or


[10/02/15 - 08:32 AM]
Thursday's Broadcast Ratings: NFL Continues Its Reign for CBS
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 12 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night (10/1/15):

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Due to the nature of live sports, Fast Nationals for CBS are approximate.]

CBS (14.194 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 4.7, #1) was still the top draw on Thursday with its weekly installments of "Thursday Night Football Pre-Game" (10.589 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.1, #2) and "Thursday Night Football" (14.915 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 5.0, #1).

ABC (8.362 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.5, #2) then was a distant second place with week two of "Grey's Anatomy" (8.452 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.3, #T4), "Scandal" (9.090 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.8, #3) and "How to Get Away with Murder" (7.545 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.3, #T4).

Next up was NBC (5.699 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.4, #3) with a new "Heroes Reborn" (5.004 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.6, #7), the return of "The Blacklist" (7.598 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.8, #6) and week two of "The Player" (4.495 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.9, #10).

Meanwhile, FOX (4.810 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.2, #4) offered up the season premieres of "Bones" (6.064 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.3, #8) and "Sleepy Hollow" (3.556 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.0, #9).

And finally, repeats of "The Flash" (1.142 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.4, #11) and "Arrow" (0.871 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.3, #12) on The CW (1.007 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #5) closed out the evening. In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), said duo posted a 0.2 and a 0.2 rating, respectively.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+19.23% - Thursday Night Football Pre-Game
+16.28% - Thursday Night Football
-11.54% - How to Get Away with Murder
-12.50% - Scandal
-17.86% - Grey's Anatomy
-20.00% - Heroes Reborn
-25.00% - The Player

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+44.00% - The Blacklist (vs. Bad Judge/A to Z)
+23.08% - Heroes Reborn (vs. The Biggest Loser)
+13.64% - Thursday Night Football
+10.71% - Thursday Night Football Pre-Game
-11.54% - Grey's Anatomy
-13.33% - Bones
-15.15% - Scandal
-16.67% - Sleepy Hollow (vs. Gracepoint)
-28.13% - How to Get Away with Murder
-30.77% - The Player (vs. Parenthood)

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

· In Nielsen's 56 metered markets, household results were: "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," 2.7/7; "Late Show with Stephen Colbert," 2.3/8, delayed by an NFL overrun; and ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 2.4/6.

· In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," 0.8/4; "Late Show," 0.8/5, delayed by an NFL overrun; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.7/4.

· From 12:35-1:05 a.m. ET, ABC's "Nightline" averaged a 1.5/5 in metered-market households and a 0.4/3 in 18-49 in the Local People Meters.

· From 12:35-1:35 a.m. ET, "Late Night with Seth Meyers" (1.3/5 in metered-market households) tied CBS's "Late Late Show" (1.3/6, delayed by an NFL overrun). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.5/4 in 18-49) tied "Late Late Show" (0.5/4, delayed by an NFL overrun).

· At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.8/3 in metered-market households and a 0.3/3 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.


Here are the highlights of the 13 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (10/2/14):

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Due to the nature of live sports, Fast Nationals for CBS are approximate.]

CBS (12.399 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 4.2, #1) was the network to beat on Thursday with its presentation of "Thursday Night Football Pre-Game" (10.024 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.8, #4) and "Thursday Night Football" (12.874 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 4.4, #1).

ABC (10.415 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.0, #2) then claimed the silver with week two of "Grey's Anatomy" (9.073 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.6, #5), "Scandal" (10.411 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 3.3, #2) and "How to Get Away with Murder" (11.759 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.2, #3).

Next up was FOX (5.569 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T3) with a new "Bones" (6.304 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.5, #6) and the premiere of "Gracepoint" (4.833 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T10).

Meanwhile, NBC (4.808 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T3) served up a new "The Biggest Loser" (4.721 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T7), the premieres of "Bad Judge" (5.862 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T7) and "A to Z" (4.814 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T10) plus a new "Parenthood" (4.364 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T7).

And finally, the season premieres of "The Vampire Diaries" (1.784 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.9, #12) and "Reign" (1.054 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.4, #13) closed out the evening on The CW (1.419 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.6, #5). In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), "Diaries" delivered a 1.4 rating at 8:00/7:00c and "Reign" a 0.5 rating at 9:00/8:00c.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+3.70% - Thursday Night Football Pre-Game
0.00% - The Biggest Loser
-2.22% - Thursday Night Football
-6.25% - Bones
-7.14% - Parenthood
-13.16% - Scandal
-13.33% - Grey's Anatomy
-15.79% - How to Get Away with Murder

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+74.60% - Thursday Night Football (vs. Various)
+62.50% - Grey's Anatomy (vs. Scandal: The Secret Is Out)
+10.00% - Scandal (vs. Grey's Anatomy)
+4.00% - The Biggest Loser (vs. Parks & Recreation/Welcome to the Family)
-11.11% - How to Get Away with Murder (vs. Scandal)
-18.75% - Bad Judge (vs. Sean Saves the World)
-23.53% - Parenthood
-25.00% - Bones (vs. The X Factor)
-25.00% - The Vampire Diaries
-25.00% - Gracepoint (vs. Glee)
-36.84% - A to Z (vs. The Michael J. Fox Show)
-44.00% - Thursday Night Football Pre-Game (vs. The Big Bang Theory)
-60.00% - Reign (vs. The Originals)

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

·In Nielsen's 56 metered markets, household results were: "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," 3.0/8; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 1.9/6 delayed by an NFL overrun; and ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 2.7/7.

·In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," 1.0/5; "Late Show," 0.5/3 delayed by an NFL overrun; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.0/5.

·From 12:35-1:05 a.m. ET , ABC's "Nightline" averaged a 1.6/5 in metered-market households and a 0.6/4 in 18-49 in the Local People Meters.

·From 12:35-1:35 a.m. ET, "Late Night with Seth Meyers" (1.3/4 in metered-market households) beat CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (1.2/5 delayed by an NFL overrun). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.5/3 in 18-49) topped "Late Late Show" (0.3/3 delayed by an NFL overrun).

·At 1:35 a.m. ET , "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.8/4 in metered-market households and a 0.3/3 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

Source: Nielsen Media Research





  [october 2015]  
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
[09/30/26 - 01:00 PM]
Historic "Big Brother" Season Hits 14.8 Billion Minutes Viewed, Up +9% from Last Year
The summer staple also saw year-over-year audience growth, averaging 5.1 million viewers in seven-day multiplatform viewing, up +8% from last summer, while ranking as the summer's most social program across all television programs (excluding sports).

[09/30/26 - 12:50 PM]
ABC's Tuesday Night Kicks Off Strong as "Dancing with the Stars" and Sophomore Drama "R.J. Decker" Each Score 10 Million Total Audience
Sophomore drama "R.J. Decker" earned a total cross-platform audience of 9.61 million, based on viewing over seven days across Hulu, Hulu on Disney+ and linear encores.

[09/30/26 - 11:01 AM]
Top 10 Most-Watched Prime Original Films & Series for the Week of September 21
"Neagley," "Reacher," "Sterling Point," "Off Campus," and "El Juicio" led all original series worldwide.

[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.