or


[05/25/17 - 07:55 AM]
NBC's "Sunday Night Football" Is Primetime Television's No. 1 Show for Record Sixth Consecutive Year as TV Season Ends
NBC further spins the numbers for the season to date.

[via press release from NBC]

NBC's "SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL" IS PRIMETIME TELEVISION'S NO. 1 SHOW FOR RECORD SIXTH CONSECUTIVE YEAR AS TV SEASON ENDS

SNF No. 1 in Primetime in Viewership & HH Rating

SNF Wins Key Adult 18-49 Demo for 7th Consecutive TV Season

Sunday Night Football's TV-Only Average of 20.3 Million Viewers Tops All Other Primetime Shows in Live+Same Day AND Time-Shifted Viewing

STAMFORD, Conn. - May 25, 2017 - With the 2016-17 TV season wrapping up last night, NBC's Sunday Night Football finished as primetime's #1 TV show in all key metrics for a record sixth consecutive year - tying American Idol for the most consecutive years atop the charts (since 1950), based on live plus same day data provided by The Nielsen Company. Sunday Night Football also ranked as the No. 1 show in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic for the seventh consecutive TV season.

Most Consecutive Years, #1 Ranked Show in Primetime, Since 1950
6 years in a row - Sunday Night Football (2011-12 through 2016-17)
6 years in a row - American Idol (2005-06 through 2010-11)
5 years in a row - The Cosby Show (1985-86 through 1989-90)... tied Cheers in '89-90
5 years in a row - All in the Family (1971-72 through 1975-76)
4 years in a row - Gunsmoke (1957-58 through 1960-61)

Top 2016-17 Primetime Programs, Viewership
Program Avg. Viewers SNF Advantage
Sunday Night Football 20.3 million --
NBC Thursday Night Football* 17.0 million 19%
CBS Thursday Night Football** 14.7 million 38%
NCIS 14.6 million 39%
Big Bang Theory 14.0 million 45%

(Source: The Nielsen Company, Live + Same Day Viewing, Sept.8, 2016-May 23, 2017; regularly-scheduled programs excluding repeats and pre/post games)

*5 NBC/NFLN telecasts; **5 CBS/NFLN telecasts

SNF's Live + Same Day Viewership Tops Rivals' Time Shifted Viewership, 2016-17 TV Season
Sunday Night Football (Live+Same Day) vs. Primetime (Live+7)
Series Average Viewership Metric
NBC Sunday Night Football 20.3 million Live + Same Day*
Big Bang Theory 19.1 million Live + 7**
NCIS 18.5 million Live + 7**
NBC/NFLN Thursday Night Football 17.0 million Live + Same Day*
The Walking Dead 16.4 million Live + 7**

*Live + Same Day Viewing, Sept.8, 2016-May 23, 2017

** Live + 7 Viewing, Sept.8, 2016-May 7, 2017

Source: The Nielsen Company; regularly-scheduled programs excluding repeats and pre/post games

Also notable from the 2016-17 TV season:

· The Total Audience Delivery (TAD) for the 2016 Sunday Night Football season on NBC and NBC Sports Digital was 20.5 million viewers. NBC Sports Group's Total Audience Delivery measures broader consumption by calculating average minute viewing across broadcast, cable, and digital.

· For the 2016-17 primetime television season, Sunday Night Football ranked as the highest-rated (11.4 HH rating) and most-watched show (20.3 million TV-only viewers), and the No. 1 program among Adults 18-49 (7.0).

· Since the beginning of the 2011-12 TV season, only nine primetime shows have averaged 20+ million viewers, all on NBC - Sunday Night Football six times, the 2012 London Summer Games, the 2014 Sochi Winter Games, and the 2016 Rio Summer Games (minimum 10 telecasts).

· SNF's six-year run at the top marks the only six times on record that a sports series has been the highest-rated and most-watched show of the primetime TV season.

NBC NFL GAMES PRODUCE 13 OF 25 MOST-WATCHED PRIMETIME SHOWS THIS SEASON

Only 25 primetime telecasts between Sept. 8, 2016 and May 23, 2017 averaged at least 20 million viewers - NBC's Sunday Night Football, NBC/NFL Network Thursday Night Football and NBC NFL Playoff games accounted for 13 (chart below; excludes pre/postgames).

