Greys Anatomy on ABC was the most-watched series Thursday night, but the NCAA Mens Basketball Tournament put CBS on top for the night.

Greys averaged 7.8 million viewers, according to Nielsen ratings released Friday afternoon. The viewing levels fell off for the ABC dramas that followed: Scandal with 5.4 million and The Catch with 3.4 million.

CBS aired Oregons close win over Michigan (7.1 million viewers) and Kansas blowout victory over Purdue (6.6 million). Cables TBS aired the other Sweet 16 games Thursday. The games across CBS and TBS averaged 11.2 million viewers Thursday up 17 percent from last year. It was the third most-watched coverage for the day in 24 years.

NBCs standouts were Superstore (4.1 million) and Blacklist: Redemption (4 million). Foxs best was MasterChef Junior with 3.8 million.

The prime-time averages for the broadcast networks: CBS with 6.9 million, ABC with 5.6 million, NBC with 4 million, Fox with 2.9 million and The CW with 850,000 for Supernatural reruns. But CBS easily won the 18-to-49 age group with the NCAA.

In Orlando, the top telecast was Greys Anatomy with 139,489 viewers, according to Nielsen ratings supplied to the Sentinel. Other favorites were Fox News Tucker Carlson Tonight with 89,072, Scandal with 82,631, Fox News Hannity with 80,753 and Fox News The OReilly Factor with 75,486.

With the local 18-to-49 age group, Greys and Scandal were the favorites. They were followed by Bobs Burgers on Adult Swim, Telemundos El Chema and the Kansas-Purdue game.

hboedeker@orlandosentinel.com

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'Grey's Anatomy,' NCAA: Ratings leaders - Orlando Sentinel - Orlando Sentinel