or


[01/07/16 - 08:56 AM]
Wednesday's Broadcast Ratings: "American Idol" Returns on Top for FOX
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 15 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night (1/6/16):

FOX (10.850 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.9, #1) claimed the top spot on Wednesday with the return of "American Idol" (10.685 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.8, #2) and a second hour of "American Idol" (11.016 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.1, #1).

ABC (6.422 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.9, #2) then took home the silver with originals from "The Middle" (7.835 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.1, #T4), "The Goldbergs" (6.587 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 2.1, #T4), "Modern Family" (8.324 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.7, #3) and "Black-ish" (6.348 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 2.1, #T4) plus the season premiere of "American Crime" (4.718 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.2, #12).

Next up was NBC (7.800 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.6, #3) with the winter bows of "The Mysteries of Laura" (6.901 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.1, #13), "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (7.840 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.8, #8) and "Chicago PD" (8.659 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.9, #7).

Meanwhile, CBS (6.142 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.4, #4) offered up the relocated "2 Broke Girls" (6.294 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.7, #9), the season premiere of "Mike & Molly" (6.680 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.6, #10) and "The 42nd Annual People's Choice Awards" (5.970 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.3, #11).

And finally, repeats of "Arrow" (1.122 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T14) and "Supernatural" (0.936 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T14) on The CW (1.029 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #5) closed out the night.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+35.71% - Chicago PD (vs. 11/18/15)
+28.57% - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (vs. 11/18/15)
+23.53% - Black-ish (vs. 12/9/15)
+5.00% - The Middle (vs. 12/9/15)
+5.00% - The Goldbergs (vs. 12/9/15)
+3.85% - Modern Family (vs. 12/9/15)
0.00% - 2 Broke Girls (vs. 12/17/15)
0.00% - The Mysteries of Laura (vs. 11/18/15)

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+41.18% - American Crime (vs. Galavant (Repeats))
+30.77% - 2 Broke Girls (vs. The Mentalist)
+23.08% - Mike & Molly (vs. The Mentalist)
+18.75% - Chicago PD
+5.88% - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
0.00% - Black-ish
-8.70% - The Middle
-9.68% - American Idol - 8:00
-15.38% - The Mysteries of Laura
-15.63% - Modern Family
-16.00% - The Goldbergs
-16.22% - American Idol - 9:00 (vs. Empire)
-27.78% - The 42nd Annual People's Choice Awards

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," 3.1/8; "Late Show with Stephen Colbert," 2.1/5; and ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 2.0/5.

· In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," 1.1/6; "Late Show," 0.4/2; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.7/3.

· From 12:35-1:05 a.m. ET, ABC's "Nightline" averaged a 1.3/4 in metered-market households and a 0.4/2 in 18-49 in the Local People Meters.

· From 12:35-1:35 a.m. ET, "Late Night with Seth Meyers" (1.5/5 in metered-market households) beat CBS's "Late Late Show" (1.1/4). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.6/4 in 18-49) topped "Late Late Show" (0.2/1).

· At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.8/4 in metered-market households with an encore and a 0.3/3 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.


Here are the highlights of the 15 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (1/7/15):

FOX (10.359 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.4, #1) was the network to beat on Wednesday with the return of "American Idol" (10.886 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.1, #3) followed by the premiere of "Empire" (9.833 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.7, #1) - FOX's highest rated series debut in three years among adults 18-49 (since "Touch" on 1/25/12).

ABC (6.288 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.0, #2) then had to settle for second place with originals from "The Middle" (8.486 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.3, #5), "The Goldbergs" (7.790 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 2.5, #4), "Modern Family" (9.229 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 3.2, #2) and "Black-ish" (6.309 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 2.1, #6) plus encores of "Galavant" (3.383 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.0, #12) and another "Galavant" (2.530 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.7, #13).

Next up was CBS (8.714 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.6, #3) with the relocated "The Mentalist" (8.993 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T10) and "The 41st Annual People's Choice Awards" (8.574 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.8, #7).

Meanwhile, NBC (7.324 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.5, #4) offered up the winter premieres of "The Mysteries of Laura" (6.765 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T10), "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (7.776 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.7, #8) and "Chicago PD" (7.432 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.6, #9).

And finally, repeats of "Arrow" (0.975 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.2, #15) and "Penn & Teller: Fool Us" (1.086 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.4, #14) on The CW (1.031 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #5) closed out the night. In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), the former delivered a 0.2 rating while the latter posted a 0.3 rating.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+21.43% - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (vs. 12/10/14)
+14.29% - Chicago PD (vs. 12/10/14)
+13.64% - The Goldbergs (vs. 12/10/14)
+8.33% - The Mysteries of Laura (vs. 12/10/14)
+4.55% - The Middle (vs. 12/10/14)
+3.23% - Modern Family (vs. 12/10/14)
-7.14% - The Mentalist (vs. 12/28/14)
-8.70% - Black-ish (vs. 12/10/14)

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+208.33% - Empire (vs. Step Brothers (Repeat))
+158.33% - American Idol (vs. Step Brothers (Repeat))
+66.67% - The Goldbergs (vs. Super Fun Night)
+16.67% - Black-ish (vs. Super Fun Night)
+4.55% - The Middle
-8.57% - Modern Family
-16.13% - The Mentalist (vs. 2 Broke Girls (Repeats))
-18.75% - The Mysteries of Laura (vs. Revolution)
-19.05% - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
-20.00% - Chicago PD
-21.74% - The 41st Annual People's Choice Awards

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," 3.0/8; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.3/6; and ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.8/5.

