or


[09/17/15 - 08:32 AM]
Wednesday's Broadcast Ratings: "America's Got Talent" Goes Out on Top for NBC
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 14 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night (9/16/15):

NBC (8.244 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.8, #1) was of course the top draw on Wednesday with the two-hour season finale of "America's Got Talent" (9.540 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.1, #1). Leading off the night was a "America's Got Talent" (5.651 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.2, #5) recap special.

The silver then went to FOX (4.645 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.5, #2) with a new "MasterChef" (4.414 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.4, #4) followed by the season finale of "MasterChef" (4.877 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.6, #3).

Next up was CBS (3.617 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.0, #3) and its trio of "Big Brother 17" (5.860 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.8, #2), a repeat "Criminal Minds" (3.375 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T8) and the special "NFL: Undrafted" (1.615 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T11).

Meanwhile, ABC (2.705 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.7, #4) offered up its all-repeat lineup of "The Middle" (3.650 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.8, #7), "The Goldbergs" (2.932 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T8), "Modern Family" (3.034 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.9, #6), "Black-ish" (2.501 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T8) and "Nashville" (2.055 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T11).

And finally, new episodes of "America's Next Top Model" (1.529 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T11) and "A Wicked Offer" (0.858 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.3, #14) on The CW (1.193 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #5) closed out the evening. In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), the former delivered a 0.6 rating while the latter posted a 0.3 rating.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+50.00% - A Wicked Offer
+16.67% - America's Got Talent
-6.67% - MasterChef - 8:00
-14.29% - Big Brother 17
-16.67% - America's Next Top Model

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+50.00% - A Wicked Offer (vs. The 100 (Repeat))
+23.08% - MasterChef - 9:00 (vs. Red Band Society)
0.00% - MasterChef - 8:00 (vs. Hell's Kitchen)
-4.55% - America's Got Talent (vs. America's Got Talent/The Mysteries of Laura)
-16.67% - America's Next Top Model (vs. Penn & Teller: Fool Us)
-18.18% - Big Brother 17
-54.55% - NFL: Undrafted (vs. Extant)

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

· In Nielsen's 56 metered markets, household results were: "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," 3.2/8; "Late Show with Stephen Colbert," 2.2/6; and ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.6/4.

· In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," 1.1/6; "Late Show," 0.7/3; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.5/3.

· From 12:35-1:05 a.m. ET, ABC's "Nightline" averaged a 1.0/3 in metered-market households and a 0.3/2 in 18-49 in the Local People Meters.

· From 12:35-1:35 a.m. ET, "Late Night with Seth Meyers" (1.3/5 in metered-market households) beat CBS's "Late Late Show" (0.9/3). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.5/4 in 18-49) topped "Late Late Show" (0.2/2).

· At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.7/3 in metered-market households and a 0.3/3 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.


Here are the highlights of the 14 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (9/17/14):

NBC (11.463 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.2, #1) was the network to beat on Wednesday with the two-hour season finale of "America's Got Talent" (11.980 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.3, #1) followed by the premiere of "The Mysteries of Laura" (10.428 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.1, #3).

CBS (5.616 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T2) then snagged the silver with its mix of "Big Brother 16" (6.648 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.2, #2), "Criminal Minds" (4.748 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T10) and "Extant" (5.453 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T8).

Next up was FOX (3.960 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T2) with a new "Hell's Kitchen" (3.889 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T4) alongside the launch of "Red Band Society" (4.030 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.3, #6).

Meanwhile, ABC (3.212 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.0, #4) served up repeats of "The Middle" (3.964 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T8), "The Goldbergs" (3.476 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T10), "Modern Family" (3.598 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.2, #7), another "Modern Family" (3.964 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T4) and "Nashville" (2.137 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T12).

And finally, a new "Penn & Teller: Fool Us" (1.597 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T12) and a repeat "The 100" (0.662 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.2, #14) closed out the evening over on The CW (1.130 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #5). In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), the former delivered a 0.4 rating while the latter posted a 0.2 rating.

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

·In Nielsen's 56 metered markets, household results were: "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," 3.4/9; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 1.5/4 with an encore; and ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.7/5.

·In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," 1.2/6; "Late Show," 0.3/2 with an encore; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.5/3.

