CBS wins Friday with NCAA basketball, Kentucky
Brandon Knight helped lead Kentucky to victory over Ohio State. Photo credit: Mark Cornelison/Lexington Herald-Leader
Early ratings for Friday night show that CBS won the night with NCAA basketball.
CBS had the most viewers in prime time, and the network also won the 18-to-49 age group by a wide margin. CBS aired the North Carolina-Marquette game, then the Ohio State-Kentucky game. Kentucky won in another of the tournaments big upsets, and North Carolina was also the victor.
CBS averaged 8 million viewers in prime time, outdrawing NBC with 7.6 million, Disney-owned ABC with 4.8 million, Fox with nearly 4 million and The CW with 1.3 million for reruns.
NBC offered “Who Do You Think You Are?” (6.6 million viewers) and two hours of “Dateline NBC” (8.1 million).
“Shark Tank,” which featured a Central Florida man rejecting a $4 million business offer, drew 4.8 million viewers. ABC also aired “Primetime: What Would You Do?” (4.5 million) and “20/20″ (5 million).
Fox presented “Kitchen Nightmares” (4.1 million) and “Fringe” (3.9 million). But “Fringe” received the best news earlier Friday: Fox had renewed the sci-fi drama for a fourth season.
In Orlando, “Dateline” was the top show with 105,600 viewers. The other top shows were “Kitchen Nightmares” with 79,600 viewers, the Kentucky-Ohio State game with 73,900, ABC’s “20/20″ with 71,200 and “Shark Tank” with 68,800.
The Florida State-Virginia Commonwealth game, which aired on TBS, averaged 44,900 viewers, according to early ratings. Florida State lost.
The Orlando Magic game on Fox Sports Florida drew nearly 38,000 viewers, according to early ratings. The Magic beat the New Jersey Nets.