or


[10/23/15 - 08:26 AM]
Thursday's Broadcast Ratings: "Thursday Night Football" Rises in Latest CBS Victory
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 (10/22/15):

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

CBS (10.981 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.6, #1) was still the network to beat on Thursday with week-to-week gains from "Thursday Night Football Pre-Game" (10.467 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.1, #2) and "Thursday Night Football" (11.084 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.7, #1).

ABC (8.048 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.3, #2) then snagged the silver with originals from "Grey's Anatomy" (8.948 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.4, #4), "Scandal" (8.263 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.5, #3) and "How to Get Away with Murder" (6.932 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.0, #5).

Next up was NBC (4.813 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.1, #3) and its trio of "Heroes Reborn" (3.790 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.1, #8), "The Blacklist" (6.533 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.4, #6) and "The Player" (4.115 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T9).

Meanwhile, FOX (4.426 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.0, #4) offered up new episodes of "Bones" (5.914 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.2, #7) and "Sleepy Hollow" (2.939 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T9).

And finally, fresh installments from "The Vampire Diaries" (1.231 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.5, #11) and "The Originals" (0.949 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.4, #12) on The CW (1.090 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #5) closed out the evening.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+34.78% - Thursday Night Football Pre-Game
+14.29% - The Player
+9.09% - Grey's Anatomy
+9.09% - Bones
+8.70% - Scandal
+5.71% - Thursday Night Football
0.00% - How to Get Away with Murder
0.00% - The Blacklist
0.00% - Heroes Reborn
0.00% - Sleepy Hollow
-16.67% - The Vampire Diaries
-20.00% - The Originals

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+47.37% - The Blacklist (vs. Bad Judge/A to Z)
+33.33% - Bones (vs. Bones (Repeat))
0.00% - Sleepy Hollow (vs. Gracepoint)
-4.00% - Grey's Anatomy
-8.33% - Heroes Reborn (vs. The Biggest Loser)
-8.82% - Thursday Night Football Pre-Game
-16.67% - Scandal
-20.00% - The Originals (vs. Reign)
-22.92% - Thursday Night Football
-33.33% - The Player (vs. Parenthood)
-33.33% - How to Get Away with Murder
-37.50% - The Vampire Diaries

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," 2.2/6 with an encore; "Late Show with Stephen Colbert," 1.7/5, with an encore delayed by an NFL overrun; and ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 2.5/7.

· In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," 0.6/3 with an encore; "Late Show," 0.7/4, with an encore delayed by an NFL overrun; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.8/4.

· From 12:35-1:05 a.m. ET, ABC's "Nightline" averaged a 1.6/5 in metered-market households and a 0.5/3 in 18-49 in the Local People Meters.

· From 12:35-1:35 a.m. ET, "Late Night with Seth Meyers" (1.2/4 in metered-market households with an encore) beat CBS's "Late Late Show" (1.1/4, with an encore delayed by an NFL overrun). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.4/3 in 18-49 with an encore) topped "Late Late Show" (0.3/3, with an encore delayed by an NFL overrun).

· At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.7/3 in metered-market households with an encore 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 (10/23/14):

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

CBS (14.639 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 4.5, #1) was the top draw on Thursday with its final week of the now NFL Network only editions of "Thursday Night Football Pre-Game" (12.259 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.4, #2) and "Thursday Night Football" (15.114 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 4.8, #1).

ABC (9.489 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.8, #2) then claimed the silver with originals from "Grey's Anatomy" (8.602 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.5, #5), "Scandal" (9.999 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 3.0, #T3) and "How to Get Away with Murder" (9.866 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 3.0, #T3).

Next up was NBC (4.174 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.1, #3) with its mix of "The Biggest Loser" (4.660 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T6), "Bad Judge" (4.329 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.0, #8), "A to Z" (3.220 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T9) and "Parenthood" (4.087 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T6).

Meanwhile, FOX (3.882 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.8, #4) was out of the hunt with a repeat "Bones" (4.271 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T9) and a new "Gracepoint" (3.494 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T11).

And finally, new episodes of "The Vampire Diaries" (1.653 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T11) and "Reign" (1.353 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.5, #13) on The CW (1.503 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.6, #5) closed out the evening. In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), "Diaries" delivered a 1.1 rating at 8:00/7:00c and "Reign" a 0.7 rating at 9:00/8:00c.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+36.00% - Thursday Night Football Pre-Game
+23.08% - Thursday Night Football
+11.11% - How to Get Away with Murder
+4.17% - Grey's Anatomy
+3.45% - Scandal
0.00% - Gracepoint
0.00% - Reign
-7.69% - The Biggest Loser
-7.69% - Parenthood
-10.00% - A to Z
-11.11% - The Vampire Diaries
-16.67% - Bad Judge

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+127.27% - Grey's Anatomy (vs. Once Upon a Time in Wonderland)
+118.18% - Thursday Night Football (vs. Various)
+7.14% - Scandal (vs. Grey's Anatomy)
0.00% - How to Get Away with Murder (vs. Scandal)
-7.69% - The Biggest Loser (vs. The Voice (Repeat))
-7.69% - Parenthood
-9.09% - Bad Judge (vs. Sean Saves the World)
-16.67% - Reign
-25.00% - A to Z (vs. The Michael J. Fox Show)
-27.27% - The Vampire Diaries
-30.61% - Thursday Night Football Pre-Game (vs. The Big Bang Theory)
-76.47% - Gracepoint (vs. World Series, Game 2)

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," 2.3/6 with an encore telecast; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.3/7 with an encore delayed by an NFL overrun; and ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 3.0/8.

