Overnights
Trump pump: 'Apprentice' lifts NBC
By Toni Fitzgerald
Mar 2, 2009 - 12:37:56 PM

ABC won the night, but NBC saw the biggest improvement in its schedule, even with a diminished premiere of “Celebrity Apprentice.”

“Apprentice” averaged a 3.8 adults 18-49 rating, according to Nielsen overnights, up 65 percent above NBC’s Sunday 9 to 11 p.m. non-sports timeslot average this season.

It was, however, off 16 percent from last year’s seventh-season premiere, which averaged a 4.5 on Thursday night.

Excluding sports and the Golden Globes, it was NBC’s best timeslot performance since Feb. 17, 2008, and the show improved from a 3.4 rating in its first half hour to a 4.0 in its final.

Still, it couldn’t keep up with a special “Brothers & Sisters” two-hour movie on ABC, which averaged a 4.1 rating in the same timeslot, leading the network to No. 1 for the night.

ABC led the night among 18-49s with a 3.6 average overnight rating and a 9 share. Fox was second at 3.5/9, NBC third at 2.7/7, CBS fourth at 2.4/6, Univision fifth at 1.4/4 and CW sixth at 0.4/1.
 
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.
 
Also, ratings for Fox’s NASCAR coverage are approximate as fast nationals measure timeslot and not actual program data.
 
At 7 p.m. Fox led with a 3.8 for the end of NASCAR coverage, with ABC second with a 2.7 for “America’s Funniest Home Videos.” CBS was third with a 2.2 for “60 Minutes,” Univision fourth with a 1.1 for “Hora Pico,” NBC fifth with a 1.0 for a “Saturday Night Live” special and CW sixth with a 0.3 for the last half hour of a “Jericho” rerun and the start of the movie “Rain Man.”
 
Fox led again at 8 p.m. with a 3.8 for “The Simpsons” (4.6) and “King of the Hill” (3.0), while ABC remained second with a 3.5 for “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.” CBS was third with a 3.0 for “The Amazing Race,” NBC fourth with a 2.2 for another “SNL” special, Univision fifth with a 1.5 for the first half of “Nuestra Belleza Latina” and CW sixth with a 0.5 for more “Rain Man.”
 
ABC took the lead at 9 p.m. with a 4.0 for “Sisters,” while NBC moved to second with a 3.7 for “Apprentice.” Fox was third with a 2.9 for a repeat of “Family Guy” and a new “American Dad” (2.7), CBS fourth with a 2.2 for the first half of the movie “Jesse Stone: Thin Ice,” Univision fifth with a 1.8 for more “Latina” and CW sixth with a 0.5 for the end of its movie.
 
At 10 p.m. ABC held onto the lead with a 4.2 for more “Sisters,” with NBC second again with a 4.0 for another hour of “Apprentice.” CBS was third with a 2.1 for the second half of the movie and Univision fourth with a 1.1 for “Tras la Verdad.”
 
CBS was first for the night among households with an 8.5 average overnight rating and a 13 share. ABC was second at 6.9/11, Fox third at 5.0/8, NBC fourth at 4.2/7, Univision fifth at 1.6/3 and CW sixth at 1.0/2.