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[12/02/18 - 10:12 AM]
Saturday's Broadcast Ratings: Big Ten Championship Puts FOX on Top
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 nine ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night (12/1/18):

FOX (8.266 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.2, #1) rocketed to the top spot on Saturday with its Big Ten Championship coverage on "CFB on FOX" (8.266 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.2, #1).

The silver then went to ABC (4.368 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.1, #2) and its ACC Championship presentation on "Saturday Night College Football" (4.368 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.1, #3).

Next up was CBS (3.427 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.7, #3) with repeats of "The Neighborhood" (5.510 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.5, #2), "Happy Together" (2.902 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.7, #4) and "SWAT" (2.530 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T7) plus a new "48 Hours" (3.547 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T5).

And finally, NBC (3.299 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.5, #4) closed out the night with "Dateline Saturday Night Mystery" (3.268 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T7), another "Dateline Saturday Night Mystery" (3.978 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T5) and a vintage "Saturday Night Live" (2.652 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T7).

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

· The Dec. 1 telecast of "Saturday Night Live," with host Claire Foy and musical guest Anderson .Paak, averaged a 4.1 rating, 10 share in "live plus same day" household results from the 56 local markets metered by Nielsen Media Research and a 1.5/8 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

· The Dec. 1 "Saturday Night Live" is the #2 show of the night on the Big 4 networks in both metered-market households and 18-49 in the local people meters, topping all primetime shows on those nets except Fox's Northwestern-Ohio State Big 10 Championship college football coverage.


Here are the highlights of the 10 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (12/2/17):

FOX (11.577 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.2, #1) surged into the top spot last night with its "CFB on FOX" (11.577 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.2, #1) coverage.

ABC (5.546 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.6, #2) then got bumped to second with its finale to "Saturday Night College Football" (5.546 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.6, #2).

Next up was CBS (3.241 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.6, #3) with repeats of "Kevin Can Wait" (3.486 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.9, #3), "Man with a Plan" (2.838 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.7, #4) and "NCIS: New Orleans" (3.248 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T7) plus a new "48 Hours" (3.313 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T7).

And finally, NBC (2.731 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.5, #4) closed out the night with its lineup of "Will & Grace" (1.894 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.3, #10), "Superstore" (2.029 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.4, #9), "Dateline Saturday Night Mystery" (3.281 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T5) and "Saturday Night Live" (2.951 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T5).

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

· The Dec. 2 telecast of "Saturday Night Live," hosted by Saoirse Ronan and featuring musical guest U2, has averaged a 4.3 rating, 10 share in "live plus same day" household results from the 56 local markets metered by Nielsen Media Research and a 1.7/8 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

· It's the #2 telecast of the night on the Big 4 networks in both metered-market households and 18-49 in the local people meters, behind only Fox's high-rated coverage of the Ohio State-Wisconsin Big 10 championship college-football game in both categories.

· "Saturday Night Live" equaled the household rating of its prior two original telecasts (4.3 each on Nov. 11 and 18).

· Among "SNL's" seventh original telecasts of each season, this is the second-highest-rated in five years in metered-market households (since Nov. 10, 2012, 5.0 with host Anne Hathaway and musical guest Rihanna), trailing over that span only last season's Nov. 19, 2016 edition (4.7 with host Kristen Wiig and musical guest The xx).

· The Dec. 2 "SNL" aired live coast to coast (11:30 p.m. ET, 8:30 p.m. PT) and was replayed at 11:30 in western markets. Note that these numbers under-report last night's "SNL" results because they don't include viewership from the show's 11:30 replays in the Western U.S.

Source: Nielsen Media Research





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