or


[05/23/14 - 08:34 AM]
Thursday's Broadcast Ratings: NBC Opens Summer on Top with Return of "Last Comic Standing"
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 13 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night (5/22/14):

NBC (4.890 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.5, #1) kicked off the summer on top with a new "Hollywood Game Night" (3.896 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T6) and the two-hour season premiere of "Last Comic Standing" (5.387 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.7, #2).

CBS (5.762 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.3, #2) then claimed the silver with its mix of "The Big Bang Theory" (8.944 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.2, #1), "The Millers" (6.035 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T3), "Two and a Half Men" (5.728 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.3, #5), "Bad Teacher" (4.449 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T6) and "Elementary" (4.708 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T8).

Next up was FOX (3.600 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.2, #3) with a new "Hell's Kitchen" (4.214 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T3) followed by the debut of "Gang Related" (2.987 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T8).

Meanwhile, ABC (3.050 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.7, #4) served up encores of "The Bachelorette" (2.687 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.6, #12) and "Modern Family" (2.793 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T10) alongside a new "Black Box" (3.722 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T10).

And finally, "Labyrinth, Part 1" (1.334 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.4, #13) closed out the evening on The CW (1.334 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #5). In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), the film posted a 0.3 rating.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
0.00% - Hollywood Game Night
-11.76% - Hell's Kitchen
-21.43% - Bad Teacher
-27.27% - Black Box

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+100.00% - Last Comic Standing (vs. Various)
+60.00% - Labyrinth, Part 1 (vs. The Vampire Diaries (Repeat)/Beauty and the Beast (Repeat))
+57.14% - Hollywood Game Night (vs. Save Me)
-8.33% - Bad Teacher (vs. Person of Interest (Repeat))
-28.57% - Hell's Kitchen
-30.77% - Gang Related (vs. Does Someone Have to Go?)
-33.33% - Black Box (vs. Rookie Blue)

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

TBA


Here are the highlights of the 16 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (5/23/13):

FOX (4.277 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.7, #1) opened the summer as the top demo draw with the return of "Hell's Kitchen" (5.478 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.1, #2) and the debut of "Does Someone Have to Go?" (3.076 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.3, #4).

CBS (6.630 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.4, #2) then claimed the silver despite an all-repeat lineup of "The Big Bang Theory" (8.838 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.2, #1), "Two and a Half Men" (7.624 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.8, #3), "Person of Interest" (6.838 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T5) and "Elementary" (4.821 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.9, #10).

Next up was ABC (5.346 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.2, #3) with new episodes of "Wipeout" (4.120 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T5) and "Motive" (5.941 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T5) followed by the season opener to "Rookie Blue" (5.978 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T5).

Meanwhile, NBC (2.615 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.8, #4) offered up the premiere of "Save Me" (3.208 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T11), a second "Save Me" (3.001 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T11) plus repeats of "The Office" (2.123 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T11), "Parks & Recreation" (1.877 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T11) and a new "Hannibal" (2.740 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.0, #9).

And finally, repeats of "The Vampire Diaries" (0.864 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.3, #15) and "Beauty and the Beast" (0.735 million viewers, #16; adults 18-49: 0.2, #16) closed out the evening over on The CW (0.799 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.2, #5). In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), "Diaries" delivered a 0.3 rating at 8:00/7:00c and "Beast" a 0.3 rating at 9:00/8:00c.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+23.53% - Hell's Kitchen (vs. 5/13/13)
+20.00% - Wipeout
0.00% - Hannibal
-14.29% - Motive (vs. 5/20/13)

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+11.11% - Hannibal (vs. Awake)
0.00% - Save Me - 8:00 (vs. The Office (Repeat))
0.00% - Save Me - 8:30 (vs. The Office (Repeat))
-12.50% - Hell's Kitchen (vs. So You Think You Can Dance)
-14.29% - Rookie Blue
-29.41% - Wipeout (vs. Duets)
-29.41% - Motive (vs. Duets)
-45.83% - Does Someone Have to Go? (vs. So You Think You Can Dance)

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

TBA

Source: Nielsen Media Research





  [may 2014]  
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
[11/28/25 - 04:32 PM]
NBC's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Sets All-Time Viewership Record
The 99th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade delivered 34.3 million viewers across NBC and Peacock, its biggest combined audience on record, outperforming last year's parade by +8% (2.5 million viewers).

