Ratings: Broadcast Finals for March 15, 2013

ABC and CBS split leadership on Friday. ABC takes the Demo ratings crown with a strong performance by a repeat of SHARK TANK (1.5 rating), while CBS grabs the most viewers, lead by cop drama BLUE BLOODS (10.4 million).

LAST MAN STANDING and MALIBU COUNTRY are very near to calling it a season, but the ratings from Friday make it  tough case to renew either comedy. LMS is always competitive, if not winning in its half hour, but MALIBU is always a significant drop in the ratings. This week, it lost 21% of the demo and close 800k in total viewers from the LAST MAN STANDING lead in. My prediction. LAST MAN STANDING will get a third season. MALIBU COUNTRY is packing its bags.

The night as a whole was pretty bad, even with just 3 of the 13 hours being repeat programming. CBS gets a pass as it had two of the three repeat hours and its lone original (BLUE BLOODS) did well.

TOUCH pulled in series lows, again. just 2.2 million viewers and a 0.6 demo rating. At this point, its just burn-off fir FOX.

GRIMM has no lead in, but it is not the appointment TV series its once was. Less than 5 million viewers and second to a repeat in the demo ratings is not acceptable.  The combination of being on NBC and the 4 month hiatus may have just killed any momentum the series may have had.

As GRIMM's lead in, FASHION STAR is a complete dud (2.8 million viewers, 0.7 demo rating). The only thing that makes this series look NOT AS BAD is the fact that TOUCH airs the same night.

For the Night:

CBS - 7.3 million viewers, 1.2 rating in Adults 18-49

ABC - 5.7 million viewers, 1.4 rating in Adults 18-49

NBC - 3.5 million viewers, 1.0 rating in Adults 18-49

FOX - 2.7 million viewers, 0.9 rating in Adults 18-49

CW - 1.0 million viewers, 0.3 rating in Adults 18-49

Time	Net	Program	Viewers*	Demo	+/-
8:00	ABC	Last Man Standing	6.43	1.4
8:30	ABC	Malibu Country	5.60	1.1	-13%
9:00	ABC	Shark Tank [R]	5.60	1.5	even
10:00	ABC	20/20	5.46	1.4	-2%
8:00	CBS	Undercover Boss [R]	5.86	1.2
9:00	CBS	Hawaii Five-O [R]	5.55	0.9	-7%
10:00	CBS	Blue Bloods	10.41	1.4	+88%
8:00	CW	Nikita	1.21	0.4
9:00	CW	Cult	0.72	0.2	-40%
8:00	FOX	Kitchen Nightmares	3.03	1.1
9:00	FOX	Touch	2.22	0.6	-27%
8:00	NBC	Fashion Star	2.75	0.7
9:00	NBC	Grimm	4.91	1.4	+79%
10:00	NBC	Rock Center	2.80	0.6	-43%

* - in millions