American Idol took the top two spots, followed by Dancing with the Stars. A Barack Obama fueled 60 Minutes was in fourth place in terms of total viewing.
NBC was back to being shut out of the overall top twenty with its best effort Law & Order: SVU coming in twenty-second. NBC fared better (though obviously not much better) in the top twenty for adults 18-49, where it placed only two shows. In fact, it only placed two shows out of the top twenty-six shows with the 18-49 crowd. That's all we saw this week in terms of the 18-49 rankings, and it is notable that NCIS, the number five program overall was not among those twenty-six.
Also noteworthy was that the Dancing with the Stars results show was not among the top 18-49 shows either.
Meanwhile ABC's Lost which was thirtieth overall, was eighth among 18-49s. Thursday night competition is not a friend to March Madness. With 18-49s, the primetime coverage of the NCAA Basketball tournament, the Friday night (#22) and Saturday night (#14) were among the top twenty-six, but Thursday night was not.
There were several differences this week between the overall top twenty and the 18-49 top twenty, so you should give the 18-49 rankings a look if you want to see how The Big Bang Theory and several other shows not on the list below did.
Nielsen Top Twenty Shows by viewers for the week ending March 22, 2009:
| Rank | Shows | R=Repeat S=Special P=Premiere | Net | # Viewers (LIVE+SD) (000) | HH RATING (LIVE+SD) | HH SHARE (LIVE+SD) | 18-49 Rank |
| 1 | AMERICAN IDOL-WEDNESDAY | FOX | 23,705 | 13.7 | 21 | 1 | |
| 2 | AMERICAN IDOL-TUESDAY | FOX | 21,886 | 12.3 | 19 | 2 | |
| 3 | DANCING WITH THE STARS | ABC | 21,224 | 13.3 | 20 | 3 | |
| 4 | 60 MINUTES | CBS | 17,042 | 10.4 | 17 | 11 | |
| 5 | NCIS | CBS | 15,835 | 9.8 | 16 | ||
| 6 | Mentalist, THE | CBS | 15,491 | 9.8 | 15 | 26 | |
| 7 | DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES | ABC | 14,748 | 9.2 | 14 | 5 | |
| 8 | GREY'S ANATOMY-THU 9PM | ABC | 14,606 | 9.8 | 15 | 4 | |
| 9 | TWO AND A HALF MEN | CBS | 14,124 | 8.5 | 13 | 7 | |
| 10 | CRIMINAL MINDS | CBS | 13,741 | 8.6 | 13 | 24 | |
| 11 | CSI: MIAMI | CBS | 13,610 | 8.6 | 15 | 13 | |
| 12 | HOUSE | FOX | 13,132 | 7.8 | 12 | 6 | |
| 13 | CSI: NY | CBS | 12,786 | 8.2 | 14 | 25 | |
| 14 | DANCING W/STARS RESULTS | P | ABC | 12,737 | 8.3 | 13 | |
| 15 | AMAZING RACE 14 | CBS | 12,420 | 7.2 | 11 | 18 | |
| 16 | WITHOUT A TRACE | CBS | 11,872 | 7.6 | 13 | ||
| 17 | RULES OF ENGAGEMENT | CBS | 11,418 | 6.9 | 10 | 9 | |
| 18 | COLD CASE | CBS | 11,411 | 7.2 | 11 | ||
| 19 | 24 | FOX | 11,364 | 6.6 | 10 | 17 | |
| 20 | CASTLE | ABC | 10,965 | 7.4 | 12 |
Nielsen RatingsData: ©2009 The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved
All numbers above based on live plus same day DVR viewing.
Any numbers for sunday’s the unit?
Grey’s is doing better each week, the episodes are amazing right now.
Amazing the difference in networks – CBS has two “bubble” shows at 16 and 18, two Idol proof shows in NCIS and the Mentalist and NBC can’t even crack the top 20. I know this is not the demos, but this is what is released as the top shows. How is Castle looking for renewal – I am really enjoying Nathan Fillion.
i agree with you aleph19!!!!! Grey’s is a whole lot better and im praying to the ratings gods thatGrey’s can at least get above 15 mil!!!!
i think its the same with Desperate Housewives!!!!!
it is doing better each week also, because of the gr8 episodes
i hope both shows do get back to at least 15 million viewers each week
they deserve it
Jesus, is that Woz? I haven’t seen him lately, Christ, he’s fatter than I am!
RSH, I think that look is more generously described as “prosperous”.
How long has 60 Minutes been on the air? Still in the top ten.
VLOGHOG
60 Minutes has been on the air for more than 40 years.
It started in the fall of 1968!!!!!
In my opinion, its one of the best shows on TV, I LOVE THAT SHOW! AND I’M ONLY 21 years old, so not only old people watch 60 minutes, or CBS (wich is my favorite network)
Why can’t 60 Minutes be permantely moved to 7 pm Cent? Some of us get tired of watching boring stick and ball sports over-run their alloted time slots.
WOW…OK..Grey’s is doing gr8 ..but the most shoking is DH ….wow !! num 7 !! i think i’m going back to watch DH..BUT still i think grey’s is doing MORE than gr8,,
CBS’s treatment of The Unit is simply pathetic. One of the strongest shows on television is buried on Sunday nights at 10pm so that it’s impossibly even to DVR it (because of time fluctuations due to sports). CBS, Sunday Nights…where TV shows go to die…
The show deserves a fighting chance. Great acting, smart and savvy scripts. And instead, the networks are puffing reality TV??? Please…