or


[12/26/16 - 08:13 AM]
Sunday's Broadcast Ratings: "Sunday Night Football" Tops Christmas Day
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 18 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night (12/25/16):

NBC (18.223 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 5.3, #1) easily took care of its repeat competition on Christmas Day with "Football Night in America #1" (8.785 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.3, #4), "Football Night in America #2" (11.844 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 3.3, #3), "Football Night in America #3" (16.417 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 4.6, #2) and "Sunday Night Football" (19.860 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 5.9, #1).

ABC (3.187 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.0, #2) then was a distant silver with repeats of "America's Funniest Home Videos" (3.404 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T5), the feature "Beauty and the Beast" (3.669 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T5), "Speechless" (2.089 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T7) and "Black-ish" (1.923 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T9).

Next up was CBS (3.278 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T3) and its lineup of "60 Minutes" (4.671 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T7), "I Love Lucy Christmas" (3.418 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T9), "Dick Van Dyke Show" (2.505 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T15) and "MacGyver" (2.520 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T15).

And finally, repeats of "Bob's Burgers" (1.158 million viewers, #17; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T15), another "Bob's Burgers" (1.234 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T13), "The Simpsons" (1.511 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T9), "Son of Zorn" (1.021 million viewers, #18; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T15), "Family Guy" (1.311 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T9) and "The Last Man on Earth" (1.165 million viewers, #16; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T13) on FOX (1.233 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T3) rounded out the night.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+9.52% - Football Night in America #1
-10.81% - Football Night in America #2
-15.71% - Sunday Night Football
-16.36% - Football Night in America #3

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+53.33% - Football Night in America #1
+43.48% - Football Night in America #2
+15.00% - Football Night in America #3
+11.32% - Sunday Night Football


Here are the highlights of the 19 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (12/27/15):

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Due to the nature of live sports, Fast Nationals for FOX (7-8p) and NBC prime are approximate.]

NBC (14.385 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 4.7, #1) held onto the top spot on Sunday with its mix of "Football Night in America #1" (5.675 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.5, #7), "Football Night in America #2" (7.334 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 2.3, #5), "Football Night in America #3" (12.743 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 4.0, #3) and "Sunday Night Football" (16.124 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 5.3, #1).

FOX (6.565 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.2, #2) then claimed the silver with its "NFL Overrun" (16.285 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 5.1, #2) and "The OT" (11.408 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 3.7, #4) followed by repeats of "The Simpsons" (4.982 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.9, #6), "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" (2.631 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.1, #10), "Family Guy" (2.361 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.0, #11) and "The Last Man on Earth" (1.725 million viewers, #16; adults 18-49: 0.6, #14).

Next up was CBS (7.599 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.1, #3) and a repeat "60 Minutes" (10.498 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T8), a new "Undercover Boss" (7.894 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T8) and an encore of the "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (6.003 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.9, #12) finale.

And finally, repeats of "America's Funniest Home Videos" (4.401 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.8, #13), "The Muppets" (1.912 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.4, #16), another "The Muppets" (1.287 million viewers, #17; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T17), yet another "The Muppets" (0.963 million viewers, #18; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T17), even more "The Muppets" (0.961 million viewers, #19; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T17) and "Shark Tank" (1.912 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.5, #15) on ABC (2.219 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.5, #4) closed out the night.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+15.00% - Football Night in America #2
0.00% - Undercover Boss
-2.44% - Football Night in America #3
-3.64% - Sunday Night Football
-6.25% - Football Night in America #1

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
0.00% - Football Night in America #2
0.00% - Football Night in America #1
-8.62% - Sunday Night Football
-13.04% - Football Night in America #3
-17.65% - Undercover Boss

Source: Nielsen Media Research





  [december 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
[09/17/25 - 03:14 PM]
Buccaneers at Texans Delivers 17.4 Million Viewers, ESPN's Most-Watched "MNF" Week 2 Game Since 2008
Additionally, the Buccaneers-Texans is ESPN's most-watched individual game on weeks with multiple "MNF" games, whether a true doubleheader or two games with staggered start times.

