Articles

March 18, 2016
 

The Sked: Thursday Ratings 3.17.2016

 

The HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER season finale barely managed to plea-bargain.

DEMOGRAPHIC DETAIL: For each broadcast program (or hour segment), the chart below displays preliminary key advertiser demographics (adult 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54 ratings), audience skews (women 18-49, men 18-49 and adults 50+ shares) and total viewership (thousands of people over the age of 2).

Ratings analysis and comparisons follow the chart.

Fasts Demo 2016 Mar THU.17

ABC:  Last year’s HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER season finale had a 2.8 rating, making it a long way down to last night’s 1.4, which was steady with last week.  That’s still a decent enough number, especially at ABC these days, but the network has to be worried about what’s going to happen in Season 3.  The night started with GREY’S ANATOMY holding at 2.1, and SCANDAL down 0.1 to 1.6.

CBS:   The first round of the NCAA TOURNAMENT was down versus last year (a 1.3 that’s still subject to adjustment compared to 1.7), but the best game last night in prime was on TBS (#9 Providence 70 vs. #8 USC 69). TBS should be up substantially versus last year.  Look for complete SKEDBALL coverage of March Madness this afternoon when we will have official results for CBS, TBS, TNT and TRUtv through Thursday.

NBC:  YOU, ME & THE APOCALYPSE was up 0.1 to 0.6, and SHADES OF BLUE held at 1.0.  In between, a rerun THE BLACKLIST was at 0.5.

FOX:  AMERICAN IDOL lost 0.1 to 1.7.

CW:  Reruns at 0.4/0.2.

The NCAA TOURNAMENT continues tonight on CBS and the Turner cable networks.  The other broadcast networks air new episodes of their regular line-ups except CW, which continues its midseason hiatus.

Fasts Demo 2016 Mar THU.17

COMPARISONS TO SIMILAR NIGHTS: Preliminary adult 18-49 ratings versus the same night last year and same night last week.

Fasts Track 2016 Mar THU.17

CABLE RATINGS: Come back this afternoon for detailed demographic ratings for top cable programs from this day.

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About the Author

Mitch Salem
MITCH SALEM has worked on the business side of the entertainment industry for 20 years, as a senior business affairs executive and attorney for such companies as NBC, ABC, USA, Syfy, Bravo, and BermanBraun Productions, and before that, at the NY law firm of Weil, Gotshal & Manges. During all that, he has more or less constantly been going to the movies and watching TV, and writing about both since the 1980s. His film reviews also currently appear on screened.com and the-burg.com. In addition, he is co-writer of an episode of the television series "Felicity."