The traditional television season ended last Wednesday and, for the ninth year in a row, CBS finished as the most popular network in primetime. CBS has won 14 of the last 15 years. Nielsen said CBS averaged 9.6 million viewers a night in primetime, with time-delayed viewing of up to seven days included. The network was down 11% from last season. NBC was second, essentially flat from last year, ABC was third and down 9% and Fox gained 1%, although helped significantly by showing the Super Bowl in 2017.
NETWORKS RATINGS ROUNDUP: MAY 22-28
As TV Season Ends, CBS Remains Dominant
NEW YORK (AP) — For all the changes in television over the past decade — how it is consumed and the explosion of new outlets and programs — CBS’s popularity with the masses remains unchallenged.
The traditional television season ended last Wednesday and, for the ninth year in a row, CBS finished as the most popular network in primetime. CBS has won 14 of the last 15 years, the Nielsen company said.
CBS’ “NCIS” finished as the most-watched drama for the eighth year in a row, and “The Big Bang Theory” was the most popular comedy for the seventh straight year. With no reason to change, both series will be back next season, with “The Big Bang Theory” accompanied by a new prequel based on Sheldon’s character.
Nielsen said CBS averaged 9.6 million viewers a night in primetime, with time-delayed viewing of up to seven days included. The network was down 11 percent from last season. NBC was second, essentially flat from last year, ABC was third and down 9 percent, and Fox gained 1 percent, although helped significantly by showing the Super Bowl in 2017.
The notion of a traditional TV season is slowly falling by the wayside, with more original programming available in the summer. Reality shows and games dominate the warm-weather months.
BRAND CONNECTIONS
Last week, CBS won in prime time, averaging 5.2 million viewers. NBC had 4.63 million, ABC had 4.56 million, Fox had 3.3 million, Univision had 1.7 million, the CW had 1.32 million, ION Television had 1.31 million and Telemundo had 810,000.
Fox News Channel was the week’s most popular cable network, averaging 2.25 million viewers in prime time. TNT had 2.2 million, MSNBC had 1.61 million, USA had 1.41 million and HGTV had 1.36 million.
NBC’s “Nightly News” topped the evening newscasts with an average of 7.8 million viewers. ABC’s “World News Tonight” was second with 7.5 million and the “CBS Evening News” had 6.2 million viewers.
The Top 20
Primetime viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen for May 22-28. Listings include the week’s ranking and viewership.
1. “Dancing With the Stars” (Monday), ABC, 10.54 million.
2. “The Voice” (Monday), NBC, 9.65 million.
3. “The Voice” (Tuesday), NBC, 9.37 million.
4. “Dancing With the Stars” (Tuesday), ABC, 8.91 million.
5. “Bull,” CBS, 8.54 million.
6. “Survivor,” CBS, 8.38 million.
7. “NCIS,” CBS, 8.3 million.
8. NBA Playoffs: Boston vs. Cleveland, Game 4, TNT, 7.05 million.
9. “Empire,” Fox, 6.97 million.
10. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 6.79 million.
11. Movie: “Dirty Dancing,” ABC, 6.58 million.
12. “The Big Bang Theory,” CBS, 6.43 million.
13. “Diana: Life-Death-Truth,” CBS, 6.15 million.
14. “Law & Order: SVU,” NBC, 6.12 million.
15. NBA Playoffs: Cleveland vs. Boston, Game 5, TNT, 5.83 million.
16. NBA Playoffs: Golden State vs. San Antonio, Game 4, ESPN, 5.8 million.
17. “Downward Dog,” ABC, 5.74 million
18. “Survivor Reunion,” CBS, 5.71 million.
19. “Blue Bloods,” CBS, 5.709 million.
20. “The Bachelorette,” ABC, 5.67 million.
Comments (2)
Cheryl Thorne says:
June 1, 2017 at 8:30 am
Seriously..Dominant is averaging 9.6 million viewers out of over 300.000 million U.S. resident???.the real thing you should be talking about are the yesr to year drops..The network was down 11% from last season. NBC was second, essentially flat from last year, ABC was third and down 9% and Fox gained 1%, although helped significantly by showing the Super Bowl in 2017. If it was not for live Sports , these networks would be down big…..No one cares any longer for their scripted, reality based shows…..pretty evident….
Snead Hearn says:
June 1, 2017 at 11:09 am
Sad numbers compared to the past but evidently still the largest recipient of ad dollars. I see the erosion continuing and eventually the dollars. There needs to be a new business plan.