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Friday Final Nationals: CBS and TBS Top Prime Time with NCAA Sweet Sixteen

CBS was the top network overall on Friday night among total viewers (5.59 million) and all key demos with coverage of the both Midwest Regional Semifinal games in the NCAA Div. I Men’s Basketball Tournament.

On CBS, the averages of both prime time game telecasts on the Friday Regional Semifinals of the tournament:

3/25/16 (Virginia-Iowa State/Syracuse-Gonzaga): 3.5 rating/7 share, 5.700 million viewers, 1.6/7 adults 18-49

3/27/15 (UCLA-Gonzaga/Utah-Duke): 4.2 rating/8 share, 6.707 million viewers, 2.1/8 adults 18-49

Those are year-to-year declines of 17 percent (in households), 15 percent (in total viewers) and 24 percent (in adults 18-49). The absence of marquee college teams like Duke and UCLA contributed to these declines on CBS. The TBS portion of the Regional Semifinals, though, experienced increases from the same Mar. 27, 2015 date:

3/25/16 (Notre Dame-Wisconsin/North Carolina): 2.84 rating, 4.880 million viewers, 1.51 adults 18-49

3/27/15 (NC State-Louisville/Michigan State-Oklahoma): 2.69 rating, 4.402 million viewers, 1.39 adults 18-49

Year-to-year, the tournament on this day on TBS showed increases of 6 percent (in households), 11 percent (in total viewers) and 9 percent (in adults 18-49).

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Programming Insider Friday, March 25, 2016
PROGRAM HH/Share Viewers
(000)		 Adults
18-34		 Adults
18-49		 Adults
25-54
8-11 Network Average 3.0/6 4489 0.5/3 0.8/3 1.2/4
8:00 Last Man Standing (r) 2.9/6 4618 0.5/3 0.7/3 1.1/4
8:31 Dr. Ken (r) 2.4/4 3696 0.4/2 0.7/3 1.0/3
9:00 Shark Tank (r) 2.9/5 4403 0.6/3 0.9/3 1.2/4
10:01 20/20 3.4/6 4899 0.5/2 0.9/3 1.4/4
PROGRAM HH/Share Viewers
(000)		 Adults
18-34		 Adults
18-49		 Adults
25-54
8-11 Network Average 3.3/6 5593 1.2/6 1.6/6 1.9/6
7:00 NCAA  Div. I Men’s Basketball Midwest Region Semifinal Iowa State vs. Virginia (s) 3.2/7 5155 1.0/6 1.3/6 1.7/7
9:19 College Basketball Bridge (s) 2.4/5 3839 0.8/4 1.1/4 1.3/4
9:36 NCAA  Div. I Men’s Basketball Midwest Region Semifinal Gonzaga vs. Syracuse (s) (thru 11:53) 3.8/7 6254 1.5/7 1.9/7 2.2/7
PROGRAM HH/Share Viewers
(000)		 Adults
18-34		 Adults
18-49		 Adults
25-54
8-11 Network Average 2.8/5 4249 0.4/2 0.9/3 1.2/4
8:00 Caught on Camera with Nick Cannon 2.2/4 3470 0.3/2 0.7/3 1.0/3
9:00 Grimm 2.7/5 4316 0.4/2 0.9/3 1.3/4
10:00 Dateline Classic (r) 3.3/6 4962 0.5/2 1.0/4 1.4/4
PROGRAM HH/Share Viewers
(000)		 Adults
18-34		 Adults
18-49		 Adults
25-54
8-10 Network Average 1.5/3 2306 0.4/2 0.6/2 0.8/3
8:00 Sleepy Hollow 1./3 2524 0.4/2 0.7/3 0.9/3
9:00 Second Chance (f) 1.3/2 2088 0.4/2 0.5/2 0.7/2
PROGRAM HH/Share Viewers
(000)		 Adults
18-34		 Adults
18-49		 Adults
25-54
8-10 Network Average 0.4/1 583 0.2/1 0.2/1 0.2/1
8:00 The Vampire Diaries (r) 0.4/1 639 0.2/1 0.2/1 0.2/1
9:00 The Originals (r) 0.4/1 526 0.2/1 0.2/1 0.2/1
PROGRAM HH/Share Viewers
(000)		 Adults
18-34		 Adults
18-49		 Adults
25-54
8-11 Network Average 1.1/2 2089 0.7/3
7:00 De La Tierra Santa a la Santa Sede (s) 0.8/2 1395 0.4/2
8:29 Gran Estreno: The Passion of the Christ (s) 1.2/2 2197 0.8/3
PROGRAM HH/Share Viewers
(000)		 Adults
18-34		 Adults
18-49		 Adults
25-54
8:30 Fútbol Central (s) 0.3/1 529 0.2/1
9:30 CONCACAF 2018 World Cup Qualifier Mexico vs. Canada (thru 12:07am) 1.0/2 2013 1.0/4

Sub-Demo Breakdowns – Friday 03/25/16

“20/20” (ABC)
Women 18-34: 0.6/3
Men 18-34: 0.4/2
Women 18-49: 1.2/4
Men 18-49: 0.7/3

“NCAA Div. I Men’s Basketball Regional Semifinal: Virginia vs. Iowa State<” (CBS)
Women 18-34: 0.8/4
Men 18-34: 1.2/8
Women 18-49: 1.0/5
Men 18-49: 1.7/9

