or


[12/02/18 - 10:12 AM]
Saturday's Broadcast Ratings: Big Ten Championship Puts FOX on Top
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 nine ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night (12/1/18):

FOX (8.266 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.2, #1) rocketed to the top spot on Saturday with its Big Ten Championship coverage on "CFB on FOX" (8.266 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.2, #1).

The silver then went to ABC (4.368 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.1, #2) and its ACC Championship presentation on "Saturday Night College Football" (4.368 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.1, #3).

Next up was CBS (3.427 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.7, #3) with repeats of "The Neighborhood" (5.510 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.5, #2), "Happy Together" (2.902 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.7, #4) and "SWAT" (2.530 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T7) plus a new "48 Hours" (3.547 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T5).

And finally, NBC (3.299 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.5, #4) closed out the night with "Dateline Saturday Night Mystery" (3.268 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T7), another "Dateline Saturday Night Mystery" (3.978 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T5) and a vintage "Saturday Night Live" (2.652 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T7).

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

· The Dec. 1 telecast of "Saturday Night Live," with host Claire Foy and musical guest Anderson .Paak, averaged a 4.1 rating, 10 share in "live plus same day" household results from the 56 local markets metered by Nielsen Media Research and a 1.5/8 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

· The Dec. 1 "Saturday Night Live" is the #2 show of the night on the Big 4 networks in both metered-market households and 18-49 in the local people meters, topping all primetime shows on those nets except Fox's Northwestern-Ohio State Big 10 Championship college football coverage.


Here are the highlights of the 10 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (12/2/17):

FOX (11.577 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.2, #1) surged into the top spot last night with its "CFB on FOX" (11.577 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.2, #1) coverage.

ABC (5.546 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.6, #2) then got bumped to second with its finale to "Saturday Night College Football" (5.546 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.6, #2).

Next up was CBS (3.241 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.6, #3) with repeats of "Kevin Can Wait" (3.486 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.9, #3), "Man with a Plan" (2.838 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.7, #4) and "NCIS: New Orleans" (3.248 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T7) plus a new "48 Hours" (3.313 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T7).

And finally, NBC (2.731 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.5, #4) closed out the night with its lineup of "Will & Grace" (1.894 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.3, #10), "Superstore" (2.029 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.4, #9), "Dateline Saturday Night Mystery" (3.281 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T5) and "Saturday Night Live" (2.951 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T5).

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

· The Dec. 2 telecast of "Saturday Night Live," hosted by Saoirse Ronan and featuring musical guest U2, 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 1.7/8 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

· It's the #2 telecast of the night on the Big 4 networks in both metered-market households and 18-49 in the local people meters, behind only Fox's high-rated coverage of the Ohio State-Wisconsin Big 10 championship college-football game in both categories.

· "Saturday Night Live" equaled the household rating of its prior two original telecasts (4.3 each on Nov. 11 and 18).

· Among "SNL's" seventh original telecasts of each season, this is the second-highest-rated in five years in metered-market households (since Nov. 10, 2012, 5.0 with host Anne Hathaway and musical guest Rihanna), trailing over that span only last season's Nov. 19, 2016 edition (4.7 with host Kristen Wiig and musical guest The xx).

· The Dec. 2 "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





  [december 2018]  
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
[07/23/26 - 01:00 PM]
"Big Brother" Premiere Week Up +14% from Last Season
In its first week (episodes airing July 9, 12 and 15), "Big Brother" live plus 3-day total multiplatform viewership averaged 4.96 million viewers.

[07/22/26 - 01:19 PM]
Top 10 Most-Watched Prime Original Films & Series for the Week of July 13
"Ride or Die," "Elle," "Off Campus," "Every Year After," and "Clarkson's Farm" led all original series worldwide.

[07/22/26 - 12:37 PM]
Kansas City, Boston and Austin Lead the Way as Top Local Markets for FIFA World Cup 2026 on FOX and FS1
San Francisco, Dallas, San Diego, Atlanta, St. Louis, Providence, and West Palm Beach round out the top 10.

[07/22/26 - 11:30 AM]
ESPN Delivers Most-Watched NBA Summer League Championship Game Since 2017
The Golden State Warriors' victory over the Memphis Grizzlies averaged 676,000 viewers on ESPN, according to Nielsen Big Data + Panel.

[07/21/26 - 04:03 PM]
FOX Saturday Baseball Delivers 2.639 Million for Seattle's Extra-Inning Win Over San Francisco
Viewership peaked with 3,383,000 viewers from 8:00-8:15 PM ET.

[07/21/26 - 03:22 PM]
FOX Sports' Presentation of FIFA World Cup 2026 Final Etches Place in Record Books as Most-Watched Soccer Telecast in U.S. History With 38,937,000 Viewers
The record-breaking Final reached its dramatic peak with 51,685,000 viewers watching from 5:45 to 6:00 PM ET as Spain secured a 1-0 victory in extra time over Argentina.

[07/21/26 - 02:22 PM]
NBC Sports Delivers Most Watched Final Round of the Open Championship Since 2022
Sunday's audience peaked at 6.1 million viewers on NBC and Peacock from 1:15-1:30 p.m. ET.

[07/21/26 - 02:03 PM]
"Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro" Series Debut Tops 5 Million Total Viewers
On linear, "Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro" was the No. 1 program of the night in both Total Viewers (4.42 million) and Adults 18-49 (0.47 rating).

[07/21/26 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of July 13 - "Little House on the Prairie" Journeys to No. 1 in This Week's Top 10
"The Hawk" - the sports comedy starring Will Ferrell as an infamous golf legend chasing a late-career comeback on the green - debuted in the No. 3 spot on the list, swinging to 4.8 million views.

[07/20/26 - 10:00 AM]
CBS Leads Broadcast Series in Multiplatform Viewing for the 2025-2026 Season
Against broadcast competition, CBS finishes the season with four of the top five series.

[07/17/26 - 03:12 PM]
FOX Sports' 15.088 Million Average Viewers for FIFA World Cup 2026 Semifinals is Best in U.S. History
16.900 million viewers watched Argentina knock out England in the semifinals Wednesday afternoon on FOX.

[07/17/26 - 02:01 PM]
ABC News Is No. 1 in Total Viewers on Sunday Morning, in Late Night and Friday Evening
"20/20" improved on the year-ago telecast by double digits in all key target demos: Total Viewers, Adults 25-54, and Adults 18-49.

[07/16/26 - 02:41 PM]
FOX Sports Rings the Bell, Captures Most-Watched MLB All-Star Game Since 2018
Coverage reached a peak audience of 10,186,000 viewers from 8:45-9:00 PM ET.

[07/16/26 - 01:48 PM]
Netflix: What We Watched the First Half of 2026
Starting in Q1 2027, Netflix will move from a six-month to a yearly snapshot.

[07/16/26 - 01:09 PM]
Messi Shines, FOX Sports is Golden with Record-Breaking England-Argentina FIFA World Cup 2026 Semifinal
15.063 million viewers watched Lionel Messi and Argentina knock out England in the semifinal Wednesday afternoon on FOX.