For the first time in sweeps history NBC finished fifth in the key adults 18-49 demographic according to Deadline.com.
Sweeps is considered the most important time of the year for TV networks like NBC. For three separate four-week periods every year, Nielsen surveys the nation's television watching habits, which causes network heads and writers to bring guest-stars in and end episodes more dramatic than usual.
NBC had been riding high after they won November sweeps due to "Sunday Night Football" and shows like "The Voice."
"This is a great thing for our morale, if nothing else," Bob Greenblatt, chairman of NBC Entertainment, said to the Associated Press in November. "But I'm the first one to say there will be ups and downs for the next few years."
Since then however, the network has reached new lows that surprised even the network's top competitors.
February sweeps were won by CBS, which averaged a 1.2 rating, largely due to the ratings the Super Bowl earned and shows like "The Big Bang Theory." Fox finished second with a 2.0 and ABC was third with a 1.7 according to Deadline.
AMC's low-budget "Talking Dead," a live talk show that discusses the network's hit program "The Walking Dead," fared better than big-budget shows like "Revenge," "CSI," and "Glee."
"You get the feeling that it's never gonna be possible to move the needle again,"Greenblatt said according to The Huffington Post. "You just keep fighting against the forces that are coming at you in a crowded environment, with more programming on more networks than in the history of our business, and you start to feel like it's never gonna be possible to do anything dramatic."
NBC is hoping to bounce back in a big way when "Revolution" and "The Voice" return next month.
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