·From 12:35-1:05 a.m. ET, ABC's "Nightline" averaged a 1.1/4 in metered-market households and a 0.3/2 in 18-49 in the Local People Meters.

·From 12:35-1:35 a.m. ET, "Late Night with Seth Meyers" (1.5/6 in metered-market households) beat CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (0.9/3). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.6/5 in 18-49) topped "Late Late Show" (0.2/1).

·At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.9/4 in metered-market households with an encore and a 0.4/3 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

Source: Nielsen Media Research





  [september 2015]  
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
[10/16/26 - 02:30 PM]
Brewers Triumph on FS1 Delivers Most-Watched LCS Game 3 Telecast Since 2016
On FS1, Game 3 averaged 6,460,000 viewers.

[10/16/26 - 11:45 AM]
"Dancing with the Stars" Scores with Show's "Super Bowl Night"
In fact, among Adults 18-49, "Dancing with the Stars" grew for the fourth telecast in a row, hitting a season high and posting the show's best non-finale episode in over nine years.

[10/16/26 - 10:42 AM]
ABC News Wins Across Friday Night, Sunday Morning and Late Night
"20/20: Born to Kill" ranked as Friday's No.1 newsmagazine in Total Viewers, Adults 25-54, and Adults 18-49.

[10/15/26 - 02:55 PM]
Super Bowl Season Success: Bills-Rams Thriller Propels "Monday Night Football" to Best Five-Week Start of ESPN Era
The matchup featuring the NFL's two most recent MVPs averaged 19.8 million viewers across ESPN, ABC, ESPN2, NFL Network and ESPN Deportes.

[10/15/26 - 02:46 PM]
NLCS Game 2 on FOX/FS1: Most-Watched LCS Game 2 on Any Network Since 2016
On FOX/FS1, the game averaged 6,921,000 viewers.

[10/15/26 - 02:35 PM]
NHL on Frozen Frenzy on ESPN Delivers Double-Digit Increases
The tripleheader averaged 600,000 viewers, up 31% from a year ago.

[10/15/26 - 10:29 AM]
ESPN Delivered Its Most-Watched WNBA Playoffs Ever!
Across eight games, ESPN networks averaged 1.4 million viewers, up 23% compared to coverage through the semifinals last year.

[10/15/26 - 08:00 AM]
CBS Wins Its Premiere Week with Eight of the Top 10 Broadcast Shows and Delivers +9% Year-Over-Year Growth
Weekly viewership averaged 4.43 million viewers, growing +9% from its 2025 premiere week (4.08m viewers).

[10/14/26 - 04:10 PM]
Nebraska Volleyball Serves Up a Big Saturday on FOX
Nebraska's 3-0 win averaged 945,000 viewers on FOX.

[10/14/26 - 03:50 PM]
Indiana's Win Over Nebraska Scores 6,734,000 Viewers on FOX
"Big Noon Saturday" peaked at 9,623,000 viewers.

[10/14/26 - 03:04 PM]
"College GameDay" Continues Record Pace as ESPN College Football Delivers Historic Week 6 Audiences
ABC scored its most-watched college football tripleheader of the season with 8.5 million viewers, led by Georgia-Alabama (12.2 million) and Oklahoma-Texas (9.8 million) - both record-setting rivalry audiences.

[10/14/26 - 02:50 PM]
26,697,000 Viewers for "America's Game of the Week" Highlight FOX NFL's Week 5
Said coverage was the most watched telecast of the week on any network.

[10/14/26 - 02:44 PM]
FOX Scores Most-Watched LCS Game 1 on Any Network Since 2005
10,719,000 viewers tuned in Sunday night for NLCS Game 1 on FOX and FOX Deportes.

[10/14/26 - 11:31 AM]
Top 10 Most-Watched Prime Original Films & Series for the Week of October 5
"Carrie," "Neagley," "Reacher," "Off Campus," and "Sterling Point" led all original series worldwide.

[10/14/26 - 07:29 AM]
ESPN Delivers Sixth Straight Year of Television Viewership Growth, Up 10% in Fiscal Year 2026
ESPN and ESPN on ABC each posted 11% year-over-year growth in total viewership, while ESPN2 increased 3%.