TV Ratings: NCAA bump, regular lineup carry CBS on Sunday

'Undercover Boss,' 'CSI: Miami' close strong for CBS

By Daniel Fienberg Monday, Mar 28, 2011 12:02 PM

Bill Massa of 'Undercover Boss'

Credit: CBS

Fast National ratings for Sunday, March 27, 2011.

For the second straight week, CBS got a boost from NCAA Tournament coverage expanding into Sunday primetime, knocking regular programming out of synch for the much of the country, but still carrying the network to easy ratings wins.

Among adults 18-49, CBS averaged a 3.2 rating, topping FOX's 2.2 rating, NBC's 2.0 rating and the 1.4 rating for ABC in the key demographic.

Overall, CBS averaged an estimated 12.56 million viewers to go with a 7.4 rating/12 share. ABC was second with 6.21 million, edging out NBC's 6.05 million. FOX trailed with 4.76 million viewers.

7 p.m. - The end of the Elite 8 game between North Carolina and Kentucky, plus most of "60 Minutes" combined to give CBS 15.55 million viewers and a 3.7 rating among adults 18-49 in the 7 p.m. hour. ABC's "America's Funniest Home Videos" finished second with 7.49 million viewers. Repeats of "The Simpsons" and "American Dad" gave FOX 3.64 million viewers, just ahead of the 3.59 million viewers for NBC.

8 p.m. - CBS stayed in first for the 8 p.m. hour with the end of "60 Minutes" and most of an episode of "The Amazing Race," which averaged 11.68 million viewers and a 3.1 demo rating. ABC's "Secret Millionaire" was second with 10.52 million viewers and a 2.7 demo rating (and comfortably won the second half-hour in total viewers). FOX was third with 5.365 million viewers for new episodes of "The Simpsons" and "Bob's Burgers." NBC's "America's Next Great Restaurant" was fourth with 3.65 million viewers and a 1.3 demo rating.

9 p.m. - The end of "The Amazing Race" and most of an "Undercover Boss" episode averaged 11.475 million viewers and a 3.2 demo rating for CBS in the 9 p.m. hour. NBC's "Celebrity Apprentice" was second with 7.55 million viewers and a 2.6 demo rating. FOX's "Family Guy" repeat and a new "American Dad" averaged 5.29 million viewers and a 2.6 demo rating. That left ABC's "Desperate Housewives" repeat in fourth with 4.13 million viewers.

10 p.m. - CBS closed in first overall with 11.5 million viewers for "Undercover Boss" and "CSI: Miami." NBC's "Celebrity Apprentice" was second overall with 9.39 million viewers and won the hour with a 3.3 demo rating. ABC's repeat of "Brothers & Sisters" averaged only 2.71 million viewers in third.

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.