Friday Ratings: Coverage of the First Round of NCAA Basketball Leads CBS to Modest Victory

Friday 3/19/21 Preliminary Primetime Ratings  

Total Viewers:
CBS: 3.36 million, ABC: 2.57, NBC: 2.46, Fox: 1.95, CW: 753,000

Adults 18-49:
CBS: 0.8 rating/5 share, Fox: 0.5/ 4, ABC: 0.4/ 3, NBC: 0.3/ 2, CW: 0.1/ 1

Coverage on CBS of one of the First Round of the NCAA Basketball Tournament averaged 3.36 million viewers and a 0.8 rating/6 share among adults 18-49 for the night in the fast affiliate ratings, which was enough lead. Yes, the broadcast networks continue to rapidly fall this season. As a reminder, results for any live sporting event are always approximate.

Normally, WWE Friday Night Smackdown! leads the night in the demo on Fox, but opposite basketball it had to settle with a 0.5/ 4 from 8-10 p.m. Just 1.95 million viewers (#4) tuned in.

Combined two-hours of NBC’s “Dateline” (Viewers: #3, 2.68 million; A18-49: #2t, 0.4/ 3) and ABC’s “20/20” (Viewers: #3, 2.33 million; A18-49: #4: 0.4/ 2) could barely total 5-million viewers from 9-11 p.m. ET.

Elsewhere, ABC’s “Shark Tank” and NBC’s “The Blacklist” were in repeats at 8 p.m.  And The CW’s combination of “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” and “Penn & Teller: Fool Us” could not compete (see averages above).