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
[10/03/25 - 02:17 PM]
ESPN's Record-Setting '25 MLB Wild Card Series
Across eight games, the MLB Wild Card Series is averaging 4.4 million viewers, up 65% from last year.

[10/03/25 - 12:07 PM]
"Dancing with the Stars" Continues to Shatter Records - Growing Two Weeks in a Row Since Season Premiere for First Time Since 2005
Plus: "High Potential" hit a season high in Total Viewers (4.24 million), growing by double digits over the show's comparable third episode from last fall.

[10/02/25 - 04:09 PM]
ESPN Delivers the Most-Watched WNBA Semifinals Ever
Game 5 between the Indiana Fever and the Las Vegas Aces averaged 1.8 million viewers, peaking at 2.1 million.

[10/02/25 - 02:51 PM]
ESPN's Record-Setting Day One of MLB Wild Card Series
Coverage of Red Sox versus Yankees averaged 6.5 million viewers, peaking at 9.9 million.

[10/02/25 - 11:00 AM]
"Survivor" and "The Amazing Race" Season Premieres Hit Their Largest 3-Day Streaming Viewerships Ever
The "Survivor" season 49 premiere grew to 6.83 million viewers with three days of multiplatform viewership; while "The Amazing Race" season 38 premiere grew to 4.01 million viewers.

[10/02/25 - 09:38 AM]
"Celebrity Wheel of Fortune" Scores on Friday Nights with Biggest Total Viewer Audience in Nearly Two Years
"Celebrity Wheel of Fortune" stood as the No. 1 program of the night, rising by double digits in Total Viewers over its previous season premiere.

[10/01/25 - 10:27 AM]
"Big Brother" Season Finale Is Most-Watched Episode in Over Three Years
The finale was up +33% from its year ago finale and up +33% from this season's average.

[09/30/25 - 03:44 PM]
ESPN and ABC Win College Football's Week 5; "College GameDay's" Most-Viewed Season Rolls On
ABC is off to its best start ever with 7.1 million average viewers per game, and the network has aired eight of the top 10 most-viewed games this season.

[09/30/25 - 02:08 PM]
Packers-Cowboys OT Thriller Averages 26.9 Million Viewers on NBC & Peacock, As NBC Sports Opens with Best Four-Week Audience Average in 20 Seasons of NBC "SNF"
The audience peaked at 29.9 million viewers in the second quarter (9-9:15 p.m. ET).

[09/30/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10 Week of September 22: "Wayward" Lures Viewers at No. 1, "KPop Demon Hunters" Sets Top 10 Record
New on Netflix this week is "House of Guinness," a historical drama series created by Steven Knight, which debuted at No. 3 on the English TV list with 5.2 million views.

[09/30/25 - 10:24 AM]
"High Potential" Season Premiere Vaults to Nearly 16 Million in First Week Across Platforms
This marks ABC's best season premiere for a drama among Total Viewers in five years.

[09/29/25 - 06:06 AM]
ESPN's 2025 MLB Game Viewership Up 21 Percent from Last Year
Coverage delivered 1.8 million viewers on average across 30 games this season.

[09/26/25 - 01:11 PM]
"Dancing with the Stars" Week Two Delivers Over 5 Million Total Viewers Rising Over Season Premiere for First Time in 14 Years
Once again, the show led its time period and stood as the No. 1 show of the night in Total Viewers (5.46 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.02 rating).

[09/25/25 - 02:05 PM]
Viewers Have Watched More Than 8 Billion Minutes of "Big Brother" This Summer - Up +27% from Last Year
Multiplatform average episode viewership grew to 5.1 million, up +23% versus last year in 35-days of viewing, outpacing the competition.

[09/24/25 - 02:47 PM]
"Jimmy Kimmel Live" Returned on Tuesday to 6.26 Million Total Viewers on Broadcast, According to Initial Live+Same Day Measurement
In addition to linear ratings, the monologue has garnered more than 26 million views across YouTube and social platforms.