There’s a new leader in 18-49s: CBS

With a mighty Super Bowl surge, CBS has taken the lead this season among adults 18-49, slipping past NBC, which had led since the first week of the season.

CBS’s average jumped week to week by 14 percent, to a 3.2 adults 18-49 rating and a 9 share, on the strength of a huge Super Bowl week.

The game itself averaged a 39.7 rating in the demo, compared to a 40.5 last year, when it aired on NBC.

CBS also got a huge ratings boost from the 33-minute Super Bowl blackout, which was not included in the game average but drew a 38.9, and the 20-minute postgame show, which drew a 25.1.

That lifted the network to an 8.9 rating and 23 share for the week, better than ABC, NBC, Fox, Univision, the CW and Telemundo combined.

It was the highest-rated week for any network in more than a year.

Now CBS has a comfortable lead for the season. NBC is in second with a 2.8/8, followed by Fox with a 2.5/7 and ABC with a 2.2/6. Univision is fifth with a 1.5/4 and the CW sixth with a 0.5/2.

And CBS has a good chance of holding that lead through May.

In years past, Fox has surged to No. 1 during the spring on the strength of “American Idol,” winning eight straight seasons in the demo.

But that may not happen this year. “Idol” is down 10 percent from last year and is no longer the dominating show it was a few years ago.

Plus the rest of Fox’s schedule has struggled, and so the network is digging itself out of a bigger hole than usual. Its season average is down 24 percent from last year at this time.

Meanwhile NBC, while very strong last fall, is without its top three shows, “Sunday Night Football,” “The Voice” and “Revolution.”

Though “Voice” and “Revolution” will return in March, they probably won’t be enough to lift the network past CBS, which has the most consistent schedule of any of the Big Four networks.

That steadiness should keep CBS, the longtime leader among total viewers and adults 25-54, in first in 18-49s as well.

***

In broadcast ratings for the week ended Feb. 3:

Among adults 18-49, CBS was first for the week with an 8.9 average rating and a 23 share, followed by Fox at 2.2/6, ABC and Univision at 1.4/4, NBC at 1.2/3, CW at 0.6/2, Telemundo at 0.5/1, UniMás and ION at 0.3/1, Estrella and Azteca at 0.1/0 and MundoFox at 0.0/0.

Top five English-language Big Five shows (18-49s): 1. CBS’s “Super Bowl XLVII” 39.7; 2. CBS’s “Super Bowl XLVII Delay” 38.9; 3. CBS’s “Super Bowl XLVII Postgame” 25.1; 4. Fox’s “American Idol-Wednesday” 5.5; 5. CBS’s “The Big Bang Theory” 5.4.

Top five English-language Big Five shows (total viewers): 1. CBS’s “Super Bowl XLVII” 108.69 million; 2. CBS’s “Super Bowl XLVII Delay” 106.56 million; 3 CBS’s “Super Bowl XLVII Postgame” 63.26 million; 4. CBS’s “NCIS” 22.07 million; 5. CBS’s “The Big Bang Theory” 17.76 million.

Show on the rise: Fox’s “Bones,” Monday, 8 p.m. The drama posted a 2.6 among 18-49s, up 13 percent from a 2.3 the previous week.

Show on the decline: Fox’s “Kitchen Nightmares,” Friday, 8 p.m. The reality series slipped 29 percent week-to-week among 18-49s, from a 1.4 rating to a 1.0.

Tags: 2013, Big Five, broadcast recap, cbs, nbc, ratings, reality, season averages, season leader 18-49s, super bowl, TEL, time, TOP, top network 18-49s, tv ratings, UNI, univision