Following are the programs topping 20 million primetime viewers this TV season:
Program Telecasts with 20 Million Viewers
NBC Sunday Night Football 10
NFL Postseason Games (2 on NBC) 5
World Series 3
NBC/NFLN Thursday Night Football 1
BCS Championship Game 1
NCAA Men's Basketball Final 1
Academy Awards 1
Golden Globes 1
Grammy Awards 1
60 Minutes 1

*Five NFL postseason games in primetime: Super Bowl XLI (FOX), AFC Championship Game (CBS), AFC Divisional Playoff (CBS), AFC Divisional Playoff (NBC), NFC Wild Card Playoff (NBC)





  [may 2017]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S
 


· SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL (NBC)





most recent ratings | view all posts
[06/04/26 - 03:03 PM]
"The Mystery of Richard Simmons - A Diane Sawyer Special" Soars Over 10 Million Total Multiplatform Viewers Across ABC, Disney+ and Hulu
On its encore telecast on Monday, "The Mystery of Richard Simmons - A Diane Sawyer Special" averaged 2.704 million Total Viewers and ranked as the night's No. 1 program on broadcast.

[06/03/26 - 11:01 AM]
"Saturday Night Live" Season 51 Was #1 Among All Broadcast Comedy Series in the 18-49 Demo and #2 Among All Entertainment Series
The most-watched telecast of the season across all platforms was 10.1 million viewers on December 20 with host Ariana Grande and musical guest Cher.

[06/03/26 - 07:00 AM]
Fans Power UFL on ESPN to Significant Viewership Growth Across 10-Week Regular Season
ABC alone accounted for eight of the top 10 most-watched games.

[06/03/26 - 06:00 AM]
TNT Sports Caps Its Most Watched NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs with Its Most Watched Conference Final Ever
The record-setting series helped propel TNT Sports' overall coverage of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs to an average of 1.4 million viewers across TNT, TBS, truTV and HBO Max, up 50% from 2025 through the Conference Final.

[06/02/26 - 04:06 PM]
NBC and Peacock Deliver Most-Watched Conference Finals Game Since 2016 with 15.9 Million Viewers for Spurs-Thunder Game 7 on Saturday Night
Across 28 playoff games, NBC Sports' presentation of the 2026 NBA Playoffs averaged 7.2 million viewers on NBC and Peacock, up 72% versus comparable coverage last season.

[06/02/26 - 02:36 PM]
ESPN's WCWS Viewership Success Continues
Texas Tech-UCLA averaged 2.0 million viewers, with a peak of 2.6 million.

[06/02/26 - 02:13 PM]
FOX IndyCar Continues Ratings Growth with Strong Detroit Performance
Through eight races, IndyCar on FOX is averaging 2,241,000 viewers, up +12% from 2025 (2,007,000).

[06/02/26 - 02:00 PM]
FOX MLB's "Baseball Night in America" Delivers Most-Watched Baseball Telecast of the Week
2,322,000 viewers tuned-in to FOX for a two-game slate highlighted by the Cubs' 6-1 victory over the Cardinals in most of the country.

[06/02/26 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of May 25 - "The Boroughs" Makes Itself at Home at No. 1 in This Week's Top 10
Plus: "Nemesis" stole away with the No. 2 spot on the list, commanding 5.9 million views.

[06/01/26 - 11:04 AM]
ESPN Scored Most-Watched NCAA Women's College World Series Opening Thursday on Record
Arkansas-Nebraska averaged 1.4 million viewers, with a peak of 1.6 million.

[06/01/26 - 08:27 AM]
ESPN Scores Most-Viewed Stanley Cup Playoffs Western Conference Final Since 2015, The Latest Viewership Successes Headed Into the Stanley Cup Final
Across four games on ESPN, the series averaged 2.2 million viewers and was up 44% vs. the Western Conference Final last year (Edmonton vs. Dallas) which went five games on ESPN.

[05/29/26 - 03:02 PM]
"20/20" Is Friday's No. 1 Newsmagazine, Leading "Dateline" in Total Viewers for the 5th Consecutive Broadcast Season
"20/20" improved on the previous season in Total Viewers (+5%/+170,000 - 3.672 million vs. 3.502 million).

[05/29/26 - 03:01 PM]
ABC News Is #1 in Total Viewers Sunday Morning and in Late-Night
"Nightline" posted double-digit gains week to week in Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49.

[05/28/26 - 03:23 PM]
2026 NBA Eastern Conference Finals Presented by Dunkin' Finishes Strong with Average Audience of 7.4 Million Viewers Across ESPN and ABC
Additionally, Game 4 on ESPN averaged 7.2 million viewers, marking the most-viewed Eastern Conference Finals Game 4 across any network since 2018.

[05/28/26 - 11:00 AM]
CBS Outpaces Competitors with Eight of the Top 25 Series Across All Streaming and Broadcast Originals in Nielsen's All-Series Ranker
CBS has the most top 25 series of any streaming or broadcast competitor and twice as many as its closest broadcast competitor, including six series with 10+ million viewers.