ratings

Fox’s Almost Human continued to slide in its third outing last night. The new drama averaged a 1.9 adults 18-49 rating, off 17% from last week’s 2.3. The show premiered to a 3.1 on Sunday, Nov. 17, before moving into its regular Monday timeslot the next night. The lower lead-in appeared to hurt Fox’s other new Monday night drama, Sleepy Hollow, which slipped 12% to a 2.2 at 9 p.m.

Against one of the highest-rated Sunday Night Football games of the season, ABC’s American Music Awards surged to a four-year high. The program averaged a 4.5 adults 18-49 rating from 8 to 11 p.m., up 32% from last year. It marked the highest-rated ceremony since 2009 in the demo, and it drew 12.9 million total viewers, the second-biggest audience for the show in 11 years. The AMAs also jumped to a nine-year high among teens 12-17, up 86% from last year, to a 5.4 rating.

The Fox drama gets a 32% lift after its football lead-in premiere, topping a 4.0 rating in the key demo.

With both new comedies seeing gains over last week, CBS won the final Thursday of the November sweeps. The 8:30 p.m. sitcom The Millers grew 8% over last week, to a 2.8 in adults 18-49. The growth is impressive considering lead-in The Big Bang Theory, the night’s top show with a 5.2 at 8 p.m., was flat to last week. The bump continued into the 9 p.m. slot, with CBS’s other new comedy on the night, The Crazy Ones, growing 4% over last week to a 2.2.

For all but a handful of shows on the Big Four, Wednesday was a night of declines. Every network had at least one show that fell week to week, and a few slid to season lows. ABC’s Modern Family suffered the biggest week-to-week dip, posting a 3.3 adults 18-49 rating. It was still easily the night’s top-rated show, but it also marked Family’s lowest rating since 2009.

Nothing like a little sweeps stunting to lift a network’s average. David Blaine: Real or Magic lifted ABC to an eight-week high on Tuesday night, tying for second place on the night with NBC. Blaine averaged a 2.5 adults 18-49 rating from 9:30 to 11 p.m., finishing first during the 90-minute chunk. The network averaged a 2.3 rating and 6 share for the night, its best Tuesday rating since premiere week. CBS won the night with a 2.5/7.

ESPN’s Monday Night Football game between the New England Patriots and Carolina Panthers averaged 15.77 million total viewers, according to Nielsen, a season high and up from 10.96 million for last week’s contest between the Miami Dolphins and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It was the most-watched show of the night on broadcast or cable, topping ABC’s Dancing with the Stars, the night’s No. 2 show with 13.8 million. MNF also finished as the night’s top show in 18-49s, drawing a 5.8 rating, nearly two points better than the 3.9 last week’s contest averaged.

As expected, Fox’s new drama Almost Human took a big hit in its second episode last night. The show averaged a 2.2 adults 18-49 rating, according to Nielsen, down 29% from the 3.1 it posted in Sunday night’s debut. The dip wasn’t a surprise. Human’s premiere had a huge lead-in from the end of Fox’s NFL coverage, which averaged a 5.3 at 7:30 p.m. Last night Human led off the night with no such support.

Categorize this under “as expected.” Fox moved two veteran shows to Friday, and both saw their ratings plummet. Bones averaged a 1.2 adults 18-49 rating in its new 8 p.m. Friday timeslot, off 43% from what it had averaged on Mondays so far this season. Meanwhile, Raising Hope made its season debut with back-to-back episodes at 9 p.m., where it struggled to a 0.7 for each. That was off a full point from last fall’s bow on Tuesday night.

With a big lead-in from NFL coverage, Fox’s new drama Almost Human debuted to solid, though not spectacular, numbers Sunday night. The new show posted a 3.1 adults 18-49 rating in its 8 p.m. slot, making it Fox’s second-highest-rated new show premiere this fall, behind Sleepy Hollow, which drew a 3.5. While that’s a good number, Fox does have some cause for concern. The show’s rating declined 18% from its first to its second half hour, from a 3.4 to a 2.8.

NBC’s Thursday comedies continue to struggle. All three tied series lows last night. Parks and Recreation returned from a four-week hiatus with a 1.2 for back-to-back episodes at 8 p.m., down a tenth from its most recent original. Lead-out Sean Saves the World posted a 1.0 at 9 p.m., sliding 29% from last week’s 1.4, which was fueled by a much stronger lead-in, an episode of The Voice. And The Michael J. Fox Show posted a 1.0 at 9:30, even to last week.

