The Sked: THURSDAY RATINGS March 1 -- Early Overnights

The metered-market overnights, the first ratings available each day, show that NBC's Awake finished in second place in the 10 pm hour to the repeat episode of The Mentalist on CBS.  Remember that the overnights reflect viewing in 56 of the largest television markets only (about half of the country), and the ratings and shares available are only for the broader measure of households.  Demographic ratings, most notably Adult 18-49 viewing, will come later this morning with the fast national ratings that we usually report.

At 10 pm last night, Awake averaged a 4.6 household rating and 8 share.  The Mentalist averaged a 6.0 household rating and 10 share, and the repeat of post-Oscar edition of Jimmy Kimmel Live averaged a 2.5 household rating and 4 share.

There was a little tune-out over the course of the premiere of Awake, a 4.7 household rating in the 10:00 pm half hour and 4.5 at 10:30, but nothing to get too concerned about.           

The million dollar question is how many young viewers were in those households?  This is also known as the 18-49 "comp" (or audience composition).  A show like The Mentalist is very old-skewing (similar to the CSI shows or Harry's Law), and that 6.0 household rating will probably translate to an 18-49 rating around 1.8 or so.

Awake will probably be a middle-range drama in terms of young adult skew (similar to Law & Order SVU), meaning the 4.6 household rating will turn into a 2.4 rating or so, enough to pass The Mentalist for top honors among the broadcast networks in the hour and close to our ShowBuzzDaily forecast.

Keep coming back for more details.

###