Preliminary Ratings: Sunday 03/16/14

It was a pretty active and competitive Sunday night with the major broadcast networks. We had one series premiere, one time slot premiere, and two series trying to mach their series premieres from the previous week.

Let's start off with NBC and the series premiere of CRISIS. The new action/crime drama drew 6.5 million viewers and a 1.6 rating in Adults 18-49. In a competitive 10 p.m. time slot, it beat THE MENTALIST in the demo numbers and was neck-and-neck with REVENGE in both viewers and demographic ratings. This is leaps and bounds better than what NBC has been putting on the night in recent years. A good showing for a series with no established lead in.

Speaking of the the CRISIS lead in, BELIEVE had it's time slot premiere, at 9 p.m. Compared to it's series premiere 6 days earlier, BELIEVE lost 4 million viewers and nearly half the A18-49 audience. But it had a repeat of THE VOICE as the lead in and the hour is now a very competitive hour with dramas on three of the four broadcast networks, and THE WALKING DEAD on AMC. Let's give this a few weeks, to see how it unfolds to the competition.

These two new series has now made NBC a player on the night and not just a door mat. The rebuilding is starting to take shape at 30 Rock.

Over on ABC, the night's #1 network in the A18-49 ratings, the new hit drama RESURRECTION lost 2.5 million viewers and 21% in the demo ratings, from it's series premiere a week ago. Not the best retention, but not horrible either. it is still the #1 show of the night, in the demographic ratings and the second most watched show of the night.

ABC Sunday nights man now be the healthiest it has been in four tot five years. Expect renewals all around and the night to remain the same come May for the upfront presentations.

CBS may have been the most watched network on the night, but it took a big hit in the ratings. Viewers left THE GOOD WIFE and THE MENTALIST to sample and/or switch over to the dramas on ABC or NBC. THE GOOD WIFE is safe with an early renewal for next season, but THE MENTALIST may be on it's way out. The only chance for the Simon Baker crime drama to see another season is to close out the season as the #1 show in it's time slot.

FOX was a quiet #2 in the A18-49 ratings on Sunday. The network is a little stronger with this line up, than having repeats in the 7 p.m. hour, but all four 'toons are down from their season averages.

Week two of COSMOS was down just 15% in viewers and 10% in the demo ratings. That is better than RESURRECTION, during the same period.
 

Preliminary Network Averages:

ABC - 7.7 million viewers, 2.1 rating in Adults 18-49

CBS - 9.1 million viewers, 1.5 rating in Adults 18-49

FOX - 3.9 million viewers, 1.7 rating in Adults 18-49

NBC - 5.9 million viewers, 1.5 rating in Adults 18-49

Time	Net	Program	Viewers*	A18-49	+/-
7:00	ABC	AFV	6.20	1.4
7:30	ABC	Once Upon A Time	7.50	2.3	21%
8:00	ABC	Resurrection	10.80	3.0	44%
8:30	ABC	Revenge	6.20	1.7	-43%
7:00	CBS	60 Minutes	11.10	1.7
8:00	CBS	The Amazing Race All-Stars	8.30	1.8	-25%
9:00	CBS	The Good Wife	8.40	1.3	1%
10:00	CBS	The Mentalist	8.70	1.3	4%
7:00	FOX	Bob's Burgers	2.50	1.1
7:30	FOX	The Simpsons	2.80	1.3	12%
8:00	FOX	The Simpsons	4.00	1.9	43%
8:30	FOX	Family Guy	4.60	2.3	15%
9:00	FOX	Cosmos: A Space Odyssey	4.90	1.9	7%
7:00	NBC	The Voice [R]	6.30	1.4
9:00	NBC	Believe	6.50	1.4	3%
10:00	NBC	Crisis	6.50	1.6	0%

* - in millions