ratings

Three nights of NBA finals with Miami facing San Antonio were the top programs in primetime. Sunday’s game was the week’s most-watched show, seen by 16.3 million viewers; Thursday’s game drew 16.2 million and Tuesday’s clash was seen by 14 million viewers.

Despite airing against very tough competition from the NBA Finals, NBC’s The Voice notched its biggest total viewers audience ever for a finale and drew a strong number in adults 18-49. The two-hour program posted a 4.3 18-49 rating at 9 p.m., down just a tenth from last spring’s season ender. It was the highest-rated episode of the show since April 22. It drew 15.3 million total viewers, 1 million more than the 14.3 million who watched the most recent American Idol finale. This year the Voice finale aired during the summer, while last year’s took place during the regular TV season, when viewership levels are higher.

Nielsen isn’t abandoning set-top-box (STB) data, but it is substantially scaling back plans to use it for local measurement. It boils down to the need for speed. In the 55 largest markets, Nielsen has determined — at least for now — that it’s not possible to collect and process the data quickly enough to continue with overnight ratings, a major client need. So, Nielsen has altered the new “hybrid” system it laid out last summer.

In its penultimate episode of the fourth season, NBC’s The Voice saw its rating rise from last week, once again lifting the network to a nightly victory. Voice averaged a 3.5 adults 18-49 rating from 8 to 10 p.m., up 6 percent from a 3.3 last week. Last night was the final performance show of the season, and the program peaked with a 3.9 from 9 to 9:30 p.m. The finale will air tonight at 9 p.m.

The week ending June 9 saw few show escaping from the summer Nielsen blahs. Among the first-run shows able to claim ratings gains from a week earlier were Dr. Oz, Wendy Williams, Inside Edition, TMZ, Extra, Judge Judy and Wheel of Fortune.

The San Antonio Spurs are within one victory of claiming the NBA Finals title with a 114-104 win over the Miami Heat last night that drew strong numbers on ABC. The game averaged an 11.4 metered-market household rating, down slightly from a 12.0 for Miami’s win in game four on Thursday, the highest-rated game of the series so far. But it was up from the first three games, none of which drew more than a 10.6. And it lifted ABC to a dominant victory on the night in every demographic, against minimal competition.

The NBA Finals put up more dominant numbers on Thursday night. Game four of the series averaged a 5.9 adults 18-49 rating in primetime, with each half hour averaging more than the other major broadcast networks put together. It peaked with a 6.4 at 10:30 p.m. The Miami Heat beat the San Antonio Spurs 109-93 to even the series at two games apiece.

The Stanley Cup Finals got off to a thrilling start last night with a triple-overtime game that didn’t end until 1:06 a.m. The payoff was pretty good for NBC. The network finished first in primetime with the Chicago Blackhawks’ 4-3 victory over the Boston Bruins, which averaged a 2.4 adults 18-49 rating from 8 to 11 p.m. Note that overnight ratings do not account for time zone differences, and they do not include the post-primetime portion of the game. The numbers will probably adjust when final ratings are released later today. The game peaked with a 2.7 in its final half hour at 10:30 p.m.

It was another off year for broadcast. That’s certainly nothing new. Cumulative ratings for the Big Four networks have fallen seven of the past nine years. What’s different about this year is that, for only the second time in that span, basic cable ratings did not see an accompanying rise, indicating that viewers are being pulled away by other, non-TV things.

The NBA Finals once again topped the competition, though the series continues to see declines versus last year. The San Antonio Spurs’ 113-77 victory over the Miami Heat averaged a 10.0 household rating. That was the third-widest margin of victory in finals history, and it no doubt led to many viewers changing the channel on the rout. It was down from a 10.2 for game two and a 10.6 for game one, the only contest in the series that’s been close.

Rentrak Corp. today announced a multi-year local TV ratings contract with Rockfleet Broadcasting for three stations: ABC affiliate WVII and Fox affiliate WFVX Bangor, Maine (DMA 155), as well as […]

When a company is eager for FTC approval of a proposed acquisition, it’s a relief when a leading customer comes out in favor of it. Nielsen has to take heart from CBS’s top researcher David Poltrack supporting its proposed purchase of Arbitron.

NBC’s most popular show, approaching its season finale next week, had 11.3 million viewers for its Monday edition last week and 10.9 million on Tuesday. Both were enough to rank them within Nielsen’s top six shows for the week. Still, the two editions were below their averages for the season, even more among younger viewers. The show peaked at more than 14 million viewers in mid-April.

