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[12/31/15 - 09:02 AM]
Wednesday's Broadcast Ratings: CBS Tops Viewers, Splits Demo Crown with ABC
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 17 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night (12/30/15):

CBS (4.679 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T1) was the most-watched network on Wednesday with a new edition of "I Get That a Lot" (4.996 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.0, #3) followed by repeats of "Code Black" (4.047 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T9) and "Criminal Minds" (4.995 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T4).

ABC (3.844 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T1) then shared in the demo crown with repeats of "The Middle" (5.173 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T1), "The Goldbergs" (4.108 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T4), "Modern Family" (4.518 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T1), "Black-ish" (3.720 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T4), "The Goldbergs" (2.883 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T9) and "Black-ish" (2.662 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T9).

Next up was NBC (4.574 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.8, #3) and its own repeat lineup of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (4.444 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.8, #8), another "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (5.094 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T4) and "Chicago PD" (4.184 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T9).

Meanwhile, FOX (2.177 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.6, #4) served up repeats of "Empire" (2.318 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.6, #13) and "Rosewood" (2.036 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.5, #14).

And finally, encores of "iHeartRadio Jingle Ball" (1.175 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.4, #15) and "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" (1.118 million viewers, #16; adults 18-49: 0.3, #16) on The CW (1.161 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #5) closed out the night.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
N/A

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+42.86% - I Get That a Lot (vs. Blue Bloods (Repeat))

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; "Late Show with Stephen Colbert," 1.7/4 with an encore; and ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.7/4 with an encore.

· In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," 0.7/3 with an encore; "Late Show," 0.2/1 with an encore; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.5/3 with an encore.

· From 12:35-1:05 a.m. ET, ABC's "Nightline" averaged a 1.2/4 in metered-market households and a 0.4/2 in 18-49 in the Local People Meters.

· From 12:35-1:35 a.m. ET, "Late Night with Seth Meyers" (1.0/3 in metered-market households with an encore) beat CBS's "Late Late Show" (0.8/3 with an encore). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.3/2 in 18-49 with an encore) topped "Late Late Show" (0.2/1 with an encore).

· At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.6/3 in metered-market households with an encore and a 0.2/2 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.


Here are the highlights of the eight ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (12/31/14):

ABC (9.624 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.7, #1) was the network to beat on the final night of 2014 with "Dick Clark's Primetime New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest" (9.624 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.7, #1).

NBC (4.916 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.2, #2) then claimed the silver with its specials "A Toast to 2014!" (4.678 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.0, #3) and "NBC's New Year's Eve with Carson Daly" (5.392 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.5, #2).

Next up was FOX (2.214 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.7, #3) with its special "Pitbull's New Year's Revolution" (2.214 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T4).

Meanwhile, CBS (4.656 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.6, #4) served up repeats of "Blue Bloods" (5.397 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T4), "Criminal Minds" (4.634 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T4) and "Stalker" (3.937 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.6, #7).

And finally, an encore of "iHeartRadio Music Festival Night 1" (1.027 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.3, #8) closed out the evening on The CW (1.027 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #5). In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), the special posted a 0.2 rating.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
N/A

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
N/A

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

·From 11:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m., "NBC's New Year's Eve with Carson Daly" (4.9 rating, 11 share in households in the 56 markets metered by Nielsen Media Research; 3.1/11 in 18-49 in the 25 markets with Local People Meters) equaled the show's highest 18-49 rating in the Local People Meters in five years. Last night's 3.1 in 18-49 matches the year-ago result, the highest for "NBC's New Year's Eve with Carson Daly" since Thursday, Dec. 31, 2009 (3.4).

·Versus two years ago, "NBC's New Year's Eve with Carson Daly" is up +11% in 18-49 in the Local People Meters (3.1/11 vs. 2.8/10 on Monday, Dec. 31, 2012) and versus three years ago, last night's telecast is up +19% (3.1/11 vs. 2.6/9 on Saturday, Dec. 31, 2011).

·In metered-market households, "NBC's New Year's Eve with Carson Daly" retained 94% of last year's 5.2/11, which matched the show's all-time high in its 10 years airing at 11:30 on NBC (every year since New Year's Eve 2005).

·Other late-night averages last night in the 56 markets metered by Nielsen included: Fox's "Pitbull's New Year's Revolution," 2.6/6 in metered-market households from 11 p.m.-12:30 a.m., 2.2/8 in 18-49 in the Local People Meters; and "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2014" on ABC, 10.7/25 from 11:30 p.m.-1:15 a.m., 7.3/29 in 18-49 in the Local People Meters.

·National results for the December 31 late-night programs, including viewer numbers, are due from Nielsen Media Research on Thursday, Jan. 8.

·An encore telecast of "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," airing at 12:30 a.m. ET, averaged a 2.3/6 in households in Nielsen's 56 metered markets and a 1.4/6 in 18-49 in the 25 markets with Local People Meters. The 1.4 in the Local People Meters is a nine-month Wednesday high for "Tonight," best since Fallon scored a 1.4/6 on March 12. The last time a Wednesday "Tonight" beat last night's 1.4 was Feb. 26 (1.7/8)

·At 1:30 a.m. ET, a rebroadcast of "Late Night with Seth Meyers" averaged a 1.2/4 in metered-market households and a 0.7/4 in the Local People Meters, matching the highest Wednesday "Late Night" score in the LPMs in 10 months, since Feb. 26 (0.9/6, during Meyer's first week hosting "Late Night").

·At 2:30 a.m., an encore "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.8/3 in metered-market households and a 0.4/3 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters. The 0.4 in the LPMs is "Last Call's" Wednesday high since Nov. 26 (0.4/3).

Source: Nielsen Media Research





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