These days most overnight ratings stories are a recitation of what show dropped what percentage from last week. But last night a number of programs bucked that common trend. Shows on ABC, CBS, Fox, the CW and NBC saw notable growth compared to their most recent episodes.

It might be time for Iron-Man or Thor to make a ratings-grabbing appearance on Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. The new ABC drama fell to a series low last night, continuing the ratings declines that have plagued the program since its promising premiere in September. S.H.I.E.L.D. averaged a 2.2 adults 18-49 rating at 8 p.m., off 12% from last week and 0.7 behind NCIS, which easily won the timeslot.

Nielsen said Fox’s primetime average of 3.8 million viewers last week was smaller than any recorded by ABC, CBS, NBC or Fox in November. Fox also finished fourth among the young viewers that are its most sought-after audience. CBS won the week in prime time, averaging 11.4 million viewers. NBC had 8.6 million viewers, ABC had 7.9 million; Univision had 3.2 million; the CW had 1.6 million; Telemundo had 1.3 million and Ion Television had 1.2 million.

CBS’s Monday rating was down a tenth from last week as three of its five shows suffered declines last night. Mike & Molly saw the biggest dip, off 15% from last week’s season premiere to a 2.2 in the 9 p.m. slot. That took a small toll on lead-out Mom, which fell a tenth from last week to a 1.9. Earlier in the evening, How I Met Your Mother slid 9% from last week to a 3.1, though it was still CBS’s top show of the night and the No. 2 program on broadcast for the evening.

ABC, the network that entered sweeps in fourth place among adults 18-49, has the early lead in the demo. During the first full week of sweeps, through Nov. 6, the most recent numbers available from Nielsen, ABC held a very narrow lead over second-place NBC, which has finished first among 18-49s all but one week this fall. ABC is averaging a 2.4 18-49 rating, with NBC right behind at 2.3. CBS is in third with a 2.2, and Fox trails in a distant fourth with a 1.3.

NBC continued its fall Sunday domination thanks to primetime pro-football rights, topping the night in both ratings and viewers. CBS was second in both categories. Fox, the third network that carries the NFL on Sundays, came in third in ratings. Though due to the nature of live sports, their numbers are approximate. ABC was fourth in ratings.

There’s nothing like an extra episode of The Voice to perk up NBC’s lineup. The network scheduled a special edition of the show last night, replacing Parks and Recreation and the now-canceled new sitcom Welcome to the Family, and it gave the entire Thursday night a lift. Voice averaged a 2.7 adults 18-49 rating at 8 p.m., a season low but easily the highest-rated Thursday night program on NBC this season.

He’s far ahead of David Letterman and Jimmy Kimmel in total viewers and 18-49s this season, a lead he’ll hand off to replacement Jimmy Fallon next year.

Moving to Wednesday after airing on Thursday last year, ABC’s Country Music Association Awards drew very strong numbers last night. The program averaged a 4.7 adults 18-49 rating in primetime, up 24% over last year, when it drew a 3.8. That gave ABC its fifth Wednesday victory in seven weeks, and marked the first time the network has won the first Wednesday of sweeps in six years. The show peaked with a 5.0 from 10 to 10:30 p.m., outdrawing the other four broadcast networks in the timeslot combined.

It’s far in front among adults 18-49 but just barely ahead of Fox in 18-34s and CBS in 25-54s. Can those other networks catch up?

CBS averaged 10.5 million for the week in primetime. Fox had 7.7 million, ABC and NBC tied at 7.43 million, Univision had 3.2 million, the CW had 1.6 million, Ion Television had 1.21 million and Telemundo had 1.2 million.

Rookie court show Paternity Court with judge Lauren Lake from MGM’s Orion TV Productions is gaining steam five weeks since its premiere. Its week-to-week rating was up 20% in the […]

Most in the two genres post ratings increases from the previous week. Among shows hitting new season highs in the week ending Oct. 27 were Inside Edition, Access Hollywood, Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy, Paternity Court, Divorce Court, Family Feud and Judge Alex.

The majority of broadcast shows declined on Monday night, including four new shows, but two veteran scripted programs notched big gains. Both Castle and How I Met Your Mother were up double-digit percentages over the previous week. ABC’s Castle hit a season high with a 2.4 adults 18-49 rating at 10 p.m., up 14% over last week. CBS’s Mother grew 13% to a 3.4, finishing as the No. 2 show of the night behind NBC’s The Voice. It was Mother’s highest-rated episode since its premiere. But most other shows on broadcast saw declines last night.

