ratings

American Idol posted a week-to-week gain for the fourth straight episode, boosting Fox to its 14th straight Wednesday win last night. Idol averaged a 3.3 adults 18-49 rating from 8 to 10 p.m., up a tenth from last week. Idol’s been on the rebound since dropping to series lows several weeks ago. The hit singing show has five finalists left.

NBC’s The Voice continued to post strong ratings last night, tying its previous Tuesday season high. The 8 p.m. episode of Voice averaged a 4.5 adults 18-49 rating, up 2% from last week, when it drew a 4.4. Voice has been adding about 0.2 when final numbers come out late in the afternoon, so it’s likely that the show set a season high last night. Voice grew from a 4.1 in its first half hour to a 4.8 in its second.

The game was seen by an estimated 23.4 million people, according to Nielsen. That was a bigger audience than the last two men’s championship games, and just slightly less than the 23.9 million who watched Duke beat Butler in 2010.

The shocking bombings in Boston yesterday afternoon drew viewers to their televisions to find out more about what had happened, and that was evident in last night’s ratings. A special on NBC about the bombings drew the second-highest rating of any show in primetime. NBC News’ Terror in Boston averaged a 3.1 adults 18-49 rating, and 8.9 million total viewers. NBC was the only Big Four network to air a primetime program focusing on the bombings, which drew a huge amount of attention on the cable news networks and social media as well.

An exciting finish to The Masters lifted CBS to an easy primetime victory last night. The final hour of the year’s first major averaged a 4.1 adults 18-49 rating at 7 p.m., topping the average of the other five major broadcast networks combined. The Masters peaked with a 4.4 from 7 to 7:30 as Adam Scott prevailed in a sudden-death playoff to win his first title at Augusta. The runover boosted CBS to first at 8 p.m. as well with 60 Minutes drawing a 2.4, up 71% from last week.

Hannibal doesn’t have a lot of viewers, but the ones who are watching appear to be a loyal crowd. The new NBC drama became just the second new show this season to retain 100 percent of its premiere audience. Hannibal averaged a 1.6 adults 18-49 rating at 10 p.m. last night, matching last week’s debut. The show faced a lot less competition. Last week Scandal and Elementary were originals, and last night both were repeats.

While their English-language counterparts have struggled in the ratings so far this year, Univision and Telemundo are headed in the other direction. The Spanish-language broadcasters recorded some historic highs in the first quarter, with Univision closing in on NBC in 18-49 and pulling ahead of it in the younger half of the demo. And for the 2012-13 season to date, Telemundo, Univision and its sister network UniMas are the only broadcasters showing any growth in the 18-49 demo.

Fox won Wednesday night for the 13^th straight week, with American Idol seeing week-to-week gains for the first time in several episodes. Idol averaged a 3.2 adults 18-49 rating from 8 to 10 p.m., up 4% over last week. The show had fallen to a season low two weeks ago but has posted gains each of the two weeks since, indicating that viewers may be gaining interest in the program.

Ready for Love, the reality show following three bachelors as they search for their soulmates, debuted to low numbers last night despite getting a hefty lead-in from The Voice. Love averaged a 1.6 adults 18-49 rating from 9 to 11 p.m., losing 62% of Voice‘s rating. The show declined from a 2.1 in its first half hour to a 1.2 in its final half hour, and it finished behind even Univision at 10 p.m.

On a very strong night for broadcast, NBC’s hit singing show The Voice grew to a season-best rating despite facing a highly rated NCAA men’s basketball final on CBS. Voice averaged a 4.9 adults 18-49 rating from 8 to 10 p.m., the show’s best rating this season and up 4% over last week. In fact, it tied as the highest-rated episode of Voice since March of last year. Voice, which made its season four debut two weeks ago, peaked with a 5.2 rating in its final hour.

In a mostly flat or down week, standouts include five talk shows, Access Hollywood, Judge Judy, Everybody Loves Raymond and House compared to the previous week.

Airing against mostly repeats, CBS’s 48th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards saw big gains over last year’s telecast. The three-hour show averaged a 4.3 adults 18-49 rating starting at 8 p.m., shooting up 39% over 2012’s rating. The ACMA preempted CBS’s usual Sunday lineup and gave the network its best Sunday rating since the Super Bowl in February. The network averaged a 3.6 and 10 share in the demo for the night, more than double the No. 2 network, Fox.

