or


[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





  [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
[10/01/26 - 08:35 AM]
"Live with Kelly and Mark" Kicks Off Season 39 with Best Premiere Week in Three Years
"Live" has now ranked as the No. 1 talk show in syndication for 189 consecutive weeks (more than three years) across all key measures.

[09/30/26 - 04:44 PM]
"Dancing with the Stars" Sails to 7 Million Total Viewers on "Yacht Rock Night"
At 10 p.m., "R.J. Decker" hit a season high in early Live+Same Day Panel Only numbers with 3.20 million Total Viewers.

[09/30/26 - 03:27 PM]
Eagles-Bears on "Monday Night Football" Records 22.6 Million Viewers
Said audience marks the second largest Week 3 crowd in the ESPN era (since 2006).

[09/30/26 - 01:00 PM]
Historic "Big Brother" Season Hits 14.8 Billion Minutes Viewed, Up +9% from Last Year
The summer staple also saw year-over-year audience growth, averaging 5.1 million viewers in seven-day multiplatform viewing, up +8% from last summer, while ranking as the summer's most social program across all television programs (excluding sports).

[09/30/26 - 12:50 PM]
ABC's Tuesday Night Kicks Off Strong as "Dancing with the Stars" and Sophomore Drama "R.J. Decker" Each Score 10 Million Total Audience
Sophomore drama "R.J. Decker" earned a total cross-platform audience of 9.61 million, based on viewing over seven days across Hulu, Hulu on Disney+ and linear encores.

[09/30/26 - 11:01 AM]
Top 10 Most-Watched Prime Original Films & Series for the Week of September 21
"Neagley," "Reacher," "Sterling Point," "Off Campus," and "El Juicio" led all original series worldwide.

[09/29/26 - 03:28 PM]
FOX Sports Hits Home Run with Best MLB on FOX Regular Season Since '21 - No. 1 Among All Networks
Regular season coverage on FOX averaged 2.35 million viewers, up +15% vs. '25.

[09/29/26 - 03:12 PM]
FOX NFL Delivers Most-Watched Early Window of the Day on Any Network in Week 3
17,898,000 viewers tuned-in to FOX's 1:00 PM ET window.

[09/29/26 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of September 21 - "Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story" Takes the No. 1 Spot for a Second Week
"Unabomber" premiered in the top spot on the English film list, gathering 16.4 million views.

[09/29/26 - 12:00 PM]
USA Sports Delivers Viewership Records and Milestones in Inaugural Season of WNBA Coverage Ahead of WNBA Finals on USA Network This October
USA Sports averaged 525,000 viewers across its 48 regular-season games - the most national games of any broadcaster - up 25% vs. 2025 WNBA cable average viewership.

[09/29/26 - 09:50 AM]
"Jimmy Kimmel Live" Finishes 2025-2026 Season with Largest Overall Audience in Eight Years and Strongest Adults 18-49 in Four Years
In the final week of the 2025-2026 season, "Jimmy Kimmel Live" ranked No. 1 in both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49.

[09/28/26 - 02:45 PM]
The "VMAs" Scores 8.4 Million Viewers, Up +51% from Last Year, and Hits 11-Year Viewership High
The telecast peaked with over 15 million viewers across CBS and MTV in the opening act, which featured Madonna's first "VMAs" performance in 23 years, including a show-opening medley with Sabrina Carpenter and Charli XCX.

[09/25/26 - 10:51 AM]
Cartman, Kenny, Stan, Kyle and "South America's" Season 29 Premiere Delivers 4.2 Million Multiplatform U.S. Viewers Across Comedy Central and Paramount+
The season premiere on Comedy Central outperformed last season's premiere by double digits on persons 18-49 rating and share and was the #1 non-sports cable telecast for the week with persons 18-49.

[09/25/26 - 10:35 AM]
ESPN Delivered Its Most-Watched WNBA Regular Season Ever!
Across 29 games, the WNBA on ESPN networks averaged 1.37M viewers, up 17% year-over-year and ranking as ESPN networks' most-viewed WNBA regular season on record.

[09/24/26 - 12:25 PM]
ABC News Wins Across the Board in Late Night and Friday Night
"20/20" ranks as Friday's No. 1 newsmagazine in Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49, drawing its largest audience in two months and growing year to year in all key measures.