The NCAA tournament secured CBS the ratings trophy once again Thursday, as the Gonzaga Bulldogs were ousted by No. 4 seed Arkansas Razorbacks and Duke managed to stay alive with a win over Texas Tech during the first round of Sweet 16 matchups.
The tournament began airing ahead of primetime at 7 p.m. ET, breaking in at a 1.9 rating in the key 18-49 demographic and 8.2 million total viewers.
The matchups continued to bolster CBS’ ratings throughout the night, posting a 2.0 rating and 7.9 million total viewers at 9:32 p.m. By 9:51 p.m., the network was at a 2.2 rating and 8.2 million total viewers.
ABC was second in ratings with a 0.5 and in total viewers with 3.9 million. “Station 19” earned a 0.6 rating and 4.6 million total viewers at 8 p.m. At 9, “Grey’s Anatomy” also pulled a 0.6 rating but couldn’t hold on to as many viewers, slipping to 4.2 million. “Big Sky” got a 0.3 rating and 2.8 million total viewers at 10.
NBC was third in ratings with a 0.4 and in total viewers with 2.7 million with reruns of its “Law & Order” franchise. “Law & Order” received a 0.3 rating and 2.9 million total viewers at 8 p.m. At 9, “SVU” drew a 0.4 rating and 3.1 million total viewers. “Organized Crime” had a 0.3 rating and 2.1 million total viewers at 10.
Fox was fourth in ratings with a 0.3 and in total viewers with 1.7 million. “MasterChef Junior” kicked things off with a 0.4 rating and 2 million total viewers at 8 p.m. At 9, “Call Me Kat” had a 0.3 rating and 1.9 million total viewers. “Welcome to Flatch” earned a 0.2 rating and 923,000 total viewers at 9:30.
The CW, which also aired reruns, was fifth in ratings with a 0.03 and in total viewers with 318,000. A repeat of “Walker” had a 0.05 rating and 400,000 total viewers at 8 p.m. At 9, “Legacies” got a 0.02 rating and 235,000 total viewers.
We do not have early Nielsen numbers for Spanish-language broadcast networks Univision and Telemundo.