CBS said that it will take its first victory for a February sweeps period in more than a decade on Monday, saying that it had won its first February sweeps in the key 18-49 demographic since 1998.
The network also said that it had dominated in total viewership, scoring the top 31 scripted broadcasts in total viewers so far in February.
Meanwhile, NBC has fallen to fifth place, dropping behind Spanish-language network Univision in the key demo during the same February sweeps period.
During the February sweep so far, CBS jumped 41 percent in the demo from last February's sweeps — when the network came in second — for a 4.3 rating/12 share. In total viewers, the network remained in the top slot, climbing 35 percent over last year to average 15.5 million.
Among the ten top-rated and most-watched programs in February, CBS broadcast eight of them, led by the Super Bowl. (The Grammy Awards and "The Big Bang Theory" filled out the network's Top 10 entries.)
NBC, meanwhile, dropped 67 percent in the demo compared to last February's sweeps, falling to a 1.2/3 — a rather drastic change from last February, when the network came in first in the demo with a 3.6/10.
NBC also fell off 61 percent in total viewers compared to last year, with an average 4 million.
In fairness, last February NBC aired the Super Bowl, as well as the first four weeks of its hit singing competition "The Voice."
Those numbers place NBC in fifth place in the demo behind Univision, which has averaged a 1.5/4 in February as of Sunday, and in fourth place in total viewers.
CBS was also the only network to show year-to-year gains in ratings and total viewers among the four English-language networks. ABC was least affected by the declines, dropping off just four percent in the demo and one percent in total viewers.
