weekly network ratings

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The first week of the fall season had NBC feeling like must-see TV again. The network that dominated primetime in the 1980s and 1990s won the […]

ABC is finishing the season with its largest lead over NBC in 23 years, and 27 years for CBS. It’s the third consecutive year that ABC has won the ratings competition.

Four NFL games finished among the Nielsen company’s top 12 shows last week, led by the Sunday night matchup of Philadelphia against Atlanta. Between football and “America’s Got Talent,” NBC won the network ratings race. The network averaged 5.7 million viewers in prime time. ABC was second with 4.5 million, CBS had 3.9 million, Fox had 3.1 million, Ion Television had 1.3 million, Univision had 1.2 million, Telemundo had 1.1 million and the CW had 570,000.

Nielsen says the change will begin next September, when it begins accounting for people who watch outside of their homes. That news means that people who watch in bars, airports, offices or anywhere on their phones or tablets will be accounted for in the measurements used to set advertising rates. Last week, NBC dominated with an average of 8.8 million viewers. CBS was second with 3.7 million, ABC had 3.5 million, Fox had 3.3 million, Ion Television had 1.3 million, Univision had 1.2 million, Telemundo had 1.1 million and the CW had 610,000.

ABC averaged 3.7 million viewers in primetime for the week. NBC was second with 3.43 million viewers, CBS had 3.35 million, Fox had 1.5 million, Ion Television had 1.3 million, Univision had 1.03 million, Telemundo had 1.01 million and the CW had 580,000.

The show was seen by 4.9 million viewers live on Monday across 12 different Viacom-owned networks. That’s down from last year’s audience of 5.2 million, as the annual event has slid in television viewers each year since reaching 10.3 million in 2014. Led by America’s Got Talent, NBC won last week in primetime network viewership, averaging 4 million viewers.

The dominance continues even though the show is slipping in popularity, which is typical of most TV series these days. AGT averages 11.4 million viewers live and within a week of an episode’s premiere, down 18% from last year.

NBC’s variety showcase brought in 9.7 million viewers last week according to the Nielsen ratings. The show chose the singers, comedians, dancers and beatboxers that will be on its season-ending live episodes.

NBC won the week in primetime with an average of 3.7 million. ABC had 3.6 million, CBS had 2.7 million, Fox had 1.7 million, Ion Television had 1.4 million, Telemundo had 1.06 million, Univision had 1.05 million and the CW had 650,000.

Without scripted series, Nielsen’s Top 20 last week was crowded with game shows and, in the wake of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s testimony before the House, five of Fox News Channel’s prime time programs.

Nielsen says a little more than 8 million people watched Tuesday’s All-Star game on Fox, enough to be the second-most popular thing on television after America’s Got Talent last week. The derby where sluggers flex their muscles a day before the game was televised on ESPN and reached 5.4 million viewers.

Fox News reached an average of 4.09 million viewers between 6 and 8 p.m. ET last Thursday for its coverage of President Trump’s much-discussed holiday parade in Washington. The audience was over 4.6 million during the concentrated hour during which Trump gave a rain-soaked speech. Behind the summertime favorite America’s Got Talent, NBC averaged 3.5 million viewers in primetime last week. CBS had 3.4 million, ABC had 2.8 million, Fox had 1.6 million, Univision had 1.5 million, Ion Television had 1.4 million, Telemundo had 1 million and the CW had 560,000.

Nielsen said 299,000 watched Sunday’s 10 p.m. debut of the miniseries starring Russell Crowe, or roughly one-tenth of the audience Sean Hannity pulls in each night. But for a premium cable network, that’s only part of the story. When you add replays and streams, Sunday’s audience swelled to 651,000, Nielsen said. Elsewhere, NBC’s two-night coverage of the first Democratic primary debate of the 2020 political season dominated the television landscape.

Viewers watching last week’s rally in Orlando, Fla., helped cable star Hannity earn a rare top 10 showing among both broadcast and cable programs with 5 million viewers. Tucker Carlson Tonight landed at No. 14 with 4.5 million viewers, according to Nielsen figures released Tuesday. CBS and NBC tied as the most-watched networks overall, with each averaging 3.67 million primetime viewers.

