Sunday Overnights: Stormy Daniels Interview Ignites ’60 Minutes’ on CBS

Household Rating/Share
CBS: 9.9/17, ABC: 3.7/ 6, NBC: 2.4/ 4, Fox: 1.2/ 2

-Percent Change from the Year-Ago Evening:
ABC: +95, CBS: +22, Fox: -8, NBC: -35

Ratings Breakdown:
Note: The ongoing NCAA Basketball Tournament on CBS bled into primetime by 36-minutes. All program results for the Eye net, therefore, are estimated.

The well-publicized “60 Minutes” interview with Stormy Daniels stood well above anything else last night, with an estimated 15.2 rating/25 share in the household overnights from 7:36-8:36 p.m. ET. Clearly that was a season high, and it gave episode two of new CBS crime solver lead-out “Instinct” a lift, with an approximate 7.5/12 from 8:36-9:36 p.m. ET. Comparably, “Instinct” was seven percent above its 7.0/12 debut one week earlier (which translated into 8.79 million viewers and a 1.0 rating/4 share in adults 18-49, based on the Live+Same Day data).

Also on CBS, and also estimated, was “NCIS: Los Angeles” (5.9/10 from 9:36-10:36 p.m. ET) and “Madam Secretary” (4.7/ 9 in the 10:30 p.m. half hour — the second half-hour was not available).

On NBC, week two of game show “Genius Junior,” hosted by Neil Patrick Harris, dipped to a distant third-place 2.5/ 4 in the household overnights from 9-10 p.m. Comparably, that was 29 percent below lead-in “Little Big Shots” (#3: 3.5/ 5 at 8 p.m.). It was 31 percent below year-ago time period occupant “Chicago Justice” (3.6/ 6 on 3/26/17). And “Genius Junior” was 17 percent below its 3.0/ 4 week-ago opener, which translated into just 5.07 million viewers and a 1.0/ 4 in adults 18-49 (based on the Live+Same data data).

“Genius Junior” led into a modest 1.7/ 3 for sophomore “Timeless” at 10 p.m., which was 43 percent below the 3.0/ 5 for crime solver “Shades of Blue” on the year-ago evening.

Earlier in the evening on NBC was an encore telecast of “Little Big Shots” (#3: 1.8/ 3 at 7 p.m.), which trailed an original telecast of “America’s Funniest Home Videos” on ABC (#2: 2.9/ 5) by 38 percent.

Next on ABC was the third Sunday telecast of “American Idol,” which at a 4.8/ 8 in the household overnights from 8-10 p.m. was equal to one week earlier. That translated into 7.74 million viewers and a 1.8/ 6 in adults 18-49, based on the Live+Same Day data. While this was a double-digit improvement over year-ago time period drama occupants “Once Upon a Time” and “Time After Time,” “American Idol” still may not be worth what it is costing ABC.

At 10 p.m. on the alphabet net was episode three of drama “Deception,” which at a 2.5/ 5 was flat from one week earlier. Comparably, that was 48 percent below the 9:30 p.m. portion of lead-in “American Idol” (4.8/ 8), but still 79 percent above “American Crime” on the year-ago evening (1.4/ 2 on 3/26/17).

Fox populated the evening with two episodes (repeat and original) of “Bob’s Burgers” (7 p.m.: 0.7/ 1; 7:30 p.m.: 1.1/ 2), “The Simpsons” (1.4/ 2 at 8 p.m.), “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” (1.3/ 2 at 8:30 p.m.), “Family Guy” (1.4/ 2 at 9 p.m.) and “Last Man on Earth” (1.2/ 2 at 9:30 p.m.). The network finished fourth in each of the six half-hours, and it really needs to revamp the evening next season.

What follows are the household overnight ratings for Sunday, March 25 broken out by half-hour:

7:00 p.m.
ABC – “America’s Funniest Home Videos”: 2.8/ 5 (#2)
CBS – 2018 NCAA Basketball Tournament: 17.2/20 (#1)
NBC – “Little Big Shots” (R): 1.6/ 3 (#3)
Fox – “Bob’s Burgers” (R): 0.7/ 1 (#4)

7:30 p.m.
ABC – “America’s Funniest Home Videos”: 3.0/ 5 (#2)
CBS – 2018 NCAA Basketball Tournament / 60 Minutes: 17.1/29 (#1)
NBC – “Little Big Shots” (R): 2.0/ 3 (#3)
Fox – “Bob’s Burgers”: 1.1/ 2 (#4)

8:00 p.m.
ABC – “American Idol”: 4.3/ 7 (#2)
CBS – “60 Minutes”: 13.2/22 (#1)
NBC – “Little Big Shots”: 3.3/ 5 (#3)
Fox – “The Simpsons”: 1.4/ 2 (#4)

8:30 p.m.
ABC – “American Idol”: 4.9/ 8 (#2)
CBS – “60 Minutes” / “Instinct”: 8.0/13 (#1)
NBC – “Little Big Shots”: 3.8/ 6 (#3)
Fox – “Brooklyn Nine-Nine”: 1.3/ 2 (#4)

9:00 p.m.
ABC – “American Idol”: 5.0/ 8 (#2)
CBS – “Instinct”: 7.0/11 (#1)
NBC – “Genius Junior”: 2.6/ 4 (#3)
Fox – “Family Guy”: 1.4/ 2 (#4)

9:30 p.m.
ABC – “American Idol”: 4.8/ 8 (#2)
CBS – “Instinct” / “NCIS: Los Angeles”: 6.2/10 (#1)
NBC – “Genius Junior”: 2.4/ 4 (#3)
Fox – “Last Man on Earth”: 1.2/ 2 (#4)

10:00 p.m.
ABC – “Deception”: 2.7/ 5 (#3)
CBS – “NCIS: Los Angeles”: 5.7/10 (#1)
NBC – “Timeless”: 1.8/ 3/ 3 (#3)

10:30 p.m.
ABC – “Deception”: 2.3/ 4 (#3)
CBS – “NCIS: Los Angeles” / “Madam Secretary”: 4.7/ 9 (#1)
NBC – “Timeless”: 2.3/ 4 (#3)

Source: Nielsen Media Research