• by Wayne Friedman , April 26, 2013

Although NBC made some rating improvement this season -- in terms of ranking among all broadcast networks -- it has a long way to go.

CBS remains in first place with a 3.0 rating, down just 3% versus last season in the L7 data. Fox is in second place, down 22% to a 2.5 number, followed by NBC at a 2.4 rating; ABC with a 2.2 rating, off 8% from a year ago; and CW at a 0.7 rating, off 13%.

Looking at total viewers, CBS remained No. 1, at 12.078 million viewers. ABC was next at 7.830 million, followed by Fox at 7.079 million, NBC at 7.035 million, and CW at 1.794 million.

Through 30 weeks of the season, NBC is now in third place with a 2.4 rating among 18-49 viewers when looking at Nielsen's live program-plus seven-day metric, down 8% versus a year ago.

However, it has renewed five key drama series, including “Parenthood,” “Grimm” and “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit." All have been given 22-episode orders.

The biggest drama for NBC has been first-year show "Revolution." NBC says that among adults 18-49 it scores a Nielsen 4.6 rating/12 share and 11.8 million viewers overall in “most current” averages for the season to date. On Mondays, the tag team of “Revolution” and the more-viewed show “The Voice" helped NBC climbed 24% to a 3.6 rating.

But in looking at commercial ratings plus three days of time-shifting (C3) -- the metric that is the "currency" for advertisers -- the data is much different. Among 18-49 viewers in the C3 metric, virtually all networks -- except for NBC -- are down by double-digit percentages versus a year ago.

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