NBC’s well-reviewed new drama Hannibal premiered to unremarkable numbers last night. The show averaged a 1.6 adults 18-49 rating, finishing a distant third in the hour behind ABC’s Scandal and CBS’s Elementary. But though its rating wasn’t great, there were some promising signs for the show. It bettered the network’s season average in the timeslot by 45%. And it drew NBC’s best rating in the hour since March of last year.

With a big lead-in from Modern Family, ABC’s new comedy How to Live with Your Parents (For the Rest of Your Life) bowed to promising numbers last night, posting the highest rating in its timeslot for the network since November. Parents averaged a 2.9 adults 18-49 at 9:30 p.m., holding 70% of Family’s 4.1 lead-in.

The Voice became the rare show to grow in week two, perking up 5% in its second Tuesday episode of season four. Voice averaged a 4.3 adults 18-49 rating at 8 p.m., up from a 4.1 last week. It became the highest-rated Tuesday program on broadcast since Voice’s third-season finale in December.

The Voice stayed on pitch in its second week, declining just a tenth from last week’s fourth-season premiere. The NBC singing competition averaged a 4.6 adults 18-49 rating at 8 p.m., off 4% from last week. It was easily the night’s No. 1 show. In fact, it doubled the rating of the night’s No. 2 program, 10 p.m. lead-out Revolution, which averaged a 2.3.

Preemptions for the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament give a different look to the ratings in the week ending March 24. The top show in first-run syndication is Wheel of Fortune, while Live with Kelly and Michael dethroned Dr. Phil atop the talkers list.

On an Easter Sunday littered with reruns, NCAA men’s basketball coverage led CBS to a primetime victory on broadcast. The network averaged a 2.5 adults 18-49 rating and 7 share last night, nearly double the No. 2 network, NBC, with a 1.3/3. CBS’s coverage of the Duke-Louisville Elite Eight game bled into primetime, with basketball airing until 7:41 p.m. That pushed the rest of CBS’s scheduled starting times back by 41 minutes, and it also gave a big lift to usual 7 p.m. show 60 Minutes.

Fox’s American Idol led the network to a relatively comfortable first-place finish for the night among 18-49s, but it wasn’t the night’s top-rated show. That honor belonged to ABC’s Modern Family, which posted a 3.2 adults 18-49 rating, edging the two-hour Idol’s 3.1. It was the second straight original episode of Family to finish ahead of the Wednesday edition of Idol, although it was the comedy’s first original episode since Feb. 27.

Fox’s American Idol led the network to a relatively comfortable first-place finish for the night among 18-49s, but it wasn’t the night’s top-rated show. That honor belonged to ABC’s Modern Family, which posted a 3.2 adults 18-49 rating, edging the two-hour Idol’s 3.1. It was the second straight original episode of Family to finish ahead of the Wednesday edition of Idol, although it was the comedy’s first original episode since Feb. 27.

NBC claimed Tuesday night’s top show among viewers 18-49, but CBS’s more consistent lineup led it first place for the night. NBC’s The Voice was No. 1 for the night in the demo with a 3.9 rating, ahead of CBS’s 8 p.m. timeslot competitor NCIS, which was No. 2 for the night with a 3.1. The second episode of the new Voice season was the highest-rated Tuesday program to air on the Big Four broadcast networks since Jan. 15, and it was up 22% versus the show’s Tuesday premiere a year ago. Still, it was CBS that finished first for the night among 18-49s with a 2.4 average overnight rating and a 7 share.

While there’s still some resistance from media buyers, live-plus-same-day ratings for local measurement finds growing acceptance in top markets. Today, according to TVB, about 75% of ad buys in Nielsen’s top 25 markets with Local People Meters markets are negotiated using live-SD ratings. “At a bare minimum, we believe that local viewing should be measured including DVR viewership,” says Valari Staab, president of NBC Owned Television Stations. “Our local measurement should reflect the way people watch TV today.”

In a harsher blow to a blockbuster that once ruled the advertiser-adored young adult segment, Fox’s American Idol has been overtaken this season by AMC’s The Walking Dead, despite the addition of glossy new Idol judges Mariah Carey, Nicki Minaj and Keith Urban. But in its 12th season, American Idol is managing to hit the right notes with sponsors if not always with fickle viewers: It has retained its status as TV’s advertising leader among series and the loyalty of its biggest backers, including Ford and Coca-Cola.

A new episode of Dancing With the Stars premiered on ABC last week before 17 million viewers, just behind CBS drama NCIS as the week’s most popular program. It was down to 14.5 million Monday night, facing competition from the return of The Voice on NBC. The Voice, with Usher and Shakira as new cast members, premiered its spring season before 13.6 million on Monday. Those are welcome numbers for NBC, which has been starved for viewers.

