TV Ratings: Crimson Tide helps ABC roll on Thursday

BCS Championship between Alabama and Texas dominates primetime for ABC

Friday, Jan 8, 2010 11:25 AM

Daniel Fienberg

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TV Ratings: Crimson Tide helps ABC roll on Thursday

Alabama running back Mark Ingram

Credit: Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP

Fast National ratings for Thursday, January 7, 2010.

The Alabama Crimson Tide topped the Texas Longhorns in Thursday's night's BCS National Championship, while ABC's broadcast of the game dominated primetime in all measures.

Among adults 18-49, ABC averaged a 9.5 rating, far more than the combined totals for CBS (2.1 rating), NBC (1.5 rating), FOX (1.4 rating) and The CW (0.6 rating) in the key demographic.

Overall, ABC averaged an estimated 28.5 million viewers to go with a 15.8 rating/24 share. CBS was a distant second with a 6.7/10 and an estimated 10.26 million viewers. FOX's 2.9/4 and the 2.7/4 for NBC were fare back, still beating the 1.1/2 for The CW.

ABC swept the primetime hours starting at 8 p.m. with a 14.8/22 for the start of the football game, which also did an 8.5 rating in the key demo. CBS' "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" repeat did a 6.0/9, topping a special Tweet-peat of FOX's "Bones," which did a 3.7/6. NBC's "Community" and "Parks and Recreation" repeats were fourth, beating the 1.1/2 for The CW's repeat of "The Vampire Diaries."

In its second hour, the BCS title game soared to an 18.0/27 and an 11.0 rating in the demo for ABC. A second "CSI" repeat had a 6.8/10 for CBS, good for second. NBC's repeats of "The Office" and "30 Rock" did a 2.5/4, better than the 2.0/3 for FOX's "Fringe." The CW's "Supernatural" fell only slightly from its lead-in.

The 10 p.m. hour of the Texas-Alabama battle did a 14.5/23 for ABC, adding a 9.2 rating in the demo. CBS' "The Mentalist" repeat was second. Rumors of cancellation couldn't stir up interest in NBC's "The Jay Leno Show," which did a 3.0/5.

All ratings information comes from preliminary Fast National Nielsen data, which includes live and same-day DVR viewing. All numbers are subject to change, particularly in the case of live events.