or


[09/27/20 - 08:17 AM]
Saturday's Broadcast Ratings: College Football Lifts ABC to Top Honors
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 seven ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night (9/26/20):

[Note: Fast affiliate ratings are inaccurate for live sports.]

ABC (2.629 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.7, #1) was the network to beat on Saturday with another installment of "Saturday Night Football" (2.629 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.7, #1).

Second place went to NBC (2.166 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.5, #2) with its coverage of the "Stanley Cup Finals: Dallas at Tampa Bay" (2.166 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.5, #2).

Next up was CBS (2.242 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.3, #3) and its lineup of "Bull" (2.053 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T3), "SWAT" (1.790 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T3) and "48 Hours" (2.882 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T3).

And finally, FOX (1.318 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.2, #4) closed out the night with its regular season finale of "MLB on FOX" (1.318 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.2, #6).

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

TBA


Here are the highlights of the nine ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (9/28/19):

ABC (5.544 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.5, #1) continued its reign on Saturday with its weekly installment of "Saturday Night College Football" (5.544 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.5, #1).

The silver then went to NBC (2.509 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.5, #2) with its mix of "The Voice" (2.156 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T4), "Dateline Saturday Night Mystery" (3.151 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.6, #2) and "SNL Vintage" (2.220 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.5, #3).

Next up was FOX (1.952 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.4, #3) and a special edition of "MLB on FOX" (1.952 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T4).

And finally, CBS (2.593 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.3, #4) closed out the night with encores of "Bob (Hearts) Abishola" (2.343 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T4), "Carol's Second Act" (2.166 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T8) and "All Rise" (2.235 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T8) plus a new "48 Hours" (3.288 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T4).

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

· The 45th season premiere of "Saturday Night Live," hosted by Woody Harrelson and featuring musical guest Billie Eilish, has averaged a 4.1 rating, 10 share in "live plus same day" household results from the 56 local markets metered by Nielsen Media Research and a 1.6/10 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

· The Sept. 28 edition maintains 100% of the show's season finale rating in the metered markets (4.1 vs. 4.1 on May 18), while growing +7% in 18-49 in the local people meters (1.6 vs. 1.5), to top three of the show's final four telecasts of last season.

· Versus all primetime entertainment programming so far on the Big 4 networks during Premiere Week, "Saturday Night Live" is tied for #6 in adults 18-49 in the local people meters, ranking behind only "The Masked Singer" (3.1), "This Is Us" (2.2), "9-1-1" (1.9), Monday's "The Voice" (1.7) and "Grey's Anatomy" (1.7).

· The year-ago season premiere of "Saturday Night Live" averaged a 4.8 in metered-market households and a 2.3 in 18-49.

Source: Nielsen Media Research





  [december 2025]  
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
[12/05/25 - 03:31 PM]
ABC News' "Nightline" Ranks No. 1 in Total Viewers
"Nightline" improved on the previous week in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, hitting nine-week highs in both measures.

[12/05/25 - 02:05 PM]
ESPN Networks Deliver Best College Football Regular Season Since 2011; "College GameDay Built by The Home Depot" Scores Most-Watched Season Ever
ESPN networks aired the most-watched game in 34 of 42 key Saturday windows, including seven of 14 noon windows, 13 of 14 late afternoon windows and all 14 prime windows.

[12/05/25 - 12:35 PM]
2025 CFB Viewership Surges on FOX & FS1
The 2025 regular season wrapped with big numbers for "Big Noon Saturday," "Big Noon Kickoff" and more - including year-over-year gains across the board.

[12/05/25 - 11:00 AM]
CBS Premiere Week Episodes Post Gains and Lead In Live Plus 35-Day Multiplatform Viewership
"Tracker" delivered 17.3 million viewers, up +6% versus its year-ago premiere.

[12/05/25 - 08:45 AM]
ESPN Delivered Most-Watched Women's College Volleyball Season on Record
Said coverage averaged 190,000 viewers, up 36% from the 2024 season.

[12/04/25 - 04:19 PM]
"College GameDay Built By The Home Depot" Delivers Second-Best Regular Season Episode Ever; ESPN Scores Best Rivalry Week Since 2012
The Lone Star Showdown drew over 13 million viewers, peaking with 14.3 million viewers.

[12/04/25 - 03:45 PM]
"Big Noon Kickoff" Scores 4.36 Million Viewers on FOX
The 2025 season was "Big Noon Kickoff's" most-watched season in history.

[12/04/25 - 02:41 PM]
18.4M Viewers Tuned in for Ohio State-Michigan on FOX
Ohio State's win over Michigan scored 18,424,000 viewers on FOX.

[12/04/25 - 02:28 PM]
Record Audience Watches Formula 1 Qatar Grand Prix on ESPN2
The November 30 telecast earned an average audience of 1.4 million viewers, the largest audience ever to watch the event on U.S. television.

[12/03/25 - 11:59 AM]
"9-1-1: Nashville" Season Premiere Catapults to Over 19 Million Total Viewers
Over 35 days, ABC's Thursday night drama premieres amassed impressive audiences based on competitive cross-platform broadcast series rankings, with all three dramas landing in the Top 10 among Adults 18-49.

[12/03/25 - 08:57 AM]
Record NFL Viewership Caps Thanksgiving Night on NBC, Peacock, and Telemundo
Bengals-Ravens is the most-watched Thanksgiving night NFL game ever with an average of 28.4 million viewers.

[12/03/25 - 08:55 AM]
"NFL on CBS" Shatters Record for Most-Watched Regular-Season Game in NFL History with More Than 57 Million Viewers
Viewership peaked with 61.357 million viewers for the game's thrilling conclusion (7:45-8:00 PM ET).

[12/03/25 - 08:49 AM]
FOX Sports Feasts on Thanksgiving Day with 47.7 Million Viewers for Packers-Lions
Viewership peaked with 57,957,000 viewers from 4:00-4:15 PM ET.

[12/03/25 - 08:47 AM]
Most-Watched NBA on ESPN Thanksgiving Eve in Six Years
The inaugural tripleheader averaged 2,099,000 viewers, up 54 percent from last year's Thanksgiving Eve doubleheader, according to Nielsen Big Data + Panel.

[12/02/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of November 24 - "Stranger Things" Escapes the Upside Down to Take No. 1 in This Week's Top 10
The series returned last week with Volume 1 of its fifth and final season, touting the biggest premiere week ever for an English language show in the history of Netflix, amassing 59.6 million views and securing No. 1 on the English TV list.