or


[12/16/18 - 08:24 AM]
Saturday's Broadcast Ratings: UFC Sparks Demo Victory for FOX
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 (12/15/18):

FOX (2.153 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.6, #1) snagged the demo crown on Saturday with its presentation of "UFC on FOX" (2.153 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T2).

CBS (3.708 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T2) then was the most-watched broadcaster with its mix of "NCIS: Los Angeles" (3.011 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #7), "48 Hours" (3.613 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T2) and a new "48 Hours" (4.499 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.7, #1).

Next up was NBC (3.014 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T2) with its lineup of "Dateline Saturday Night Mystery" (3.327 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T5), another "Dateline Saturday Night Mystery" (3.021 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T5) and a vintage "Saturday Night Live" (2.696 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T2).

And finally, a rebroadcast of "The Great American Baking Show: Holiday Edition" (1.844 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.3, #8) and a new "The Alec Baldwin Show" (0.983 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.2, #9) rounded out the night on ABC (1.557 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.3, #4).

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

· The Dec. 15 telecast of "Saturday Night Live," with host Matt Damon and musical guests Mark Ronson and Miley Cyrus, averaged a 4.8 rating, 12 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.

· The 4.8 rating in metered-market households is "SNL's" high since the show's Sept. 29 season premiere (also a 4.8, with host Adam Driver and musical guest Kanye West) and equals the show's best since Jan. 27 (4.9 with host Will Ferrell and musical guest Christ Stapleton).

· The Dec. 15 "Saturday Night Live" easily ranks as the #1 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 in both categories. The 2.0 rating in 18-49 in the local people meters nearly triples the #2 show of the night on the Big 4 (0.7 for the 10 p.m. "SNL Vintage" encore).

· Versus what "Saturday Night Live" averaged with originals for the month of December last year, the Dec. 15 telecast is up +7% in metered-market households (4.8 vs. 4.5) and up +5% in 18-49 in the local people meters (2.0 vs. 1.9 for December 2017 originals).


Here are the highlights of the 11 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (12/16/17):

FOX (1.777 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T1) and NBC (2.697 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T1) shared the demo crown on Saturday as the former served up "UFC on FOX" (1.777 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T1).

The Peacock then offered up its mix of "Will & Grace" (2.127 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.4, #9), "Superstore" (1.956 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T5), "Dateline Saturday Night Mystery" (3.185 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T1) and a vintage "Saturday Night Live" (2.865 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T1).

Next up was CBS (3.611 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.5, #3) and its lineup of "NCIS: Los Angeles" (3.641 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T5), "SWAT" (3.256 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T5) and "48 Hours" (3.937 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T1).

And finally, ABC (1.819 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.3, #4) rounded out the night with "I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown!" (2.549 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T5), the return of "Ten Days in the Valley" (1.533 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.3, #10) and a second "Ten Days in the Valley" (1.376 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.2, #11).

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

· "Saturday Night Live" has generated its top metered-market household rating since Nov. 4, to match the show's second-highest overnight result of the season.

· In adult 18-49 rating in the local people meters, "SNL" equaled its high since Oct. 14.

· The Dec. 16 telecast, hosted by Kevin Hart and featuring musical guest Foo Fighters, has averaged a 4.6 rating, 11 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.

· The 4.6 in households is the best for "Saturday Night Live" since Nov. 4 (4.7 with host Larry David and musical guest Miley Cyrus) and ties the Oct. 14 edition as the #2 highest rated of the season.

· The 2.0 in 18-49 ties last week and the Nov. 18 telecast as the show's high in the local people meters since Oct. 14 (2.2 with host Kumail Nanjiani and musical guest P!nk).

· Last night's "Saturday Night Live" was easily the #1 telecast of the night on the Big 4 networks in both metered-market households and 18-49 in the local people meters, nearly doubling the night's best primetime household rating on those nets (4.6 vs. 2.4 for "48 Hours") and nearly tripling primetime's top Big 4 adult 18-49 LPM rating (2.0 vs. 0.7 for the "SNL Vintage" encore at 10 p.m.).

· The Dec. 16 "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
[07/01/25 - 12:01 PM]
Top 10 Week of June 23: "Squid Game" Season 3 Takes Over with Record-Breaking Global Debut at No. 1
"The Waterfront" was a Top 10 hit once more as the No. 1 series on the English TV list (11.6 million views).

