LOS ANGELES (thefutoncritic.com) -- With the digital television switch bumping winter sweeps from February to March, some of the broadcast networks are opting for a less aggressive approach to the all-important ratings period.

In short - there will be plenty of repeats next month.

"Sweeps" refers to the quarterly period - traditionally November, February, May and July - in which local stations gain demographic information from 1.6 million paper diaries processed by Nielsen.

Unlike the national sample (and its "fast national" reporting), this group - better known as the metered markets - generally doesn't receive adults 18-49 and other demographic information outside of households on a daily basis from Nielsen due to the cost involved.

Not surprisingly, networks and distributors beef up their offerings during these months to help inflate their numbers. But with the winter period already carrying an asterisk as it is (March 2009 vs. February 2008 being a debatable comparison and all), the prevailing attitude is we're going to try, but not as hard as we would if it were in February.

In any case, here's a breakdown of some notable "off" (i.e. repeat) nights during the upcoming sweeps period (March 5 - April 1).

Thursday, March 5 - "Grey's Anatomy," "Private Practice," "Smallville" and "Supernatural"

Monday, March 9 - "Gossip Girl" and "One Tree Hill"

Tuesday, March 10, 17 & 24 - "90210"

Tuesday, March 10 - "NCIS," "The Mentalist" and "Without a Trace"

Wednesday, March 11 - "Scrubs" and "Lost"

Thursday, March 12 - "My Name Is Earl"

Monday, March 16 - "Chuck," "Heroes" and "Medium"

Wednesday, April 1 - "The New Adventures of Old Christine," "Gary Unmarried," "Criminal Minds" and "CSI: NY"