·In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," 1.0/5; "Late Show," 0.5/2; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.5/2.

·From 12:35-1:05 a.m. ET, ABC's "Nightline" averaged a 1.2/4 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" (1.4/5 in metered-market households) beat CBS's "Late Late Show " (1.2/4). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.5/3 in 18-49) topped "Late Late Show" (0.3/2).

·At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.8/3 with an encore in metered-market households and a 0.3/2 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

Source: Nielsen Media Research





  [january 2016]  
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
[04/17/26 - 03:01 PM]
ABC News Is #1 on Sunday Morning and Friday Night
For the third week in a row, "20/20" built on its year-ago telecast in all key target demos: Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49.

[04/16/26 - 10:36 AM]
"American Idol" Rocks to a 5-Week High
Among Adults 18-49, "American Idol" grew over the prior week, delivering its best performance in 7 weeks.

[04/16/26 - 09:01 AM]
HBO Originals "Euphoria" and "DTF St. Louis" Viewership Performance
"Euphoria" made its much-anticipated season 3 return to amass 8.5 million U.S. viewers in its first three days of availability.

[04/15/26 - 02:03 PM]
ESPN Delivers Second Most-Watched WNBA Draft Ever
Said coverage averaged 1.50 million viewers, up 20% year-over-year.

[04/15/26 - 12:49 PM]
TNT Sports Delivers Its Most-Watched NHL on TNT Regular Season
All in, NHL coverage across TNT Sports' networks reached 20.4 million viewers this season, up 37% vs. last season.

[04/15/26 - 11:38 AM]
ESPN's Most-Watched NBA Regular Season in Seven Years
Through 80 telecasts, the 2025-26 NBA regular season on ABC & ESPN averaged 1.9 million viewers, up 11 percent from last season (1.7M viewers).

[04/15/26 - 09:30 AM]
CBS Series Deliver Strong Results vs. Broadcast and Streaming Originals in Live Plus 28-Day Multiplatform Viewership
CBS series make up six of the top 20 most-watched series among all broadcast and streaming competition - more than any broadcast competitor, according to Nielsen.

[04/15/26 - 06:32 AM]
Unscripted Prank Comedy Series "Foul Play with Anthony Davis" Scores Strong Premiere Performance with Triple Digit Gains for TBS on Monday, April 6
Following the NCAA Championship Game, the premiere reached a combined 2 million viewers across TBS, TNT and truTV.

[04/14/26 - 03:45 PM]
With Nearly 10 Million Viewers, ABC News' Special Live Coverage of Artemis II's Return, Anchored by David Muir, Is #1 Across the Board
Said coverage more than doubled NBC and CBS and eclipsed the combined viewership of CNN, Fox News and MS NOW.

[04/14/26 - 03:05 PM]
FOX Sports Scores Most-Watched Baseball Telecast of the Week
2,131,000 viewers tuned-in to FOX's Saturday baseball coverage for a two-game slate highlighted by Boston's 7-1 victory over St. Louis in most of the country.

[04/14/26 - 01:48 PM]
NBA's Return to NBC Sports Is a Viewership Triumph
The combined viewership for NBC Sports' NBA coverage for games on NBC/Peacock on Sunday and Tuesday nights - plus five Monday games - averaged a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 2.8 million viewers, up 109% vs. comparable coverage last season.

[04/14/26 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of April 6 - "Thrash" Shows Its Teeth, Swimming to No. 1 in This Week's Top 10
The the docuseries "Trust Me: The False Prophet" premiered at No. 1 on the English TV list with 9.8 million views.

[04/13/26 - 11:01 AM]
Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" Delivers Its Highest Rated Quarter Among P18-49 Since 2017 and Most Social Quarter in Franchise History
Jon Stewart's Monday night episodes lead the charge with the highest ratings for the franchise while the News Team including, Ronny Chieng, Josh Johnson, Jordan Klepper, Michael Kosta, and Desi Lydic delivered notable YoY growth.

[04/13/26 - 07:00 AM]
Multiple ESPN Studio Shows Surge to Record First Quarter Viewership
Overall, the shows averaged 485K viewers during Q1, an increase of 14% over the first quarter of 2025.

[04/09/26 - 04:17 PM]
"Live with Kelly and Mark" Builds on Momentum from "Countdown to the Oscars" - Scores Big with Show's Post-Oscars Week
"Live with Kelly and Mark" has now delivered four straight weeks of growth among Women 25-54, with the strongest performance in that key demo in 15 weeks.