The first week of Daylight Saving Time, coupled with preemptions for pope coverage, sent ratings tumbling for many shows. Among the exceptions to the downturn were Wendy Williams (which posted a 20% week-to-week gain), Dish Nation (up 10%), Baggage (up 9%) and several off-net weekly hours.

The fourth-season premiere, which featured the debut of new judges Usher and Shakira, averaged a 4.7 overnight rating among viewers 18-49 from 8 to 10 p.m., up 12% from a 4.2 for its most recent season premiere in September. Perhaps more encouraging for NBC, The Voice grew during each of its four half hours, posting a 4.0 rating at 8 p.m., a 4.5 at 8:30, a 4.9 at 9 and a 5.2 at 9:30.

Here’s further proof, if you need it, that this year’s crop of new shows is mostly stinkers. Had viewership for those programs been more like last year, when new hits included 2 Broke Girls, Once Upon a Time and New Girl, broadcast probably wouldn’t have seen ratings declines at midseason. That’s according to a new report published by RPA, the Santa Monica, Calif., agency, looking at all things television at the midseason. David Scardino, entertainment specialist at RPA, talks about C3 ratings, why the Spanish-language networks have had a great year, and why cable shows are not DVRed as much as broadcast.

CBS’s coverage of the NCAA college basketball tournament bled 45 minutes into primetime on Sunday, helping the network finish No. 1 for the night among viewers 18-49. CBS averaged a 2.4 and a 6 share. It posted a 3.4 in the demo in the 7 p.m. hour, which much of that due to basketball. As always is the case with live sporting events, ratings for CBS’s NCAA coverage are approximate as fast nationals measure timeslot and not actual program data. Final ratings will likely be out tomorrow.

March Madness is off to a historic start. On Sunday a 15 seed, Florida Gulf Coast, made it to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time in tournament history. And last Thursday, CBS and the Turner networks drew the tourney’s best opening-day viewership in 22 years. The first night of second-round coverage, the most recent numbers available from Nielsen, averaged 8.1 million total viewers, the best start since 1991, when the tourney expanded to four telecast windows.

ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy finished as the top show among viewers 18-49 on Thursday, beating even Fox’s American Idol, and it may have the NCAA men’s basketball tournament to thank. With CBS airing college basketball rather than its 9 p.m. drama Person of Interest, Grey’s was the only drama airing in the hour, and it clocked a 2.9 adults 18-49 rating, up 12% from last week and making it the top show of the night in the demo.

It’s way up on broadcast, and it’s not just from DVRs. Video on demand is also increasing, leading to gains in C3 ratings. Stacey Schulman, chief research officer at TVB, talks about the advantages and disadvantages of VOD for advertisers, why broadcast ratings are down, and whether C7 ad buys are in the offing.

Absence apparently made the hearts grow fonder for fans of Criminal Minds. Ratings for the veteran CBS drama shot up for its first original episode in three weeks. Minds averaged a 3.0 adults 18-49 rating at 9 p.m. last night, up 15% over its most recent original on Feb. 27. It finished as the night’s No. 2 show behind Fox’s American Idol, and it gave lead-out CSI a boost. The latter also saw a big increase over its last showing on Feb. 27, up 21% to a 2.3.

A new Nielsen-SocialGuide study shows that for 18-34 year olds, an 8.5% increase in Twitter volume corresponds to a 1% increase in TV ratings for premiere episodes, and a 4.2% increase in Twitter volume corresponds with a 1% increase in ratings for midseason episodes.

Reality is proving a winner for ABC at midseason. After a good run for The Bachelor and a strong premiere for Dancing with the Stars earlier this week, the network’s latest reality program to score is Splash. The celebrity diving show got a decent start last night, averaging a 2.6 adults 18-49 rating at 8 p.m. Splash marked the network’s best reality show debut in two years, and it was the highest-rated unscripted series bow on any broadcast network since The X Factor in September 2011.

Season 16 of ABC’s Dancing with the Stars is off to a much more promising start than season 15. Last night’s two-hour premiere averaged a 3.1 adults 18-49 rating at 8 p.m., up 24% over last fall’s bow. The show was the highest-rated program on broadcast last night in the demo, and it averaged 16.7 million total viewers, better than all but one edition of Fox’s American Idol, TV’s top reality show, this season.

Most series are flat or down in the week ending March 10. The few gainers from the previous week include People’s Court, Jeopardy and Big Bang Theory.