Preliminary Ratings: Saturday 03/22/15

Unlike Thursday and Friday night, NCAA Tournament Basketball, on CBS Saturday night, dominated the TV scene. For the night, the games averaged 6 million viewers and a relatively strong 1.9 rating in Adults 18-49. Once the live final numbers come out, expect the ratings to rise, as most live events do.

It is too bad, for CBS, that when the restructured the tournament, starting this year, that they could have given up the first Thursday and Friday games, to keep the championship game every year.

ABC was the network that took the hit with basketball on the night. NIGHTLINE dropped more than 50%, from last week's ratings, and 20/20 fell 1.5 million viewers.
 

Preliminary Network Averages:

ABC - 2.4 million viewers, 0.5 rating in Adults 18-49

CBS - 6.0 million viewers, 1.9 rating in Adults 18-49

FOX - 1.2 million viewers, 0.3 rating in Adults 18-49

NBC - 4.8 million viewers, 0.8 rating in Adults 18-49

Time	Net	Program	Viewers*	A18-49	+/-
8:00	ABC	Marvel Studios Special [R]	1.70	0.4
9:00	ABC	Nightline Primetime	1.50	0.3	-12%
10:00	ABC	20/20	4.00	0.7	167%
8:00	CBS	NCAA Tournament	5.80	1.8
10:00	CBS	NCAA Tournament	8.90	2.9	53%
8:00	FOX	Almost Human [R]	1.40	0.3
9:00	CW	The Following [R]	1.10	0.3	-21%
8:00	NBC	Dateline Saturday Night Mystery	5.30	0.8
8:00	NBC	Crisis [R]	3.90	0.7	-36%

* - in millions