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[07/08/12 - 08:46 AM]
Saturday's Broadcast Ratings: "Saturday Baseball Game of the Week" Finale Trumps "NYC 22" Return
By The Futon Critic Staff (TFC)

nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for saturday, july 7, 2012)

Here are the highlights of the 10 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night:

FOX (3.90 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.0, #1) was the network to beat last night with the season finale of the "Saturday Baseball Game of the Week" (3.90 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.0, #1).

CBS (3.67 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.6, #2) then took home the silver with the return of "NYC 22" (3.15 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T8) followed by a second "NYC 22" (3.34 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T4) and a repeat of "48 Hours Mystery" (4.53 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.9, #2).

Next up was NBC (2.64 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.5, #3) with encores of "America's Got Talent" (2.48 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T4) and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (3.12 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.7, #3) plus the penultimate "The Firm" (2.27 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T8).

And finally, ABC (1.97 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.4, #4) closed out the night with repeats of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" (1.73 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T4), "Ball Boys" (1.32 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T8) and "Castle" (2.88 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T4).

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

An encore telecast of "Saturday Night Live," with host Sofia Vergara and musical guest One Direction (2.9/8 in metered-market households), dominated its time period. In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Saturday Night Live" averaged a 1.3 rating, 6 share in adults 18-49, making it the night's #1 non-sports program in the Local People Meters, ahead of all primetime telecasts on ABC, CBS and NBC.

[NOTE: Today's numbers are courtesy of TVMediaInsights.com due to delays from our usual sources.]


Here are the highlights of the 12 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (7/9/11):

FOX (2.51 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.9, #1) claimed top demo honors on Saturday with repeats of "Cops" (3.17 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.0, #2), "Family Guy" (2.02 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T3) and "The Cleveland Show" (1.66 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T5).

CBS (4.24 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.8, #2) then took home the silver with a new "Chaos" (2.85 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T9) alongside repeats of "48 Hours Mystery" (3.93 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T5) and another "48 Hours Mystery" (5.94 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.1, #1).

Next up was NBC (3.24 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.6, #3) with rebroadcasts of "Minute to Win It" (2.06 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T11), "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" (3.40 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.6, #8) and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (4.27 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T3).

And finally, repeats of "101 Ways to Leave a Game Show" (2.35 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T5), "Expedition Impossible" (1.88 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T9) and "Rookie Blue" (1.90 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T11) on ABC (2.04 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.5, #4) rounded out the evening.

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

An encore telecast of "Saturday Night Live" (3.3/8 in metered-market households), hosted by Tina Fey with musical guest Ellie Goulding, dominated its time period.

In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Saturday Night Live" averaged a 1.7 rating, 8 share in adults 18-49, making it the #1 telecast of the night ahead of all primetime programs on ABC, CBS, NBC or Fox. Versus the same night last year, "SNL" is up 6 percent in the Local People Meters (1.7 vs. 1.6).

Source: Nielsen Media Research





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