or


[12/16/08 - 12:08 PM]
A Charlie Brown Christmas Wins Monday at 8pm in Viewers, Key Women and Kids 2-11
ABC spins the numbers for the week of December 8-14.

[via press release from ABC]

Primetime Ratings Report For the week of December 8, 2008 (Based on National Live + Same Day Program Ratings)

"A Charlie Brown Christmas" Wins Monday at 8pm in Viewers, Key Women and Kids 2-11, Ranking as the No. 1 TV Program of the Evening in the Key Kids Demo

Monday's 2-Hour Series Finale of "Boston Legal" Hits a Season High, Growing Its Audience from Start to Finish and Drawing its Largest Audience in 8 Months

Jumping from its Lead-in, "Private Practice" Takes Second in its Wednesday 9pm Slot In Viewers and Adults 18-49 and Stands as the Night's No. 1 Show in Women 18-34

ABC's Replay of "Surviving Christmas" on Saturday Beats its NBC Movie Competition On the Night in Adults 18-49 and Increases Year to Year in Viewers and Young Adults

ABC's Sunday Rebroadcast of Disney's "The Santa Clause 2" is Up Over its Year-Ago Telecast in Viewers, Adults 18-34, and Kids 2-11

WEEK No. 12:

During the second week of December (w/o 12/8/08), ABC outdrew its non-sports competition, Fox, by 5% in Total Viewers (6.3 million vs. 6.0 million). NBC and CBS each enjoyed big boosts to their weekly averages from NFL coverage � CBS with a huge NFL overrun on Sunday going well into the first hour of prime and NBC with one of the season's biggest primetime NFL games on "Sunday Night Football" (NY Giants-Dallas Cowboys). Also of note during the pre-holiday week, ABC's top shows were either in repeat ("Grey's Anatomy" and "Desperate Housewives") or pre-empted ("Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" and "Brothers & Sisters").

A note about increasing DVR penetration and year-to-year rating comparisons: Year-to-year rating comparisons based on the Live + Same Day data stream are distorted by the level of DVR penetration in the Nielsen sample, which has jumped up to 29% currently, from 21% at the same point in 2007. More viewers are watching shows on their own timetables, which may not be reflected in the overnight next day numbers. The only truly valid year-to-year comparison would be one based on the Live + 7 Day metric, once those stats are released by Nielsen.

Monday

ABC's Monday results were up over the previous week by 1.7 million viewers (10.3 million vs. 8.6 million) and 8% in Adults 18-49 (2.8/7 vs. 2.6/7).

"A Charlie Brown Christmas" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)

ABC's annual broadcast of "A Charlie Brown Christmas" stood as the most-watched program (11.0 million) in the 8 o'clock hour, while taking second among Adults 18-49 (3.7/10). In addition, the animated classic led its time period among Women 18-49 (4.7/12), Women 25-54 (5.2/12) and Kids 2-11 (5.4/16). In fact "A Charlie Brown Christmas" stood as Monday night's No. 1 TV program among Kids 2-11.

"Boston Legal" (9:00-11:00 p.m.)

The 2-hour series finale of "Boston Legal" hit a season-high in Total Viewers (9.9 million), while posting a best-since-premiere performance among Adults 18-49 (2.3/6). In fact, the legal drama saw its largest audience in nearly 8 months � since 4/22/08. The final episode of the series saw its audience grow from its first hour to its second hour by 6% in Total Viewers (9.6 million to 10.2 million) and by 14% in Adults 18-49 (2.2/5 to 2.5/6).

Wednesday

"Private Practice" (9:00-10:01 p.m.)

Jumping over its lead-in, ABC's "Private Practice" attracted 6.9 million viewers and a 2.4 rating, 6 share in Adults 18-49, taking second in its hour in both Nielsen measures. The ABC sophomore drama won its time period for the second week in a row and stood as the No. 1 program on Wednesday night among Women 18-34 (3.0/8).

Saturday

"ABC Saturday Movie of the Week: Surviving Christmas" (9:00-11:00 p.m.)

The "ABC Saturday Movie of the Week: Surviving Christmas" drew 4.8 million viewers and a 1.4 rating 4 share in Adults 18-49, outperforming the NBC Movie Special, "It's a Wonderful Life" (1.3/4), in the key young adult demo.

� ABC's "Saturday Movie of the Week: Surviving Christmas" was up over its performance the previous year in both viewers and young adults (4.7 million and a 1.2/4 on 12/15/07).

Sunday

"ABC Sunday Movie of the Week: The Santa Clause 2" (8:00-10:00 p.m.)

Despite airing one hour earlier than 2007, an encore of ABC's "The Santa Clause 2" drew 8.8 million viewers and a 2.7 rating, 6 share in Adults 18-49, growing in viewers and retaining 100% of its year-ago Adult 18-49 performance (8.7 million & 2.7/8 on 12/23/07). "The Santa Clause 2" saw year-to-year increases among Adults 18-34 (2.0/6 vs. 2.0/7), Men 18-49 (2.2/5 vs. 2.1/6) and Kids 2-11 (2.9/10 vs. 2.2/8).

