weekly network ratings

Fox News, like the broadcast and other cable news networks, aired Lewis’ funeral last Thursday, when former presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama spoke. Once the funeral started, half of Fox’s viewers slipped away while the audience increased for its rivals, Nielsen said. During primetime last week, CBS led broadcasters with an average of 3.2 million viewers. NBC had 2.8 million viewers, ABC had 2.3 million, Fox had 1.6 million, Univision had 1.5 million, Ion Television had 1.2 million and Telemundo had 910,000.

MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow’s one-hour interview with Mary Trump last Thursday reached 5.2 million people, the biggest audience ever for one of Maddow’s shows and largest ever for a regularly-scheduled show on MSNBC. Among broadcast networks, CBS won the week in primetime, averaging 3.2 million viewers. NBC had 3 million, ABC had 2.8 million, Univision had 1.4 million, Fox had 1.3 million, Ion Television reached 1.1 million and Telemundo had 820,000.

ABC’s David Muir-hosted World News Tonight and NBC’s Nightly News with Holt both averaged more viewers than any single program in primetime television last week, according to Nielsen. And the CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell wasn’t that far behind. For the week, CBS averaged 3.4 million viewers in primetime. ABC had 2.71 million viewers, NBC had 2.66 million, Univision had 1.5 million, Fox had 1.3 million, Ion Television had 1.1 million and Telemundo had 810,000.

Disney knows, but it’s not telling. Data is coming in to Nielsen, too, but won’t be released until Disney gives the go-ahead. Led by the perennial summer favorite, America’s Got Talent, NBC was the most popular network in prime time last week, averaging 3.8 million viewers. CBS had 3.3 million, ABC had 2.3 million, Univision had 1.4 million, Fox had 1.3 million, Ion Television had 1 million and Telemundo had 820,000.

Fox News Channel was the most-watched network in primetime television last week, counting both broadcast and cable, the Nielsen company said. It was the second week in a row that happened, and the third time in June.

Fox News Channel, which aired Trump’s speech live, had the biggest Saturday night audience in the network’s 24-year history, according to Nielsen. During Trump’s address at 9 p.m. on Saturday, Fox had 8.2 million people watching. CNN and MSNBC aired only clips of Trump talking, yet each news network had about twice as many viewers as they normally get on Saturday nights.

For the week, CBS averaged 3.8 million viewers and NBC was second with 3.3 million. ABC had 2.9 million viewers, Fox had 1.8 million, Univision had 1.4 million, Ion Television had 1.2 million, Telemundo had 890,000 and CW had 610,000.

Since Floyd’s death on Memorial Day in the custody of Minneapolis police, CNN’s primetime audience is up 238% over last year, Nielsen said. Fox News is up 61% and MSNBC is up 40%. Among the broadcast networks, for last week, CBS averaged 4 million viewers. ABC had 3.3 million, NBC had 3.2 million, Fox had 1.49 million, Univision had 1.47 million, Ion Television had 1.1 million and Telemundo had 890,000.

Nielsen said 4 million people saw coverage of the demonstrations on Fox News Channel at 10 p.m. on Saturday, not usually a big TV-watching time. An hour later, 3.2 million people were watching CNN’s coverage. For the week, CBS averaged 3.7 million viewers in primetime. NBC had 3.3 million, ABC had 3.1 million, Fox had 1.41 million, Univision had 1.4 million, Ion Television had 1.1 million and Telemundo had 780,000.

CBS averaged 7.58 million viewers in primetime, down 15% from last season, Nielsen said. Second-place NBC averaged 6.5 million viewers, down 10% from last year and fourth-place ABC had 5.4 million, down 4%. Fox was up 17% to 6.3 million, primarily because the network had a package of Thursday night NFL games in the fall that it didn’t have the season before. Fox’s ratings were also juiced by showing the Super Bowl in February. CBS won in primetime again last week, averaging 4.1 million viewers.

With 9.5 million viewers Sunday, 60 Minutes was easily the week’s most-watched primetime program, Nielsen said. CBS was the most popular network in primetime last week, averaging 4.4 million viewers. NBC was second with 2.9 million, ABC had 2.7 million, Fox had 1.9 million, Univision had 1.03 million, Ion Television had 1.01 million, Telemundo had 570,000 and the CW had 490,000.

