Due to the nature of live programming the ratings for CBS (NCAA Basketball) are approximate and subject to significant revisions in the final numbers. See below for more information on these Fast Affiliate Ratings.
| Scoreboard |  |
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 |
 |
 |
 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rating/Share: Adults 18-49 | 3.8/11 | 2.8/8 | 2.6/7 | 1.4/4 | 1.3/4 | 1.3/4 |
| Rating/Share: Adults 18-34 | 3.4/11 | 2.4/8 | 2.5/8 | 1.5/5 | 1.3/4 | 1.0/3 |
| Total Viewers (million) | 11.078 | 8.791 | 6.020 | 3.064 | 3.248 | 5.064 |
CBS' coverage of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament "Sweet Sixteen" did slightly better in the preliminary ratings than last Thursday's first round, but otherwise losses in broadcast primetime were widespread. And although it was airing repeats, Fox finished behind the CW and tied Univision in adults 18-49.
ABC's FlashForward fell 5% from last week to a series low 1.8 adults 18-49 rating. Grey's Anatomy fell 8% from its last original episode (3/11) to a series low 3.6 rating. Only Private Practice bucked the trend, up 4% from its last original episode (3/11) to a 2.9 rating.
NBC's Community was flat vs. last week with a 2.0 adults 18-49 rating, and that was the bright spot of the night for the Peacock. Parks & Recreation fell 5% to a 1.9 rating. The Office fell 3% to a season low 3.5 rating. 30 Rock was down 3% to a 2.9 rating, and The Marriage Ref fell 14% to a series low 2.5 rating.
Returning with new episodes, the CW's Vampire Diaries scored a 1.5 adults 18-49 rating, that's the same as its last new episode (2/11). Vampire Diaries was down 8% to a 2.2 rating in the CW target women 18-34 demo. Supernatural's 1.2 adults 18-49 rating was up 20% from its last original episode (2/11). Supernatural was up 8% in the CW target women 18-34 ratings to a 1.3 rating.
The preliminary ratings for the primetime portion of the NCAA Tournament on CBS were up slightly (3.8 rating vs. 3.5 in the fast affiliate ratings) from last Thursday, but they are liable to be adjusted significantly in the final ratings.
| Time | Net | Show | 18-49 Rating | 18-49 Share | Viewers Live+SD (Millions) |
| 8:00 | CBS | NCAA Tournament: Third Round | 3.3 | 11 | 9.959 |
| NBC | Community | 2.0 | 7 | 5.093 | |
| ABC | FlashForward | 1.7 | 6 | 6.136 | |
| CW | The Vampire Diaries | 1.5 | 5 | 3.218 | |
| FOX | Bones (repeat) | 1.4 | 5 | 5.781 | |
| 8:30 | CBS | NCAA Tournament: Third Round | 3.9 | 12 | 11.773 |
| ABC | FlashForward | 1.9 | 6 | 6.295 | |
| NBC | Parks & Recreation | 1.9 | 6 | 4.485 | |
| FOX | Bones (repeat) | 1.6 | 5 | 6.362 | |
| CW | The Vampire Diaries | 1.5 | 5 | 3.259 | |
| 9:00 | CBS | NCAA Tournament: Third Round | 4.4 | 12 | 13.076 |
| ABC | Grey's Anatomy | 3.5 | 10 | 11.070 | |
| NBC | The Office | 3.5 | 10 | 7.164 | |
| CW | Supernatural | 1.2 | 3 | 2.924 | |
| FOX | Fringe (repeat) | 1.1 | 3 | 4.174 | |
| 9:30 | ABC | Grey's Anatomy | 3.7 | 10 | 11.712 |
| CBS | NCAA Tournament: Third Round | 3.6 | 10 | 10.691 | |
| NBC | 30 Rock | 2.9 | 8 | 6.288 | |
| CW | Supernatural | 1.2 | 3 | 2.855 | |
| FOX | Fringe (repeat) | 1.1 | 3 | 3.938 | |
| 10:00 | CBS | NCAA Tournament: Third Round | 3.9 | 11 | 10.670 |
| ABC | Private Practice | 3.0 | 9 | 8.935 | |
| NBC | The Marriage Ref | 2.6 | 7 | 6.704 | |
| 10:30 | CBS | NCAA Tournament: Third Round | 3.9 | 11 | 10.296 |
| ABC | Private Practice | 2.9 | 8 | 8.599 | |
| NBC | The Marriage Ref | 2.4 | 7 | 6.389 |
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Nielsen TV Ratings: ©2010 The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved.
You can see TV ratings from other recent Overnight ratings reports here.
