NBC’s primetime Monday coverage of the Tokyo Olympics averaged 12.8 million total viewers (per fast nationals), marking the summer games’ best preliminary numbers since Thursday and the fifth-best tallies out of the first 11 nights.
Discovery President-CEO David Zaslav ramped up his ire for TV ratings giant Nielsen during a Tuesday conference call tied to Discovery’s second-quarter earnings. The future calls for “better data” than the long-standing measurement currency company offers, Zaslav said. “Unfortunately, Nielsen is a whiff. And it’s just massively disappointing. We have lost money. Everyone has lost money. You’re dealing with a very antiquated delivery system.”
NBC’s primetime coverage of Wednesday’s Tokyo Olympics averaged 11.7 million total viewers (and a 2.7 demo rating), down about 15% from the preliminary numbers for the night prior.
CBS’s Love Island drew 1.63 million total viewers and a 0.4 demo rating, ticking up on both counts week-to-week and hitting a Tuesday high for this season in the demo. Over on NBC, coverage of the Tokyo Olympics drew 13.6 million total viewers and a 3.2 demo rating, right on par with Monday night’s preliminary numbers (which marked the summer games’ first decline).
Ratings for NBC’s telecasts of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo are down significantly from 2016 but still among the most-watched TV events of the year.
Although NBA Finals viewing was up from a year ago, it was down big time from 2019 — registering the fourth-least-watched NBA Finals ever, according to Nielsen data. The silver lining is that streaming data showed continued growth.
Exclusives
The CW’s Walker this week drew 1.2 million total viewers — its largest audience in 10 episodes (dating back to March 18) — while also ticking up to a 0.2 demo rating. CBS’s Big Brother (3.7M/0.9) was steady week-to-week and led Thursday in both measures.
Samba TV, a global provider of omniscreen advertising and analytics, has launched its global Real-time TV Viewership Dashboard, an interactive TV analytics dashboard featuring geographic and demographic analysis of viewership in real-time across the world, starting with four of the largest media markets: the U.S., U.K., Germany and Australia. “The Olympics this year will underscore […]
Unscripted programs ruled Wednesday evening as CBS’s Big Brother and ABC’s The $100,000 Pyramid marked the evening’s highest-rated and most-watched titles, respectively.
ABC’s coverage of the sixth and deciding NBA Finals match-up Tuesday drew nearly 9 million viewers along with a 2.8 demo rating (per Nielsen fast affiliates), easily marking the series’ best numbers. That’s up sharply from last year’s Game 6 clincher (which aired in October), but on pace to be a far cry from 2019’s numbers.
The industry group that represents major television networks is calling on the nonprofit Media Rating Council to strip Nielsen’s accreditation in an unprecedented escalation of a months-long feud centered on the accuracy of Nielsen ratings. On Wednesday morning, the Video Advertising Bureau, which counts A+E Networks, Disney, Fox, NBCUniversal and ViacomCBS (among others) as members, delivered a letter to the MRC demanding that it suspend its accreditation of Nielsen’s national ratings service due to the measurement firm’s handling of its in-home panel. That panel, which serves as the backbone of Nielsen’s television measurement products, has been cast into doubt since at least March 2020.
Spectrum Reach, the advertising sales business of Charter Communications, will use Comscore as its preferred source for local audience measurement currency, beginning in its Southeast region. “The industry is ripe to move past traditional measurement models of age and gender to more data-driven, audience-based metrics,” said Beth Plummer, Spectrum Reach SVP-chief revenue officer. “Spectrum Reach believes […]
The CW‘s The Republic of Sarah this Monday drew 330,000 total viewers and a 0.1 demo rating, improving on last week’s series lows. Over on ABC, The Bachelorette (3.7M/0.9) led the night in both measures.
CBS’s Big Brother this Sunday drew 3.4 million total viewers and a 0.8 demo rating, dipping week-to-week yet still led the night in the demo. Love Island (1.4M/0.3) added eyeballs week-to-week while steady in the demo. Opening CBS’s night, 60 Minutes delivered Sunday’s biggest audience: 5.7 million.
CBS’s Big Brother this Thursday drew 3.6 million total viewers and a 0.8 demo rating, up in viewers and steady in the demo vs. Wednesday, and topping the night in both measures.
ABC’s Wednesday-night coverage of the NBA Finals Game 4 easily hit an audience high for this year’s championship series, drawing 7.4 million total viewers (per fast affiliate numbers). That total will of course swell once the Nielsen finals trickle in.
Fox’s coverage of the MLB All-Star Game on Tuesday averaged 6.76 million total viewers (per fast affiliates), down just a tick from the prelim numbers for the 2019 contest (7.1M).