[07/01/25 - 10:26 AM]
ESPN Formula 1 Viewership Notes After Austrian Grand Prix
ESPN's live telecast on Sunday, June 29, averaged 1.1 million viewers, a two percent gain over last year's race and the largest audience ever for the event on U.S. television.

[07/01/25 - 09:16 AM]
ESPN's "Sunday Night Baseball" Featuring the Minnesota Twins vs. Detroit Tigers Averaged 2 Million Viewers - Up 66% from Last Year's Comparable Game
The audience peaked with 2,304,000 viewers in the 9:15 p.m. ET quarter hour.

[06/27/25 - 02:29 PM]
"Live with Kelly and Mark" Gears Up for Summer Rising Week to Week in All Key Measures
Wednesday, June 11, was the most-viewed day of the week among Total Viewers (2.164 million).

[06/27/25 - 10:31 AM]
"Jimmy Kimmel Live" Tops Late-Night in Adults 18-49 for Third Week in a Row
Winning three of five nights in Kimmel's final week before summer guest hosts, Thursday, June 19, was the show's strongest night among Adults 18-49 (0.35 rating).

[06/25/25 - 11:55 AM]
Prime Video Finishes Groundbreaking First Season of Exclusive NASCAR Coverage
According to Nielsen, NASCAR on Prime posted a season average of 2.16 million viewers (AMA P2+) across five events, and attracted droves of younger viewers to its live coverage.

[06/25/25 - 07:58 AM]
ABC News Primetime Special "Karen Read: The Verdict - A Special Edition of 20/20" Ranks #1 Across All of Broadcast and Cable in Adults 18-49
Plus: "Karen Read: The Verdict" placed No. 1 based on views among all titles on Hulu on Thursday (6/19), Friday (6/20) and Saturday (6/21).

[06/24/25 - 03:03 PM]
ABC News' "Nightline" Ranks No. 1 in All Key Target Demos 18-49 vs. CBS' "After Midnight" and NBC's "Late Night with Seth Meyers" for 2nd Consecutive Week, and Claims Top Spot in Total Viewers for the 5th Straight Week
On Monday (6/16/25), "Nightline" scored its most-watched telecast (1.112 million) in 5 months.

[06/24/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10 Week of June 16: "Tyler Perry's Straw" Leads Top 10 for Third Week, "The Waterfront" Swims to No. 1
Plus: "Ginny & Georgia" Season 3 racked up another 8.1 million views and felt peachy keen at No. 2, while Season 2 landed at No. 8 and Season 1 at No. 10, with an additional 2.7 million views each.

[06/24/25 - 08:42 AM]
Third Most-Watched WNBA Game Ever on ESPN: Indiana Fever vs Las Vegas Aces Averaged 1.7 Million Viewers, Up 52% from Last Year's ESPN Average
Said coverage peaked at 2.2 million viewers.

[06/23/25 - 12:09 PM]
Indiana Pacers vs. Oklahoma City Thunder Game 7 on ABC and ESPN+ Is Most-Watched NBA Finals Game in Six Years
The seven-game series averaged 10,266,000 viewers and delivered the seven most-watched broadcasts on all of television since the first week of May.

[06/18/25 - 09:01 AM]
Murder Mystery May Drives Acorn TV to the Most Successful Month In Its History
Total hours watched surpassed 20 million for the first time in Acorn TV history, with unique engaged subscribers also achieving an all-time high, up double digits from the streamer's average over the past 12 months.

[06/17/25 - 03:03 PM]
ABC News' "Nightline" Ranks No. 1 in Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49 vs. CBS' "After Midnight" and NBC's "Late Night with Seth Meyers"
On Wednesday, "Nightline" scored its most-watched telecast (1.049 million) in 5 months and strongest delivery in Adults 25-54 (404,000) in 1 year.

[06/17/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10 Week of June 9: "Tyler Perry's Straw" Has Biggest Week for a Film in 2025
"Ginny & Georgia's" third season maintained its No. 1 spot on the English TV List with 16.9 million views, as fans saw their favorite characters pushed "to the limit."

[06/17/25 - 07:27 AM]
ESPN Delivered Third Most-Watched WNBA Game Ever on ABC: New York Liberty Vs Indiana Fever Averaged 2.2 Million Viewers, Up 76% from Last Year's ABC Average
Said coverage peaked at 2.8 million viewers.