[11/28/25 - 01:59 PM]
Thanksgiving Day Hoops Scores FOX's Most-Watched CBB Game in History
Michigan State's Thanksgiving Day win over UNC in the Fort Myers Tip-Off scored 5,488,000 viewers on FOX - the most-watched college basketball game ever on the network.

[11/26/25 - 02:31 PM]
"20/20" Is the Most-Watched in Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49 in Time Period vs. CBS and NBC
"20/20" posted substantial increases week to week across the board.

[11/26/25 - 02:30 PM]
With Largest Viewership in 7 Weeks, ABC News' "Nightline" Ranks No. 1 in All Key Demos
"Nightline" improved on the previous week in Total Viewers, Adults 25-54, and Adults 18-49.

[11/26/25 - 02:21 PM]
"Everybody Loves Raymond: 30th Anniversary" Is the Season's Most-Watched Primetime Entertainment Special
The telecast delivered 6.32 million viewers and was the most-watched entertainment program Monday night.

[11/26/25 - 02:15 PM]
"Dancing with the Stars" Caps Spectacular Season 34 with 9.24 Million Total Viewers - Drawing Largest Finale Audience in 9 Years
Among Adults 18-49, the show nearly doubled last season's finale episode (+89% - 2.15 rating vs. 1.14 rating), hitting its strongest finale result in 10 years.

[11/25/25 - 03:45 PM]
"Center Stage: Countdown to the CMA Awards - Special Edition of 20/20" Rises Over Last Year's Performance in All Key Measures
"Center Stage" (434,000 and 326,000, respectively) ranked No. 1 in its hour in Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49.

[11/25/25 - 03:05 PM]
ESPN Wins Week 13 with Stellar Showings for "College GameDay Built by The Home Depot," "SEC on ABC" and Friday College Football on ESPN
Texas Longhorns defeating the Arkansas Razorbacks 52-37 delivered 5.6 million viewers on November 22.

[11/25/25 - 02:57 PM]
"America's Game of the Week" on FOX Scores 27,816,000 Viewers in Week 12
The Dallas Cowboys win over the Philadelphia Eagles peaked with 28.4 million viewers from 7:30 PM - 7:45 PM ET.

[11/25/25 - 02:03 PM]
CBS Sports' Coverage of the 2025 NWSL Championship Is the First NWSL Match Ever to Surpass 1 Million Viewers!
The Gotham FC victory over Washington Spirit set a NWSL viewership record.

[11/25/25 - 02:00 PM]
Record Audience Watches Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix on ESPN
ESPN's live telecast on Saturday night, November 22, averaged 1.5 million viewers, the largest audience to watch the event in its three-year history,

[11/25/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of November 17 - 3 Cheers for "Champagne Problems" at No. 1 in This Week's Top 10
Claire Danes and Matthew Rhys continued to keep audiences guessing in their psychological thriller "The Beast in Me," which took the No. 1 spot on the English TV list for a second week with 14.1 million views.

[11/21/25 - 12:00 PM]
CBS Series Top L+7 Multiplatform Competitive Charts
Seven weeks into the 2025/26 broadcast season, "Tracker" is the #1 series, averaging 14.2 million viewers across broadcast and streaming.

[11/20/25 - 04:55 PM]
"Dancing with the Stars" Jumps to Season Highs with Epic "Prince Night"
The show rose dramatically over its year-ago penultimate episode in Total Viewers, with its best semifinals performance in seven years.

[11/20/25 - 11:31 AM]
"Landman" Season 2 Premiere Delivers Record Breaking 9.2 Million Global Streaming Views in Its First Two Days on Paramount+
Views increased by +262% from the first season premiere, making it the most watched premiere for any original series for Paramount+.