Definitions:
Fast Affiliate Ratings: These first national ratings, including demographics, are available at approximately 11 AM (ET) the day after telecast, and are released to subscribing customers daily. These data, from the National People Meter sample, are strictly time-period information, based on the normal broadcast network feed, and include all programming on the affiliated stations, sometimes including network programming, sometimes not. The figures may include stations that did not air the entire network feed, as well as local news breaks or cutaways for local coverage or other programming. Fast Affiliate ratings are not as useful for live programs and are likely to differ significantly from the final results, because the data reflect normal broadcast feed patterns. For example, with a World Series game, Fast Affiliate Ratings would include whatever aired from 8-11PM on affiliates in the Pacific Time Zone, following the live football game, but not game coverage that begins at 5PM PT. The same would be true of Presidential debates as well as live award shows and breaking news reports.
Rating: Estimated percentage of the universe of TV households (or other specified group) tuned to a program in the average minute. Ratings are expressed as a percent.
Share (of Audience): The percent of households (or persons) using television who are tuned to a specific program, station or network in a specific area at a specific time. (See also, Rating, which represents tuning or viewing as a percent of the entire population being measured.)
Time Shifted Viewing – Program ratings for national sources are produced in three streams of data – Live, Live+Same Day (Live+SD) and Live+7 Day. Time shifted figures account for incremental viewing that takes place with DVRs which are currently in approximately 24.4% of all U.S. TV households. Live+Same Day (Live+SD) include viewing during the same broadcast day as the original telecast, with a cut-off of 3:00AM local time when meters transmit daily viewing to Nielsen for processing. Live+7 Day ratings include incremental viewing that takes place during the 7 days following a telecast.
For more information see Numbers 101.
@maskedscheduler was going on about how FlashForward's first half hour is 24% lower than In the Motherhood was on this night last year. So I was expecting much worse numbers than this. But I guess this night last year must have been In the Motherhood's premiere, which started out higher than it eventually ended up.
Supernatural seems to have gone up.
New series low to Vampire Diaries?
In all likelihood the Marriage Ref will be back next season.
Marriage Ref didn't do too bad. Love That Show
Biggest night of the week and only one non-sports program in the 8 o'clock hour could hit a 2.0. Sad.
I'm surprised 30 Rock seems to be relatively steady despite The Office dropping recently. I thought after the low rated one hour episode of the show earlier in the season, that it was just riding the coattails of The Office. I still feel another show should move to 9:30 next season.
The 8pm NBC comedies should count their stars that they're already renewed…and hopefully this is the start of a precipitous fall for Marriage Ref…what trite, lowest common denominator garbage THAT show is (although it's more than likely due to PP being back in originals last night).
Grey's was surprisingly soft still…didn't it premiere in the 6s this season?
I wonder if greys anatomy needs now a better lead in!I mean FF is men friendly show and GA not.I wonder if abc had kept ugly betty on thursdays how GA woulf perform!cause PP is almost stable with its fall performance!
Ugly Betty wasn't doing any better than FF is doing so I doubt Grey's issues are due to it's lead-in. I have been a Grey's fan since it launched and I am losing interest in the show. I would put the blame on the show itself for not keeping the attention of the audience.
Whatever ABC puts in that slot, Grey's will still build out of it. The downfall of Grey's this year is not lead-in related.
So long, FF. We hardly knew thee.
I predict a 1.2 bottoming out before a slight bump for the finale. Too harsh?
i didn't even know that The Vampire Diaries was new last night the cw didn't do a good job telling people
I ve been GA fan from the beginning too & i completely agree with u about losing interest!The show isnt the same as it used to be in seasons 1-3!However i still watch it!
Supernatural was up from a 1.0 six weeks ago to a 1.2! Thats good! (for the CW!!!) Should stick or go up for next week's heaven episode! We're getting to the business end of the season now and WW Angel Smackdown is almost upon us!
Jim Beaver was outstanding in last nights episode!
Supernatural deserved the better ratings so much, since it was a great episode! yay!
None of the regular series' ratings mean anything with the basketball tournament going on. In fact, I'm surprised they ran new episodes. Not that I'm complaining, since I didn't watch the basketball, but I'm not like most of America, apparently.
“Parks & Recreation” is perhaps the funniest show on TV right now.
Will FF have a proper ending like a series finale ending? Betcha all the 578 people who watches that shit deserve something
I Really think these long breaks inbetween episodes is really hurting The CW…VD was 4.5 mill viewers at one point….
Of course last night's ratings mean something, you can't dodge every programming event on every competing broadcast network. CBS likely got about a 20% increase last night over their standard Thursday line up (likely more for men, less for women) but it wasn't the Academy Awards or NFL football.