[09/16/25 - 03:39 PM]
"College GameDay Built by The Home Depot" and College Football on ESPN/ABC Both Off to Stellar Starts in 2025
ABC is off to its best three-week start ever, averaging 7.8 million viewers per game.

[09/16/25 - 03:02 PM]
"20/20" Is the No. 1 Program Across Broadcast and Cable on Friday Night
"20/20" ranked as the No. 1 broadcast program on Friday night in Total Viewers (2.457 million).

[09/16/25 - 03:01 PM]
ABC News' "Nightline" Ranks No. 1 in Total Viewers, Adults 25-54, and Adults 18-49, Leading CBS' "After Midnight" and NBC's "Late Night with Seth Meyers" in All Three Measures
For the 2nd week in a row, "Nightline" improved on the previous week in Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49.

[09/16/25 - 02:45 PM]
FOX NFL Smashes All-Time Viewership Records with Week 2 Super Bowl Rematch
A massive 33.8 million viewers delivers FOX Sports its best-ever regular season Sunday telecast, most-watched Week 2 NFL telecast on record and more all-time viewership highs!

[09/16/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10 Week of September 8: "Canelo vs. Crawford" Packs a Punch, "Wednesday" Season 2 Joins Most Popular List
In movies, "KPop Demon Hunters" danced its way back to No. 1 on the English Film list with 22.6 million views.

[09/15/25 - 03:25 PM]
Over 41 Million Global Viewers on Netflix Watch Terence Crawford Defeat Canelo Alvarez to Claim Super Middleweight Championship
The main event scored an estimated average minute audience (AMA) of 36.6 million live+SD viewers from opening to closing bell, per VideoAmp and Netflix.

[09/15/25 - 11:45 AM]
The "77th Emmy Awards" Delivers Its Largest Television Audience Since 2021, Up +8% from Last Year
Hosted by Nate Bargatze, the telecast was seen by more than 7.42 million viewers on the CBS Television Network and streaming on Paramount+.

[09/12/25 - 02:43 PM]
"The Groomsmen: First Look" Launches Hallmark Channel's "Fall Into Love" Seasonal Stunt with Chart-Topping Ratings
The film was the #1 most-watched entertainment cable program on Saturday among Households, Women 18+, Persons 18+, and Total Viewers.

[09/12/25 - 05:31 AM]
ESPN Networks Deliver Most-Watched WNBA Regular Season Ever
ESPN networks aired eight of the top 10 most-watched WNBA games during the 2025 season, highlighted by its most-watched WNBA game ever - 2.7 million viewers for Chicago Sky at Indiana Fever on May 17 (ABC).

[09/10/25 - 02:09 PM]
ESPN Delivers Most Viewed Tennis Telecast of the Year and Most Viewed US Open Since 2022
The Men's Championship averaged 3 million viewers on ABC, up 82% vs. 2024 while the Women's Championship averaged 2.4 million on ESPN, up 50% vs. 2024.

[09/09/25 - 03:43 PM]
On Pace for Record Year, ESPN Formula 1 Viewership Earns 10th Event High of '25 Season
F1 races are averaging 1.4M viewers this season across ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC, ahead of the all-time series record average of 1.21M that was set in 2022.

[09/09/25 - 03:29 PM]
ABC Scores Three of the Top Four Best Audiences of College Football's Week 2; "College GameDay" Delivers Second Most-Watched Regular Season Show on Record
Michigan/Oklahoma (9.7 million viewers) was ABC's most-viewed Week 2 game since 2006.

[09/09/25 - 03:17 PM]
FOX's "Big Noon Saturday" & "Big Noon Kickoff" Up Big Through Week 2
Iowa-Iowa State scored 4,278,000 viewers on FOX, most-watched game in the noon window.

[09/09/25 - 02:26 PM]
NBC Sports Posts Largest Two-Game NFL Kickoff Weekend Audience in a Decade & Second Best All-Time, Averaging 26.5 Million Viewers Across NBC & Peacock
NBC's 2025 NFL Kickoff Weekend average viewership trailed only 2015, as Steelers-Patriots in NFL Kickoff '15 and Cowboys-Giants in the Sunday night opener averaged 27.2 million viewers.