Basketball and Barack Obama proved to be a winning team for CBS, which captured its first Sunday in months thanks to the NCAA men’s basketball tournament and a “60 Minutes” interview with the president.

CBS averaged a 3.5 adults 18-49 rating and 9 share for the night, according to Nielsen, just ahead of ABC’s 3.4/9.

As always, ratings for the basketball coverage are approximate as fast nationals measure timeslot and not actual program data. Because of the games CBS’s regular lineup, including “Minutes,” did not get underway until about 7:50 p.m. on the East Coast, making it impossible to determine from the overnights exactly how many viewers tuned into the interview.

But CBS did win the 7 and 8 p.m. hours across virtually every demographic with a mix of basketball, “Minutes” and “The Amazing Race.”

ABC’s “Desperate Housewives” was the night’s top-rated show with a 4.9 18-49 rating, while NBC’s new drama “Kings” continued to struggle, averaging a 1.3 in its second outing, down from a 1.6 for last week’s two-hour premiere.

As a reminder, all ratings are based on live-plus-same-day DVR playback. Seven-day DVR data won’t be available for several weeks. Twenty-eight percent of Nielsen households have DVRs.
 
For the night, Fox placed third behind CBS and ABC with a 2.4/6, NBC was fourth at 2.1/6, Univision fifth at 1.2/3 and CW sixth at 0.3/1.
 
At 7 p.m. CBS was first with a 4.4 for the end of basketball and the start of “Minutes,” followed by ABC with a 1.9 for “America’s Funniest Home Videos.” NBC was third with a 1.5 for “Dateline,” Fox fourth with a 1.0 for repeats of “American Dad” and “King of the Hill,” Univision fifth with a 0.9 for the second half of a Mexican league soccer game and CW sixth with a 0.3 for a “Jericho” rerun.
 
CBS led at 8 p.m. with a 4.1 for “Minutes” and the start of “Race,” with ABC second with a 3.1 for “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.” Fox was third with a 2.8 for “The Simpsons” (3.0) and “King of the Hill” (2.6), NBC fourth with a 1.3 for “Kings,” Univision fifth with a 1.2 for the first half of “Nuestra Belleza Latina” and CW sixth with a o.3 for the first hour of the movie “Mod Squad.”
 
ABC took the lead at 9 p.m. with a 4.9 for “Housewives,” while Fox moved to second with a 3.3 for “Family Guy” (3.7) and “American Dad” (2.9). CBS was third with a 3.2 for “Race” and the start of “Cold Case,” NBC fourth with a 2.5 for the first hour of “Celebrity Apprentice,” Univision fifth with a 1.5 for more “Latina” and CW sixth with a 0.3 for the end of its movie.
 
At 10 p.m. ABC held onto the lead with a 3.5 for “Brothers & Sisters,” with NBC second a 3.3 for more “Apprentice.” CBS was third with a 2.4 for “Case” and the start of “The Unit” and Univision fourth with a 1.0 for “Quien Tiene la Razon: Edicion Especial.”
 
CBS also finished first for the night among households with an 8.3 average overnight rating and a 14 share. ABC was second at 6.5/11, NBC third at 4.1/7, Fox fourth at 3.0/5, Univision fifth at 1.5/2 and CW sixth at 0.6/1.