CBS is set to win the February sweep in adults 18-49 for the
first time since 1998, the year the network broadcast the Winter Olympics,
according to Nielsen live plus same day ratings through Feb. 24.
With three days remaining in the sweep period, CBS is averaging
a 4.3 rating with the 18-49 demo, a full two ratings points ahead of
second-place ABC, which is averaging a 2.2. In total viewers, it is also pacing
far ahead with 15.46 million viewers to ABC's 7.32 million. Thanks to its
broadcast of the Super Bowl on Feb. 3, CBS surged 54% among adults 18-49 and
35% with total viewers compared to last February.
Fox, which usually dominates midseason with American Idol,
has slipped to a third-place 2.0, down 17% from last February, and 6.1 million
viewers, down 13%. NBC, whowon its first November sweep in nearly a decade in 2012 thanks to The
Voice, sunk from first to fifth (losing to Univision) with a 1.2 rating and 3.96 million
total viewers, down 67% and 61%, respectively, from last year when it broadcast
the Super Bowl.
Univision finished fourth in the demo -- the first time the Spanish-language net has done so during a sweeps period -- with a 1.5 rating, as well as 3.8 million total viewers.
The rankings held in adults 25-54 where CBS averaged a 5.2,
ABC a 2.7, Fox a 2.4 and NBC a 1.5. Among adults 18-34, Fox jumped ahead of ABC
(1.7) with a 1.8, while CBS averaged a 3.4 and NBC a 0.8.
