or


[07/30/20 - 08:21 AM]
Wednesday's Broadcast Ratings: NBC Tops Viewers; Splits Demos with CBS, FOX
By The Futon Critic Staff (TFC)

Primetime Preliminary Fast National Nielsen Data
(includes all DVR playback through 3:00 am)

Here are the highlights of the 15 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night (7/29/20):

NBC (3.366 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T1) was the top draw for the 10th consecutive Wednesday with its lineup of "Chicago Med" (3.417 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T3), "Chicago Fire" (3.425 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T3) and "Chicago PD" (3.256 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T3).

The silver went to CBS (2.879 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T1) with a new "Tough as Nails" (3.490 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T1) followed by rebroadcasts of "The Price Is Right Primetime Special - Big Brother Edition" (2.992 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T3) and "SEAL Team" (2.157 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T9).

Next up was FOX (1.281 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T1) with a repeat "MasterChef" (1.423 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T3) alongside the season finale of "Ultimate Tag" (1.139 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T9).

Meanwhile, ABC (1.983 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.3, #4) served up a new "United We Fall" (3.532 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T1), repeats of "The Goldbergs" (2.164 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T3), "The Conners" (1.989 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T9) and "American Housewife" (1.568 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T9) plus a new "Marvel's Agents of SHIELD" (1.323 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.2, #13).

And finally, The CW (0.377 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.1, #5) rounded out the night with a repeat "The 100" (0.403 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T14) and the season finale of "Bulletproof" (0.352 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T14).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
#DIV/0! - Bulletproof
25.00% - Tough as Nails
0.00% - United We Fall
0.00% - Ultimate Tag
-33.33% - Marvel's Agents of SHIELD

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
0.00% - Tough as Nails (vs. Love Island)
-28.57% - United We Fall (vs. Press Your Luck)
-40.00% - Ultimate Tag (vs. First Responders Live)
-50.00% - Bulletproof (vs. Jane the Virgin)
-60.00% - Marvel's Agents of SHIELD (vs. Match Game)


Here are the highlights of the 13 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (7/31/19):

ABC (2.944 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T3) was the most-watched network on a competitive Wednesday with its trio of "Press Your Luck" (3.377 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.7, #3), "Card Sharks" (2.786 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T6) and "Match Game" (2.668 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T6).

CBS (2.756 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T1) and FOX (2.597 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T1) then shared in the demo honors as the latter offered up a new "MasterChef" (3.122 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.8, #2) and the Tuesday bound "First Responders Live" (2.073 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T6).

Next up was the Eye with its mix of "Love Island" (2.462 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T6), "Big Brother 21" (3.794 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.0, #1) and a repeat "SWAT" (2.013 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T10).

Meanwhile, NBC (2.899 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T3) opted for repeats of "Ellen's Game of Games" (3.159 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T4), another "Ellen's Game of Games" (2.919 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T4) and a new "The InBetween" (2.620 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T10).

And finally, The CW (0.670 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.2, #5) closed out the night with the penultimate "Jane the Virgin" (0.678 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.2, #T12) and the final "Jane the Virgin" (0.662 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.2, #T12).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+33.33% - The InBetween
+25.00% - First Responders Live
+14.29% - MasterChef
0.00% - Big Brother 21
0.00% - Press Your Luck
0.00% - Love Island
-16.67% - Card Sharks
-16.67% - Match Game
-33.33% - Jane the Virgin

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+150.00% - Big Brother 21 (vs. SEAL Team (Repeat))
+7.69% - Press Your Luck (vs. The Goldbergs (Repeats))
0.00% - The InBetween (vs. Reverie)
0.00% - Match Game (vs. Shark Tank (Repeat))
0.00% - Jane the Virgin (vs. Burden of Truth)
-9.09% - Card Sharks (vs. Modern Family/American Housewife (Repeats))
-11.11% - MasterChef
-33.33% - Jane the Virgin (vs. The Originals)
-66.67% - Love Island (vs. Big Brother 20)
-92.86% - First Responders Live (vs. Gordon Ramsay's 24 Hours to Hell & Back (Repeat))

In late-night metered market ratings (via NBC's press release):

· In Nielsen's 56 metered markets, household results were: "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," 1.4/4; "Late Show with Stephen Colbert," 2.1/6; and ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.4/4.

· In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," 0.4/3; "Late Show," 0.3/2; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.3/2.

· From 12:35-1:05 a.m. ET, ABC's "Nightline," averaged a 0.9/3 in metered-market households and a 0.2/2 in 18-49 in the Local People Meters.

