Cooling down
for NBC's 'Marriage Ref'
Averages a 2.7 in 18-49s, off 21 percent
By Toni Fitzgerald
Mar 12, 2010
With a much weaker lead-in for its second episode in its new timeslot, NBC's "The Marriage Ref" went from first place last week to third place last night.
"Ref" averaged a 2.7 adults 18-49 rating, according to Nielsen overnights, down 21 percent from last week's 3.4 rating.
NBC won't want to see the show fall much more than that, though it's still more than a point above what "The Jay Leno Show" averaged in the timeslot earlier this year.
"Ref" was behind CBS's "The Mentalist" at 3.4 and ABC's "Private Practice" at 2.9, both of which were up over last week, indicating that some viewers may have taken a detour to "Ref" and then come back.
But last week's "Ref" got a huge boost from its lead-in, the second-highest-rated episode of "The Office" this season. "Office" averaged a 4.9 versus a 2.9 for last night's "Ref" lead-in, "30 Rock." "Ref" actually retained more of its lead-in audience last night.
Meanwhile, ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" still hasn't regained its post-Olympics ratings mojo, falling under a 4.0 rating yet again. The show was off slightly from last week to a 3.9, though it did finish 0.1 ahead of "The Office" a week after being beaten by that show for the first time.
With "American Idol" airing its final Thursday episode of the season, Fox was first for the night among 18-49s with a 4.7 average overnight rating and a 13 share. CBS was second at 3.4/10, NBC third at 2.7/8, ABC fourth at 2.6/8, Univision fifth at 1.3/4 and CW sixth at 0.5/2.
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. Thirty-six percent of Nielsen households have DVRs.
At 8 p.m. Fox led with a 6.2 for “American Idol,” followed by CBS with a 3.6 for “Survivor.” NBC was third with a 2.0 for “Community” (season-low 1.9) and “Parks and Recreation” (2.1), Univision fourth with a 1.7 for “Hasta que el Dinero Nos Separe,” ABC fifth with a 1.1 for a repeat of “Grey’s” and CW sixth with a 0.5 for a “Vampire Diaries” rerun.
ABC took the lead at 9 p.m. with a 3.9 for a new “Grey’s,” while NBC moved to second with a 3.4 for “Office” (3.8) and “Rock” (2.9). CBS was third with a 3.3 for “CSI,” Fox fourth with a 3.1 for “Kitchen Nightmares,” Univision fifth with a 1.1 for “Corazon Salvaje” and CW sixth with a 0.5 for a repeat of “Supernatural.”
At 10 p.m. CBS was first with a 3.4 for “Mentalist,” with ABC second with a 2.9 for “Practice.” NBC was third with a 2.7 for “Ref” and Univision fourth with a 1.2 for “Nuestra Belleza Latina.”
CBS led the night among households with an 8.8 average overnight rating and a 15 share. Fox was second at 7.9/13, ABC third at 5.3/9, NBC fourth at 3.6/6, Univision fifth at 1.8/3 and CW sixth at 1.0/2.
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