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





  [february 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
[02/06/26 - 07:01 AM]
NHL on ESPN Networks: Viewership Up Nearly 40% Year-Over-Year Through First Four Months
Through 22 games, the NHL on ESPN networks is averaging 795K viewers, +39% YoY.

[02/05/26 - 12:42 PM]
"20/20" Ranks No. 1 in the Two-Hour Time Period Across the Board
Hitting new season highs on January 30, "20/20" grew from the previous week in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49.

[02/05/26 - 10:03 AM]
ABC's Juggernaut Tuesday Scores More Wins
"High Potential's" January 20 episode jumped to 12.98 million Total Viewers and a 2.17 rating among Adults 18-49 after seven days of viewing on ABC, Hulu, Hulu on Disney+ and digital platforms, scoring a series high among Total Viewers.

[02/04/26 - 08:00 AM]
ESPN Delivers Most-Viewed Australian Open in Six Years
The men's championship, featuring No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz defeating No. 4 Novak Djokovic in four sets, delivered 730K viewers and was up 57% YoY, ranking as most-viewed since 2017.

[02/04/26 - 07:00 AM]
FOX Celebrates Three Breakout Debuts, Each Delivering Over 11 Million Multiplatform Viewers, Driving +21% Year-Over-Year Growth in Total Minutes Watched
"Best Medicine," "Fear Factor: House of Fear" and "Memory of a Killer" drive FOX's strongest midseason performance in 14 years.

[02/04/26 - 06:00 AM]
ESPN's Studio Show Lineup Scores Record Highs, Double-Digit Growth & More Big Viewership Wins in Jan.
On Monday, January 19, following the NFL Divisional Round and ahead of the College Football Playoff National Championship, fans fueled milestone episodes for "Get Up," "First Take" and "The Pat McAfee Show," with the 7 a.m. ET edition of "SportsCenter" delivering its best episode of the month the following morning.

[02/03/26 - 03:01 PM]
2026 NHL Stadium Series Delivered Most-Viewed NHL Regular Season Game Ever on Cable
The Bruins-Lightning matchup on ESPN averaged 2.1 million viewers, peaking with 2.4 million.

[02/03/26 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of January 26 - Rags to Romance Wins as "Bridgerton" Season 4 Sweeps to No. 1 in the Top 10
"His & Hers" took No. 2 on the English TV list with 11 million views; while YA romance series "Finding Her Edge" moved up to No. 3 on the list with 6.7 million views.

[02/03/26 - 11:51 AM]
"American Idol" Blasts Off with Biggest Season Debut in Four Years
"American Idol" returned for a new season jumping to 8.27 million Total Viewers and a 1.04 rating among Adults 18-49 after three days of viewing on ABC, Hulu, Hulu on Disney+ and digital platforms.

[02/02/26 - 10:38 AM]
New Year, New Viewership Milestones for ESPN: Signature Events Deliver Second-Best Month in 30 Years
Continuing ESPN's landmark viewership success to start the year, January 2025 and 2026 now account for two of the top three most-watched months in the platform's history.

[01/30/26 - 10:11 AM]
"20/20" Ranks No. 1 in the Two-Hour Time Period Across the Board Versus CBS and NBC
"20/20" posted across-the-board gains week to week: Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49, hitting 9-week highs in both key Adult demos.

[01/30/26 - 06:20 AM]
ABC News' "Nightline" Ranks No. 1 in Total Viewers
"Nightline" was also up year to year in Total Viewers for the week of January 19.

[01/28/26 - 06:36 AM]
FOX Scores 46 Million Viewers for NFC Championship Between NFC West Rivals
The Seahawks are soaring to the Super Bowl.

[01/28/26 - 06:01 AM]
AFC Championship Game Is This Year's Most-Watched NFL Postseason Game as "NFL on CBS" Caps Off Record-Setting Season
Patriots-Broncos averaged 48,618,000 viewers and peaked with 57,759,000.

[01/27/26 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of January 19 - "The Rip" Is Right on the Money at No. 1 in This Week's Top 10
Audiences kept the suspense going as they streamed the murder-mystery thriller "His & Hers," putting the series at No. 1 on the English TV list with 17.2 million views.