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[02/27/12 - 08:38 AM]
Sunday's Broadcast Ratings: Oscars Up in Viewers, Down in Demos from Last Year
By The Futon Critic Staff (TFC)

nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for sunday, february 26, 2012)

Here are the highlights of the 17 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night:

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Due to the nature of live programming, Fast Nationals for ABC are approximate.]

ABC (30.54 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 8.8, #1) topped the charts on Sunday with its coverage of "The 84th Annual Academy Awards" (34.36 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 10.2, #1). Leading off the night were its pre-show specials "Oscar's Red Carpet Live #1" (19.02 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 4.8, #4), "Oscar's Red Carpet Live #2" (23.35 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 6.2, #3) and "Oscar's Red Carpet Live #3" (30.13 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 8.1, #2).

A distant silver then went to CBS (6.24 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.4, #2) with new episodes of "60 Minutes" (7.30 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.3, #11) and "The Amazing Race 20" (7.60 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.1, #5) followed by repeats of "The Mentalist" (4.87 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.9, #15) and "CSI: Miami" (5.19 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.2, #12).

Next up was NBC (4.38 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T3) and its mix of "Dateline NBC" (4.98 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.1, #13), a one-hour "The Celebrity Apprentice" (2.55 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T16) recap and a new "The Celebrity Apprentice" (5.00 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.8, #6).

And finally, repeats of "Bob's Burgers" (2.04 million viewers, #17; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T16), "The Cleveland Show" (2.51 million viewers, #16; adults 18-49: 1.0, #14), "The Simpsons" (3.89 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.6, #T7), "Napoleon Dynamite" (3.58 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.6, #T7), "Family Guy" (3.51 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.6, #T7) and "American Dad" (3.25 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 1.5, #10) on FOX (3.13 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T3) closed out the evening.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
-19.23% - The Amazing Race 20
-30.77% - The Celebrity Apprentice
-31.25% - Dateline NBC
-38.10% - 60 Minutes

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+80.00% - The Celebrity Apprentice (vs. Minute to Win It (Repeat)/Minute to Win It (Repeat))
+37.50% - Dateline NBC
8.33% - 60 Minutes
0.00% - The Amazing Race 20
-3.77% - The 84th Annual Academy Awards (vs. The 83rd Annual Academy Awards)


Here are the highlights of the 17 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (2/27/11):

ABC (30.12 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 9.1, #1) as expected was the network to beat with its coverage of "The 83rd Annual Academy Awards" (33.47 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 10.6, #1). Leading off the night were its pre-ceremony specials "Oscar's Red Carpet Live #1" (18.38 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 4.4, #4), "Oscar's Red Carpet Live #2" (22.79 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 5.9, #3) and "Oscar's Red Carpet Live #3" (32.40 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 9.1, #2).

Said coverage was off significantly from last year's "The 82nd Annual Academy Awards" (39.24 million viewers; adults 18-49: 12.5 on 3/7/10) - 14.70% in total viewers and 15.20% in adults 18-49.

FOX (4.15 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.9, #2) then claimed a distant silver with its all-repeat lineup of "The Simpsons" (4.02 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.7, #10), "American Dad" (3.48 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 1.6, #11), another "The Simpsons" (4.91 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 2.2, #5), "Bob's Burgers" (3.83 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.8, #9) and a one-hour "Family Guy" (4.32 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 2.0, #T7).

Next up was CBS (7.47 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.7, #3) with new episodes of "60 Minutes" (8.43 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.2, #13) and "The Amazing Race: Unfinished Business" (7.62 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 2.1, #6) followed by a repeat of "Undercover Boss" (5.64 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.5, #12) and a new "CSI: Miami" (8.18 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.0, #T7).

And finally, a new "Dateline NBC" (4.70 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T15) led into repeats of "Minute to Win It" (2.58 million viewers, #16; adults 18-49: 0.7, #17), another "Minute to Win It" (3.61 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 1.1, #14) and yet another "Minute to Win It" (2.44 million viewers, #17; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T15) on NBC (3.33 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.9, #4).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): Dateline NBC (0.00%), CSI: Miami (-9.10%), 60 Minutes (-14.30%), The Amazing Race 17 (-16.00%).

Source: Nielsen Media Research





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