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[12/30/18 - 08:50 AM]
Saturday's Broadcast Ratings: NBC Tops Viewers, Demos on Low Key Night
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 (12/29/18):

NBC (2.921 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.5, #1) was the network to beat on Saturday with a two-hour "Dateline Saturday Night Mystery" (3.258 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T1) and a vintage "Saturday Night Live" (2.246 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T1).

Second place then went to CBS (2.118 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.3, #2) with repeats of "God Friended Me" (1.631 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.2, #T5), "48 Hours" (1.750 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.2, #T5) and another "48 Hours" (2.974 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.4, #3).

Next up was ABC (1.458 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.2, #T3) with a rebroadcast of "Mickey's 90th Spectacular" (1.760 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.3, #4) and a new "The Alec Baldwin Show" (0.853 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.1, #9).

And finally, repeats of "9-1-1" (1.395 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.2, #T5) and "The Resident" (1.164 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.2, #T5) rounded out the night on FOX (1.279 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.2, #T3).

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

· A Dec. 29 encore telecast of "Saturday Night Live," with host Jonah Hill and musical guest Maggie Rogers, has averaged a 2.4 rating, 7 share in "live plus same day" household results from the 56 local markets metered by Nielsen Media Research and a 0.7/4 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

· The Dec. 29 "Saturday Night Live" is the #1 show of the night on the Big 4 networks in 18-49 in the local people meters, topping all primetime shows on those nets.


Here are the highlights of the 10 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (12/30/17):

NBC (3.818 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.7, #1) was the top draw on the penultimate night of 2017 with "Dateline Saturday Night Mystery" (4.353 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.8, #1) and a vintage "Saturday Night Live" (2.748 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.7, #2).

CBS (3.051 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.4, #2) then was the number two broadcaster with repeats of "Hawaii Five-0" (2.962 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T4), "48 Hours" (2.313 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T4) and another "48 Hours" (3.879 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.6, #3).

Next up was FOX (1.240 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.3, #3) with encores of "The Gifted" (0.942 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.2, #T8) and "Lethal Weapon" (1.538 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T4).

And finally, ABC (1.430 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.2, #4) closed out the night with repeats of "The Bachelor: Countdown to Arie" (1.308 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.2, #T8) and "Match Game" (1.556 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T4) plus a new "Ten Days in the Valley" (1.428 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.2, #T8).

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

· A Dec. 30 encore of "Saturday Night Live," with host Tiffany Haddish and musical guest Taylor Swift, has averaged a 2.8 rating, 7 share in households in Nielsen's 56 metered markets and a 1.1/6 in 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

· "Saturday Night Live" equaled its highest household rating in the metered markets for a regular-slot encore since June 10 (2.9 with host Jimmy Fallon and musical guest Harry Styles, excludes a midnight Oct. 28 hourlong "Halloween Clips" encore and a Dec. 23 rebroadcast that was delayed by a high-rated NFL overrun). "SNL" also scored a 2.8 in the metered markets with the Nov. 25 rebroadcast hosted by Gal Gadot with musical guest Sam Smith.

· In adults 18-49 in the local people meters, it was the show's high for a regular-slot rebroadcast since April 29 (1.1 with host Aziz Ansari and musical guest Big Sean, excludes the Oct. 28 midnight encore and delayed Dec. 23 rebroadcast). The last time a regular-slot encore scored higher was April 1 (1.2 with host Alec Baldwin and musical guest Ed Sheeran).

· Last night's "Saturday Night Live" was the #1 show of the night on the Big 4 networks in 18-49 in the local people meters, topping all primetime shows on those networks in that key demo.

Source: Nielsen Media Research





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