CBS Wins February Sweep in 18-49 for First Time in 15 Years

Super Bowl powers net to double-digit gains in all demos; NBC sinks from first to fifth

By Andrea Morabito -- Broadcasting & Cable, 2/26/2013 2:53:31 PM

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, who won 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.