It took 11 nights, but the Sochi Olympics finally posted an advantage over the last Winter Games in Vancouver. After trailing the 2010 games throughout the run, Monday's primetime coverage was improved from the comparable night in the last games. Coupled with Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show debut, it was a big night for NBC.
Fast National returns give the primetime coverage a 5.6 rating among adults 18-49, up 4 percent from Vancouver, and 23.5 million -- up 11 percent. All in all, Sochi still trails Vancouver by both measures.
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The race for second place went to ABC with an average 2.0 rating among adults 18-49 and 7.7 million viewers. The Bachelor (2.2 adults) was off a tenth of a point from last week, while Castle (1.7 adults) shed four-tenths in its first outing against the Olympics.
Both Fox dramas Almost Human (1.6 adults) and The Following (1.7 adults) matched last week's lows -- with Fox pulling a 1.7 rating with adults 18-49 and 5.2 million viewers for the night.
CBS was entirely in encores, while the CW scheduled midseason debut Star-Crossed against the games. Though the hour, previously occupied by Hart of Dixie, brought viewership high (1.24 million) this season, Star-Crossed still stumbled out of the gate with a 0.4 rating among adults 18-49. A new Beauty and the Beast (0.3 adults) followed.
