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[11/18/18 - 08:25 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 eight ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night (11/17/18):

ABC (3.088 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.8, #1) was the demo champ on a low key Saturday with its coverage of "Saturday Night College Football" (3.088 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.8, #1).

FOX (2.596 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.6, #2) then was the number two draw with its own "CFB on FOX" (2.596 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T3) coverage.

Next up was NBC (3.257 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T3) and its mix of "Dateline Saturday Night Mystery" (3.254 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T5), another "Dateline Saturday Night Mystery" (3.691 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T3) and a vintage "Saturday Night Live" (2.827 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T5).

And finally, CBS (3.120 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T3) closed out the night with repeats of "Bull" (2.659 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T7) and "48 Hours" (2.605 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T7) plus a new "48 Hours" (4.096 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.7, #2).

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

· The Nov. 17 telecast of "Saturday Night Live," with host Steve Carell and musical guest Ella Mai, averaged a 4.4 rating, 11 share in "live plus same day" household results from the 56 local markets metered by Nielsen Media Research and a 1.7/9 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

· Both the 4.4 rating in households and the 1.7 in 18-49 equal "SNL's" highs since the show's Sept. 29 season premiere (4.8/11 in households, 2.3/12 in 18-49 in the local people meters with host Adam Driver and musical guest Kanye West).

· The Nov. 17 edition, which aired live coast to coast (11:30 p.m. ET, 8:30 p.m. PT) and counted unduplicated viewers from 11:30 encores in western markets, scored 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 every Saturday primetime program on those nets in both measures.

· Versus what "Saturday Night Live" averaged with originals for the month of November last year, the Nov. 3 telecast maintained 100% in metered-market households (4.4 vs. 4.4).


Here are the highlights of the nine ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (11/18/17):

ABC (3.388 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.9, #1) edged out the demo competition on Saturday with "Saturday Night College Football" (3.388 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.9, #1).

NBC (2.446 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.6, #2) then was the silver draw with its mix of "Will & Grace" (1.930 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T6), "Superstore" (2.080 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T3), "Dateline Saturday Night Mystery" (2.622 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T3) and "Saturday Night Live" (2.712 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T3).

Next up was CBS (3.754 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.5, #3) with a repeat "NCIS: Los Angeles" (3.459 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T6), "48 Hours" (3.303 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T6) and a second "48 Hours" (4.502 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.7, #2).

And finally, FOX (1.389 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.4, #4) rounded out the night with "CFB on FOX" (1.389 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T6).

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

· The Nov. 18 telecast of "Saturday Night Live," hosted by Chance The Rapper and featuring musical guest Eminem, has averaged a 4.3 rating, 10 share in "live plus same day" household results from the 56 local markets metered by Nielsen Media Research and a 2.0/10 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

· It's the #1 telecast of the night on the Big 4 networks in both metered-market households and 18-49 in the local people meters, topping all primetime programs on those nets in both measures.

· The 2.0 in 18-49 in the local people meters is the top "SNL" rating since Oct. 14 (2.2 with host Kumail Nanjiani and musical guest P!nk).

· The Nov. 11 "SNL" aired live coast to coast (11:30 p.m. ET, 8:30 p.m. PT) and was replayed at 11:30 in western markets. Note that these numbers under-report last night's "SNL" results because they don't include viewership from the show's 11:30 replays in the Western U.S.

Source: Nielsen Media Research





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