The Food Network’s overall ratings in April were up 25% over the same month last year, while HGTV was up 22%, Nielsen said. Both networks have adjusted programming in reaction to coronavirus shutdowns with more in the works. CBS topped the broadcast networks in primetime last week, averaging 5.8 million viewers. ABC was second with 3.7 million, NBC had 3.6 million, Fox had 2.7 million, Univision had 1.6 million, Ion Television had 1.2 million and Telemundo had 910,000.

Each cable news host recorded their most-watched months ever in April, with coronavirus pandemic stay-at-home orders assuring a captive audience of people wanting to stay on top of the news. It’s worth noting, however, that none of the cable stars exceeded the viewership that David Muir, Lester Holt and Norah O’Donnell get every night on the broadcast network evening newscasts.

CBS was the most popular network in primetime last week, averaging 6.5 million viewers last week. NBC had 4.9 million, ABC had 4.2 million, Fox had 2.8 million, Univision had 1.5 million, Ion Television had 1.3 million, Telemundo had 1 million and the CW had 490,000.

The venerable CBS news show drew 9.68 million viewers to edge out three NBC shows: The Voice, Chicago Med and Chicago Fire, Nielsen said Tuesday. Fox’s “The Masked Singer rounded out the top 5. Numbers for the top shows that surged in the first weeks that viewers stayed home because of the coronavirus outbreak appear to have leveled off to pre-pandemic levels.

The final episode of CBS’s Hawaii Five-0 and the season finale of ABC’s The Good Doctor were both seen by 40% more viewers last week than watched those shows during the one-month period before the outbreak confined many viewers to their homes, Nielsen said. The landmark nature of the telecasts surely brought in more viewers than usual. But the fact that more people are staying at home also had an impact, since most primetime shows did better last week than before the quarantine period.

TV programs across the dial recorded superlatives last week with a captive audience of millions of Americans told to stay home because of the coronavirus. Few were as interesting as the newfound fervor for CBS’s Let’s Make a Deal, which recorded its most-watched week since the show was brought back 11 years ago with Wayne Brady as host.

Two of the broadcast evening newscasts, which offer a cogent summary of the day’s developments, had a bigger average audience than any program in primetime last week. They were ABC’s World News Tonight, up 38% in viewers from its season average, and NBC’s Nightly News, up 47%. The CBS Evening News audience was 31% higher than it is typically.

CBS was the week’s most popular network, averaging 6.2 million viewers in primetime. ABC was second with 5.2 million, NBC had 3.7 million, Fox had 3 million, Univision had 1.4 million, Ion Television had 1.3 million, Telemundo had 1.1 million and the CW had 700,000.

CBS won the week in primetime, averaging 5 million viewers. ABC had 4.4 million viewers, NBC had 4.1 million, Fox had 2.8 million, Univision had 1.4 million, Ion Television had 1.3 million, Telemundo had 1.1 million and the CW had 600,000.

CBS News’ coverage of the Democratic presidential debate from South Carolina last week was easily the most-watched event on television, with 15.34 million viewers. The newsmagazine 60 Minutes, which featured Scott Pelley’s interview with Democrat Mike Bloomberg, came in second for the week, Nielsen said.

CBS won the week with an average of 6.1 million viewers in primetime. NBC had 4.4 million viewers, ABC had 4.2 million, Fox had 3 million, Univision had 1.7 million, Ion Television had 1.4 million, Telemundo had 1 million and the CW had 650,000.

With football and awards show seasons ending in a mid-winter week, the TV schedule reverted to some semblance of normal. CBS dominated its rivals with an average of 4.6 million viewers in primetime. ABC was second with an average of 3.2 million, NBC had 3.1 million, Fox had 2 million, Ion Television had 1.04 million, Univision had 1.02 million, Telemundo had 680,000 and the CW had 570,000.

Nielsen said Fox News averaged 4.27 million viewers in primetime last week, better than any network except for ABC, which televised the Academy Awards, and CBS.

A new episode of the game, usually Fox’s most popular primetime program or close to it, airs on Wednesday. A special edition of the show, with Lil’ Wayne as the mystery guest, had its biggest audience ever Sunday when 23.7 million people watched it following the Super Bowl, according to Nielsen.