The Voice lifted The Winner Is … to decent numbers for the first of two sneak peeks. Voice was, as usual, the top program of the evening, and Winner finished as last night’s No. 2 show. Winner averaged a 1.9 adults 18-49 rating at 10 p.m., winning its timeslot and finishing 0.5 ahead of the No. 2 program in the hour, ABC’s Mistresses. Winner became summer’s top debut so far on any network and the best summer bow on NBC since American Ninja Warrior in May 2012.

The week ending June 2 saw few higher Nielsens. Among the upbeat from a week earlier were Live with Kelly and Michael, Divorce Court and off-net Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, Friends and some weekly hours.

NEW YORK (AP) — CBS’ Tony Awards telecast saw viewership jump to 7.24 million people, the show’s largest audience in four years. According to preliminary Nielsen figures released Monday, Sunday’s […]

It seems as though a pattern is developing for these NBA Finals: Good numbers, though not nearly as good as last year. Sunday night’s game two, airing on ABC from 8 to 10:30 p.m., averaged a 10.2 household rating, down from a 10.6 for Thursday’s opener, which was a much closer contest. It was also off 14% from last year’s game two between the Miami Heat and Oklahoma City Thunder, which drew the best game two rating since 2004, an 11.8.

The NBA Finals tipped off last night with the third-highest game one overnight rating since 2004. The contest averaged a 10.6 household rating, peaking with a 13.1 from 11:30 to 11:45 p.m. during the final 15 minutes of the San Antonio Spurs’ victory. The San Antonio Spurs scored a 92-88 victory over the Miami Heat, the defending NBA champions. The game one rating was off 10 percent from last year, when the Heat squared off with the Oklahoma City Thunder and drew an 11.8, the highest rating for any game one since ABC acquired NBA rights in 2003.

Fox dominated the limp competition last night, nearly doubling the rating for the No. 2 broadcast network. Fox averaged a 2.2 adults 18-49 rating and 7 share in primetime, well ahead of No. 2 Univision with a 1.4/4. Fox’s MasterChef was the No. 1 show of the night, airing from 8 to 10 p.m. and averaging a 2.2. It peaked with a 2.5 in its final half hour. Showing just how dominant MasterChef was, the No. 2 show of the night, Univision’s Amores Verdaderos, managed a 1.6.

America’s Got Talent and The Voice proved a potent combination for NBC last night. Talent averaged a 3.1 adults 18-49 rating from 9 to 11 p.m., finishing as broadcast’s No. 1 program of the night. The season premiere of the reality show was off 16% from last year, when it bowed to a 3.7, though that was during the regular season, when TV viewing levels tend to be higher. It was the lowest-rated season premiere in the show’s eight-year history, but it did top last year’s bow in total viewers, up 5% to 11.1 million. Still, it’s a very good rating for a summer show, and it even built on its Voice lead-in.

Many shows were down in the May sweeps compared to their May 2012 results. Among first-run shows posting gains included Wendy Williams, Live with Kelly and Michael, Ellen, Jeopardy and Family Feud.

It’s a remarkable time of viewer experimentation at a time of day when habits are often difficult to break. During a newsy month, May, NBC’s Today is still the A.M. leader by a slight margin. ABC’s Good Morning America averaged 5.7 million viewers, up 10% from 2012. Meanwhile, CBS This Morning averaged a little more than 3 million viewers in May, up 19% over the 2.53 million who were watching the same month last year, Nielsen said Tuesday.

It doesn’t appear that audiences will be wedded to Mistresses. ABC’s new drama about cheating spouses debuted to hum-drum numbers last night. Mistresses averaged a 1.2 adults 18-49 rating, tied for second in the 10 p.m. timeslot with Univision’s Que Bonito Amor. The show lost 29% of its lead-in from The Bachelorette, which averaged a 1.7 from 8 to 10 p.m., off 11% from last week’s season premiere.

With barely any new content on broadcast Sunday night, Fox earned an easy victory with its animated repeats. Fox was the only broadcast network to draw more than a 1.0 adults 18-49 rating, averaging a 1.3 rating and 4 share in primetime, according to Nielsen overnights. The network had the four highest-rated programs in primetime, all of them reruns. Back-to-back Family Guy repeats at 9 p.m. scored the best numbers, a 1.7 and 1.8, respectively. The Simpsons nabbed a 1.4 at 8, followed by a 1.3 for Bob’s Burgers at 8:30.

The trend lines continue to head in the right direction for the CBS Evening News With Scott Pelley, which remains in third place but has wrapped a second straight season of ratings growth.

Fox finished in first place for the third consecutive Thursday night, even though new show Does Someone Have to Go? plunged from last week’s already low debut. The network’s Hell’s Kitchen tied as the No. 1 program of the evening, averaging a 2.0 adults 18-49 rating. That was off 9% from last week. Someone averaged a 1.0 at 9 p.m., off 23% from last week.

