ratings

The season finale of NBC’s Manifest drew its largest same-day audience since its premiere in January and helped NBC lead all three hours of primetime among adults 18-49. CBS’s lineup also recorded more solid ratings, while ABC and The Fox aired mostly repeats.

American Idol and CBS’s country music special ACM Presents: Our Country vied for first place in a relatively quiet night for TV ratings, as ABC’s  The Rookie drew more Live+Same Day viewers than it has ever done before.

Working with partners including Nexstar, Comscore says the new service provides preliminary ratings within 48 hours of a telecast to “empower local TV to plan and evaluate with more immediacy.”

The end came with a bang for police procedural Hawaii Five-0, as the CBS series capped off ten years of action with a solid evening to top the Friday ratings. A new version of the original series (which lasted 12 years), this edition of Hawaii Five-0 bowed in Sept. 2010. It scored a solid 0.9 and had the largest total audience of the night by far. Lead-in MacGyver benefited from the anticipation, itself scoring an impressive 0.8. Blue Bloods capped the evening with an 0.7.

CBS’s Broke debuted to strong numbers Thursday, drawing the biggest audience for a comedy series premiere this season. Man With a Plan also delivered strong premiere numbers, and Young Sheldon, Mom and Tommy all hit season highs and ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy turned in solid numbers.

The Masked Singer scored its best ratings since a post-Super Bowl episode two months ago, leading Wednesday’s primetime in both adults 18-49 and total viewers. CBS’s Survivor also continued its strong recent performance as the two unscripted shows topped a night where NBC aired reruns of its Chicago dramas.

The ratings renewal covers all of Sinclair’s TV stations, regional sports networks and the Cable Channel.

CBS was the only English-language network to air a full night of original episodes Tuesday, and it dominated the primetime ratings. FBI set season highs in both total viewers (10.81 million) and adults 18-49 (1.2 rating), topping last week’s numbers (10.67 million and 1.1). The episode also featured a relatively rare cross-network crossover, as Tracy Spiridakos guest-starred as her Chicago PD character (both shows are produced by Dick Wolf).

A Comscore analysis of preliminary data from five of the top 25 markets, show that viewing levels are up nearly 10% at 6 a.m. this year compared to a year ago, and that growth continues as the day progresses.

NBC’s The Voice and ABC’s The Good Doctor both grew their total audiences Monday, with the latter setting a 12-month high in total viewers for the second straight week. CBS got OK numbers for a primetime special from The Late Late Show‘s James Corden.

The Media Rating Council (MRC) this morning published a notice advising media audience measurement services to have “objective criteria in place” to ensure they maintain “data quality in the face of unprecedented challenges presented by the current coronavirus crisis.”

Fox got solid returns from its iHeart Living Room Concert for America special on Sunday. The hour-long fundraiser topped the second hour of American Idol head to head and delivered Fox’s largest audience of the season in the 9 p.m. hour. Idol, meanwhile, came down slightly week to week, while CBS’s 60 Minutes drew more than 10 million viewers for the third consecutive week.

There are only a couple of episodes left of crime drama Hawaii Five-0 before it paddles into the sunset. But it’s not going quietly. Last night’s episode was highlighted by a guest shot from everyone’s favorite internet meme, Chuck Norris. The episode was originally scheduled to air with the show’s finale on April 3, but was bumped up because of the NCAA men’s basketball cancellation. The new time slot worked, as the episode soared to an 0.9 and had, by far, the night’s largest total audience.

The season finale of A Million Little Things on Thursday brought in the ABC show’s largest total audience since November. It helped ABC lead every hour of primetime in total viewers and score the top spot in adults 18-49.

Audiences are returning to Friday and Saturday nights amid a crisis, while network staples lift across the board and broadcast news hits decade highs.

NBC’s Chicago Med and Chicago Fire each delivered their biggest overall audiences in more than four years on Wednesday. Survivor also grew, passing The Masked Singer in total viewers on another heavy night of broadcast viewing amid widespread stay-home mandates during the coronavirus pandemic.

The season finale of This Is Us delivered its best same-day ratings in months on Tuesday. CBS’s entire lineup hit or tied season highs in both total viewers and adults 18-49 as widespread stay-at-home mandates during the coronavirus pandemic continue to drive viewing.

According to data from Nielsen, live viewing of local news in the top 25 markets was up 52% in the first week of March among 18-34 year-olds compared to the same week in 2019, and up 83% in the second week of March.

