Ratings: Broadcast Finals for March 11, 2013

THE BACHELOR dominated the night's TV viewing as the season finale and post-season special drew well over 10 million viewers for the three hours. THE BACHELOR, from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m., posted a strong 3.5 rating in Adults 18-49 and the AFTER THE FINAL ROSE special grew upon that to a 3.8 rating for the 10 p.m. hour.

A case can now be made for the franchise of THE BACHELOR (and THE BACHELORETTE) to take over the fall and spring slots of the schedule, and scale DANCING WITH THE STARS back to just once a season, in between the two dating series.

THE FOLLOWING had a test on Monday, with BONES in repeats, to see if it can hold its own. It looks to have passed with flying colors. The freshman series grew 61% in viewers and more than doubled the A18-49 ratings, from the BONES repeat lead in. THE FOLLOWING has more than earned its second season renewal for the 2013-14 season.

NBC is limping toward the end of this winter ratings drought. Just one more Monday evening of THE BIGGEST LOSER and DECEPTION before the return of THE VOICE. The network averaged just a 1.7 demo rating and 4.8 million viewers. When compared to the all-repeat line up of CBS, NBC was off by 2 million viewers.

For the Night:

ABC - 10.6 million viewers, 3.6 rating in Adults 18-49

FOX - 6.6 million viewers, 2.0 rating in Adults 18-49

CBS - 6.5 million viewers, 1.6 rating in Adults 18-49

NBC - 4.8 million viewers, 1.7 rating in Adults 18-49

CW -0.9 million viewers, 0.3 rating in Adults 18-49

Time	Net	Program	Viewers*	Demo	+/-
8:00	ABC	The Bachelor	10.42	3.5
10:00	ABC	The Bachelor: After the Rose	10.81	3.8	+4%
8:00	CBS	How I Met Your Mother [R]	5.23	1.5
8:30	CBS	Rules Of Engagement	7.05	2.1	+35%
9:00	CBS	2 Broke Girls [R]	6.35	1.7	-10%
9:30	CBS	Mike & Molly [R]	6.39	1.6	+1%
10:00	CBS	Hawaii Five-O [R]	6.87	1.4	+8%
8:00	CW	The Carrie Diaries	1.03	0.4
9:00	CW	90210	0.67	0.2	-35%
8:00	FOX	Bones [R]	5.05	1.3
9:00	FOX	The Following	8.15	2.7	+61%
8:00	NBC	The Biggest Loser	5.62	2.0
10:00	NBC	Deception	3.28	1.1	-42%

* - in millions