� ABC's "The Santa Clause 2" led in its 2-hour time period and stood as the night's No. 1 program among the broadcast networks in Kids 2-11. In addition, the theatrical delivered the Net's highest Kids 2-11 performance in the time-slot in 9 months - since 3/2/08.

Source: Nielsen Media Research (National Live+Same Day Program Ratings), week of 12/8/08, unless stated otherwise.





  [december 2008]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S
 


· BOSTON LEGAL (ABC)
· BROTHERS & SISTERS (ABC)
· DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES (ABC)
· EXTREME MAKEOVER: HOME EDITION (HGTV)
· GREY'S ANATOMY (ABC)
· PRIVATE PRACTICE (ABC)





most recent ratings | view all posts
[09/29/26 - 03:28 PM]
FOX Sports Hits Home Run with Best MLB on FOX Regular Season Since '21 - No. 1 Among All Networks
Regular season coverage on FOX averaged 2.35 million viewers, up +15% vs. '25.

[09/29/26 - 03:12 PM]
FOX NFL Delivers Most-Watched Early Window of the Day on Any Network in Week 3
17,898,000 viewers tuned-in to FOX's 1:00 PM ET window.

[09/29/26 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of September 21 - "Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story" Takes the No. 1 Spot for a Second Week
"Unabomber" premiered in the top spot on the English film list, gathering 16.4 million views.

[09/29/26 - 12:00 PM]
USA Sports Delivers Viewership Records and Milestones in Inaugural Season of WNBA Coverage Ahead of WNBA Finals on USA Network This October
USA Sports averaged 525,000 viewers across its 48 regular-season games - the most national games of any broadcaster - up 25% vs. 2025 WNBA cable average viewership.

[09/29/26 - 09:50 AM]
"Jimmy Kimmel Live" Finishes 2025-2026 Season with Largest Overall Audience in Eight Years and Strongest Adults 18-49 in Four Years
In the final week of the 2025-2026 season, "Jimmy Kimmel Live" ranked No. 1 in both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49.

[09/28/26 - 02:45 PM]
The "VMAs" Scores 8.4 Million Viewers, Up +51% from Last Year, and Hits 11-Year Viewership High
The telecast peaked with over 15 million viewers across CBS and MTV in the opening act, which featured Madonna's first "VMAs" performance in 23 years, including a show-opening medley with Sabrina Carpenter and Charli XCX.

[09/25/26 - 10:51 AM]
Cartman, Kenny, Stan, Kyle and "South America's" Season 29 Premiere Delivers 4.2 Million Multiplatform U.S. Viewers Across Comedy Central and Paramount+
The season premiere on Comedy Central outperformed last season's premiere by double digits on persons 18-49 rating and share and was the #1 non-sports cable telecast for the week with persons 18-49.

[09/25/26 - 10:35 AM]
ESPN Delivered Its Most-Watched WNBA Regular Season Ever!
Across 29 games, the WNBA on ESPN networks averaged 1.37M viewers, up 17% year-over-year and ranking as ESPN networks' most-viewed WNBA regular season on record.

[09/24/26 - 12:25 PM]
ABC News Wins Across the Board in Late Night and Friday Night
"20/20" ranks as Friday's No. 1 newsmagazine in Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49, drawing its largest audience in two months and growing year to year in all key measures.

[09/23/26 - 02:56 PM]
Giants-Rams Becomes ESPN's Most-Watched Week 2 "Monday Night Football" Game Ever with 19.4 Million Viewers
Through the first two weeks, "Monday Night Football" is averaging 21.4 million viewers, up 29% compared to the first two weeks of the 2025 season.

[09/23/26 - 11:01 AM]
Top 10 Most-Watched Prime Original Films & Series for the Week of September 14
"Reacher," "Neagley," "Sterling Point," "El Juicio," and "The Grand Tour" led all original series worldwide.

[09/22/26 - 03:08 PM]
Record-Breaking Week 3: ESPN/ABC Claim Every Saturday Window; "College GameDay" Continues Historic Start to the Season
ESPN networks delivered the top five most-watched games of Week 3 and accounted for two-thirds of all college football viewing.

[09/22/26 - 02:34 PM]
FOX's "America's Game of the Week" Scores Regular Season High 27,212,000 Viewers in Week 2
Said coverage was up +8% vs. last year's full season average of 25,269,000 viewers.

[09/22/26 - 02:17 PM]
Colts-Chiefs Overtime Thriller Is Most Watched Week 2 NBC "Sunday Night Football" Game Since 2015, Averaging 24.3 Million Viewers on NBC & Peacock
The audience for Colts-Chiefs peaked at 27.4 million viewers on NBC and Peacock in the second quarter (9:15-9:30 p.m. ET).

[09/22/26 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of September 14 - "Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married Again?" Holds No. 1 for a Second Week
"Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story" debuted at the top of the English TV list with 12.1 million views.