CBS Continues Scripted Show Dominance

NEW YORK (AP) — For all of the changes in how and when people consume television content, CBS’ dominance in showing more scripted material that people watch each week remains consistent.

Of the 30 most popular dramas and comedies shown on TV last week, 18 were CBS programs, the Nielsen company said. They include “NCIS,” still the most-watched drama on TV, and the comedy “The Big Bang Theory” and incorporate much of the network’s prime-time schedule.

NBC was second with six scripted shows and ABC had four. Fox had only one (“Empire”) and AMC’s “The Walking Dead” held the flag for cable networks.

Things are more evenly divided if you restrict the top 30 shows to viewers aged 18-to-49, the demographic most prized by advertisers, but CBS still leads. CBS had 10 of the top 30 shows among this group. ABC was next with seven, NBC had six, Fox had five and AMC and the CW both had one.

ABC (“Dancing With the Stars”), NBC (“The Voice”) and CBS (“Survivor”) each have strong non-scripted franchises. Fox’s relative weakness in this category, with the exception of “Master Chef,” explains why it lags so far behind its rivals at this point.

CBS averaged 10.3 million viewers in primetime last week. NBC was second with 8.3 million, ABC had 7 million, Fox had 3.5 million, Univision had 2.2 million, the CW had 1.6 million, Telemundo had 1.5 million and Ion Television had 1.1 million.

ESPN was the week’s most popular cable network, averaging 2.97 million viewers in prime time. Fox News Channel had 1.77 million, Hallmark had 1.69 million, USA had 1.56 million and AMC had 1.55 million.

NBC’s “Nightly News” topped the evening newscasts with an average of 9 million viewers. ABC’s “World News Tonight” was second with 8.8 million and the “CBS Evening News” had 7.6 million viewers.

The Top 20

Primetime viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen for Nov.2-8. Listings include the week’s ranking and viewership.

1. NFL Football: Philadelphia at Dallas, NBC, 23.05 million.

2. “NCIS,” CBS, 17.98 million.

3. “NFL Pregame Show, NBC, 16.89 million.

4. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 15.76 million.

5. “The Big Bang Theory,” CBS, 14.81 million.

6. “NCIS: New Orleans,” CBS, 14:11 million.

7. “Country Music Association Awards,” ABC, 13.62 million.

8. “Football Night in America,” NBC, 13.1 million.

9. “The Walking Dead,” AMC, 12.44 million.

10. NFL Football: Indiana at Carolina, ESPN, 12.4 million.

11. “Dancing With the Stars,” ABC, 12.09 million.

12. “The Voice” (Monday, 8 p.m.), NBC, 12.06 million.

13. “Empire,” Fox, 11.68 million.

14. College Football: LSU at Alabama, CBS, 11.06 million.

15. “Blue Bloods,” CBS, 10.9 million.

16. “Madam Secretary,” CBS, 10.59 million.

17. “Scorpion,” CBS, 9.51 million.

18. “Supergirl,” CBS, 8.87 million.

19. “Hawaii Five-0,” CBS, 8.85 million.

20. “Survivor,” CBS, 8.8 million.