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





  [january 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
[12/31/25 - 10:08 AM]
ESPN Delivered Largest Average NBA Christmas Audience Since 2018
The San Antonio Spurs vs. Oklahoma City Thunder game in the 2:30 p.m. window became ESPN's most-watched NBA Christmas game in the timeslot since 2017, averaging 6.7 million viewers.

[12/30/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of December 22 - "Stranger Things 5" Runs Up That Hill to No. 1 in This Week's Top 10
At No. 2 on the list was "Emily in Paris" Season 5 with 13.3 million views.

[12/30/25 - 08:00 AM]
Aced It! ESPN Scored Most-Watched 2025 NCAA Women's College Volleyball Season on Record
The entirety of the NCAA Women's Volleyball Tournament finished up 13% year over year, averaging 666,000 viewers across the 15 matches and featured the most-watched Regionals on record.

[12/24/25 - 10:01 AM]
Dec. 20 Holiday Episode Ranks as #1 "Saturday Night Live" Telecast of the Season
Hosted by Ariana Grande with musical guest Cher, the episode drew 5.4 million viewers.

[12/23/25 - 03:11 PM]
College Football Playoff First Round Presented by Allstate Averages 9.9 Million Viewers Across Four Games on ESPN/ABC and TNT Sports
Alabama vs. Oklahoma delivered 14.9 million viewers on Friday.

[12/23/25 - 03:03 PM]
FOX NFL Exclusive Week 16 Doubleheader Delivers 21.3 Million for Packers-Bears and 15.4 Million for Eagles-Commanders
Plus: 15,460,000 viewers watched FOX Sports' exclusive Week 16 Saturday presentation of the Eagles victory over the Commanders and divisional clinch of the NFC East.

[12/23/25 - 12:16 PM]
"Stranger Things" by the Numbers: How the Global Phenomenon Shaped Culture
In just four weeks, Season 5 Vol. 1 has already reached 102.6M views globally and all five seasons still remain in the Top 10 this week.

[12/23/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of December 15 - "The Great Flood" Rises to No. 1; "Wake Up Dead Man" Stays on Top for a Second Week
Plus: "Emily in Paris" returned with its fifth season, taking the No. 2 spot on the list with 13.5 million views.

[12/23/25 - 10:01 AM]
33 Million Global Viewers on Netflix Watched Jake Paul vs. Anthony Joshua's Epic Six-Round Battle
The event reached Netflix's Top 10 in 91 countries and ranked #1 in 45 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Australia, Mexico, and Argentina.

[12/19/25 - 02:33 PM]
ABC Celebrates Record-Breaking 2025 with Top Six Shows Among Adults 18-49 and TV's No. 1 Show, "High Potential"
"High Potential" stands as the No. 1 series for the year in both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, with the network also owning the Top Six shows in the key Adult demo.

[12/17/25 - 01:30 PM]
ABC News' "Nightline" Ranks #1 in Total Viewers
"Nightline" also posted week-to-week increases in Total Viewers and Adults 25-54.

[12/17/25 - 06:42 AM]
Cricket Celebration Bowl Delivered Double-Digit Increases on ABC
Coverage averaged 2.3 million viewers with a peak of 3.0 million.

[12/16/25 - 02:15 PM]
FOX NFL Week 15 Scores 19.4 Million Viewers for "America's Game of the Week"
Season-to-date, the NFL on FOX is averaging 20,055,000 viewers; up +8% over last year's average (18,630,000) and its best since 2015.

[12/16/25 - 02:15 PM]
"CBS News Presents: A Town Hall with Erika Kirk" Boosts CBS' Time Period Performance in Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49
The special delivered 1.9 million viewers with 265,000 in the adults 25-54 demographic on Saturday, December 13.

[12/16/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of December 8 - "Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery" Cracks the Case at No. 1 in the Top 10
New comedy series "Man vs. Baby" took No. 1 on the English TV list with 19.1 million views, with the Rowan Atkinson vehicle eliciting laughs over the bumbling Trevor Bingley trying to earn money house-sitting for millionaires while a lost baby keeps him on his toes.