After inching closer all spring, Fox has tied CBS in the adults 25-54 demo and looks very likely to pull ahead and win for the 2008-9 season. Fox is well ahead in the 18-49 and 18-34 demos, as is CBS in average viewers for the season, those positions aren't going to change.
Even with the big boost of the Super Bowl week (see below) NBC now trails ABC in the adults 18-49 and 25-54 demos, and looks possible to slip behind ABC in 18-34 before the end of the season. Of course, without the Super Bowl numbers, NBC would be well behind ABC everywhere now.
(click chart for full sized image)
Here is the boost NBC received to its averages this season from Super Bowl week alone.
| SB Week Boost (million) | |
| Viewers | 0.770 |
| 18-49 | 0.370 |
| 18-34 | 0.180 |
| 25-54 | 0.360 |
Nielsen TV Ratings Data: ©2009 The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved.
The funny thing is that NBC can only be spoilers,and siphon off viewers from ABC in the demo, like on Thursday nights, and help Fox there w/o really helping themselves.
jay, maybe in a 3 network world (circa, 1980) that zero sum process might apply, but with >50% of the prime-time audience watching cable networks its not nearly so clear cut.