ratings

As it did the entire fall, NBC won Sunday night with football last night. But this victory came with smaller numbers. The Pro Bowl game averaged a 3.5 adults 18-49 rating from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. That was down slightly from last year. Those ratings are subject to adjustment, as fast nationals measure timeslot and not actual program data and do not account for time zone differences.

Rentrak Corp. today announced a multi-year local TV ratings contract with Morgan Murphy Media for its ABC affiliates in Yakima-Pasco-Richland-Kennewick, Wash. (DMA 122) KAPP and KVEW. “We are thrilled to be […]

Rentrak Corp. today announced a multi-year local TV ratings contract with Scripps Television for its ABC affiliate KERO Bakersfield, Calif. (DMA 126). Scripps first signed with Rentrak in August of […]

American Idol slid again last night, but it still powered Fox to an easy victory on a night littered with reruns. Idol averaged a 5.1 adults 18-49 rating at 8 p.m., down 9% from a 5.6 last week. Last night’s episode was only one hour, though, and last week’s was two hours, building to its top rating in the 9 p.m. hour. Compared to the 8 p.m. hour last week, Idol was down by 6% Compared to the same night last year, Idol was off 7% from a 5.5.

As expected, American Idol fell from last week’s season premiere, but not too far. The show was down 10% in its second Wednesday outing last night, leading Fox to victory in primetime. Idol averaged a 5.4 adults 18-49 rating, down from a 6.0 for last week’s debut. The show was off 16% from the same night last year.

In the week ending Jan. 13, Dr. Phil regained the top spot among talkers while Steve Harvey climbed 14%. Other strong performers included Ellen, OMG Insider, Judge Judy, Wheel and Big Bang.

ABC’s The Taste did something very few new shows have done this season: Finished as the No. 1 show of the night in its premiere. Of course, it came against weak competition, with CBS in reruns and the other networks offering lackluster fare. Still, it’s a good start for the new reality show, a sort of The Voice meets Top Chef cooking contest. Taste averaged a 2.2 adults 18-49 rating from 8 to 10 p.m. In a surprise that the network is sure to tout, Taste actually bested last fall’s season premiere of Dancing with the Stars, which drew a 2.1 in the same timeslot.

NBC News was the most-watched broadcast or cable television network, drawing an average of 5.081 million viewers during its 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. broadcast, according to Nielsen ratings. CBS News averaged 3.671 million; ABC News averaged 3.922 million.

Facial recognition technology has been around for years. But only recently has it been incorporated into TV sets by smart TV manufacturers like LG, Samsung and Panasonic. Nielsen is again actively exploring how to apply the technique to its TV ratings panel.

After all the hype, Fox’s new drama The Following debuted to good numbers Monday night. The show drew a 3.1 adults 18-49 rating at 9 p.m., tying CBS’s Elementary as the No. 2 new drama premiere this season. NBC’s Revolution, which aired behind hit show The Voice last fall, was the No. 1 bow with a 4.1 in September.

Sunday night decided the Baltimore Ravens will be facing the San Francisco 49ers in February’s Super Bowl, and the turnout gave CBS a small sampling of the ratings the big game will fetch. Fast National ratings, still subject to change, give the AFC Championship Game 41.5 million viewers and a 14.6 rating among adults 18-49. The special episode of Hawaii Five-0 that followed at 10 p.m. brought in a 4.1 rating in the demo. CBS topped the night, averaging adults 18-49 (11.9 rating) and 34.5 million viewers.

The much delayed start of the NHL season over protracted negotiations between players and the league scored for NBC. Saturday’s two-game regional coverage on the network (Chicago Blackhawks vs. Los Angeles Kings and Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Philadelphia Flyers) posted a 2.0 overnight rating from 3:30 to 6:15 p.m. ET. That was the highest overnight rating for regular-season coverage on any network in more than a decade.

American Idol continued its premiere week on Thursday night with a 5.6 rating among adults 18-49 and 16.2 million viewers. Compared to Wednesday’s opening haul, the show was down just seven percent in the key demo. Compared the Thursday premiere last year, Idol was only off by a tenth of a point and even with its Fast National showing.

