weekly broadcast ratings

The ABC, CBS and NBC newscasts have collectively drawn 21.2 million viewers a night this fall. But last week, with an epic storm over the eastern third of the U.S. that caused big damage on the New Jersey coastline and in the New York City metropolitan area, the newscasts had nearly 5 million more viewers a night.

The Giants’ four-game victory over the Detroit Tigers was enough to put Fox atop last week’s ratings. CBS was close behind on the strength of its regular programming, including top-rated series NCIS.

In an illustration of how the television world is changing, the hottest drama this fall is on cable. Meanwhile, the most-watched drama on broadcast TV last week, CBS’s Person of Interest, had just under 14 million viewers. The two NCIS dramas on CBS’s Tuesday lineup are usually more popular but were preempted for the presidential debate last week.

ABC, NBC and the CW all debuted new dramas last Wednesday to varied receptions. The bang went to the CW network and its fantasy series Arrow, about a character who is a millionaire playboy by day and a vigilante at night. The 4.1 million viewers reported by Nielsen wouldn’t seem much by larger network standards, but for the good-news-starved CW, it was the most-watched show since 2009.

Overall for the week ending Sept. 30, CBS scored 10.69 million viewers (6.8 rating/11 share), while runner-up ABC had 8.33 million (5.4/9). NBC averaged 8.19 million viewers (5.2/8), Fox had 6.90 million (4.2/7), Ion Television had 920,000 (0.6/1) and the CW had 680,000 (0.5/1).

Thanks to the London Olympic games, the Big Four are up 13%, to a 6.8 in adults 18-49, a 13% improvement over last year.

Olympics coverage thoroughly dominated television last week, as expected. Its ratings were better than NBC expected and turned what was anticipated to be a money-losing event into one that will break even or perhaps finish in the black.

The leading Spanish-language network beat all of its English-language counterparts last week among viewers ages 18 to 49. CBS led among all primetime viewers with an average of 5.3 million viewers (3.5 rating/6 share), last week while NBC had 4.9 million (3.0/6), ABC averaged 4 million (2.6/5) and Fox had 3.5 million (2.1/4).

Three editions of America’s Got Talent on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were the three most-watched programs of the week, Nielsen said. Much of NBC’s schedule was filled out with U.S. Olympic trials, and they all did well compared to the mix of repeats and reality shows on competing networks.

CBS won the week with an average of 5.8 million viewers in primetime last week (3.9 rating/7 share). NBC had 4.9 million (3.1/5), ABC had 4.6 million (3.0/5), Fox had 4 million (2.4/4), Ion Television had 1.1 million (0.8/1) and the CW had 590,000 (0.4/1).

Stern’s debut last week as a panelist on NBC’s America’s Got Talent was the least-watched season premiere of the NBC series dating back to 2006.

ABC’s Desperate Housewives drew a little more than 11 million viewers for the two-hour series finale of creator Marc Cherry’s primetime soap. That wasn’t enough to land it back in the Nielsen company’s list of top 10 shows for the week, where it was a regular in its early years, but it was nearly three million more viewers than usually watched this season.

Nielsen said Tuesday that ABC’s Dancing with the Stars had 16.2 million viewers, good enough for third place in the weekly program ranking. NBC’s The Voice was seen by 9.5 million, rated at No. 20.

Dancing With the Stars topped its Fox rival, American Idol, to be the most-watched show of the week for the first time this season, the Nielsen Co. said Tuesday. It was ABC’s biggest week in the primetime ratings since last November, with the exception of the week of the Academy Awards.

CBS’s comedy The Big Bang Theory had its smallest audience of the season for a new episode. ABC’s Missing had a series low. All the originals on NBC’s lineup — Community, 30 Rock, Up All Night and Awake — had season lows.

Besides scoring with March Madness and other special programming last week, the network had a monopoly on dramas and sitcoms in the top 10, including NCIS and The Big Bang Theory.

The music contest with Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton as coaches is giving NBC something positive after years of bad news in the ratings. However, CBS won last week, averaging 9.8 million viewers in primetime (6.2 rating, 10 share). ABC had 6.9 million (4.4, 7), Fox had 6.7 million (4.1, 7), NBC had 5.3 million (3.4, 6), the CW had 1.4 million (0.9, 2) and Ion Television had 1 million (0.7, 1).

Last Thursday’s premiere of the network drama Missing, starring Judd as a former CIA agent trying to find a teenage son who disappeared in Rome, landed among the 10 most popular series last week with 10.6 million viewers. The strong sampling came despite Missing competing directly with Fox’s American Idol.

Person of Interest, the J.J. Abrams crime-fighting thriller that was one of the most anticipated new shows of the season, hit a series high with 15.7 million viewers last week. The Thursday night series has been doing particularly well in the past couple of months, making it likely CBS has a new franchise for several years to come. In addition, The fairytale Once Upon a Time was ABC’s most-watched show for the second time this season.

CBS, as usual, was powered by its slate of dramas, sitcoms and reality shows, claiming 21 of the Top 30 rankings. Fox was supercharged with three editions of American Idol.