The NBA Finals, plus a few game shows, helped ABC to the week’s ratings championship. ABC averaged 6.1 million viewers in prime time. NBC had 4.1 million, CBS had 3.8 million, Ion Television had 1.4 million, Telemundo had 1.2 million, Univision had 1.1 million and the CW had 630,000. Fox’s average was not immediately available.

Following the end of its Game of Thrones, HBO kept on attracting viewers last week. Its Big Little Lies returned for its second season, adding Meryl Streep to the cast, and reached 2.5 million people across HBO’s various platforms on Sunday. And it had an even bigger success with the miniseries Chernobyl, which averaged 8 million viewers per episode. In broadcast, ABC won the week in primetime, averaging 5.4 million viewers.

Viewership for the first two games of the series between the Golden State Warriors and Toronto Raptors was down sharply from last year’s finals — 28% for the first game and 29% for the second, Nielsen said.

ABC’s re-creation of episodes of All in the Family and The Jeffersons was among last week’s most-watched programs with 10.4 million viewers. A Nightline program on the do-overs of producer Norman Lear’s famed 1970s and ’80 comedies also landed in the top 10, with an ABC documentary on the life and career of Farrah Fawcett coming in at No. 12.

The back-to-back, two-episode finale of the nerdy CBS comedy’s 12-season run drew 18.5 million live viewers Thursday night to easily win the week, Nielsen said Tuesday. That helped give CBS six of the top 10 shows and an easy win of the week in primetime with an average of 6.5 million viewers. NBC averaged 4.5 million, ABC 3.8 million, Fox 1.9 million, Univision with 1.25 million, Ion Television with 1.2 million, Telemundo 1.1 million and the CW 790,000.

CBS rode The Big Bang Theory and six other shows in the top 10 to again win the week in primetime, with an average of 5.9 million viewers. NBC averaged 4 million, ABC had 3.6 million, Fox had 2.5 million, Telemundo had 1.3 million, ION Television had 1.24 million, Univision had 1.22 million and the CW 750,000.

With eight of the 10 most-watched shows, CBS cruised to an overall weekly ratings victory with an average 5.96 million viewers. ABC had 4.64 million, NBC had 4.55 million viewers, Fox had 2.64 million, Telemundo had 1.36 million, Univision had 1.31 million, Ion Television had 1.24 million and the CW had 740,000.

Sunday’s big-battle episode, the third of the final season, drew 17.8 million viewers either live on HBO at 9 p.m., streamed, on-demand or in a rerun that aired later that night. CBS shows dominated the rest of the week’s top 10, with The Big Bang Theory second, Young Sheldon third and 60 Minutes fourth.

The ABC, CBS and NBC broadcast networks and the cable’s CNN, Fox News Channel and MSNBC collectively averaged just 12.7 million viewers last Thursday when the redacted report on Russia’s involvement in the 2016 election was put out. CBS easily won the week in primetime, averaging 6 million viewers. ABC had 4.4 million viewers, NBC had 3.6 million, Fox had 2.5 million, Ion Television has 1.3 million, Telemundo had 1.25 million, Univision had 1.17 million and the CW had 840,000.

Nielsen said 17.4 million people watched the Sunday opener to the final season of HBO’s Game of Thrones, either live on the network at 9 p.m., streamed, through HBO’s on-demand service or during two reruns that aired later that night. Also on Sunday, Tiger Woods’ stirring comeback in the Masters gave CBS its biggest audience for that marquee golf tournament in six years.

This past week CBS averaged 8.6 million viewers in primetime. NBC was second with 4.6 million, ABC had 4.1 million, Fox had 2.5 million, Univision had 1.4 million, Ion Television had 1.3 million, Telemundo had 1.1 million and the CW had 630,000.

CBS easily won the week in primetime, averaging 6.2 million viewers. ABC had 4.4 million viewers, NBC had 4.3 million, Fox had 2.8 million, Ion Television had 1.4 million, Univision had 1.2 million, Telemundo had 1.1 million and the CW had 920,000.