CBS won the week in primetime, averaging 7.2 million viewers. ABC eked out a second place showing, averaging 4 million viewers, while NBC had 3.9 million. Fox had 2.4 million, Univision had 1.5 million, Ion Television had 1.3 million, Telemundo had 1.1 million and the CW had 690,000.

With the benefit of an NFL game in primetime, Fox led all the broadcast networks in ratings last week, averaging 9.9 million viewers. CBS had 4.9 million viewers in prime time, NBC had 4.2 million, ABC had 3.8 million, Univision had 1.6 million, Ion Television had 1.3 million, Telemundo had 890,000 and the CW had 790,000.

Last week’s three matches between Ken Jennings, James Holzhauer and Brad Rutter were each seen by roughly 15 million viewers, Nielsen  said. And interest is building as the tournament goes on: Thursday’s third match reached 15.5 million viewers on the night it aired, the biggest audience yet.

Among the broadcast networks last week, NBC averaged 5.6 million viewers in primetime. CBS had 3.8 million, ABC had 3 million, Fox had 2.6 million, Univision had 1.31 million, Ion Television reached 1.27 million, Telemundo had 760,000 and the CW had 590,000.

Fox News Channel, MSNBC and CNN collectively averaged just under 5.4 million viewers in primetime last week, Nielsen said. It was a week dominated by the news of the House Judiciary Committee’s vote to impeach Trump. That puts the news on par with the NBC, Fox and CBS entertainment networks, which each averaged between 5.4 and 5.9 million viewers last week.

Seven of the week’s top 10 shows were either football games or their pregame shows. CBS’s perennial ratings generator 60 Minutes was the week’s top non-football show, in fifth place with more than 13 million viewers, and the network’s Young Sheldon was the top scripted show in ninth with 8.39 million.

The network ended CBS’s 18-year winning streak in November, a period when ratings are watched closely to set advertising rates. A combination of factors, including football, producer Dick Wolf and the absence of The Big Bang Theory all contributed.

CNN, Fox News Channel and MSNBC showed every minute of the hearings, even the two times it stretched into the evening. And they were rewarded: Fox (2.5 million viewership average over five days), MSNBC (2.48 million) and CNN (1.68 million) each had more people watching the hearing than would tune in on a typical day. In the cases of MSNBC and CNN, the networks more than doubled their daytime average, Nielsen said. NBC returned to the top of the broadcast primetime rankings last week with a strong Sunday night football matchup between Green Bay and San Francisco.

CBS averaged 5.2 million viewers last week. NBC had 4.7 million viewers, ABC had 4.3 million, Fox had 3.5 million, Univision had 1.1 million, Ion Television had 1 million, Telemundo had 850,000 and the CW had 610,000.

Nielsen said 16.6 million people watched the game late Saturday afternoon, as LSU held off the Tide’s late charge. At 7 p.m. ET, just before its conclusion, the audience topped 20 million people.

Fox won the week in primetime, averaging 9.8 million viewers. NBC had 7.1 million viewers, CBS had 6.1 million, ABC had 3.8 million, Ion Television and Telemundo both had 1.21 million, Univision had 1.17 million and the CW had 780,000.

Through the first five games, the World Series has been averaging 11.6 million viewers, Nielsen says. That puts it on pace to be the least-watched Fall Classic ever, although ratings tend to pick up when a series reaches a sixth or deciding seventh game.

NBC averaged 7 million viewers for the week, with runner-up Fox grabbing 6.1 million. CBS had 5.7 million, ABC had 4.3 million, Telemundo had 1.4 million, Univision had 1.3 million, Ion Television had 1.2 million and the CW had 860,000.

A decade or so ago, such a statistic would prompt audible wailing from network executive suites. The nature of television has changed so much that it’s too early to tell if viewers are bored with the offerings or if those numbers reflect that more people are watching on their own time and making their own schedules. CBS won last week in primetime, averaging 6.6 million viewers. NBC was second with 6.4 million, Fox had 6 million, ABC had 4 million, Univision had 1.3 million, Ion Television had 1.12 million, Telemundo had 1.06 million and the CW had 1.03 million.

Fox averaged 6.7 million viewers for the week, followed by NBC’s 6.5 million, CBS at 6.2 million, ABC at 4.7 million, Univision with 1.3 million, Ion Television had 1.2 million, Telemundo had 1.1 million and the CW had 790,000.