TV Ratings: FOX weaves Friday win from Cotton Bowl

LSU-Texas A&M game dominates Friday in all measure

By Daniel Fienberg Saturday, Jan 8, 2011 12:34 PM

LSU celebrates its Cotton Bowl win

Credit: AP

Fast National ratings for Friday, January 7, 2011.

FOX's broadcast of LSU's Cotton Bowl victory over Texas A&M led to an easy ratings win on Friday night, fending off CBS originals for the first part of the evening.

For the night, FOX averaged a 2.8 rating among adults 18-49, far ahead of ABC's 1.6 rating and the 1.5 rating for CBS in the key demographic. NBC's 1.3 rating and the 0.5 rating for The CW trailed.

Overall, FOX averaged an estimated 9.39 million viewers and a 5.4 rating/9 share, holding off CBS' 5.1/9 and 7.9 million viewers. ABC's 3.5/6 and 5.32 million viewers and NBC's 3.3/6 and 5.09 million viewers followed. The CW was fifth with 1.37 million viewers and a 0.9/2.

8 p.m. - FOX's Cotton Bowl coverage kicked off primetime in first with 8.71 million viewers and a 2.5 rating in the 18-49 demo. CBS' new "Medium" was second with nearly 6.7 million viewers and a 1.4 demo rating. ABC's "Supernanny" averaged 4.81 million viewers, beating the 4.29 million for NBC's "Minute to Win It." The CW's "Smallville" repeat was fifth with 1.5 million viewers.

9 p.m. - The second hour of Cotton Bowl coverage averaged 10.06 million viewers and a 3.2 demo rating to dominate the 9 p.m. hour for FOX. CBS' "CSI: NY" was second with 9.44 million viewers, but third in the key demo. ABC's "Prime: What Would You Do" was third overall with 5.16 million viewers and second in the demo. NBC's "Dateline" was close behind with 5.09 million viewers. The CW's "Supernatural" repeat averaged 1.24 million viewers in fifth.

10 p.m. - CBS' "Mentalist" repeat won the 10 p.m. hour overall with 7.36 million viewers, but finished third in the demo. ABC's "20/20" was second overall with nearly 6 million viewers and won the demo with a 1.7 rating. NBC's "Dateline" was third with 5.89 million viewers.

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.

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.