ABC’s The Good Doctor hit its highest ratings of the season Monday, and American Idol also grew. The Voice stayed strong for NBC as linear TV continues its strong performance amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Nielsen analyzed viewing data across its Local People Meter markets, which are 25 of the largest local markets. For persons aged 2 and older, local news experienced a 7% viewership lift between early February and the week of March 9. Among persons 25-54, the spike was higher, at more than 10%. Perhaps most interesting however, is that the lift among younger persons aged 2-17 was 20%.

Thanks mostly to American Idol, ABC won another Sunday in the key demo’s TV ratings. Just like last week, 60 Minutes lifted CBS to a total-viewer victory.

Primetime ratings continued to soar Friday, as a locked down country turned to the tube to get some relief from the outside world’s pressures.

ABC’s entire lineup hit season highs in total viewers Thursday, and NBC’s Superstore and Will & Grace also recorded highs as coronavirus quarantines continue to drive linear TV viewing.

Same-day ratings for the networks improved again Wednesday, as every major English- and Spanish-language broadcaster gained viewers — even The CW’s lineup of repeats. Survivor had its best performance since last spring for CBS, The Masked Singer reached its biggest audience since its Super Bowl episode, and NBC’s Chicago dramas all had their best outings in more than a year.

As a result of people following the new “social distancing” guidelines and spending more time at home, the typical Daylight Saving Time slump was nonexistent this year. What’s more, broadcast networks have been posting across-the-board, week-to-week, Live+SD ratings increases the likes of which we had not seen in ages, and which had been considered a thing of the past amid the proliferation of streaming.

Tuesday night brought increased ratings for a number of network shows, consistent with the pattern of the past five days or so. Ellen’s Game of Games got the biggest boost, and its fellow shows on NBC, along with those on all the other broadcast networks, saw gains.

The Voice won its first head-to-head matchup with American Idol Monday, drawing season highs in both adults 18-49 and total viewers in the process. CBS’s The Neighborhood also had its best outing of the season, and Fox’s 9-1-1 picked up about where it left off.

CNN and Univision drew 10.8 million total average viewers for Sunday night’s Democratic debate between Sen. Bernie Sanders and former vice president Joe Biden, handing CNN its most-watched debate of the election cycle, according to Nielsen Fast National data.

Network TV audiences were up week to week again on Sunday, consistent with the past few nights as people stay home during the coronavirus pandemic. CBS’s 60 Minutes and ABC’s American Idol were the top shows on Sunday, both improving on last week’s total audiences. Fox’s animated shows were also up, as were two of CBS’ three dramas.

The good news is that more people in the choice demos appear to be watching television. The bad news is the reason why, the coronavirus. For now, television is the great national comforter, and that was reflected in the large audience for its offerings on Friday during primetime. ABC’s Shark Tank was the overall winner of the early results of Friday’s demo wars, clocking with an 0.8. But close behind were four programs with an 0.7.

Broadcast TV viewing was up across the board Thursday, possibly because more viewers stayed in as a precaution against the coronavirus outbreak. Nearly every show on the five English-language networks grew its audience vs. a week ago, and as a whole the five networks averaged about 7 percent more primetime viewers (17.56 million vs. 16.45 million) and grew by 11% in adults 18-49 (2.9 rating vs. 2.7). That runs counter to the usual pattern this time of year, when ratings tend to dip following the start of daylight saving time.

The Masked Singer led Wednesday’s primetime ratings in both adults 18-49 and total viewers, moving ahead of CBS’s Survivor for the first time in a month in the latter measure. The night also included a 15-minute presidential address on the coronavirus pandemic, meaning some program ratings are likely inaccurate.

The finale of The Bachelor edged last season’s closer in total viewers and dominated Tuesday’s primetime ratings among adults 18-49, carrying ABC to a victory in the key ad demographic. NBC’s This Is Us, meanwhile, recorded its lowest same-day ratings.

The first half of The Bachelor finale on Monday scored the show’s best same-day ratings of the season, giving ABC a big win among adults 18-49 in primetime. The show dominated NBC’s The Voice in the key ad demographic, though the latter still led the night in total viewers.

For the second time in three weeks, ABC’s The Rookie scored its biggest same-day audience of the season. American Idol also improved in total viewers, and the network scored a victory in primetime among adults 18-49.

Ratings for Grey’s Anatomy hit their highest mark since the ABC drama’s January return on Thursday for an episode that wrote out original castmember Justin Chambers.

ABC’s Volcano Live special Wednesday night didn’t bring much ratings heat, falling below Nik Wallenda’s last televised wire walk in June 2019. Fox’s The Masked Singer retained its spot as the night’s top show among adults 18-49 as the other broadcast networks were fairly steady.