For the week, NBC averaged 7.8 million viewers in prime time. CBS had 6.2 million, ABC had 4.2 million, Fox had 2.7 million, Univision had 1.6 million, Telemundo had 1.4 million, Ion Television had 1.3 million and the CW had 910,000.
NETWORK RATINGS ROUNDUP | SEPT. 18-24
Nielsen: NFL Ratings Off 11% So Far This Year
NEW YORK (AP) — Through three weeks, viewership for national telecasts of NFL games is down 11 percent this season compared to 2016, the Nielsen company said on Tuesday.
Nielsen said the games averaged 17.63 million viewers for the first three weeks of last season, and have dipped to 15.77 million this year. The 2017 figures don’t include this week’s Monday night game between the Dallas Cowboys and Arizona Cardinals.
The Nielsen figures also don’t include many of the Sunday afternoon games that are shown to a regional audience, but not a national one.
The NFL ratings are in focus because of President Donald Trump’s suggestion that viewers are turned off by a protest against police brutality that began with quarterback Colin Kaepernick refusing to stand for the national anthem. The protests spread rapidly this past weekend following the president’s criticism of people involved.
Next week’s ratings will be even more closely watched, since conservative groups and Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity have called for people angered by the protests to boycott this weekend’s games.
Meanwhile, Round One of the new ideological battle on cable television news went to Hannity, who has moved to a time slot directly competing with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow. Nielsen said Hannity had 3.27 million viewers on Monday, compared to 2.66 million for Maddow. CNN, which showed a special health care debate at the same hour, had 1.45 million viewers.
The end of summer has to be sad for NBC, which has dominated in network ratings due to the success of “America’s Got Talent.” The show’s finale last week was seen by 15.6 million viewers, its biggest audience for a season-ender since 2010.
CBS usually dominates the ratings from September to May, but NBC has won 12 of the last 14 weeks due to the leadership of “America’s Got Talent.”
BRAND CONNECTIONS
For the week, NBC averaged 7.8 million viewers in primetime. CBS had 6.2 million, ABC had 4.2 million, Fox had 2.7 million, Univision had 1.6 million, Telemundo had 1.4 million, Ion Television had 1.3 million and the CW had 910,000.
ESPN was the week’s most popular cable network, averaging 2.48 million viewers in primetime. Fox News Channel had 2.08 million, MSNBC had 1.62 million, USA had 1.5 million and HGTV had 1.24 million.
ABC’s “World News Tonight” topped the evening newscasts with an average of 8.3 million viewers. NBC’s “Nightly News” was second with 8.2 million and the “CBS Evening News” had 6.6 million.
The Top 20
Primetime viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen for Sept. 18-24. Listings include the week’s ranking and viewership.
1. NFL Football: Oakland at Washington, NBC, 17.48 million.
2. “America’s Got Talent” (Wednesday), NBC, 15.64 million.
3. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 14.83 million.
4. “America’s Got Talent” (Tuesday), NBC, 14.7 million.
5. “Sunday Night NFL Pre-Kick,” NBC, 13.78 million.
6. NFL Football: Detroit at N.Y. Giants, ESPN, 12.29 million.
7. “Dancing With the Stars,” ABC, 10.72 million.
8. “Football Night in America, Part 3,” NBC, 10.62 million.
9. “Star Trek: Discovery,” CBS, 9.49 million.
10. NFL Football: L.A. Chargers at San Francisco, NFLN, 7.46 million.
11. “The Big Bang Theory,” CBS, 7.16 million.
12. “Big Brother” (Wednesday), CBS, 6.72 million.
13. “NCIS,” CBS, 6.6 million.
14. “The Big Bang Theory” (Thursday, 9 p.m.), CBS, 6.1 million.
15. “The Big Bang Theory” (Monday, 8 p.m.), CBS, 5.97 million.
16. “American Ninja Warrior,” NBC, 5.959 million.
17. “Mom,” CBS, 5.957 million.
18. “NCIS: New Orleans,” CBS, 5.65 million.
19. “Bull,” CBS, 5.55 million.
20. “NCIS: Los Angeles,” CBS, 5.29 million.