“NCAA Div. I Men’s Basketball Regional Semifinal: Syracuse vs. Gonzaga<” (CBS)
Women 18-34: 1.1/5
Men 18-34: 1.9/10
Women 18-49: 1.4/5
Men 18-49: 2.4/10

“Caught on Camera with Nick Cannon” (NBC)
Women 18-34: 0.4/2
Men 18-34: 0.3/2
Women 18-49: 0.9/3
Men 18-49: 0.5/2

“Grimm” (NBC)
Women 18-34: 0.5/2
Men 18-34: 0.4/2
Women 18-49: 1.1/4
Men 18-49: 0.7/3

“Sleepy Hollow” (Fox)
Women 18-34: 0.4/2
Men 18-34: 0.4/2
Women 18-49: 0.7/3
Men 18-49: 0.6/3

“Second Chance” (Fox)
Women 18-34: 0.4/2
Men 18-34: 0.4/2
Women 18-49: 0.6/2
Men 18-49: 0.5/2

Cable Rankings – Friday 03/25/16

What follows are the top 20 most-watched shows in prime time on cable for Friday, March 25:


  1. “NCAA Div. I Men’s Basketball Regional Semifinal: East Region: (#1) North Carolina vs. (#5) Indiana” (TBS, 9:56‪ p.m.‬-12:27 a.m., 2.91 household rating): 4.988 million viewers (1.68 adults 18-49 rating)

  2. “NCAA Div. I Men’s Basketball Regional Semifinal: East Region: (#6) Notre Dame vs. (#7) Wisconsin” (TBS, 7:22-9:39‪ p.m.‬, 2.77 household rating): 4.761 million viewers (1.32 adults 18-49 rating)

  3. “NCAA Div. I Men’s Basketball Bridge” (TBS, ‪9:39-9:56 p.m‬., 2.46 household rating): 4.225 million viewers (1.32 adults 18-49 rating)

  4. “The O’Reilly Factor Special” (Fox News Channel, 8-9 p.m.): 2.110 (0.16)

  5. “Stuck in the Middle” (Disney Channel, 8:30-9:00 p.m.): 1.727 (0.32)

  6. “The Kelly File Special” (Fox News Channel, 9-10 p.m.): 1.700 (0.16)

  7. “Family Guy” (Adult Swim, 10:30-11 p.m.): 1.697 (0.73)

  8. “SpongeBob: Truth or Square” (Nickelodeon, 8-9 p.m.): 1.649 (0.41)

  9. “BUNK’D” (Disney Channel, 8:00-8:30 p.m.): 1.632 (0.27)

  10. “Yukon Men” (Discovery, 10-11:01 p.m.): 1.606 (0.33)

  11. “House Hunters International” (HGTV, 10:30-11 p.m.): 1.548 (0.33)

  12. “House Hunters” (HGTV, 10-10:30 p.m.): 1.536 (0.32)

  13. “American Dad” (Adult Swim, 10-10:30 p.m.): 1.467 (0.60)

  14. “Real Time with Bill Maher” (HBO, 10-10:57 p.m.): 1.382 (0.35)

  15. Movie: “Thor” (2011) (FX, 8:00-10:30‪ p.m‬.): 1.366 (0.48)

  16. “The Rachel Maddow Show” (MSNBC, 9-10 p.m.): 1.354 (0.18)

  17. “Love It or List It” (HGTV, 9-10 p.m.): 1.330 (0.26)

  18. “Full House” (Nick at Nite, 9-9:30 p.m.): 1.287 (0.35)

  19. “Full House” (Nick at Nite, 10:30-11 p.m.): 1.258 (0.34)

  20. “The Cleveland Show” (Adult Swim, 9:30-10 p.m.): 1.237 (0.40)
    “K.C. Undercover” (Disney Channel, 9:30-10:00 p.m.): 1.237 (0.21)


  • “Backstage” (Disney Channel, 9:00-9:30 p.m.): 1.226 (0.21)

  • “War Stories with Oliver North” (Fox News Channel, 10-11 p.m.): 1.170 (0.16)

  • “Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives” (Food Network, 10-10:30 p.m.): 1.046 (0.31)

  • “A Stranger in My Home” (ID, 10-11 p.m.): 0.985 (0.24)

  • “Burgers, Brew & ‘Que” (Food Network, 10:30-11 p.m.): 0.892 (0.30)

  • “Atlanta Plastic” (Lifetime, 10:02-11:02 p.m.): 0.881 (0.30)

  • “Bring It!” (Lifetime, 9-10:02 p.m.): 0.875 (0.33)

  • “Say Yes to the Dress” (TLC, 9:00-10:05 p.m.): 0.859 (0.22)

  • “CNN Tonight” (CNN, 9-10 p.m.): 0.849 (0.14)

  • “Jill & Jessa: First Look” (TLC, 8:51-9 p.m.): 0.843 (0.24)

  • “CONCACAF 2018 World Cup Qualifier: Mexico vs. Canada” (Univision Deportes, 9:30‪ p.m.‬-12:07 a.m., 0.41 household rating): 0.827 million viewers (0.44 adults 18-49 rating)

  • “American Restoration” (History, 10-11:03 p.m.): 0.730 (0.17)

  • “Love Lust or Run” (TLC, 10:05-11:06 p.m.): 0.661 (0.17)

  • “South America World Cup Qualifier: Brazil vs. Uruguay” (beIN Español, ‪8:35-11:00 p.m‬., 0.25 household rating): 0.433 million viewers (0.19 adults 18-49 rating)


Source: Live+Same Day data, Nielsen Media Research

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