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[11/20/16 - 08:53 AM]
Saturday's Broadcast Ratings: ABC Wins Demo Race with College Football
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 seven ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night (11/19/16):

ABC (3.899 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.0, #1) was the demo champ on Saturday with its weekly coverage of "Saturday Night College Football" (3.899 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.0, #1).

CBS (4.269 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T2) then was the most-watched network with a repeat "NCIS" (3.792 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T5) followed by a new "48 Hours" (4.213 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.7, #4) and a second "48 Hours" (4.804 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.8, #3).

Next up was NBC (2.469 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T2) with encores of "Free Birds" (2.161 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T5) and "SNL Vintage" (3.086 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.9, #2).

And finally, FOX (1.420 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.4, #4) closed out the evening with "CFB on FOX" (1.420 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.4, #7).

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

· Last night's "Saturday Night Live," with host Kristen Wiig and musical guest The xx, scored a 4.7 rating, 12 share in "live plus same day" household results from the 56 local markets metered by Nielsen Media Research and a 2.2/11 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

· "Saturday Night Live" is the #1 telecast of the night on the Big 4 networks in both metered-market households and in adults 18-49 in the local people meters, outrating all primetime programs on those nets.

· The 4.7 rating in households tops the last 10 "Saturday Night Live" originals from last season and is higher than 17 of 22 originals over that season. The 2.2 rating in 18-49 in the local people meters beats the last nine "SNL" first-runs from last season and 15 of 22 for the entire 2015-16 season.

· National ratings, including viewer totals, for last night's "Saturday Night Live" are due from Nielsen on Tuesday.

· Note that "SNL" adds significant viewership via time-shifting, so far this season growing by +58% in 18-49 and +3.432 million persons or +44% in total viewers nationally going from "live plus same day" Nielsens to "live plus seven day" figures. In L+SD, "SNL" this season has averaged a 2.25 rating in 18-49 nationally and 7.878 million viewers overall, and in L+7, "SNL" has grown to a 3.56 in 18-49 and 11.310 million viewers.

· Versus the same point last season, "SNL" is up +26% in 18-49 nationally (3.56 vs. 2.83) and +2.364 million persons or +26% in total viewers (11.310 million vs. 8.946 million).

· The 3.56 average in L+7 adults 18-49 rating nationally and 11.310 million total viewers 2+ average are the show's best performances in both metrics at this point since 2008 (4.72 / 11.356).


Here are the highlights of the seven ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (11/21/15):

FOX (4.060 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.2, #1) pulled into the top spot on Saturday with its "CFB on FOX" (4.060 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.2, #1) coverage.

ABC (3.642 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.1, #2) then was a close second with its own "Saturday Night College Football" (3.642 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.1, #2) coverage.

Next up was CBS (4.553 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.8, #3) with repeats of "NCIS: Los Angeles" (3.705 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.6, #5) and "48 Hours" (4.488 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.8, #4) plus a new "48 Hours" (5.468 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.0, #3).

And finally, repeats of "Free Birds" (2.271 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T6) and "Saturday Night Live" (2.231 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T6) on NBC (2.257 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.5, #4) closed out the night.

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

· The Nov. 21 telecast of "Saturday Night Live," with host Matthew McConaughey and musical guest Adele (4.6 rating, 12 share in households in the 56 markets metered by Nielsen Media Research, 2.3/11 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters) ranked as the #1 telecast of the night on the Big 4 networks in metered-market households and 18-49 in the local people meters, outrating all primetime programs on those nets in both measures.

· These are the second-highest "SNL" results this season, behind only the Nov. 7 telecast (with host Donald Trump and musical guest Sia, 6.6/16 in metered-market household, 2.7/13 in 18-49 in the local people meters).

· This is the second-highest-rated "Saturday Night Live" in metered-market households in the past 10 months, best excluding the Nov. 7 Trump-hosted telecast since Jan. 24 (4.7/12, with host and musical guest Blake Shelton).

· In 18-49 in the local people meters, this is the second-strongest "Saturday Night Live" in the past year, best excluding the Nov. 7 "SNL" since Nov. 15, 2014 (2.3/10, with host Woody Harrelson and musical guest Kendrick Lamar), and last night's 2.3 equals the show's second-best 18-49 rating since Nov. 1, 2014 (2.4/12 with host Chris Rock and musical guest Prince).

· The Nov. 21 "Saturday Night Live" is up +15% versus the show's average for original telecasts last season in metered-market households (4.6 vs. 4.0).

· Note that "SNL" adds significant viewership via time-shifting, with originals nationally growing by +51% so far this season going from "live plus same day" ratings to "live plus seven day" ratings in adult 18-49 (from a 1.75 rating to a 2.65)

Source: Nielsen Media Research





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