The addition of new judges Nicki Minaj, Mariah Carey and Keith Urban failed to boost Fox’s American Idol on Wednesday night, as the singing competition premiered its new season with substantial declines from last January’s season premiere. The good news for Fox? The Idol premiere — which comprised the network’s entire primetime slate — still pushed the network to an overall win for the night in ratings and total viewers. It beat ABC, CBS and NBC combined by 11% in the demo.

Averaging 13.28 million viewers last week (with an 8.2 rating, 13 share), CBS beat the average weekly primetime audience of any network this season. For the week, Fox could claim the top-rated show: the NFC Playoff game pitting the Green Bay Packers against the San Francisco 49ers. It drew nearly 31 million viewers.

CBS’s NCIS inched up in the ratings Tuesday night, delivering the evening’s best performance and guiding the network to an overall win. CBS won the night in the advertiser-cherished 18-49 demographic with a 2.7 rating/7 share and in total viewers with 17 million. NCIS at 8 p.m. climbed 9% for a 3.8/11 and drew 22.3 million total viewers — a season high in total viewership and its second-largest viewership in the series’ history.

Most of the genre turned in strong increases in the week ending Jan. 6. Other shows doing well included a number of talk shows, Judge Judy, Family Feud and Law & Order: SVU.

CBS had its best Monday night of the season yesterday, driven by season highs for How I Met Your Mother and 2 Broke Girls. The network averaged a 3.3 rating and 8 share on the night, a season best on the evening. Mother led off the night with a 3.8 at 8 p.m., up 12% from its most recent original outing on Dec. 17. Girls also hit a season high, 4.1, 17% better than its most recent original, while lead-out Mike & Molly averaged a 3.5, up 6% and tying its second-best number this year.

The NFL postseason seems to be following the regular-season ratings trend. Though viewership for the playoffs has been huge, it’s down from last season, just as it was during the regular season on CBS, Fox, NBC and ESPN. Ratings fell for three of four divisional playoff games over the weekend, one week after the wild card round of the playoffs saw viewership fall 2% The declining viewership is largely because last year’s games drew huge, often record, ratings.

With a strong hosting duo and the new year’s most buzz-worthy pop culture moment so far, as Jodie Foster came out without actually saying she was out, the Golden Globes saw strong gains over last year’s ceremony last night on NBC. The telecast averaged a 13.1 household rating from 9 to 11 p.m., ratings, up 12% from an 11.7 last year. In fact, it was the best Globes rating in six years, since the awards show drew a 16.0 in 2007.

With new ways to watch TV shows, CBS now says it isn’t always the oldest-skewing TV network when it comes to its programming. Nina Tassler, president of CBS Entertainment, says the industry should expand the traditional TV ratings metric it sells to advertisers beyond the C3 metric — commercial ratings plus three days time-shifted viewing.

The Big Bang Theory is blowing up. The show set new series highs last night in adults 18-49 and 25-54 and total viewers for the second straight week. Bang averaged a 6.3 in 18-49s in the 8 p.m. timeslot, up 3% over last week. It also drew 19.78 million total viewers for the Star Trek-themed episode and an 8.1 in 25-54s.

Some of the few first-run syndicated shows to post ratings gains in the week ending Dec. 30 are Live with Kelly and Michael, Rachael Ray, Steve Wilkos, Jeff Probst, The Doctors and People’s Court.

ABC’s comedy lineup returned strong from its extended break, with all of its shows seeing double-digit percentage gains compared to their most recent original episodes. That paced the network to a victory on the night, just ahead of second-place CBS. ABC averaged a 2.6 adults 18-49 rating and 7 share in primetime, and CBS finished with a 2.4/6.

All the promotion for Jimmy Kimmel Live‘s move to 11:35 p.m. certainly paid off for ABC. Kimmel topped the competition last night in his first appearance in his new timeslot. JKL averaged a 2.8 household rating, topping both CBS’s Late Show with David Letterman and NBC’s The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Letterman drew a 2.7, while Leno averaged a 2.4.

CBS ran away with the ratings crown on the first Tuesday of the New Year with predominantly regular programming, as NCIS and NCIS: Los Angeles obliterated the competition in key demos. Also of note, NBC’s Off Their Rockers opened with OK numbers in the opening hour, but the net’s rookie comedy block struggled behind it. For the night, CBS beat runner-up NBC by 59% in 18-49, by 82% in 25-54 and more than tripled it in total viewers.

