The NCAA BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME owned the night, yet didn’t disrupt anyone else very badly.
Fast national ratings for Monday (with CBS adjusted upward by ShowbuzzDaily to estimate the ultimate time-zone adjusted performance in the official nationals) and comparisons to the similar night last year.
CBS: Our estimate is that the NCAA Championship will end up with a final 8.0, which would be up 0.4 from last year’s game, another instance of viewers flocking to live “events” on network TV. The night started with an hour of reruns, including a 2.8 for THE BIG BANG THEORY that most networks will kill to have for an original episode.
NBC: Even with the game overlapping its second hour, THE VOICE rose 0.2 to a season-best 4.9. For now, REVOLUTION is up 0.1 to 2.3, but that number is actually flat with last week’s preliminary, which was lowered in final numbers to a season-low 2.2.
FOX: THE FOLLOWING tied last week’s low 2.2, after a rerun BONES had a 1.1.
ABC: DANCING WITH THE STARS fell yet again, to a new low (for a performance episode) 2.0, although its audience is so overwhelmingly old that with 50+ viewers added, it was just slightly behind The Voice. CASTLE aired a rerun for a 1.3.
CW: The season finale of THE CARRIE DIARIES was up 0.1 to 0.4, but again, that matches last week’s preliminary number, which came down later in the day.
NBC cleared its Tuesday decks in the belief that READY FOR LOVE can give the network a powerhouse unscripted night with The Voice Results –we’ll find out tonight if the gamble paid off. The other networks counter with original programming. On cable, COUGAR TOWN ends its season on TBS.
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