Sunday’s Oscarcast was easily No. 1 last week, with an audience of nearly 40 million viewers. For the week in primetime, ABC averaged 10.68 million viewers (6.5 household rating, 11 share), edging out CBS, with 10.06 million (6.3 rating, 10 share). Far behind were Fox with 6.84 million (4.1 rating, 6 share) and NBC with 5.42 million (3.4 rating, 5 share).

In last week’s top 30 ranking, CBS claimed all but eight of the most-watched shows. Fox was represented only by its two editions of American Idol — which ranked second and third — with NBC’s lone entry, The Voice, taking fourth place.

NBC’s The Voice, buoyed by its post-Super Bowl success, had the biggest audience on Monday, a night CBS usually dominates. Fox’s American Idol was the top show on both Wednesday and Thursday. Fox’s Glee did well on Tuesday night, although three other broadcast programs did better.

The CBS comedy The Big Bang Theory had a slightly larger audience than Fox’s American Idol during the half hour when the shows were in head-to-head competition last Thursday, the Nielsen Co. said. The advantage was slight — 16.13 million to 15.56 million — but significant. It is believed to be the first scripted series to beat the Fox juggernaut in head-to-head competition.

New England’s lopsided win over Denver in the AFC divisional match on CBS was last week’s most-watched broadcast with 34.2 million viewers, according to Nielsen Co. figures released Wednesday. CBS also got a boost from the debut of the sitcom Rob, which rode the coattails of The Big Bang Theory to draw 13.5 million viewers despite scathing reviews.

Except for NBC’s pre-game show and it Sunday Night Football contest between Detroit and New Orleans, CBS dominated in the rankings last week, scoring big with such hits as NCIS, 60 Minutes and Two and a Half Men. Overall for the week, CBS averaged 12.67 million viewers (7.7 rating, 12 share), far ahead of NBC, with 8.26 million viewers (5.0 rating, 8 share), Nielsen said.

With its primetime lineup Saturday night, ABC finished a strong first last week with a total viewership averaging 9.9 million viewers. That beat ABC’s combined competition (CBS, Fox and NBC) by 3.3 million viewers.

During Christmas week, NBC averaged 7.2 million viewers in primetime (4.0 rating, 7 share), a rare primetime victory for the network. CBS was second with 6.9 million viewers.

The network had its largest margin of victory in the weekly ratings competition, beating second-place NBC in prime time by an average of more than 5 million viewers. It was the widest CBS win since a week last January dominated by an NFL conference championship.

NBC’s weekly showcast game was seen by 24.5 million people last week. That was well above the most popular non-football program of the week, CBS’s Two and a Half Men, which had 15.2 million viewers.

Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer was the most-watched special of last week, with more than 12 million viewers, with the advantage of being on CBS’ powerful Tuesday night. The Victoria’s Secret special, also on CBS on Tuesday, was second with 10.4 million viewers.

The final two episodes of Dancing with the Stars, won this season by actor and Army veteran J.R. Martinez, were seen by just less than 20 million viewers last week. For the week, CBS averaged 9.8 million viewers in primetime (6.0 rating, 10 share). ABC had 8.7 million (5.3, 9), NBC had 6 million (3.6, 6), Fox had 5.5 million (3.2, 5), the CW had 1.2 million (0.8, 1) and Ion Television had 1.1 million (0.7, 1).

Brian Williams’ evening newscast 9.1 million viewers over five days last week, clearly outdistancing rivals at ABC and CBS. The problem for NBC is that it also beats virtually everything the network shows in primetime.

Even though ABC finished second to CBS last week, Nielsen said it was the most-watched week for ABC since November 2009, excluding the two winter weeks when the Academy Awards were shown.

Twenty million people watched LSU’s 9-6 overtime victory on Saturday, the Nielsen Co. said. Not since a 1989 game between Notre Dame and Miami had CBS drawn so many people for a college football game. It brought a huge audience to CBS on a night where television viewing is usually light.

Nielsen said the series averaged 16.2 million viewers, well above last year’s five-game contest between Texas at San Francisco, which had 14.3 million viewers.

Three of the first four World Series games between Texas and St. Louis finished among the 10 most popular programs for the week. The only exception was Saturday’s third game, a Cardinals blowout that coincided with the night many of Fox’s young viewers are out and away from the TV.

Through the first two weeks of the season, the Nielsen Co. said an average of 4.5 million viewers watched a recording of “Modern Family” after it first appeared on the air. That lifted the show’s viewership from nearly 14 million people who watched it live to 18.5 million. CBS dominated live viewing again last week with 16 of the top 25 shows in Nielsen’s ranking.

Increasingly, it appears ABC, Fox and NBC have a few hit shows and CBS has a hit network, topping its nearest competitor by an average of more than 3 million viewers in primetime, Nielsen reported on Tuesday.

The network’s Sunday night NFL matchup between Philadelphia and Atlanta and the final of America’s Got Talent powered it to a ratings win last week.