CBS's NCIS is Tuesday's #1 Program in Viewers

CBS's NCIS was the night's #1 program in viewers, delivering a larger audience than a Tuesday edition of "American Idol" for the first time ever, according to Nielsen preliminary live plus same day ratings for February 28.

At 8:00 PM, NCIS was first in households (11.2/17), viewers (18.01m) and second in both adults 25-54 (4.9/12) and adults 18-49 (3.4/09). NCIS beat a first-run episode of "American Idol Tuesday" for the first time ever in viewers in both the common hour and for the night.

NCIS was in its closest competitive position to date with an "American Idol Tuesday" broadcast in both adults 25-54 and adults 18-49.

At 9:00 PM, NCIS: LOS ANGELES was first in households (9.8/15) and second in viewers (15.67m, -0.38m behind FOX), adults 25-54 (4.3/10) and adults 18-49 (3.1/08). Compared to last week, NCIS: LOS ANGELES was up +8% in adults 25-54 (from 4.0/09), +15% in adults 18-49 (from 2.7/07) and added +200,000 viewers (from 15.47m, +1%).

In the common two hours with FOX, CBS was first in households (10.5/16 vs. 9.3/14, +13%) and viewers (16.84m vs. 15.84m, +6%).