'The Voice' Leads Monday; 'Following' Premiere Tops 'Sleepy Hollow'

By Daniel Fienberg

Fast National ratings for Monday, March 2, 2015.

"The Night Shift" posted week-to-week gains in total viewers to help (a tiny bit) NBC cap off an overall primetime win on Monday, while it was "The Voice" leading the network to its domination among young viewers (where "Night Shift" actually dropped).

Monday’s big notable premiere was FOX’s “The Following,” which came in above last week’s “Sleepy Hollow” finale, but far below last year’s Monday premiere. [“The Following” premiered last year with a post-football Sunday airing. It’d be silly to compare anything to that.] If you want one last “Following” comparison, the Season 3 premiere was almost identical to last April’s Season 2 finale. And “Gotham” slipped a little from last week for FOX.

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The night saw a small dip for “The Bachelor” with its “Women Tell All” special and a small bump from “Mike & Molly,” CBS’ only new program of the night.

On to the numbers…

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Among adults 18-49, NBC averaged a 3.0 rating for Monday night, tops in the key demographic. ABC was a distant second with a 1.9 key demo rating, followed by the 1.8 key demo rating for FOX. CBS was fourth with a 1.5 key demo rating and The CW’s repeats did a 0.2 key demo rating for the night.

Overall, NBC averaged an estimated 11.63 million viewers and a 7.0 rating/11 share for Monday primetime, far ahead of the 7.83 million viewers and 5.0/8 for CBS. ABC was third with a 4.5/7 and 6.78 million viewers, topping FOX’s 5.42 million viewers and 3.4/5. The CW averaged a 0.4/1 and 683,000 viewers for the night.

8 p.m. - "The Voice" started primetime in first for NBC with 13.95 million viewers and a 3.6 rating among adults 18-49 in the 8 p.m. hour, up from last week’s comparable hour in viewers, but down in the key demo. CBS was second overall and tied for third in the key demo with a repeat of "The Big Bang Theory" (8.61 million and a 1.8 key demo) and a new "Mike & Molly" (9.47 million and a 2.2 key demo). ABC’s "The Bachelor" was third with 8.02 million viewers and second with a 2.3 key demo rating. FOX’s "Gotham" averaged 6.05 million viewers and tied for third with a 2.0 key demo rating. The CW’s repeat of "The Originals" averaged 763,000 viewers and a 0.3 key demo rating.

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9 p.m. - With 14.61 million viewers and a 4.0 rating among adults 18-49, the second hour of NBC’s “The Voice” was also up overall and down in the key demo, winning the 9 p.m. hour. ABC’s “The Bachelor” was second with 8.09 million viewers and a 2.4 key demo rating. CBS’ “Scorpion” repeat averaged 7.46 million viewers and a 1.4 key demo rating, compared to the 4.79 million viewers and 1.6 key demo rating for FOX’s “The Following” premiere. On The CW, a repeat of “Jane the Virgin” averaged 603,000 viewers and a 0.2 key demo rating.

10 p.m. - A repeat of “NCIS: Los Angeles” won the 10 p.m. hour with nearly 7 million viewers and finished second with a 1.2 rating among adults 18-49. Despite all-repeat competition, NBC’s “Night Shift” grew only to 6.34 million viewers and dipped to a 1.4 key demo rating, which still led the hour. [A clearer picture of the “Night Shift” audience comes from the 5.52 million viewers and 1.1 key demo rating in the 10:30 half-hour, which even lost to the “NCIS: LA” repeat in the demo.] ABC’s encore airing of half of the “Secrets and Lies” premiere averaged 4.23 million viewers and a 1.0 key demo rating.

All ratings information comes from preliminary Fast National Nielsen data, which includes live and same-day DVR viewing. All numbers are subject to change.

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