or


[04/04/21 - 10:21 AM]
Saturday's Broadcast Ratings: NCAA's Final Four Puts CBS on Top
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 eight ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night (4/3/21):

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

CBS (10.733 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.5, #1) was of course the network to beat thanks to its Final Four coverage of the "NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament: (1) Baylor vs. (2) Houston" (9.399 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.2, #2) and "NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament: (1) Gonzaga vs. (11) UCLA" (10.999 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.6, #1).

ABC (3.997 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.4, #2) took home the silver with its annual presentation of "The Ten Commandments" (3.997 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.4, #3).

Next up was NBC (1.768 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.3, #3) with encores of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (1.599 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.2, #T6), "Law & Order: Organized Crime" (2.070 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T4) and "SNL Vintage" (1.635 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T4).

And finally, FOX (0.789 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.2, #4) closed out the night with repeats of "The Masked Singer" (0.858 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.2, #T6) and "Game of Talents" (0.720 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.2, #T6).


Here are the highlights of the eight ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (4/4/20):

ABC (5.140 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T1) was the top Saturday draw with its annual telecast of "The Ten Commandments" (5.140 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T1).

NBC (3.552 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T1) shared in the demo honors with a two-hour "Dateline Saturday Night Mystery" (4.056 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T1) and "SNL Vintage" (2.543 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.5, #3).

Next up was CBS (2.751 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.3, #3) with repeats of "Hawaii Five-0" (2.410 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T5) and "SWAT" (2.200 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T5) plus a new "48 Hours" (3.644 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.4, #4).

And finally, second runs of "9-1-1" (1.285 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.2, #T7) and "Gordon Ramsay's 24 Hours to Hell and Back" (1.017 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.2, #T7) closed out the night on FOX (1.151 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.2, #4).

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

An April 4 encore edition of "Saturday Night Live," with host RuPaul and musical guest Justin Bieber, has averaged a 2.4 rating in "live plus same day" household results from 44 local markets metered by Nielsen Media Research and a 0.8 rating in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

Versus primetime programming on the Big 4 networks Saturday night, the "SNL" rebroadcast is the #2 show of the night in 18-49 in the local people meters, behind only ABC's telecast of "The Ten Commandments."

Note that current metered-market results are not compatible with data issued before Oct. 5 due to changes in Nielsen methodology.

Source: Nielsen Media Research, ShowBuzzDaily.com





  [july 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
[07/02/26 - 06:09 PM]
ESPN Delivers Most-Watched Wimbledon Day 2 Coverage on Record
Serena Williams' Wimbledon return on Tuesday, June 30, delivered record viewership.

[07/02/26 - 03:18 PM]
FOX Sports' Strong FIFA World Cup 2026 Viewership Continues with 10.43 Million viewers Tuning in for Mexico-Ecuador
The telecast reached a peak viewership of 13.087 million viewers from 10:30-10:45 PM ET.

[07/02/26 - 02:49 PM]
ABC News Is No. 1 in Total Viewers for the Second Quarter on Sunday Morning and Friday Evening
"20/20" ranked as Friday's No. 1 newsmagazine during the 2nd Quarter 2026 in Total Viewers (3.806 million) and Adults 18-49 (473,000).

[07/02/26 - 01:48 PM]
FOX Sports Soars Into the Record Books with Most-Watched Soccer Telecast in English-Language U.S. History
24.429 million viewers watched the USMNT's historic FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 32 victory Wednesday on FOX.

[07/02/26 - 08:27 AM]
"BET Awards" 2026 Grows Across Every Platform with First-Time Host Druski, Cementing BET as the Epicenter of Black Culture
The telecast was the highest-rated "BET Awards" on BET since 2019 among P18-49, with P18-49 impressions up +50% year-over-year.

[07/01/26 - 03:00 PM]
FOX Scores 10.579 Million Viewers for Netherlands-Morocco FIFA World Cup 2026 Knock Out Thriller - Monday's Most-Watched Telecast on Any Network
Coverage peaked with 12.657 million viewers from 10:45-11:00 PM ET.

[07/01/26 - 01:07 PM]
"Dateline" Is the #1 Friday Newsmagazine in Both Key Demos for the 10th Consecutive Quarter
According to Nielsen Media Research, the true crime original averages 786,000 A25-54 viewers, +31,000 vs. last quarter and +11,000 vs. last year.

[07/01/26 - 12:11 PM]
Top 10 Most-Watched Prime Original Films & Series for the Week of June 22
"Off Campus," "Every Year After," "Clarkson's Farm," "Spider-Noir," and "The Boys" led all original series worldwide.

[07/01/26 - 11:19 AM]
ABC Delivers Most-Watched Banana Ball Telecast Ever!
The June 28 broadcast averaged 1.2 million viewers across the two-hour showcase.

[06/30/26 - 05:54 PM]
FOX Sports Smashes FIFA World Cup Group Stage Records as U.S. Men's National Team and Global Superstars Shine Bright
Averaging 5,052,000 viewers across 72 matches, the Group Stage on FOX, FS1 and Tubi was up +92% versus 2022 (2,638,000 viewers), for the most-watched FIFA Men's World Cup Group Stage telecast average in English-language U.S. history.

[06/30/26 - 02:17 PM]
NBC Sports Delivers Audience Milestones for Sunday Golf and Baseball Coverage on NBC and Peacock
NBC Sports' first New York Yankees-Boston Red Sox game since 1995, a 10-inning, 5-4 victory by the Red Sox, averaged 4.0 million viewers from 8:28-10:35 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock.

[06/30/26 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of June 22 - The Search Continues as "I Will Find You" Holds at No. 1 for a Second Week
The second season of "Avatar: The Last Airbender" launched in the No. 2 spot on the English TV list with 8.7 million views, and the first season reentered the list in the No. 3 spot with 3 million views.

[06/29/26 - 10:00 AM]
USMNT FIFA World Cup 2026 Group Stage Finale Pulls in 17.015 Million Viewers on FOX
Said coverage delivered a peak audience of 19,471,000 viewers from 10:30-10:45 PM ET.

[06/26/26 - 05:35 PM]
Third Leg of FIFA World Cup 2026 Group Stage Kicks Off, FOX Sports Viewership Stays Strong
8.7 million viewers tuned into 9:00 PM ET window featuring Mexico-Czechia on FOX and South Africa-Korea Republic on FS1.

[06/26/26 - 02:44 PM]
USMNT Caps Historic FIFA World Cup 2026 Group Stage with 15.856M Viewers on FOX
Said coverage marked the third most-watched FIFA Men's World Cup Group Stage telecast in English-language U.S. history.