A fairly typical week at the top of the adult 18-49 rankings, with The Voice the top broadcast network program and Duck Dynasty the top cable entry. But the riveting events in Boston last week also had an impact in the middle of the week’s chart. NBC’s special Monday night at 10:00 pm (the day of the bombings at the Marathon) scored a very strong 3.0 rating. The special took full advantage of its Voice lead in and benefited from competing against drama repeats instead of similar news specials on the other networks. On Friday, when the second bombing suspect was captured, CNN had the highest-rated news program on the night, a 2.2 rating at 8:00 pm for Anderson Cooper 360. The highest broadcast network news rating on Friday was Rock Center on NBC at 10:00 pm (1.9 rating). NBC actually delivered the largest audience in the 9:00 pm hour (a 2.7 rating in the fast nationals), but that program did not carry commercials (known as a “sustaining” program) and therefore is not rated by Nielsen in the official nationals. Without commercials, in effect, the program’s ratings do not exist. So in the final record books, CNN can claim victory on a very competitive news night.
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