Primetime Ratings: CBS, ABC Fare Well

CBS Sitcoms Top ABC Reality on Monday Night

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 4/1/2008 1:43:00 PM

CBS' combination of sitcoms and reality topped ABC's all-reality lineup Monday night, although both averaged a 4-plus rating in the 18-49 demo.

CBS, which averaged a 4.4 rating/11 share for the night, had a particularly consistent outing, averaging at least a 4 rating for five of the six half-hours of primetime, missing out only with the 3.1/9 for the first half-hour of Big Bang Theory. Its highest-rated show was Two and a Half Men with a 5.3/13 from 9 p.m.-9:30 p.m.

The highest-rated half-hour of the night was also from 9 p.m.-9:30 p.m., the final half-hour of ABC's Dancing with the Stars. ABC averaged a 4/10 in the demo on the night thanks to Dancing. The Bachelor continued to lose a lot of that lead-in audience, starting off with a 3.4/8 at 9:30 p.m., which dropped to a 2.6/7 by its last half-hour.

NBC and Fox tied for third with a 2.4/6. NBC's top show was Medium, with a 3.1/8 from 10 p.m.-11 p.m. It continued to get no help from the front end of its Monday-night schedule, My Dad Is Better than Your Dad, a boast-based reality competition that has not caught on. It averaged a 1.3/4 for distant fourth place from 8 p.m.-9 p.m.

Fox's best showing was from a repeat of House from 8 p.m.-9 p.m. (2.6/7), which easily outrated Fox's new drama, New Amsterdam (2.1/5).

The CW averaged a 0.5/1 for a ladies’ night of Gossip Girl (a repeat) and a new outing for Pussycat Dolls.