It was a night of gains for drama series on broadcast last night. All three of ABC’s dramas and CBS’s The Good Wife hit their best numbers in weeks. Wife matched a season high with a 1.6 adults 18-49 rating at 10 p.m. The show was pushed back by NFL overrun, which lasted until 7:59 p.m. and bumped CBS’s entire lineup back an hour. Earlier in the night, ABC’s Once Upon a Time posted a 2.3, its best rating in two weeks and up 5% over last week in the 8 p.m. slot. Lead-out Revenge drew a 1.7 at 9 p.m., up 21% over last week to its best rating since Oct. 6.

The final game of the World Series, won by the Boston Red Sox, pulled big ratings on Fox last night, and that led to lower ratings for every other broadcaster. Fox easily won the night with a 5.4 adults 18-49 rating and 15 share, more than double the No. 2 network, CBS, with a 2.2/6. The big ratings for the World Series probably mean people skipped watching scripted shows for sports and are planning to catch up on their DVRs, so it will be interesting to see what the three-day DVR playback levels are for last night. Nearly every original show on the Big Three networks was down from last week.

For the first time in the history of Nielsen’s people meter, which goes back to 1987, NBC has won the first six Tuesdays of the season among adults 18-49. The network finished first last night once again on the strength of The Voice, its hit singing competition, on an evening when ABC was largely in repeats and Fox ran a special edition of The X Factor, which usually airs Wednesday and Thursday.

With four Series games finishing among Nielsen’s top 20 programs last week, Fox was the most-watched network in primetime, averaging 11.4 million viewers. CBS had 9.5 million viewers, NBC had 7.7 million, ABC had 6.8 million, Univision had 3.2 million, the CW had 1.7 million, Telemundo had 1.2 million and Ion Television had 1.1 million.

With Dr. Phil in first, a number of other gab fests posted week-to-week gains and new season highs in the week ending Oct. 20.

Game 5 of the World Series lifted Fox into a tie for first place Monday night with NBC, which had finished No. 1 on the night for the first five weeks of the fall season. Both networks averaged a 3.8 adults 18-49 rating and 10 share. NBC’s The Voice was the evening’s top program with a 4.1 from 8 to 10 p.m., down a tenth from last week. The World Series contest drew a 3.8 in primetime, even with the most recent Game 5 two years ago. That number will change when final numbers are released later this afternoon, though, because overnights measure only timeslot data and do not account for time zone differences.

When Fox, last week, gave a full season order to Dads — a comedy averaging just 3.4 million viewers — some industry watchers were scratching their heads. In another puzzler, earlier this month the network gave its other rookie comedy Brooklyn Nine-Nine (averaging a 1.6 rating in the advertiser-preferred 18-49 demo) a full-season order — and awarded it the coveted post-Super Bowl slot in February. Say hello to the new primetime landscape.

NBC’s The Blacklist isn’t just a ratings winner or a critical success. It is also the first television series to perpetually push Live+7 audience measurement to the forefront of program evaluation by the press and other related businesses.

Sunday night was all about sports on the broadcast networks. Fox appeared to snap NBC’s eight-week winning streak on the night with coverage of Game 4 of the World Series between the Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Cardinals. Fox averaged a 5.1 adults 18-49 rating and 13 share in primetime, just ahead of NBC’s 4.5/11.

CBS’s The Big Bang Theory was Thursday night’s top non-baseball show, even though it, like many programs on broadcast last night, suffered declines against Game 2 of the World Series. Bang” averaged a 4.9 adults 18-49 rating at 8 p.m. That was off 6% from last week and marked a new season low for the show, no surprise considering the additional competition. Lead-out The Millers was also off from last week, 13% to a 2.8, but it was second in the timeslot to Fox’s World Series coverage.

Boston’s 8-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday drew an 8.6 national rating, a 14 share and 14.4 million viewers. The rating was up 13% from the 7.6/12 for San Francisco’s 8-3 victory over Detroit last year, which was a record low for a World Series opener.

The ratings battle for the most popular syndicated talk show is shaping up to be a tight one this fall, with a rising Ellen and Live With Kelly & Michael now within striking distance of Dr. Phil.

Fox’s World Series dominated the other networks Wednesday night. Fox led every half hour during primetime, at least according to early numbers. Among the also-rans, CBS led the pack, with the 300th episode of CSI matching a season high at 10 p.m. CSI averaged a 2.1 adults 18-49 rating, up a tenth from last week and finishing ahead of ABC and NBC in the timeslot. CBS’s Criminal Minds was the night’s top drama with a 2.7 at 9 p.m., even to last week.