Spotted Ratings, Sunday 3/2/14

WHAT MATTERS:

• ABC had another positive Oscar Sunday as the Academy Awards (a not time zone-adjusted 12.1) were exactly even with last year's preliminary 12.1 (which adjusted up to 13.0, then the highest number in three years). The preliminary average for the night was 10.2, edging last year's 10.1.
• UPDATE: Time zone-adjusted numbers are in: roughly 43 million viewers and a 12.9 adults 18-49 rating. In another illustration of the aging TV audience, it's the highest total viewership for Oscar in ten years, but the 18-49 rating is only in the middle of the pack across that span (and a tenth behind last year).
• FINALS: The show picked up two more ticks in final numbers, a big psychological move because it puts Oscar a single tenth ahead of last year's show. Red carpet coverage was, on average, similarly barely ahead of last year.

• As usual, CBS tried throwing The Amazing Race (1.5) at the show, and it managed to stay even with last week's premiere against the Olympics Closing Ceremony (and 21% below the 1.9 vs. Oscar last year). That could be considered a positive since Oscar is a much higher-rated opponent than the Olympics were, but the real key for this show is how it fares next week when it finally faces somewhat normal competition.

• On cable, the three scripted shows that went up against the awards all dropped slightly week-to-week.

FULL TABLE:

Info		Show						Timeslot		True
	A18-49	Skew	Last		LeLa	Rank	y2y	TLa	Ty2y
Oscar Red Carpet p1	3.1	27%					+7%	+121%	+94%	2.6
Oscar Red Carpet p2	4.5	31%					+5%	+200%	+150%	3.1
Oscar Red Carpet p3	6.9	33%					-5%	+393%	+200%	4.7
Academy Awards	13.1	38%					+1%	+923%	+709%	9.0
							ABC:	+648%	+480%
60 Minutes (R)	1.4	19%						+17%	-15%	1.2
The Amazing Race	1.5	31%	+0%	+0.0	+0.1	1/2	-21%	-6%	-40%	1.7
The Mentalist (R)	0.5	19%						+0%	-69%	0.7
The Good Wife (R)	0.4	18%						+0%	-74%	0.7
							CBS:	+3%	-48%
Dateline Sun (R)	0.9	27%						-69%	-14%	0.9
The Voice (R)	1.1	41%						-61%	-33%	1.5
							NBC:	-65%	-35%
Bob's Burgers (R)	0.7	45%						-36%	-50%	0.6
American Dad! (R)	0.7	51%						-36%	-56%	0.9
The Simpsons (R)	1.1	55%						-27%	-50%	1.3
Bob's Burgers (R)	1.1	60%						-52%	-39%	1.4
Family Guy (R)	1.3	62%						-50%	-32%	1.6
American Dad! (R)	1.1	58%						-58%	-35%	1.4
							Fox:	-46%	-43%
							Big4:	+77%	+89%
The Walking Dead	6.41	65%	-3%	-0.23		4/4	+13%
Talking Dead	2.58	65%	+6%	+0.15		2/4	+29%
True Detective	1.02	56%	-11%	-0.12		2/7	n/a
Girls	0.45	72%	-5%	-0.03		6/9	+11%

KEY (click to expand)

A18-49 - Adults 18-49 rating. Percentage of US TV-owning adults 18-49 watching the program.
Skew - Percentage of adults 18-49 within the show's total viewership.
Last - A18-49 difference (percent and numerical) from the show's previous episode.
LeLa - A18-49 difference between the show's lead-in and its lead-in for the previous episode.
Rank - The A18-49 rating's rank among the show's episodes so far this season.
y2y - Percent difference between A18-49 and the show's rating a year ago.
TLa - Percent difference between A18-49 and the network's rating in the timeslot one week ago.
Ty2y - Percent difference between A18-49 and the network's rating in the timeslot one year ago.
True - A metric that adjusts the A18-49 rating for overall viewing levels, competition and lead-in. PRELIMINARY CALCULATION. For finals, see SpotVault.

(R) - Repeat.

Much more detail on these numbers at the New Daily Spotted Ratings page.

More Spotted Ratings in the Index.