or


[05/21/18 - 08:12 AM]
Sunday's Broadcast Ratings: "Billboard Music Awards" Put NBC on Top in Demos
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 15 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night (5/20/18):

NBC (6.488 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.8, #1) rose to the top spot on Sunday with "Dateline NBC" (4.996 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T3) and its inaugural telecast of the "2018 Billboard Music Awards" (6.985 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.1, #1).

ABC (5.869 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.0, #2) then had to settle for second place with its mix of "America's Funniest Home Videos" (5.303 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T3), "American Idol" (7.431 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.3, #2) and "Deception" (3.314 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T13).

Next up was CBS (7.480 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.8, #3) and its finale lineup of "60 Minutes" (8.197 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T6), "NCIS: Los Angeles" (7.489 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T6), another "NCIS: Los Angeles" (8.059 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T6) and "Madam Secretary" (6.175 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T13).

And finally, FOX (1.677 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.7, #4) closed out the evening with a repeat "Bob's Burgers" (1.066 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.4, #15), a new "Bob's Burgers" (1.595 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.7, #12) and the season finales of "The Simpsons" (2.066 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T6), "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" (1.805 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T6), "Family Guy" (1.888 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T3) and "Bob's Burgers" (1.641 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T6).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+50.00% - Dateline NBC (vs. 5/6/18)
0.00% - 60 Minutes
0.00% - NCIS: Los Angeles
0.00% - Brooklyn Nine-Nine
0.00% - Bob's Burgers - 9:30
0.00% - Bob's Burgers - 7:30
0.00% - Madam Secretary
-10.00% - Family Guy
-11.11% - The Simpsons
-14.29% - Deception
-18.75% - American Idol
-25.00% - America's Funniest Home Videos

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+33.33% - Brooklyn Nine-Nine (vs. Making History)
+20.00% - Madam Secretary (vs. Elementary)
+14.29% - NCIS: Los Angeles - 9:00 (vs. Madam Secretary)
0.00% - Dateline NBC
0.00% - 60 Minutes
0.00% - Bob's Burgers - 7:30
0.00% - NCIS: Los Angeles - 8:00 (vs. 60 Minutes)
-8.70% - 2018 Billboard Music Awards (vs. The 2017 Billboard Music Awards on ABC)
-10.00% - Family Guy
-11.11% - The Simpsons
-18.18% - America's Funniest Home Videos
-20.00% - Bob's Burgers - 9:30 (vs. Family Guy)
-43.48% - American Idol (vs. The 2017 Billboard Music Awards)
-73.91% - Deception (vs. The 2017 Billboard Music Awards)


Here are the highlights of the 15 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (5/21/17):

ABC (7.158 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.0, #1) was the network to beat on Sunday with the season finale of "America's Funniest Home Videos" (5.418 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.1, #2) and its presentation of "The 2017 Billboard Music Awards" (7.738 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.3, #1).

NBC (4.391 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T2) then was the number two draw with a its mix of "Dateline NBC" (4.842 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T5), "Shades of Blue" (3.835 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T9) and the season finale of "Shades of Blue" (4.048 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T9).

Sharing the silver was FOX (1.758 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T2) and its lineup of a repeat "Bob's Burgers" (1.220 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T14) followed by the season finales of "Bob's Burgers" (1.624 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T9), "The Simpsons" (2.137 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T5), "Making History" (1.279 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.6, #13), "Family Guy" (2.058 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T3) and a second "Family Guy" (2.232 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T3).

And finally, CBS (6.748 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.7, #4) closed out the evening with "60 Minutes" (7.933 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T7), another "60 Minutes" (7.497 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T7) and the season finales of "Madam Secretary" (7.463 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T9) and "Elementary" (4.098 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T14).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
0.00% - America's Funniest Home Videos (vs. 5/7/17)
0.00% - Madam Secretary
0.00% - Making History (vs. 5/7/17)
-10.00% - The Simpsons (vs. 5/7/17)
-16.67% - Family Guy (vs. 4/30/17)
-16.67% - Elementary
-20.00% - 60 Minutes
-22.22% - Shades of Blue
-22.22% - Bob's Burgers (vs. 5/7/17)

