ABC is crowing because “Dancing with the Stars” drew more viewers Monday than the NCAA men’s basketball tournament championship on CBS. The Eye net still won the night in 18-49 ratings, while ABC won for total viewership.
The two broadcasts didn’t run head-to-head, so some viewers could have watched both, skipping the pre-game show to watch 90 minutes of ballroom dancing and 90 minutes of hoops. Since Michigan State led only once, and very briefly, the audience tailed off for the basketball championship as North Carolina dominated the game and won 89-72.
All in all, DWTS claimed 19.6 million viewers and gave ABC an average of 14.9 million for the evening, vs. 13.7 million for CBS. But CBS scored a strong 4.9/12 in the 18-49 demo. Fox was second, with a strong showing by “House,” holding ABC to third. ABC notes, however, that it won for Women 18-49.