In the battle of veteran reality shows last night, NBC’s The Biggest Loser beat ABC’s The Bachelor by a thin margin, lifting lead-out Deception to timeslot victory and NBC to a nightly win. Loser averaged a 2.4 adults 18-49 rating from 8 to 10 p.m., just ahead of Bachelor’s 2.3. Loser was off 20% from Sunday night’s 3.0 premiere, but it matched the rating for the second episode of last season. Bachelor slid 4% from last year’s debut.

Rivaling broadcast outings, the British import starts its third season with a huge surge — double its previous season and quadruple the typical primetime showing for PBS.

All the networks had something to brag about Sunday night, though Fox had the biggest triumphs of all thanks to huge viewership for the NFL playoff game between the Washington Redskins and Seattle Seahawks, which spilled into primetime. Fox had the night’s top three shows.

Other shows bucking the ratings downtrend in the week leading up to Christmas included TMZ, Maury, Family Feud and the top off-net sitcoms.

The holiday break certainly didn’t derail The Big Bang Theory’s recent hot streak. The CBS comedy set yet another series high among total viewers last night and tied a series best with adults 18-49. Bang averaged 18.98 million total viewers and a 6.0 in 18-49s, up 9% in the demo over its most recent original outing three weeks ago.

NBC unwrapped a welcome gift in the final week of 2012, a ratings victory powered by Sunday Night Football.More than 30 million viewers watched the Washington Redskins defeat the Dallas Cowboys and claim their first division title in 13 years.

Never underestimate the value of running originals when the other networks are in repeats. Airing against reruns on ABC and CBS and a two-hour special Mobbed on Fox, NBC was the easy winner last night, with 10 p.m. new drama Chicago Fire hitting a series high. Fire was the night’s No. 1 show with a 2.4 in adults 18-49, up 26% from its previous original on Dec. 19. In fact, all four of NBC’s shows on the night saw gains from their last original episodes.

With the other networks largely in repeats, NBC got an easy victory to start off 2013 thanks to one of the Big Five’s two original shows last night. The network averaged a 1.6 adults 18-49 rating and 4 share in primetime, 33% ahead of No. 2 CBS at 1.2/3. NBC had the night’s No. 1 and No. 2 two shows. A repeat of Betty White’s Off Their Rockers topped the night with a 1.8 at 9:30, capping a four-rerun block.

ABC took another New Year’s Eve ratings crown Monday night, besting all nets in adults 18-49 (3.1 rating) and total viewers (10.7 million). After the two-hour special New Year’s Rockin’ Eve Celebrates Dick Clark (2.6 adults), the first hour of the official show, Dick Clark’s Primetime New Year’s Rockin’ Eve With Ryan Seacrest, started its road to midnight with a 4.1 adults rating. Even with its 2011 showing in the demo, the show surged in total viewers from last year with its largest haul since 2000 (13.3 million viewers).

The finale week of NBC’s The Voice proved to be a good one in latenight as well for the net, with Tonight Show and Late Night hitting season highs.According to Nielsen estimates for Dec. 17-21, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno averaged 1.26 million adults 18-49 and 4.06 million viewers overall — its best demo showing since early September and its largest overall audience since the February week following the net’s coverage of the Super Bowl.

Giving the network its highest-rated primetime showing for a regular season game, the season finale also bests a 15-year record across all networks.

CBS handily won a Thursday night when every network except Univision aired repeats. Univision was rewarded for its efforts with a second-place finish in the key demographic. CBS was first in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demo with a 2.1 rating/6 share and in total viewers with 9.6 million.

Overall for the week, NBC averaged 8.12 million viewers in primetime (4.9 rating/8 share). CBS ranked second with 7.50 million viewers (4.9/8), while Fox had 5.64 million (3.3/6), ABC had 4.78 million (3.0/5), the CW had 1.43 million (0.9/1) and Ion had 1.12 million (0.8/1).

Spanish-language Univision scored a rare ratings win over all of the English-language networks Wednesday, a night when the only new show they aired was CBS’s broadcast of the Kennedy Center Honors. Univision was first in the advertiser-cherished 18-49 demographic with a 1.7 rating/5 share. It was third in total viewers, behind CBS and NBC.