Comments (17)
Cheryl Thorne says:
September 27, 2017 at 7:01 am
This is called a financial catastrophe for the Networks and Local stations….
kendra campbell says:
September 27, 2017 at 7:56 am
Exaggerate much?
John Bagwell says:
September 27, 2017 at 8:37 am
Far from a catastrophe.
Gregg Palermo says:
September 27, 2017 at 8:58 am
Remember last year when the decline was everything except Kaepernick?
John Bagwell says:
September 27, 2017 at 9:08 am
Read this article, Rustbelt. As you mentioned yesterday, even you are still watching the NFL games and taking part in the boycott.
https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/09/nfl-ratings-trump-anthem-protests/541173/
“This year, the NFL-ratings picture through three weeks is muddled. During the preseason, ratings were up. In Weeks 1 and 2, ratings declined in two-thirds of NFL windows. In Week 3, after the president’s comments, there was little evidence of a Trump Effect. Ratings were up for some day games, down on Sunday night, and up again on Monday for the Dallas Cowboys, who prevailed over the Arizona Cardinals after taking a collective knee before the national anthem. The most accurate 2017 summary of NFL ratings is: mostly flat or down, but up whenever the Cowboys play”
Wagner Pereira says:
September 27, 2017 at 12:10 pm
RBA and his old age forgets that, as predicted, NFL Ratings turned around last year AFTER ELECTION DAY. Also ignores Hurricane preemption in 3 of TVs largest markets.
Joe Jaime says:
September 27, 2017 at 9:12 am
This could be just a case of matchups … I doubt we will see a full season with a 11% decrease.
Snead Hearn says:
September 27, 2017 at 9:33 am
I don’t believe people will quit watching because of what is happening. If advertisers start pulling then that would be another story.
Taiwo Akande says:
September 27, 2017 at 10:22 am
This may be the biggest PR blunder in history. For the NFL to support this nonsense in unimaginable. They should have stayed out of it and let players decide to either stand for the national anthem or remain in the locker room. Pretty simple. I do think if this is prolonged that people will support the Red White and Blue and not the colors of the NFL teams.
Cheryl Thorne says:
September 27, 2017 at 10:38 am
JD Shaw..Reasearcher..Answer me this..What is a rating point worth in terms of tens of Millions of dollars , perhaps Hundreds..to the networks and local stations combined?? You have no Idea..I do!!!
John Bagwell says:
September 27, 2017 at 11:26 am
Actually, I do too. I also know that advertisers don’t buy off of a 3 week average when there are 17 weeks of a NFL season and they also rarely place buys based on total viewers, which is what the article is referencing. Answer me this…what is your username going to be next week?
Wagner Pereira says:
September 27, 2017 at 12:12 pm
@Jdshaw would not have a clue to that question. Researcher does. You have not shown you do though.
Cheryl Thorne says:
September 28, 2017 at 6:11 am
Researcher you are laughable..Obviously you have never sold ….air time or digital platforms..ever heard of the word Estimates and running averages and weekly posting of schedules???Of course not!! Right now after 3 weeks the ratings drop when annualized for NFL will cost the Networks and Local stations somewhere in the neighborhood $75 -100 million in makegoods…17 week average that!!
John Bagwell says:
September 28, 2017 at 8:36 am
You are obviously just some low-level rep-firm AE. Yes, I’ve heard of estimates. If you are basing estimates on a 3 week average where matchups can have an impact, then you have no idea what you are doing. And If you are posting weekly, then again, you are a sucker. How in the word would do you manage to sell local TV with how negatively you talk about it on here? Also, what is your username going to be next week? You always change it, but your comments give you away every time you try to hide from them.
Cheryl Thorne says:
September 28, 2017 at 6:15 am
Researcher..only a leftie would think that’s good news!!!
Cheryl Thorne says:
September 28, 2017 at 6:20 am
Reseaercher….17 week avaerage this….JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s Shawn Quigg is encouraging investors to bet against CBS Corp. stock ahead of this weekend’s NFL broadcasts. The bank recommends buying an option that gives you the right to sell the shares at $57.50 on the likelihood that the stock will fall below that price after the company discloses ratings for the games. CBS closed at $58 on Tuesday
paid focus groups says:
July 24, 2018 at 2:45 pm
Numerous Vocal Views focus groups focus on customer products.