TBS Tops Basic Cable's First Quarter in Adults 18-34, 18-49

Turner Sports and CBS Sports' exclusive coverage of the 2013 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship across TBS, CBS, TNT and truTV is averaging 9,701,000 total viewers to date, which is up 11% from last year's 8,717,000 viewers and is the highest average for the NCAA Tournament through the Sunday Regional Finals in 19 years (9,728,000; 1994). The 2013 NCAA Tournament to date is averaging a national HH rating/share of 6.2/13, which is up 9% from last year's 5.7/12 and is the highest rating to date since the 6.3/14 HH rating/share in 2005.

TBS

As anticipated, TBS has won the first quarter, ranking as basic cable's #1 network in primetime delivery of adults 18-34 and adults 18-49. TBS capped the quarter with yet another weekly victory, this time among not only key adult demos, but also total viewers. TBS also ranked #1 in primetime among key adult demos for the month of March.

The TBS original comedy series Cougar Town garnered 2.3 million viewers in Live + 3 delivery last week, including 1.4 million adults 18-49 and 656,000 adults 18-34.

The Big Bang Theory ranked as basic cable's #1 off-net series for the quarter with total viewers and key adult demos. For the last week of the quarter, The Big Bang Theory accounted for 19 of basic cable's Top 20 sitcom telecasts with total viewers and adults 18-49, as well as 18 of the Top 20 with adults 18-34.

Adult Swim

Throughout March 2013, Adult Swim's Total Day delivery performance ranked #1 on basic cable among adults 18-24, 18-34 & 18-49 and men 18-24, 18-34, & 18-49. Compared to March 2012, Total Day delivery grew significantly among all target demos - adults 18-34 by 10%, adults 18-24 by 19%, adults 18-49 by 8%, men 18-24 by 25%, men 18-34 by 16% and men 18-49 by 11%.

In traditional primetime, Adult Swim ranked #2 in March among basic cable networks for delivery of adults 18-34. Compared to March 2012, prime delivery increased by double digits across the board - adults 18-34 grew by 16%, adults 18-24 by 28%, adults 18-49 by 13%, men 18-24 by 52%, men 18-34 by 25% and men 18-49 by 14%.

Among the network's original programming, Sunday night's new episodes of Loiter Squad (12 a.m.) ranked #1 in its time period in March among adults 18-24 and men 18-24. The series earned remarkable double and triple-digit delivery gains across all young adult and young men demos - ranging between 50% and 101% - vs. the same time period in March last year.

Naruto - part of the signature anime action-adventure Toonami block - ranked #1 in its March time period (Saturdays, 12:30 a.m.) among adults 18-24 and men 18-34 & 18-24. Significantly, all Toonami series, including Bleach, Naruto, Soul Eater and Tenchi Muyo! GXP, earned double-digit increases across key adults and men vs. the March 2012 time period

Cartoon Network

Across March 2013, Cartoon Network ranked #1 among television networks for both Total Day and Early Evening Prime (7-9 p.m.) delivery of boys 9-14. Cartoon Network also ranked as March's #1 television destination for boys 6-11 and 9-14 (among all TV) on Monday and Thursday nights (7-9 p.m.).

The network's original animated series Adventure Time (7:30 p.m.) scored as the #1 television program among all boys 2-11, 6-11 & 9-14 on Mondays. Similarly, original animated series Regular Show (Mondays, 8 p.m.) ranked #1 in its time period among all boy demos across March, while original series MAD (8:30 p.m.) ranked #1 in its time period among boys 6-11.

March new episode premieres of the DreamWorks original animated series Dragons: Riders of Berk (Wednesdays, 8 p.m.) propelled the series to rank #1 in its time period among boys 9-14.

On Saturday mornings, new premiere episodes of Pokemon BW: Adventures in Unova (8:30 a.m.) and network original series Ben 10 Omniverse (9 a.m.) each ranked #1 in their respective time periods among boys 9-14.

TNT

The March 11 episode of TNT's hit drama Dallas, in which the Ewings bid farewell to iconic character J.R. Ewing, garnered a final Live + 7 audience of 4.9 million viewers, with more than 1.9 million adults 25-54 and 1.6 million adults 18-49. Meanwhile, last week's episode of Dallas drew 3.3 million viewers in Live + 3 delivery, with 1.4 million adults 25-54 and 1.2 million adults 18-49.

TNT's award-winning drama Southland scored 2 million viewers in Live + 3 for last Wednesday night's episode, with 1.0 million adults 25-54 and 825,000 million adults 18-49. Leading into Southland, TNT's new unscripted police drama Boston's Finest drew more than 1.2 million viewers in Live + 3 delivery, a +5% boost over the prior week. Boston's Finest also landed 593,000 adults 25-54 and 556,000 adults 18-49.

truTV

truTV scored its youngest first quarter ever in primetime median age, as anticipated in last week's preliminary Q1 2013 ratings report. truTV also scored its youngest March ever, with a primetime median age of only 42. And while truTV continues getting younger, its main competitors in the unscripted arena are getting older or have remained flat, including Discovery (46), History (53), Spike (43) and TLC (47).

Among truTV's March successes are Lizard Lick Towing (Mondays at 10 p.m.) averaged 2.5 million total viewers during the month, including 1.4 million adults 18-49 and 770,000 men 18-49. It ranked among basic cable's Top 5 programs in the timeslot with key demos and total viewers, while yielding strong year-over-year growth for the time period.

Full Throttle Saloon (Wednesdays at 9 p.m.) attracted 1.4 million total viewers in March, with 679,000 adults 18-49 and 414,000 men 18-49. The show scored outstanding growth for its time period compared to the same nights last year.

truTV's new hit Guinness World Records(R) Gone Wild! (Thursdays at 8 p.m.) drew a solid audience of 1.2 million viewers in March, including 672,000 adults 18-49 and 388,000 men 18-49. It ranked as basic cable's #1 unscripted program in its timeslot with adults 18-34 and among basic cable's Top 5 programs in the timeslot with adults 18-49 and men 18-34. The show, which garnered double-digit growth for its timeslot, also scored a median age of only 32, nine years younger than the median age for the same timeslot a year ago.

NBA TV

NBA TV's 19 NBA Fan Night presented by Sprint telecasts are averaging 468,000 total viewers, up 3% compared to last season (455,000 total viewers for 22 telecasts). Overall, NBA TV's 82 live regular-season telecasts are averaging 340,000 total viewers, up 1% compared to last season (337,000 for 96 game telecasts).

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