When you look at the results of the past television season, you might just find something interesting. It looks very much like last year. And the year before that, and the year before that, and before that and so on. Over 90% of the top 200 adults 25-54 primetime programs airing during this season were on broadcast.

Healing in the Heartland, the benefit concert for victims of the Oklahoma tornado, drew a big audience to NBC last night. Heartland averaged 8.6 million total viewers at 9 p.m., the most-watched program of the evening. It also averaged a 1.9 adults 18-49 rating, second only to Fox’s MasterChef, which lifted that network to an easy nightly victory. Heartland raised more than $3 million for relief efforts, and it included appearances by a number of big-name artists, including Miranda Lambert, Darius Rucker and Vince Gill.

ABC won the week in primetime, averaging 6.5 million viewers, benefitting from Dancing with the Stars and the finales of Modern Family and The Middle. CBS was second with a 6.3 million viewer average, NBC had 5 million, Fox had 4.3 million, Univision had 3.5 million, Telemundo had 1.6 million, Ion Television had 1.2 million and the CW had 760,000.

Summer shows continued to generate relatively low ratings with the debut of CBS’s new Brooklyn D.A. and return of ABC’s Extreme Weight Loss (formerly called Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition.) Brooklyn managed just a 1.0 adults 18-49 rating at 10 p.m. last night, the network’s lowest-rated debut ever on the night. Weight did a bit better at 8 p.m., drawing a 1.2 in its new timeslot (it aired on Sundays last summer). That was off 20% from last year’s 1.5 premiere, though it did hold steady with last summer’s season finale in the demo.

Katie and Steve Harvey are only talkers to post week-to-week gains. Other first-run shows breaking the flat-to-down trend include TMZ, Dish Nation, Jeopardy and Baggage.

The first Monday of summer saw a couple of shows fall to new lows, no real surprise considering it was also Memorial Day, when TV viewing levels tend to be lower. NBC easily won the night with a 2.7 rating and 7 share, buoyed by The Voice, the night’s No. 1 show. Voice averaged a 3.1 from 8 to 10 p.m., a very strong rating for a summer show, but still a season low for the Monday edition, which has declined week to week for the past six outings.

Summer programming saw its official start on Thursday night — and Fox regained a demo edge with the time period premiere of Hell’s Kitchen. The series rose three tenths of a point from last week’s Monday outing, averaging a 2.1 rating with adults 18-49. The premiere of layoff reality show Does Someone Have to Go? (1.3 adults) lost a sizable portion of its lead-in, but still managed to top the 9 p.m. hour. Fox averaged a 1.7 rating with adults 18-49 and 4.3 million viewers.

It looks as though ABC and CBS will finish in a tie for No. 1 during the May sweeps, just as they did on the final night of the four-week period used to set local ad rates. ABC and CBS both averaged a 2.2 adults 18-49 rating and 7 share Wednesday. That likely means the two will end the sweeps in a tie as well. They were both averaging a 1.8 going into this week. Last night was the final night of sweeps and the official TV season.

On the strength of The Voice, NBC won the penultimate night of the May sweeps by a slight margin over ABC, which entered the night tied with CBS for No. 1 for the month. Voice averaged a 3.1 adults 18-49 rating at 9 p.m., its lowest-rated Tuesday episode of the season and down 11% from last week. But it was still easily the night’s No. 1 show, well ahead of No. 2 Dancing with the Stars, which aired a two-hour season finale.

About 14.3 million people watched Candice Glover’s victory over Kree Harrison in last week’s American Idol final episode of the season on Fox. Both the CBS drama NCIS and comedy The Big Bang Theory had more viewers. ABC couldn’t quite topple CBS last week, but saw some encouraging numbers: The season finale of Scandal had the largest audience ever for that show, while the Billboard Music Awards on Sunday had the highest viewership for that show in 10 years

With just days left to the May sweep, the 2012-13 season finishes with CBS pulling top bragging rights among adults 18-49 for the first time since 1991 — and fatigued reality shows like American Idol dragging former champ Fox down to second place.

Live with Kelly and Michael posted a double-digit gain in the week ending May 12, joining Wendy Williams and Anderson Live as the only talkers to record gains.

Last night’s final Dancing with the Stars performance show of the season surged to its best rating since its season premiere. Stars averaged a 2.5 adults 18-49 rating from 8 to 10 p.m., up 25% over last week. That was off 14% from part one of last year’s spring finale, but in line with the year-to-year declines the show has seen this season. The ABC reality show will air part two of its finale tonight.