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[09/27/20 - 08:17 AM]
Saturday's Broadcast Ratings: College Football Lifts ABC to Top Honors
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 seven ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night (9/26/20):

[Note: Fast affiliate ratings are inaccurate for live sports.]

ABC (2.629 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.7, #1) was the network to beat on Saturday with another installment of "Saturday Night Football" (2.629 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.7, #1).

Second place went to NBC (2.166 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.5, #2) with its coverage of the "Stanley Cup Finals: Dallas at Tampa Bay" (2.166 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.5, #2).

Next up was CBS (2.242 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.3, #3) and its lineup of "Bull" (2.053 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T3), "SWAT" (1.790 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T3) and "48 Hours" (2.882 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T3).

And finally, FOX (1.318 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.2, #4) closed out the night with its regular season finale of "MLB on FOX" (1.318 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.2, #6).

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

TBA


Here are the highlights of the nine ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (9/28/19):

ABC (5.544 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.5, #1) continued its reign on Saturday with its weekly installment of "Saturday Night College Football" (5.544 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.5, #1).

The silver then went to NBC (2.509 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.5, #2) with its mix of "The Voice" (2.156 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T4), "Dateline Saturday Night Mystery" (3.151 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.6, #2) and "SNL Vintage" (2.220 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.5, #3).

Next up was FOX (1.952 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.4, #3) and a special edition of "MLB on FOX" (1.952 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T4).

And finally, CBS (2.593 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.3, #4) closed out the night with encores of "Bob (Hearts) Abishola" (2.343 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T4), "Carol's Second Act" (2.166 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T8) and "All Rise" (2.235 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T8) plus a new "48 Hours" (3.288 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T4).

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

· The 45th season premiere of "Saturday Night Live," hosted by Woody Harrelson and featuring musical guest Billie Eilish, has 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 1.6/10 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

· The Sept. 28 edition maintains 100% of the show's season finale rating in the metered markets (4.1 vs. 4.1 on May 18), while growing +7% in 18-49 in the local people meters (1.6 vs. 1.5), to top three of the show's final four telecasts of last season.

· Versus all primetime entertainment programming so far on the Big 4 networks during Premiere Week, "Saturday Night Live" is tied for #6 in adults 18-49 in the local people meters, ranking behind only "The Masked Singer" (3.1), "This Is Us" (2.2), "9-1-1" (1.9), Monday's "The Voice" (1.7) and "Grey's Anatomy" (1.7).

· The year-ago season premiere of "Saturday Night Live" averaged a 4.8 in metered-market households and a 2.3 in 18-49.

Source: Nielsen Media Research





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