TV Ratings: FOX Tops Thursday with 'American Idol,' 'Bones'

'The Mentalist,' 'Big Bang Theory' put CBS in solid second

By Daniel Fienberg Friday, Mar 11, 2011 12:07 PM

David Boreanaz of 'Bones'

Credit: FOX

Fast National ratings for Thursday, March 10, 2011.

The spring's first hour-long "American Idol" results show was down, especially with young viewers, but it still coupled with a new episode of "Bones" to give FOX key Thursday night wins, holding off CBS, which also aired a full slate of originals.

Among adults 18-49, FOX averaged a 5.0 rating, beating the 3.1 rating for CBS in the key demographic. ABC's 1.6 rating was a distant third, with NBC's 1.1 rating and The CW's 0.4 rating following.

Overall, FOX averaged an estimated 16.34 million viewers to go with a 9.5 rating/16 share. CBS was a solid second with an 8.0/13 and 12.92 million viewers on average. ABC wasn't really in the race with a 2.9/5 and 4.81 million viewers, still better than NBC's 1.7/3 and 2.44 million viewers and the 0.8/1 and 1.19 million viewers for The CW.

8 p.m. - "American Idol" cut its field from 13 to 12 and drew 21.73 million viewers and a 6.5 rating among adults 18-49, both numbers significantly lower than either hour of last Thursday's 24-to-13 results show. CBS was second with "The Big Bang Theory" (12.13 million and a 3.8 demo rating) and "Rules of Engagement" (9.48 million viewers and a 2.8 demo). ABC's "Wipeout" repeat averaged 5.49 million viewers and a 1.7 demo rating in third. NBC's "Community" and "Perfect Couples" repeats were fourth with 2.33 million viewers, followed by the 1.28 million viewers for The CW's "Vampire Diaries" repeat.

9 p.m. - CBS moved into first overall in the 9 p.m. hour with 13.58 million viewers for "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," which also averaged a 3.1 rating in the key demographic to finish second. FOX's "Bones" was second overall with 10.945 million viewers and won the hour with a 3.4 rating among adults 18-49, though very minor "Idol" run-over will lead to an eventual drop in those numbers. Another "Wipeout" repeat gave ABC 5.47 million viewers in third. Repeats of "The Office" and "Parks and Recreation" brought 2.73 million viewers to NBC, while The CW lured 1.1 million viewers for a "Nikita" repeat.

10 p.m. - The night's most-watched scripted program was "The Mentalist," which averaged 14.36 million viewers for CBS, also averaging a 3.0 demo rating to win the 10 p.m. hour. ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" repeat was second with 3.455 million viewers, better than the 2.26 million averaged by NBC's repeats of "30 Rock" and "Outsourced."

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

Daniel Fienberg
Executive Editor

A long-time member of the TCA Board and a longer-time blogger of "American Idol," Dan Fienberg writes about TV, except for when he writes about movies or sometimes writes about the Red Sox. But never music. He would sound stupid talking about music.