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[11/23/18 - 08:21 AM]
Thursday's Broadcast Ratings: NFL Hands NBC Thanksgiving 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 (11/22/18):

[Note: Fast affiliate ratings are inaccurate for live sports.]

NBC (18.341 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 5.5, #1) got a Thanksgiving boost from its special holiday editions of "Football Night in America" (15.032 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 4.3, #2) and "Sunday Night Football" (19.003 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 5.7, #1).

FOX (6.000 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.9, #2) then took home the silver with its special "MasterChef Junior: Celebrity Showdown" (6.000 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.9, #3).

Next up was CBS (4.698 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.7, #3) and its mix of "The Big Bang Theory" (5.593 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T6), "Young Sheldon" (5.504 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T4), another "The Big Bang Theory" (5.302 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T4), a new "Murphy Brown" (4.745 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T6) and "SWAT" (3.523 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.5, #8).

Meanwhile, ABC (2.584 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.4, #4) offered up its specials "20/20 - Mary Poppins Returns: Behind the Magic" (3.076 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.4, #9), "Meghan's New Life: The Real Princess Diaries" (2.645 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T10) and "I'm Coming Home" (2.032 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T10).

And finally, an encore of "The iHeartFestival Music Festival Night 2" (0.632 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.1, #12) on The CW (0.632 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.1, #5) rounded out the night.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
-11.11% - Murphy Brown

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+375.00% - MasterChef Junior: Celebrity Showdown (vs. Gotham/The Orville (Repeats))
+34.38% - Football Night in America
+33.33% - 20/20 - Mary Poppins Returns: Behind the Magic (vs. Kevin (Probably) Saves the World (Repeat))
+29.55% - Sunday Night Football
-25.00% - Meghan's New Life: The Real Princess Diaries (vs. The Good Doctor (Repeat))
-38.46% - Murphy Brown (vs. Life in Pieces)
-40.00% - I'm Coming Home (vs. The Good Doctor (Repeat))

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

· "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" has generated its highest Nielsens since February in both metered-market households and adults 18-49 in the local people meters with its Thanksgiving night telecast that followed NBC Sports' primetime coverage of Atlanta Falcons-New Orleans Saints NFL football.

· "Tonight" dominated the competition with a 3.0 rating in metered-market households and a 1.3 in 18-49 in the local people meters. Both the 3.0 and 1.3 are the show's best figures since Friday, Feb. 9, 2018 with the telecast that followed the Opening Ceremony of the PyeongChang Olympics (3.2 and 1.4 respectively).

· "Tonight" grew +11% versus the same night last year in metered-market households (3.0 vs. 2.7) and is up +67% versus the show's season average for originals (1.8). In 18-49 in the local people meters, Fallon jumped +160% versus his season-average 0.5.

· In Nielsen's 56 metered markets, household results were: "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," a 3.0 rating, delayed by an NFL overrun; "Late Show with Stephen Colbert," 1.8/5 with an encore; and ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.3/4 with an encore.

· In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," 1.3, delayed by an NFL overrun; "Late Show," 0.4/2 with an encore; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.3/2 with an encore.

· From 12:35-1:05 a.m. ET, ABC's "Nightline" averaged a 0.8/3 in metered-market households and a 0.2/1 in 18-49 in the Local People Meters.

· From 12:35-1:35 a.m. ET, ratings were: "Late Night with Seth Meyers," a 1.8 rating in metered-market households, delayed by an NFL overrun; CBS's "Late Late Show," 0.9/3 with an encore. In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, averages were: "Late Night," 0.8 in 18-49, delayed by an NFL overrun; "Late Late Show," 0.3/2 with an encore.

· At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly," delayed by an NFL overrun, averaged a 1.3 rating in metered-market households and a 0.6 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.


Here are the highlights of the 14 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (11/23/17):

NBC (14.370 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 4.2, #1) was the network to beat on Thursday with its Thanksgiving editions of "Football Night in America" (11.697 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 3.2, #2) and "Sunday Night Football" (14.904 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 4.4, #1).

CBS (8.130 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.8, #2) then was a distant second with a repeat "The Big Bang Theory" (12.074 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.9, #3) followed by originals from "Young Sheldon" (11.284 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.6, #4), "Mom" (7.972 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.8, #5), "Life in Pieces" (5.910 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.3, #6) and "SWAT" (5.769 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.1, #7).

Next up was ABC (2.456 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T3) and repeats of "Kevin (Probably) Saves the World" (1.948 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T12), "The Good Doctor" (2.700 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T9) and another "The Good Doctor" (2.722 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.5, #8).

Meanwhile, FOX (1.461 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T3) likewise offered up second runs of "Gotham" (1.362 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T9) and "The Orville" (1.561 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T9).

And finally, The CW (1.160 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #5) opted to close out the night with originals from "Supernatural" (1.206 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T12) and "Arrow" (1.113 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T12).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+28.57% - Mom
+23.81% - Young Sheldon
+22.22% - SWAT
+18.18% - Life in Pieces
-40.00% - Arrow
-50.00% - Supernatural

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+116.67% - Young Sheldon (vs. The Great Indoors)
+50.00% - Mom
+37.50% - SWAT (vs. Pure Genius)
+30.00% - Life in Pieces
0.00% - Arrow (vs. Whose Line Is It Anyway? (Repeats))
0.00% - Supernatural (vs. Whose Line Is It Anyway? (Repeats))
-27.87% - Sunday Night Football
-31.91% - Football Night in America

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," a 2.7 rating, delayed by an NFL overrun; "Late Show with Stephen Colbert," 1.9/5 with an encore; and ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.3/4 with an encore.

· In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," 1.3, delayed by an NFL overrun; "Late Show," 0.4/2 with an encore; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.4/2 with an encore.

· From 12:35-1:05 a.m. ET, ABC's "Nightline" averaged a 0.9/3 in metered-market households and a 0.3/2 in 18-49 in the Local People Meters.

· From 12:35-1:35 a.m. ET, ratings were: "Late Night with Seth Meyers," a 1.5 rating in metered-market households, delayed by an NFL overrun; CBS's "Late Late Show," 1.0/3 with an encore. In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, averages were: "Late Night," 0.7 in 18-49, delayed by an NFL overrun; "Late Late Show," 0.3/2 with an encore.

· At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly," delayed by an NFL overrun, averaged a 0.9 rating in metered-market households and a 0.4 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

Source: Nielsen Media Research





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