·In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," 0.9/4 with an encore; "Late Show," 0.8/5 with an encore delayed by an NFL overrun; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.1/5.

·From 12:35-1:05 a.m. ET, ABC's "Nightline" averaged a 1.9/6 in metered-market households and a 0.7/4 in 18-49 in the Local People Meters.

·From 12:35-1:35 a.m. ET, "Late Night with Seth Meyers" (1.0/4 in metered-market households with an encore) trailed CBS's firstrun "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (1.4/6, delayed by an NFL overrun). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.4/3 in 18-49 with an encore) trailed "Late Late Show" (0.5/4, delayed by an NFL overrun).

·At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.6/3 in metered-market households with an encore and a 0.3/2 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
[10/31/26 - 10:48 AM]
USA Sports Delivers 1.5 Million Viewers for Valkyries-Dream Game 6 Thursday Matinee
USA Sports' Game 6 coverage delivered the fifth most-watched WNBA Finals game on cable on record.

[10/30/26 - 08:57 AM]
ABC News Wins Across Friday Night, Sunday Morning and Late-Night
"20/20: Help Dale Find Dee" ranked as Friday's No. 1 newsmagazine in Total Viewers, Adults 25-54, and Adults 18-49.

[10/29/26 - 03:25 PM]
Champions at Last: 14.2 Million Viewers Projected for FOX Sports' Coverage of Milwaukee Brewers World Series Clinch
13,476,000 viewers tuned in for World Series Game 4 presented by Capital One across FOX and FOX Deportes.

[10/29/26 - 12:21 PM]
ABC Thursday Returns Strong with "9-1-1" and "9-1-1: Nashville" Rising Over Previous Season Averages
The Season 10 debut of "9-1-1" (8 p.m.) earned 8.14 million Total Viewers after seven days of viewing on ABC, Hulu, Hulu on Disney+ and digital platforms, based on Nielsen's competitive multiplatform measurement.

[10/28/26 - 03:31 PM]
Cowboys-Eagles on "Monday Night Football" Delivers 18.8M Viewers
Seven weeks into ESPN's Super Bowl LXI season, "Monday Night Football" is up 26% compared to the same point in 2025, averaging 19M viewers.

[10/28/26 - 11:30 AM]
"The Drew Barrymore Show" Hits All-Time Series High
This season to date, "The Drew Barrymore Show" averaged 1.90 million total viewers, up +36% year over year.

[10/28/26 - 11:01 AM]
Top 10 Most-Watched Prime Original Films & Series for the Week of October 19
"The Terminal List," "Carrie," "Reacher," "Neagley," and "Off Campus" led all original series worldwide.

[10/27/26 - 03:36 PM]
College Football on FOX Scores Big Numbers in Week 8
7,015,000 viewers tuned into FOX "Big Noon Saturday" for Indiana's win over Michigan.

[10/27/26 - 03:14 PM]
FOX's "America's Game of the Week" Roars with 24,670,000 Viewers in Week 7
The network's Sunday window ranks as the #1 program in all of television through the first seven weeks of the season (24,749,000 average).

[10/27/26 - 03:10 PM]
NFL's First-Ever Paris Game Draws 7.7M Viewers, Concluding Strong October for NFL Network
NFL Network's October International Series slate is averaging 7.1M viewers, up 18% vs. the network's overall six-game International Series average last season.

[10/27/26 - 03:03 PM]
No Time Like October: FOX Sports Drives in 12,259,000 Viewers for Game 1 and 10,854,000 Viewers for Game 2
Both telecasts were the most-watched of their respective days on any network.

[10/27/26 - 02:59 PM]
NBC and Peacock Deliver Most-Watched WNBA Finals Game 4 Ever
Led by Gabby Williams' 17 points, Golden State's 67-62 win over Atlanta peaked at 2.5 million viewers for the game's exciting conclusion from 3:30-3:45 p.m. ET.

[10/27/26 - 02:40 PM]
"College GameDay Built by The Home Depot" Continues Record-Setting Season; ESPN Networks Deliver Three of the Top Five Games Across All Nets
Ole Miss/Texas (8.1 million) was the top game of the week and added to ESPN's nine total games this season with 8+ million viewers.

[10/27/26 - 02:06 PM]
Chiefs-Seahawks Is Most Watched Week 7 NBC "Sunday Night Football" Game Since 2013, Averaging 26.3 Million Viewers on NBC & Peacock
The audience peaked at 29.0 million viewers on NBC and Peacock in the second quarter (9:30-9:45 p.m. ET).

[10/27/26 - 01:01 PM]
"Crystal Lake" Makes Killer Debut on Peacock
"Crystal Lake" has generated 1.3 billion minutes watched over its first 11 days, making it the fourth highest scripted original series ever on Peacock.