Thursday Overnights: Modest Opening for CBS’ Portion of NCAA Basketball Tournament

Thursday, March 21, 2019

Household Rating/Share
ABC: 3.9/ 7, CBS and NBC: 2.6/ 5 each, Fox: 2.0/ 4, CW: 0.9/ 2

-Percent Change From Night 1 of the Year-Ago NCAA Basketball Tournament (3/15/18):
CW: +80, Fox: + 5, NBC: no change, ABC: – 5, CBS: -26

Ratings Breakdown:
Led by “Grey’s Anatomy,” ABC ruled this first night of the competing NCAA Basketball Tournament. The veteran medical drama opened with a 5.5 rating/10 share in the household overnights at 8 p.m. Next was sophomore spin-off “Station 19” at a dominant 4.0/ 7 in the 9 p.m. hour, followed by also sophomore legal drama “For the People” at a last-place 2.4/ 5 at 10 p.m. Comparably, “For the People” dropped by a hefty 40 percent from “Station 19.”

The CBS portion of night one of the NCAA Basketball Tournament, which is also featured on TNT, TBS and truTV, opened with an estimated 2.6/ 5 in the household overnights for the primetime portion. Comparably, this was 26 percent below the year-ago basketball coverage on the Eye net. As a reminder, results for any live sporting event are always approximate.

On NBC (and without CBS’ “The Big Bang Theory” in the competitive mix, “Superstore” rose to a 2.9/ 5 in the 8 p.m. half-hour. But sophomore “A.P. Bio” dipped to a 1.7/. 3 (#3t) at 8:30 p.m., which did not benefit already renewed lead-out “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” (also 1.7/ 3 at 9 p.m.). At 9:30 p.m., “Will & Grace” rose to a 2.4/ 4 (#3t) at 9:30 p.m., followed by granddaddy “Law & Order: SVU” at a first-place 3.4/ 7 at 10 p.m.

Elsewhere, Fox and The CW were at typical Thursday overnight levels as follows:

8:00 p.m.
ABC – “Grey’s Anatomy”: 5.6/10 (#1)
CBS – NCAA Basketball: 2.5/ 5 (#3)
NBC – “Superstore”: 2.9/ 5 (#2)
Fox – “Gotham”: 1.8/ 3 (#4)
CW – “Supernatural”: 1.1/ 2 (#5)

8:30 p.m.
ABC – “Grey’s Anatomy”: 5.4. 9 (#1)
CBS – NCAA Basketball: 2.4/ 4 (#2)
NBC – “A.P. Bio”: 1.7. 3 (#3t)
Fox – “Gotham”: 1.7/ 3 (#3t)
CW – “Supernatural”: 1.o/ 2 (#5)

9:00 p.m.
ABC – “Station 19”: 4.0/ 7 (#1)
CBS – NCAA Basketball: 2.3/ 4 (#2t)
NBC – “Brooklyn Nine-Nine”: 1.7/ 3 (#4)
Fox – “The Orville”: 2.3/ 4 (#2t)
CW – “Legacies”: 0.8/ 1 (#5)

9:30 p.m.
ABC – “Station 19”: 3.9/ 7 (#1)
CBS – NCAA Basketball: 2.4/ 4 (#2t)
NBC – “Will & Grace”: 2.4/ 4 (#2t)
Fox – “The Orville”: 2.4/ 4 (#2t)
CW – “Legacies”: 0.7/ 1 (#5)

10:00 p.m.
ABC – “For the People”: 2.6/ 5 (#3)
CBS – NCAA Basketball: 3.1/ 6 (#2)
NBC – “Law & Order: SVU”: 3.3/ 6 (#1)

10:30 p.m.
ABC – “For the People”: 2.2/ 4 (#3)
CBS – NCAA Basketball: 2.5/ 5 (#2)
NBC – “Law & Order: SVU”: 3.4/ 7 (#1)

Source: Nielsen Media Research