Sunday Ratings: ABC’s ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire’ Concludes the Season on a Quiet Note

Sunday 3/21/21 Preliminary Primetime Ratings  

Total Viewers:
CBS: 5.02 million, ABC: 4.72, NBC: 1.69, Fox: 1.06, CW: 447,000

Adults 18-49:
CBS: 0.7 rating/5 share, ABC: 0.6/ 4, NBC and Fox: 0.3/ 2 each, CW: 0.1/ 0

Initial results show CBS granddaddy “60 Minutes” leading this third Sunday in March. But since the ongoing NCAA Tournament bled into primetime, the more accurate results indicate 7.55 million viewers and a 0.9 rating/7 share in adults 18-49 at 7:30 p.m. As a reminder, these fast affiliate results are time period based (and, therefore, approximate). The remainder of the line-up on CBS — dramas “The Equalizer”, “NCIS: Los Angeles” and soon-to-conclude “NCIS: New Orleans” — were encore telecasts.

In season-finale news, ABC game show “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” remained a shell of its once grand self with just 2.89 million viewers (#2) and a 0.4/ 3 in the demo (#1) in the Sunday 10 p.m. hour. Comparably, this was a hefty loss from lead-in “American Idol” (Viewers: #1, 5.52 million; A18-49: #1, 0.8/ 5 from 8-10 p.m.).

Earlier in the evening on ABC was the always reliable “America’s Funniest Home Videos” at 4.97 million viewers and a 0.6/ 4 in adults 18-49 at 7 p.m., which finished second in the hour in both categories.

On NBC, the once unstoppable Ellen DeGeneres has been halted, with relocated “Ellen’s Game of Games” at a mere 1.65 million (#3) and a 0.3/ 2 in the demo (#4) in the Sunday 9 p.m. hour. Even worse was lead-out “Good Girls” at 1.52 million viewers (#3) and a 0.3/ 2 in adults 18-49 (#2t) at 10 p.m.

Elsewhere, Fox’s “Animation Domination” block needs a new descriptor. For the night, on average, the network lagged along with just 1.06 million viewers and a 0.3/ 2 in adults in the demo. And that included episode No. 700 of “The Simpsons” (Viewers: #4, 1.22 million; A18-49: #3: 0.4/ 2 at 8 p.m.). And The CW’s pairing of “Batwoman” and the reboot of “Charmed” (see network averages above) just does not resonate via Nielsen.