Preliminary Ratings: Thursday 03/19/15

ABC, FOX and CBS had a tight battle for the top spots in Thursday's broadcast ratings. FOX was the most watched network, beating ABC by 1.3 million viewers and CBS by nearly two million viewers. But, CBS edged those two out for the A18-49 rating crown, with a 2.0 mark, thanks to a solid primetime effort of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. NBC was a non factor on the night, averaging placing 4th in both reported ratings categories.

ABC had the top two programs in the A18-49 ratings, with GREY'S ANATOMY and SCANDAL, but AMERICAN CRIME drug the average down enough to allow CBS claim victory. But, spring time is hitting the network hard as SCANDAL is down 20%, in the demo, from two week's earlier. During the same period, GREY'S is off by 13%.

AMERICAN IDOL was the most watched show of Thursday night and pushed FOX to a rare viewership win, on the night. The ratings are near identical from last week's numbers.

The only decent showing NBC had was THE BLACKLIST at 9 p.m., but even that was a 4th place finish in the demo. But it did tie AI in viewership. The other two programs of the night are not solving the issues NBC has. It is time for them to move THE BLACKLIST back to Mondays and allow THE NIGHT SHIFT to help build the 10 p.m. slot, on Thursdays.

Preliminary L+SD Network Averages:

ABC - 7.1 million viewers, 1.9 rating in A18-49

CBS - 6.5 million viewers, 2.0 rating in A18-49

CW - 1.3 million viewers, 0.5 rating in A18-49

FOX - 8.4 million viewers, 1.8 rating in A18-49

NBC - 6.1 million viewers, 1.2 rating in A18-49

Time	Net	Program	Viewers*	A18-49	+/-
8:00	ABC	Grey's Anatomy	0.80	2.1
9:00	ABC	Scandal	8.00	2.4	900%
10:00	ABC	American Crime	5.70	1.2	-29%
8:00	CBS	NCAA Basketball Tournament	6.50	2.0
8:00	CW	The Vampire Diaries	1.60	0.7
9:00	CW	Reign	1.10	0.4	-31%
8:00	FOX	American Idol	8.40	1.8
8:00	NBC	Dateline	6.40	1.2
9:00	NBC	The Blacklist	8.40	1.8	31%
10:00	NBC	The Slap	3.40	0.7	-60%

* - in millions


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