Primetime Ratings: ABC Wins With Consistent ‘Idol’
By Michael Malone published

ABC won the Sunday prime ratings race, with American Idol leading to a 1.1 in viewers 18-49, per the Nielsen overnights, and a 5 share. That topped the 0.9/4 that CBS got.
An America’s Funniest Home Videos repeat started off prime for ABC, before American Idol did a flat 1.3 from 8 to 10 p.m. The second season of Idol on ABC debuted March 3. Shark Tank went up 13% to 0.9.
CBS had 60 Minutes up 38% to 1.1 and God Friended Me up 33% to 0.8, then NCIS: Los Angeles at a flat 0.9. Madam Secretary lost a tenth for a 0.5.
Fox and NBC both did a 0.6/3. Fox had a MasterChef Junior rerun before The Simpsons got a flat 0.8, Bob’s Burgers grew 13% to 0.9 and Family Guy fell 11% to 0.8. A Family Guy repeat closed out prime.
On NBC, it was an Ellen’s Game of Games repeat, then World of Dance at 0.8 from 8 to 10 and Good Girls a 0.5. Both were down a tenth of a point.
Telemundo rated a 0.4/2 and Univision a 0.3/1.
The CW did a 0.2/1. Supergirl got a 0.3 and Charmed a 0.2, both dramas flat.
Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.
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