or


[12/23/18 - 09:00 AM]
Saturday's Broadcast Ratings: NBC Tops in Both Viewers, 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 nine ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night (12/22/18):

NBC (3.494 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.6, #1) took home top honors on Saturday with a two-hour "Dateline Saturday Night Mystery" (3.542 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.6, #2) and a vintage "Saturday Night Live" (3.399 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.7, #1).

FOX (1.927 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.5, #2) then was the silver draw among adults 18-49 with its coverage of "Premier Boxing Champions" (1.927 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T3).

Next up was CBS (2.965 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.4, #3) with repeats of "NCIS" (2.824 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T5) and "FBI" (2.605 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T5) plus a new "48 Hours" (3.466 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T3).

And finally, an encore of "CMA Country Christmas" (2.594 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T5) and a new "The Alec Baldwin Show" (1.120 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.2, #8) rounded out the night on ABC (2.103 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.3, #4).

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

· A Dec. 22 encore telecast of "Saturday Night Live," with host Seth Meyers and musical guest Paul Simon, has averaged a 2.9 rating, 8 share in "live plus same day" household results from the 56 local markets metered by Nielsen Media Research and a 0.9/5 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

· This week's "SNL" scored the show's highest metered-market household rating for a regular-slot encore since April 24 (3.0 with host Saoirse Ronan and musical guest U2) (excludes an hourlong Oct. 27 11:30-12:30 "Halloween" special).

· The 0.9 in 18-49 in the local people meters equals the high for a regular-slot "Saturday Night Live" encore since June 2 (1.0 with host Donald Glover and musical guest Glover as Childish Gambino) (excludes the Oct. 27 special).

· The Dec. 22 "Saturday Night Live" is the #1 show of the night on the Big 4 networks in metered-market households and 18-49 in the local people, topping all primetime shows on those nets in both measures.


Here are the highlights of the 10 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (12/23/17):

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

NBC (13.086 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.4, #1) rocketed to the top spot on Saturday with special editions of "Football Night in America #3" (10.190 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.4, #2) and "Sunday Night Football" (13.666 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.6, #1).

CBS (3.170 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.5, #2) then was a distant silver with its mix of "NCIS: New Orleans" (2.929 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T7), "48 Hours" (3.099 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T4) and another "48 Hours" (3.482 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.6, #3).

Next up was ABC (1.976 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.4, #3) with repeats of "The Great Christmas Light Fight" (2.128 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.4, #6), another "The Great Christmas Light Fight" (2.206 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T4) and a new "Ten Days in the Valley" (1.594 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T7).

And finally, FOX (1.082 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.2, #4) closed out the night with rebroadcasts of "The Gifted" (0.835 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.2, #10) and "Lethal Weapon" (1.329 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T7).

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

· A Dec. 23 encore of "Saturday Night Live," with host Kumail Nanjiani and musical guest P!nk, was delayed by an NFL overrun and reliable metered-market numbers are currently unavailable.

Source: Nielsen Media Research





  [december 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
[12/19/25 - 02:33 PM]
ABC Celebrates Record-Breaking 2025 with Top Six Shows Among Adults 18-49 and TV's No. 1 Show, "High Potential"
"High Potential" stands as the No. 1 series for the year in both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, with the network also owning the Top Six shows in the key Adult demo.

[12/17/25 - 01:30 PM]
ABC News' "Nightline" Ranks #1 in Total Viewers
"Nightline" also posted week-to-week increases in Total Viewers and Adults 25-54.

[12/17/25 - 06:42 AM]
Cricket Celebration Bowl Delivered Double-Digit Increases on ABC
Coverage averaged 2.3 million viewers with a peak of 3.0 million.

[12/16/25 - 02:15 PM]
FOX NFL Week 15 Scores 19.4 Million Viewers for "America's Game of the Week"
Season-to-date, the NFL on FOX is averaging 20,055,000 viewers; up +8% over last year's average (18,630,000) and its best since 2015.

[12/16/25 - 02:15 PM]
"CBS News Presents: A Town Hall with Erika Kirk" Boosts CBS' Time Period Performance in Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49
The special delivered 1.9 million viewers with 265,000 in the adults 25-54 demographic on Saturday, December 13.

[12/16/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of December 8 - "Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery" Cracks the Case at No. 1 in the Top 10
New comedy series "Man vs. Baby" took No. 1 on the English TV list with 19.1 million views, with the Rowan Atkinson vehicle eliciting laughs over the bumbling Trevor Bingley trying to earn money house-sitting for millionaires while a lost baby keeps him on his toes.

[12/15/25 - 09:19 AM]
Driven by Strong November Viewership, ESPN Earns Third Straight Month of Year-Over-Year Audience Growth for Weekday Studio Programming
Highlights include "The Pat McAfee Show" having its most-viewed November of all time across linear and YouTube with 445,000 average viewers per show and "NFL Live" reaching its second most-watched November since 2016 with 445,000 average viewers.

[12/12/25 - 03:04 PM]
ESPN Scored Most-Watched Jimmy V Women's Classic Ever; Men's Classic Most-Watched in Five Years
The former averaged 1.0 million viewers, peaking with 1.3 million.

[12/11/25 - 03:15 PM]
ABC News' "Nightline" Ranks No. 1 in All Key Target Demos
The series also saw gains on the same week last year in Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49.

[12/10/25 - 02:59 PM]
FOX NFL Scores Massive Week 14 Viewership
28 million viewers watched FOX Sports' Week 14 "America's Game of the Week," featuring the Green Bay Packers divisional win over the Chicago Bears.

[12/10/25 - 12:08 PM]
NBCU's November to Remember Showcases the Power of Company's Programming
"All Her Fault" became the most-watched original series launch in Peacock history with 46 million hours.

[12/10/25 - 09:54 AM]
ABC Unwraps Holiday Presentations of Fan Favorite Shows
"Dancing with the Holidays" was the top-performing holiday-themed special across the broadcast networks among Adults 18-49 in two years.

[12/09/25 - 04:11 PM]
"College GameDay" Delivers Second Most-Watched Conference Championship Episode Ever; ABC/ESPN Score Second Most-Watched Conference Championship Week Since 2014
The SEC Championship delivered 16.9 million viewers on Saturday, December 6.

[12/09/25 - 02:03 PM]
18.3 Million Viewers Tuned in for Big Ten Championship Game on FOX
Indiana's win peaked with 19,993,000 viewers from 11:00-11:15 PM ET.

[12/09/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of December 1 - "My Secret Santa" Sleigh Rides to No. 1 and "Stranger Things" Slays the Top 10 Again
The extensive four-part docuseries "Sean Combs: The Reckoning" grabbed the No. 2 spot on the TV list with 21.8 million views in its opening weekend.