CBS won the week among all viewers, averaging 6 million people watching in primetime. ABC had 5.1 million, NBC had 4.5 million, Fox had 2.7 million, Univision and Ion Television tied with 1.37 million, Telemundo had 1.1 million and the CW had 900,000.

The unsparing documentary about Michael Jackson and his alleged sexual abuse is already the third most-watched documentary of the past decade at the prime cable network. Among the broadcast networks, CBS averaged 5.8 million viewers in primetime last week. ABC had 5.3 million viewers, NBC had 4.7 million, Fox had 2.5 million, IONN Television had 1.4 million, Univision had 1.3 million, Telemundo had 1.1 million and the CW had 960,000.

Embraced by viewers since its debut, The Masked Singer was the second most-watched show last week, topped only by CBS’s long-running drama NCIS. CBS averaged 5.9 million viewers, followed by NBC with 5.4 million. ABC had 4.8 million, Fox had 3.4 million, Univision had 1.3 million, Ion Television had 1.28 million, Telemundo had 1.1 million and The CW had 740,000.

Both Chicago PD and Chicago Fire scored their highest ratings in nearly two years last week with crossover episodes where they shared casts. Chicago Med actually had the biggest audience of the triumvirate with 9.1 million viewers, although the other two were close behind. All three shows were among the 11 most-watched programs on primetime television last week.

A 60 Minutes interview with fired FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe helped make the CBS newsmagazine one of TV’s top-rated programs. With six of the top 10 shows and 13 of the most-watched 20, CBS had an average of 6.3 million weekly viewers. NBC had 5.2 million, ABC had 3.8 million, Fox had 3.6 million, Univision had 1.4 million, Ion Television had 1.3 million, Telemundo had 1.3 million and The CW had 880,000.

With the comedies and the Grammy Awards, CBS easily won the week in primetime with an average of 7.7 million viewers. NBC had 4.9 million, ABC had 4.1 million, Fox had 2.8 million, Univision had 1.54 million, ION Television had 1.51 million, Telemundo had 1.2 million and the CW had 1 million.

Between them, the newscasts anchored by David Muir, Lester Holt and Jeff Glor were seen by an average of 26.9 million viewers each weeknight last week. If they were seen in primetime, both ABC’s World News Tonight and NBC’s Nightly News would be top 10 shows.

9 p.m. ET is where the big dogs roam. Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity and MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow are the top two personalities in cable television. They still are, but Chris Cuomo’s Prime Time quickly established itself as CNN’s most-watched program and, with 1.64 million viewers in January, is having its best month, according to Nielsen.

The New England Patriots’ thrilling victory over the Kansas City Chiefs was seen by 53.92 million viewers on Sunday, Nielsen said. That’s up 22% from the Patriots’ victory over Jacksonville last year, and the most watched AFC championship since 2011. Sunday’s afternoon game, where the Los Angeles Rams beat the New Orleans Saints with the help of a referee’s bad call, was seen by 44.2 million people That’s up 4% over last year’s contest between Philadelphia and Minnesota.

Fox won the week in primetime, averaging a hefty 11.35 million viewers. CBS had 6.5 million, NBC had 4.95 million, ABC had 3.84 million, Univision had 1.4 million, Ion Networks had 1.3 million, Telemundo had 1.1 million and the CW averaged 860,000.

Viewership for ABC’s primetime New Year’s show with Ryan Seacrest averaged 9.1 million people, down 26% from last year’s 12.3 million, Nielsen said. Fox’s primetime show with Steve Harvey was down 47% to 3.1 million people, although last year’s numbers were inflated because Harvey came on directly after an NFL game.

Nearly 10 million viewers watched Chevel Shepherd win the singing contest, making it last week’s most popular entertainment show. Shepherd, of Farmington, New Mexico, was coached by another talent show discovery: inaugural “American Idol” victor Kelly Clarkson.

Four NFL games finished among Nielsen’s 20 most popular primetime programs, with NBC’s Sunday night and Fox’s Thursday contests the top two. Both games featured Los Angeles teams.