TV Ratings: St. Peter's Scores For CBS

Brackets may be shot, but two men’s basketball games featuring St. Peter’s University landed among the 20 most-watched television programs in prime time last week for the first time ever.

The NCAA tournament’s underdog darlings hit the big time with their victories over Kentucky and Murray State, reports The Associated Press citing the Nielsen company data.

Fans are obviously intrigued by their story, since the Jersey City school’s second game against Murray State had more viewers than the game with Kentucky, one of the NCAA’s blue bloods.

The opening round of the men’s NCAA tourney led CBS to a dominant win in the ratings, as the network averaged 5.5 million viewers in prime time. ABC had 3.2 million, NBC had 3.1 million, Fox had 2 million, Univision had 1.5 million, Ion Television had 1 million and Telemundo had 930,000.

📺Top 20 PRIME TIME SHOWS (Total Viewers):

1. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 9.07 million.

2. “NCIS,” CBS, 7.55 million.

3. “The Equalizer,” CBS, 7.08 million.

4. “NCAA Basketball Pregame” (Saturday), CBS, 6.79 million.

5. NCAA Basketball Tournament: St. Peter’s vs. Murray St., CBS, 6.69 million.

6. “Chicago Fire,” NBC, 6.66 million.

7. “Chicago Med,” NBC, 6.35 million.

8. “The Neighborhood,” CBS, 5.8 million.

9. “Bob Hearts Abishola,” CBS, 5.71 million.

10. “NCIS: Los Angeles,” CBS, 5.6 million.

11. NCAA Basketball Tournament: St. Peter’s vs. Kentucky, CBS, 5.46 million.

12. “American Idol,” ABC, 5.4 million.

13. “Chicago PD,” NBC, 5.33 million.

14. “NCIS: Hawai’i,” CBS, 5.1 million.

15. “Survivor,” CBS, 5.06 million.

16. NCAA Basketball Tournament: Davidson vs. Michigan St., CBS, 4.96 million.

17. “The Bachelor,” ABC, 4.73 million.

18. “Law & Order: SVU,” NBC, 4.72 million.

19. “FBI,” CBS, 4.65 million.

20. “911: Lone Star,” Fox, 4.64 million.

📺BROADCAST EVENING NEWS

ABC’s “World News Tonight” won the evening news ratings race with an average of 7.9 million viewers. The “NBC Nightly News” had 6.7 million and the “CBS Evening News” had 5.3 million.

TV Newser wonders if maybe there’s a Daylight Savings factor; or perhaps the early rounds of March Madness took attention away from the evening news. Whatever the reason, the numbers for ABC’s evening newscast are far smaller than usual. World News Tonight shed -11% in total viewers and -19% in adults 25-54 from the prior week (March 7), steeper losses than what its competition experienced. Compared with the same week in 2021 (March 15), World News Tonight shed -10% in average total audience and shed -18% among adults 25-54.

Nevertheless, the David Muir-led evening newscast has now defeated its competition from NBC and CBS 172 of the past 173 weeks in average total viewers—and 101 of the last 103 weeks among adults 25-54.

📺LATE NIGHT TV

📺CABLE TV

Fox News Channel was the most popular cable network, averaging 2.54 million viewers in prime time. TBS had 1.79 million, TNT had 1.63 million, Tru TV had 1.12 million and HGTV had 1.09 million.

According to TV Newser citing Nielsen live-plus-same-day data, Fox News averaged 2.57 million total viewers in primetime this past week. That’s a solid number, but -9% from the previous week. FNC averaged 436,000 adults 25-54 in primetime, which is -17% from the week prior.

Additionally, Fox News averaged 1.69 million total viewers in total day during the week of March 14, which is -7% from what the network averaged the prior week—and 300,000 adults 25-54 in total day, a -14% drop from the prior week.

However, Fox News wasn’t the only network to post audience losses from the prior week. In fact, its week-to-week losses were less severe than than what its main competitors experienced.

MSNBC averaged 1.08 million primetime viewers this past week, No. 6 on all of basic cable, behind Fox News, the WarnerMedia networks broadcasting March Madness, and HGTV. MSNBC’s 1.08 million viewer average is -11% from the prior week. The network also averaged 683,000 total day viewers, No. 3 on basic cable behind Fox News and CNN and -11% from the prior week. MSNBC averaged 144,000 adults 25-54 in primetime (-19%) and 85,000 adults 25-54 in total day (-21%) this past week.

CNN averaged 1.01 million total viewers in primetime last week, No. 7 on all of basic cable. That’s -11% from the previous week. The network also averaged 771,000 total day viewers, No. 2 on all of cable, but -13% from the prior week. The network shed -18% among adults 25-54 watching in primetime (280,000)—and -19% among adults 25-54 watching in total day (187,000).

Fox News continues to post year-over-year growth in multiple measurements after mixed results in Q1 of 2021. In fact, Fox News gained +12% in total primetime viewers, +24% in the primetime demo, +37% in total day viewers and +52% in the total day demo vs. the week of March, 15 2021.

Graphics Courtesy of RoadMN (w/permission)

On the cable news programming front, Fox News’ Tucker Carlson Tonight was the most-watched show on cable news this past week, averaging 3.46 million total viewers at 8 p.m. The Five took second place (3.40 million viewers), with Hannity (2.97 million), Jesse Watters Primetime (2.9 million) and Special Report with Bret Baier (2.61 million) rounding out the top five in average total viewers.

Fox News had the 13-most-watched cable news shows of the week. MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show (featuring rotating guest hosts) ranked No. 14 in average total viewers (1.42 million). Fox had the 10-most-watched cable news shows among adults 25-54, led by Carlson (599,000). CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 came in at No. 11, averaging 329,000 adults 25-54 at 8 p.m.