TV Ratings: NCAA tournament crowns CBS Friday king

College basketball helps CBS dominate, while NBC finishes second for the night

Saturday, Mar 20, 2010 11:02 AM

Daniel Fienberg

Follow: RSS Facebook Twitter

Read more from Daniel Fienberg

TV Ratings: NCAA tournament crowns CBS Friday king

NCAA Tournament First Round Action

Credit: AP

Fast National ratings for Friday, March 19, 2010.

The second night of NCAA Tournament first round action helped CBS cruise to an easy Friday win, comfortably topping NBC, which had made recent Fridays fairly competitive.

Among adults 18-49, CBS averaged a 3.4 rating, well ahead of the 1.5 rating for both NBC and FOX. ABC's 1.0 rating was fourth in the key demographic, with The CW's 0.5 rating trailing.

Overall, CBS averaged an estimated 9.6 million viewers to go with a 5.9 rating/11 share. NBC was second with a 4.5/8. ABC's 3.4/6 and the 2.6/5 for NBC followed. The CW's 0.8/2 was fifth for the night.

CBS started the night in first with a 5.4/10 and a 3.0 demo rating for the first hour of primetime NCAA coverage. NBC's "Who Do You Think You Are?" had a 4.7/9 for second. ABC's "Thin Ice" was third with a 2.7/5, but could manage only a 0.6 demo rating. FOX's "House" repeat was fourth overall, but third in the demo. The CW's "America's Next Top Model" encore had a 0.9/2 for fifth.

College basketball improved to a 6.8/12 for CBS in the 9 p.m. hour. NBC's "Dateline" was second with a 4.2/7. ABC finished third with a 3.3/6 for "20/20." FOX's "Kitchen Nightmares" was fourth overall with a 2.7/5, but finished second for the hour in the 18-49 demo. The CW was fifth with encores of "America's Next Top Model" and "High Society."

CBS stayed in first in the 10 p.m. hour with a 5.5/10 and a 3.3 demo rating for the basketball. NBC's "Dateline" had a 4.7/8 for second, with ABC's "20/20" close behind 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.