· From 12:35-1:35 a.m. ET, ratings were: "Late Night with Seth Meyers," 1.0/4 in metered-market households; CBS's "Late Late Show," 0.9/4. In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, averages were: "Late Night," 0.2/2 in 18-49; "Late Late Show," 0.1/1.

· At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.5/3 in metered-market households with an encore and a 0.1/1 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

Source: Nielsen Media Research





  [may 2026]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S
     


· SHOWATCH
(series past and present)
· DEVWATCH
(series in development)
· MOVIEWATCH
(tv movies and mini-series)





most recent ratings | view all posts
[05/29/26 - 03:02 PM]
"20/20" Is Friday's No. 1 Newsmagazine, Leading "Dateline" in Total Viewers for the 5th Consecutive Broadcast Season
"20/20" improved on the previous season in Total Viewers (+5%/+170,000 - 3.672 million vs. 3.502 million).

[05/29/26 - 03:01 PM]
ABC News Is #1 in Total Viewers Sunday Morning and in Late-Night
"Nightline" posted double-digit gains week to week in Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49.

[05/28/26 - 03:23 PM]
2026 NBA Eastern Conference Finals Presented by Dunkin' Finishes Strong with Average Audience of 7.4 Million Viewers Across ESPN and ABC
Additionally, Game 4 on ESPN averaged 7.2 million viewers, marking the most-viewed Eastern Conference Finals Game 4 across any network since 2018.

[05/28/26 - 11:00 AM]
CBS Outpaces Competitors with Eight of the Top 25 Series Across All Streaming and Broadcast Originals in Nielsen's All-Series Ranker
CBS has the most top 25 series of any streaming or broadcast competitor and twice as many as its closest broadcast competitor, including six series with 10+ million viewers.

[05/28/26 - 10:31 AM]
FOX Delivers Most-Watched UFL Game Since League Started in 2024
1,593,000 viewers watched as Louisville defeated Dallas 37-23 on Sunday.

[05/28/26 - 10:26 AM]
FOX Scores with 110th Running of the Indianapolis 500
6,635,000 viewers watched Felix Rosenqvist edge David Malukas by 0.0233 seconds with a last-lap pass to win the Indy 500 Sunday on FOX.

[05/27/26 - 03:13 PM]
FOX Saturday Baseball Draws Strong Audience Over Holiday Weekend
2,355,000 viewers tuned in to the two-game slate highlighted by the Dodgers' 11-3 victory over the Brewers in most of the country.

[05/26/26 - 12:03 PM]
"Off Campus" Season 1 Has Reached 36 Million Viewers Worldwide in Its First 12 Days
Off Campus. On everyone's screen.

[05/26/26 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of May 18 - In Ruthless Pursuit, "Nemesis" Steals No. 1 in This Week's Top 10
Retirement in "The Boroughs" is anything but sleepy as the Duffer Brothers-produced sci-fi series took No. 2 on the list with 5.6 million views.

[05/26/26 - 11:00 AM]
"Dutton Ranch" Is the Biggest Original Series Debut in Paramount+ History
In addition to its record-setting performance on Paramount+, "Dutton Ranch" is also the #1 streaming series according to Nielsen based on average audience for the week of May 11 according to preliminary data.

[05/21/26 - 02:32 PM]
ESPN Delivered Most-Watched NBA Eastern Conference Finals Game 1 Since 2018
The New York Knicks overtime victory against the Cleveland Cavaliers on May 19 generated an average audience of 7.1 million viewers and peaked with 8.87 million viewers at 10:45 p.m. ET.

[05/21/26 - 02:00 PM]
"Survivor" Historic 50th Season Concludes with Most-Watched Finale Since 2020
The season finale drew an average of 5.78 million viewers, based on Nielsen Preliminary panel only data.

[05/21/26 - 07:01 AM]
NBC Sports' 2026 SuperMotocross Coverage Delivers Viewership Gains and Milestones
The seven races featured on NBC and Peacock averaged a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 468,000 viewers on NBC and Peacock, up 8% vs. 2025.

[05/20/26 - 03:05 PM]
NBC and Peacock Deliver the Most-Watched Western Conference Finals Game 1 Ever for Monday's Spurs-Thunder Double Overtime Thriller
Coverage peaked with 12.0 million viewers from 11:30-11:43 p.m. ET for the second overtime and game's conclusion.

[05/20/26 - 03:04 PM]
ESPN Aired Its Most Viewed 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs Second Round of the Current Rights Deal
Collectively all 11 Second Round games, with nine airing on ESPN and two on ABC, delivered 2.2 million viewers, up 76% year-over-year.