Reality (And ‘Thrones’) Reigned In Ratings

LOS ANGELES (AP) — “Big Brother” was a big winner for CBS last week. The peek-a-boo reality series claimed Top 10 slots for its trio of editions last week, according to Nielsen, ranking fifth, seventh and eighth.

NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” continued to demonstrate a talent for drawing viewers as the week’s most-watched show.

But among the week’s dozen highest-rated shows, eight were in the reality/competition genre, also including “World Of Dance” (No. 3), “The Bachelorette” (4), “Little Big Shots” (11) and “American Ninja Warrior” (12).

Invading the broadcast-TV roster from the world of premium cable again last week: HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” seizing the runner-up spot with an impressive 9.25 million.

Overall in primetime for the week, NBC averaged 4.7 million viewers in prime time. CBS was second with 4.3 million, ABC had 3.1 million, Fox had 1.7 million, Univision had 1.44 million, Telemundo had 1.39 million, Ion Television had 1.2 million, and the CW had 910,000.

Fox News Channel was again the week’s most popular cable network, averaging 2.06 million viewers in prime time. MSNBC had 1.82 million, USA had 1.48 million and HGTV had 1.46 million.

ABC’s “World News Tonight” topped the evening newscasts with an average of 7.6 million viewers. NBC’s “Nightly News” had 7.2 million and the “CBS Evening News had 5.6 million viewers.

The Top 20

Primetime viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen for July 24-30. Listings include the week’s ranking and viewership.

1. “America’s Got Talent” (Tuesday), NBC, 13.08 million.

2. “Game of Thrones,” HBO, 9.25 million.

3. “World of Dance,” NBC, 6.88 million.

4. “The Bachelorette,” ABC, 6.44 million.

5. “Big Brother” (Wednesday), CBS, 6.36 million.

6. “NCIS,” CBS, 6.332 million.

7. “Big Brother” (Thursday), 6.330 million.

8. “Big Brother” (Sunday), 6.328 million.

9. “The Big Bang Theory,” CBS, 6.31 million.

10. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 6.17 million.

11. “Little Big Shots,” NBC, 5.74 million.

12. “American Ninja Warrior,” NBC, 5.70 million.

13. “NCIS: New Orleans,” CBS, 5.33 million.

14. “Blue Bloods,” CBS, 4.894 million.

15. “Bull,” CBS, 4.888 million.

16. “The Wall,” NBC, 4.880 million.

17. “Celebrity Family Feud,” ABC, 4.797 million.

18. “Hawaii Five-0,” CBS, 4.72 million.

19. “Kevin Can Wait,” CBS, 4.63 million.

20. “Night Shift,” NBC, 4.45 million.