 6, CBS: -13, Fox: -53, CW: -64

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-Yesterday’s Winners:
Dancing with the Stars (ABC), NCAA Basketball Championship (CBS)

-Yesterday’s Losers (excluding repeats):
The Event (NBC)

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Note: The fast affiliate results for Monday will be posted at PIFeedback by 12 p.m. ET. Go to the website, click on Ratings Box (the first category), then Last Night’s Results, and Monday, April 4, 2011.

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-Ratings Breakdown:
There was positive news aplenty last night on ABC and CBS, but not much audience left elsewhere. Mega-hit Dancing with the Stars lifted ABC to another stellar overnight Monday victory, where it will remain until the traditional season concludes in May. But basketball-ignited CBS finished a very solid second. In the distant No. 3 spot was NBC, followed by a night of repeats on Fox and The CW.

Dancing with the Stars scored a hefty 15.4 rating/23 share in the overnights from 8-10 p.m., which was equal to one week earlier. And that telecast on Monday, March 28 translated into 22.77 million viewers with a 5.2 rating/14 share among adults 18-49. Here is the half-hour breakdown:

Dancing with the Stars (ABC)
8:00 p.m.: 14.2/22 (#1)
8:30 p.m.: 15.7/24 (#1)
9:00 p.m.: 15.9/23 (#1)
9:30 p.m.: 15.9/23 (#1)

Although low scorer Wendy Williams is, no doubt, extremely vulnerable tonight, my pick to bid adieu is between either Romeo or Sugar Ray Leonard. Something tells me awkward looking Romeo is the one in trouble.

Dancing with the Stars led into mystery Castle, which dipped to a distant second behind basketball on CBS with an 8.4/14 in the overnights at 10 p.m. Comparably, retention for Castle out of the 9:30 p.m. portion of Dancing with the Stars was weak at 53 percent.

Over at CBS, repeats of The Big Bang Theory (#2: 5.1/ 8 at 8 p.m.) and Rules of Engagement (#2: 4.0/ 6 at 8:30 p.m.), which both used to air on Monday of course, led into an approximate 12.8/20 in the overnights for the primetime portion for the NCAA Basketball Championship from 9-11:30 p.m. Needless to say, there is definitely room for two very different programming types in a time period. Here is the half-hour breakdown:

NCAA Basketball Championship
9:00 p.m.: 10.2/16 (#2)
9:30 p.m.: 12.9/19 (#2)
10:00 p.m.: 13.1/20 (#1)
10:30 p.m.: 13.9/.22 (#1)
11:00 p.m.: 13.9/23 (#1)

One year earlier, however, the basketball match-up was stronger at a 15.3/24 in the overnights on Monday, April 5, 2010. As always, keep in mind that results for any live sporting event are always estimated.

In season-finale news, Harry’s Law on NBC was below average opposite basketball with a third-place 5.7/ 9 in the overnights at 10 p.m. Even so, that was an improvement over struggling lead-in The Event (#3: 2.9/ 4 at 9 p.m.) of a considerable 97 percent. That said, there is every reason to believe Harry’s Law will be back next season. To the readers who asked me to stop referring to Harry’s Law as older-skewing, that was not meant to be detrimental. As I always say, viewers over 50 are the ones who often have the money to spend.

Earlier in the evening on NBC was a repeat of Chuck at a fourth-place 1.7/ 3 in the overnights at 8 p.m.

Elsewhere, Fox filled this first Monday of April with repeats of House (#3: 2.9/ 4) and freshman The Chicago Code (#4: 2.6/ 4), which had solid retention this week despite the lack of tune-in. And The CW aired encore telecasts of 90210 (#5: 0.6/ 1), which never should have lasted this long, and Gossip Girl (#5: 0.5/ 1). Both female-driven serialized dramas will return with original episodes on April 18.

Source: Nielsen Media Research data

Source: pifeedback