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[09/04/20 - 08:15 AM]
Thursday's Broadcast Ratings: "Big Brother" Tops Viewers, Demos for CBS
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 12 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night (9/3/20):

CBS (2.388 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.6, #1) led the demo race on Thursday thanks to a new "Big Brother 22" (4.061 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.0, #1) followed by a special two-hour "Love Island" (1.551 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T3).

ABC (2.882 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T2) was the most-watched network with its mix of "Holey Moley" (2.952 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.5, #2), the penultimate "To Tell the Truth" (2.877 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T3) and the season finale of "To Tell the Truth" (2.818 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T3).

Next up was FOX (1.303 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T2) with repeats of "Beat Shazam" (1.354 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T7) and a second "Beat Shazam" (1.253 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T3).Meanwhile, NBC (2.177 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.3, #4) served up second runs of "The Wall" (2.535 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T7), "Transplant" (1.996 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T7) and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (2.000 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.2, #10).

And finally, The CW (0.697 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.1, #5) closed out the night with "Mysteries Decoded" (0.811 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T11) and "Penn & Teller: Fool Us" (0.582 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T11).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
0.00% - Big Brother 22
0.00% - Love Island
-16.67% - Holey Moley (vs. 8/13/20)
-33.33% - To Tell the Truth (vs. 8/13/20)

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+100.00% - Big Brother 22 (vs. Young Sheldon (Repeats))
+33.33% - To Tell the Truth - 10:00 (vs. Reef Break)
+25.00% - Holey Moley (vs. The Lego Movie (Repeat))
0.00% - To Tell the Truth - 9:00 (vs. The Lego Movie (Repeat))
-42.86% - Love Island (vs. Big Brother 21/FBI (Repeat))


Here are the highlights of the 14 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (9/5/19):

NBC (19.564 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 6.2, #1) kicked off the NFL season on top with its special editions of "NFL Kickoff 2019" (17.092 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 5.0, #3), "Sunday Night Football Pre-Kick" (20.926 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 6.3, #2) and "Sunday Night Football" (19.841 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 6.5, #1).

The silver then went to CBS (3.613 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.7, #2) with its mix of "Young Sheldon" (4.097 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T5), another "Young Sheldon" (3.955 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T5), "Big Brother 21" (4.163 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.0, #4) and "FBI" (2.652 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T8).

Next up was FOX (2.209 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.5, #3) with a new "Spin the Wheel" (2.088 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T8) and the season finale of "Spin the Wheel" (2.329 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T5).

Meanwhile, ABC (1.523 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.3, #4) offered up the feature "The Lego Movie" (1.508 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T8) plus the penultimate "Reef Break" (1.553 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.3, #11).

And finally, new episodes of "The Outpost" (0.685 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T12) and "Two Sentence Horror Stories" (0.591 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T12) alongside a repeat "Two Sentence Horror Stories" (0.500 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T12) rounded out the night on The CW (0.615 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.1, #5).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
-16.67% - Spin the Wheel (vs. 8/15/19)
-28.57% - Big Brother 21
-50.00% - Reef Break
-66.67% - The Outpost
-66.67% - Two Sentence Horror Stories

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+66.67% - Spin the Wheel (vs. The Gifted (Repeat))
+28.21% - NFL Kickoff 2019
+14.55% - Sunday Night Football Pre-Kick
0.00% - Two Sentence Horror Stories (vs. The Originals (Repeat))
-1.52% - Sunday Night Football
-20.00% - Spin the Wheel (vs. MasterChef (Repeat))
-25.00% - Reef Break (vs. Take Two)
-28.57% - Big Brother 21
-50.00% - The Outpost (vs. Supernatural (Repeat))

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

· On the night of NBC's primetime coverage of the Packers-Bears NFL Kickoff game, "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" has outscored the combined results for "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" and "Jimmy Kimmel Live" in the key adult 18-49 demographic, while also topping the ABC-CBS competition in total viewers.

· "Tonight's" 0.96 rating last night in adults 18-49 (for a telecast delayed to a 12:17 a.m. ET start by the NFL overrun) easily topped Colbert's 0.38 and Kimmel's 0.33. Fallon also prevailed in total viewers with 2.960 million versus 2.802 million for Colbert and 1.590 million for Kimmel.

· It's the top-rated "Tonight" original in 18-49 since last Thanksgiving (1.43 on Thursday, Nov. 22, 2018) and most-watched "Tonight" since Dec. 18, 2018 (3.494 million with guest Michelle Obama, following the "Voice" finale in primetime).

· Fallon was up +167% last night versus the show's summer-to-date average for originals in 18-49 (0.96 vs. 0.36) and +60% in total viewers (2.960 million vs. 1.854 million).

· "Late Night with Seth Meyers" (0.53 in 18-49, 1.690 million viewers overall) aired at 1:19 a.m. ET last night and still beat the 11:30 telecasts of Colbert and Kimmel in the key 18-49 demographic, while also beating Kimmel in total viewers.

· These were Seth's best results since last Thanksgiving (0.72 in 18-49, 2.411 million viewers overall). The delayed Thursday "Late Night" generated increases versus the show's summer-to-date average for original weeks of +165% in 18-49 (0.53 vs, 0.20) and +63% in total viewers 2+ (1.690 million vs. 1.035 million).

Source: Nielsen Media Research





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