The CW’s The Republic of Sarah with its fifth episode drew 220,000 total viewers and a 0.0 demo rating, marking series lows. ABC’s The Bachelorette (3.6M/0.9) led Monday in both measures, rising from last week to hit and match its second best numbers of the season.
ABC’s coverage of the NBA Finals dominated Sunday, though Game 3 — with 6.4 million total viewers with a 1.8 demo rating, per preliminary numbers. Trailing was this season’s first Sunday installment of Big Brother, which did 3.7M — up 23% from last summer’s Sunday opener — and a 0.8. Leading out of that, Love Island (1.33M/0.3) was steady in the demo yet posted its smallest audience of the season.
The first Thursday installment of CBS‘s Love Island Season 3 drew 1.64 million viewers and a 0.3 demo rating — up 11% and steady versus the same night last summer. ABC’s coverage of the NBA Finals Game 2 dominated Thursday in both total viewers and in the demo, posting 7M and 2.2 in preliminary numbers
The television attribution provider and ad monitoring company is based in Paris. The companies said that TVTY will complement and expand Nielsen’s TV attribution and ad intel services.
CBS’s Big Brother opened Season 23 with 4 million total viewers and a 1.0 rating — up 10% in audience from last summer’s premiere while steady in the demo, and leading Wednesday in both measures.
ABC’s coverage of the NBA Finals opener averaged 6.4 million total viewers and a 2.1 rating, down 13% and 18% from the preliminary numbers for last year’s Game 1 (which was pandemic-delayed until August) yet still easily topping Tuesday in the demo. NBC’s America’s Got Talent (6.9M/0.8) slipped two tenths in the demo yet managed to deliver Tuesday’s largest audience.
NBC’s coverage of Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final averaged 2.6 million total viewers on Monday night, up 30% from Friday’s Game 3 to mark the Canadiens/Lightning series’ largest audience thus far. Over on ABC, The Bachelorette (3.3M/0.7) added a few eyeballs while steady in the demo, leading Monday in both measures.
Fox’s Beat Shazam this week scored a 0.4 rating while drawing 1.8 million total viewers, holding steady and topping Thursday in the demo. Over on CBS, a Young Sheldon rerun delivered the night’s biggest audience: 3.4 million viewers.
Fox’s MasterChef was steady with 2.7 million total viewers and a 0.6 rating, topping Wednesday in the demo. Over on ABC, $100,000 Pyramid (3.4M/0.4) delivered the night’s biggest audience.
NBC’s America’s Got Talent this Tuesday drew 6.8 million total viewers and a 1.0 rating, ticking up in the demo week-to-week and again dominating the night in both measures. Leading out of that, College Bowl (2.5M/0.4) ticked down from its debut.
ABC’s The Celebrity Dating Game in Week 3 drew 2 million total viewers and a 0.4 rating, down a tenth in the demo week-to-week. Opening ABC’s night, The Bachelorette (3.1M/0.7) slipped but still led Monday in the demo. CBS’s The Neighborhood rerun delivered the night’s largest audience, with 3.5 million viewers.
In what appears to be an industry first, the Advertising Research Foundation is teaming with seven industry research and/or media suppliers to conduct research on digital device usage and account sharing, which it plans to ultimately launch as a syndicated measurement service. As part of the announcement, the ARF said it would apply to the Media Rating Council to accredit the service in its “second year of execution.”
NBC’s coverage of the latest U.S. Olympics trials averaged a 1.0 rating on Sunday night — peaking with a 1.3 in the 9 o’clock hour, and leading all Sunday fare in the demo. Over on CBS, 60 Minutes delivered the night’s biggest audience, with 6.4 million viewers.
Astute observers of television say the idea of a unifying show on even a modest scale is gone. In its wake are a hundred Twitter niches — and a dangerous lack of common culture. Above, Kate Winslet as Mare in HBO’s Mare of Easttown. The show was a buzzy hit on social media this spring. But like so much of television, its reach was limited.
The 48th Daytime Emmy Awards live broadcast slipped a bit from last year’s viewership, and was soundly beaten in the Friday demo ratings by wrestling, the U.S. Olympic trials, two newsmagazines and even reality TV. Early returns show the CBS Daytime Emmys at an 0.2 in the night’s demo wars, down slightly from last year’s 0.3, when the awards show returned to primetime for the first time since 2011.
NBC’s on-the-bubble Good Girls resumed Season 4 on Thursday night with 1.6 million total viewers and a 0.3 demo rating, followed by a second episode’s 1.34M/0.3 — all told, pretty much on par with this season’s Sunday averages (1.5M/0.3). CBS’s United States of Al‘s Season 1 finale (3.7M/0.4) drew Thursday’s largest audience, while steady in the demo. ABC’s steady Holey Moley (2.6M/0.5) took the nightly demo win.
It’s the latest broadcast station group to throw its support behind adoption of “thousands” for buying and selling advertising on local TV.