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+55.56% - Shades of Blue - 9:00 (vs. The Carmichael Show/Crowded)
+50.00% - Dateline NBC (vs. Various)
+16.67% - Bob's Burgers (vs. The Simpsons (Repeat))
+11.11% - Family Guy - 9:30 (vs. Bob's Burgers)
0.00% - 60 Minutes - 7:00
0.00% - Shades of Blue - 10:00 (vs. Dateline NBC)
0.00% - 60 Minutes - 8:00
-8.33% - America's Funniest Home Videos
-10.00% - The Simpsons
-12.50% - Madam Secretary (vs. Undercover Boss)
-16.67% - Family Guy - 9:00
-20.69% - The 2017 Billboard Music Awards
-28.57% - Elementary (vs. Undercover Boss)
-40.00% - Making History (vs. Bob's Burgers)

Source: Nielsen Media Research





  [may 2018]  
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
[06/03/26 - 07:00 AM]
Fans Power UFL on ESPN to Significant Viewership Growth Across 10-Week Regular Season
ABC alone accounted for eight of the top 10 most-watched games.

[06/03/26 - 06:00 AM]
TNT Sports Caps Its Most Watched NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs with Its Most Watched Conference Final Ever
The record-setting series helped propel TNT Sports' overall coverage of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs to an average of 1.4 million viewers across TNT, TBS, truTV and HBO Max, up 50% from 2025 through the Conference Final.

[06/02/26 - 04:06 PM]
NBC and Peacock Deliver Most-Watched Conference Finals Game Since 2016 with 15.9 Million Viewers for Spurs-Thunder Game 7 on Saturday Night
Across 28 playoff games, NBC Sports' presentation of the 2026 NBA Playoffs averaged 7.2 million viewers on NBC and Peacock, up 72% versus comparable coverage last season.

[06/02/26 - 02:36 PM]
ESPN's WCWS Viewership Success Continues
Texas Tech-UCLA averaged 2.0 million viewers, with a peak of 2.6 million.

[06/02/26 - 02:13 PM]
FOX IndyCar Continues Ratings Growth with Strong Detroit Performance
Through eight races, IndyCar on FOX is averaging 2,241,000 viewers, up +12% from 2025 (2,007,000).

[06/02/26 - 02:00 PM]
FOX MLB's "Baseball Night in America" Delivers Most-Watched Baseball Telecast of the Week
2,322,000 viewers tuned-in to FOX for a two-game slate highlighted by the Cubs' 6-1 victory over the Cardinals in most of the country.

[06/02/26 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of May 25 - "The Boroughs" Makes Itself at Home at No. 1 in This Week's Top 10
Plus: "Nemesis" stole away with the No. 2 spot on the list, commanding 5.9 million views.

[06/01/26 - 11:04 AM]
ESPN Scored Most-Watched NCAA Women's College World Series Opening Thursday on Record
Arkansas-Nebraska averaged 1.4 million viewers, with a peak of 1.6 million.

[06/01/26 - 08:27 AM]
ESPN Scores Most-Viewed Stanley Cup Playoffs Western Conference Final Since 2015, The Latest Viewership Successes Headed Into the Stanley Cup Final
Across four games on ESPN, the series averaged 2.2 million viewers and was up 44% vs. the Western Conference Final last year (Edmonton vs. Dallas) which went five games on ESPN.

[05/29/26 - 03:02 PM]
"20/20" Is Friday's No. 1 Newsmagazine, Leading "Dateline" in Total Viewers for the 5th Consecutive Broadcast Season
"20/20" improved on the previous season in Total Viewers (+5%/+170,000 - 3.672 million vs. 3.502 million).

[05/29/26 - 03:01 PM]
ABC News Is #1 in Total Viewers Sunday Morning and in Late-Night
"Nightline" posted double-digit gains week to week in Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49.

[05/28/26 - 03:23 PM]
2026 NBA Eastern Conference Finals Presented by Dunkin' Finishes Strong with Average Audience of 7.4 Million Viewers Across ESPN and ABC
Additionally, Game 4 on ESPN averaged 7.2 million viewers, marking the most-viewed Eastern Conference Finals Game 4 across any network since 2018.

[05/28/26 - 11:00 AM]
CBS Outpaces Competitors with Eight of the Top 25 Series Across All Streaming and Broadcast Originals in Nielsen's All-Series Ranker
CBS has the most top 25 series of any streaming or broadcast competitor and twice as many as its closest broadcast competitor, including six series with 10+ million viewers.

[05/28/26 - 10:31 AM]
FOX Delivers Most-Watched UFL Game Since League Started in 2024
1,593,000 viewers watched as Louisville defeated Dallas 37-23 on Sunday.

[05/28/26 - 10:26 AM]
FOX Scores with 110th Running of the Indianapolis 500
6,635,000 viewers watched Felix Rosenqvist edge David Malukas by 0.0233 seconds with a last-lap pass to win the Indy 500 Sunday on FOX.