TV Ratings: Boston Marathon Bombing Coverage Drives Viewers to NBC News Special

Monday night saw atypical returns across the board as many viewers flocked to news coverage of the Boston Marathon bombings and affiliates in Boston and some adjacent markets pre-empted regular primetime programming.   

Still, The Voice (5.1 rating in adults 19-to-49) was up again on NBC, rising a tenth of a point in Fast National numbers. After the two-hour episode, the network dropped a planned episode of Revolution in favor of a NBC News special Terror in Boston. The hour averaged a 3.1 in 18-to-49 and 8.9 million viewers — though it is subject to significant revision since it aired in different time periods across the country. NBC topped the night in adults 18-to-49 (4.5) and edged past ABC in total viewers (12.47 million).

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Dancing With the Stars, which saw its live broadcast address the events in Boston, was up a tenth of a point from last Monday for a 2.2 adults rating. Castle (2.1) was off by the same measure from its most recent original two weeks ago. The network averaged a 2.2 adults rating and 12.4 million viewers.

CBS saw the biggest dips of the night, though the 8 p.m. hour was relatively steady. How I Met Your Mother (2.6) was down a tenth of a point from three weeks ago, while Rules of Engagement (2.0) shed two tenths. 2 Broke Girls (2.3), hitting a series low, was down seven tenths of a point at 9 p.m. Mike & Molly (2.2), also at a series low, lost four tenths. Hawaii Five-0 tied its low, down three tenths of a point to a 1.8 rating. The network averaged a 2.1 rating in the demo and 7.2 million viewers.

Pre-emptions in Boston and Hartford, Conn., had little effect on Fox’s lineup. Bones (1.9) and The Following (2.1) were both down by a tenth of a point. The network averaged a 2.0 rating in adults 18-to-49 and 6.5 million viewers.

Oh Sit! (0.4) returned a tenth of a point shy from its series premiere last summer, and 90210 (0.2) was even with its most recent original more than a month ago. The CW averaged a 0.3 rating and 822,000 viewers.

Univision pulled a 1.4 rating and 3.5 million viewers.