or


[10/11/20 - 11:11 AM]
Saturday's Broadcast Ratings: ABC Tops Sports Showdown
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 six ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night (10/10/20):

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

ABC (4.054 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.0, #1) led a sports heavy Saturday with its weekly presentation of "Saturday Night Football" (4.054 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.0, #1).

NBC (3.059 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.6, #2) was the silver draw with its coverage of "College Football: Florida State at Notre Dame" (3.059 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.6, #2).

Next up was CBS (2.386 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.3, #3) with repeats of "FBI: Most Wanted" (2.191 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T4) and "48 Hours" (2.533 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.4, #3) plus a new "48 Hours" (2.435 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T4).

And finally, FOX (0.716 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.2, #4) rounded out the night with "PBA Bowling" (0.716 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.2, #6).

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

The Oct. 10 telecast of "Saturday Night Live," with host Bill Burr and musical guest Jack White, has averaged a 4.7 rating in "live plus same day" household results from 44 local markets metered by Nielsen Media Research and a 2.2 rating in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

Both figures top 16 of the 17 originals measured last season under Nielsen's current metered-market methodology (effective beginning Oct. 5, 2019), trailing over that span only the historic Dec. 21, 2019 telecast hosted by Eddie Murphy with musical guest Lizzo (6.7 in metered-market households, 3.4 in 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters, comparisons exclude the Sept. 28, 2019 "SNL" season premiere, which was not rated under current methodology). Last night's telecast also trails the week-ago high-rated 46th season premiere (5.6 in household, 2.9 in 18-49).

Versus "SNL's" 2019-20 averages since Oct. 5, last night's edition is up +12% in metered-market households (4.7 vs. 4.2) and up +22% in 18-49 in the local people meters (2.2 vs. 1.8).

Versus primetime programming on the Big 4 networks last night, "SNL" is easily the #1 show of the night in both metered-market households and in 18-49 in the local people meters, topping the #2 program, ABC's Miami-Clemson college football by +62% in households (4.7 vs. 2.9) and +38% in 18-49 (2.2 vs. 1.6).


Here are the highlights of the six ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (10/12/19):

FOX (5.309 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.3, #1) pulled into the top spot on Saturday with its primetime coverage of the "ALCS, Game 1" (5.309 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.3, #1).

ABC (3.557 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.9, #2) then had to settle for second with its weekly "Saturday Night College Football" (3.557 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.9, #2).

Next up was NBC (3.043 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.7, #3) and its special "College Football: USC at Notre Dame" (3.043 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.7, #3).

And finally, repeats of "NCIS" (3.248 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.5, #4) and "All Rise" (2.514 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.3, #6) led into a new "48 Hours" (3.320 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.4, #5) on CBS (3.027 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.4, #4) to round out the night.

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

· The Oct. 12 edition of "Saturday Night Live," hosted by David Harbour and featuring musical guest Camila Cabello, has averaged a 3.8 rating in "live plus same day" household results from 44 local markets metered by Nielsen Media Research and a 1.7 rating in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

· Note that current metered-market results are not compatible with data issued before Oct. 5 due to changes in Nielsen methodology.

· Versus primetime programming on the Big 4 networks Saturday night, "SNL" is the #2 show of the night in metered-market households and in 18-49 in the local people meters, behind only Fox's Yankees-Astros American League Championship Series baseball.

Source: Nielsen Media Research





  [october 2020]  
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
[05/28/26 - 03:23 PM]
2026 NBA Eastern Conference Finals Presented by Dunkin' Finishes Strong with Average Audience of 7.4 Million Viewers Across ESPN and ABC
Additionally, Game 4 on ESPN averaged 7.2 million viewers, marking the most-viewed Eastern Conference Finals Game 4 across any network since 2018.

[05/28/26 - 11:00 AM]
CBS Outpaces Competitors with Eight of the Top 25 Series Across All Streaming and Broadcast Originals in Nielsen's All-Series Ranker
CBS has the most top 25 series of any streaming or broadcast competitor and twice as many as its closest broadcast competitor, including six series with 10+ million viewers.

[05/28/26 - 10:31 AM]
FOX Delivers Most-Watched UFL Game Since League Started in 2024
1,593,000 viewers watched as Louisville defeated Dallas 37-23 on Sunday.

[05/28/26 - 10:26 AM]
FOX Scores with 110th Running of the Indianapolis 500
6,635,000 viewers watched Felix Rosenqvist edge David Malukas by 0.0233 seconds with a last-lap pass to win the Indy 500 Sunday on FOX.

[05/27/26 - 03:13 PM]
FOX Saturday Baseball Draws Strong Audience Over Holiday Weekend
2,355,000 viewers tuned in to the two-game slate highlighted by the Dodgers' 11-3 victory over the Brewers in most of the country.

[05/26/26 - 12:03 PM]
"Off Campus" Season 1 Has Reached 36 Million Viewers Worldwide in Its First 12 Days
Off Campus. On everyone's screen.

[05/26/26 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of May 18 - In Ruthless Pursuit, "Nemesis" Steals No. 1 in This Week's Top 10
Retirement in "The Boroughs" is anything but sleepy as the Duffer Brothers-produced sci-fi series took No. 2 on the list with 5.6 million views.

[05/26/26 - 11:00 AM]
"Dutton Ranch" Is the Biggest Original Series Debut in Paramount+ History
In addition to its record-setting performance on Paramount+, "Dutton Ranch" is also the #1 streaming series according to Nielsen based on average audience for the week of May 11 according to preliminary data.

[05/21/26 - 02:32 PM]
ESPN Delivered Most-Watched NBA Eastern Conference Finals Game 1 Since 2018
The New York Knicks overtime victory against the Cleveland Cavaliers on May 19 generated an average audience of 7.1 million viewers and peaked with 8.87 million viewers at 10:45 p.m. ET.

[05/21/26 - 02:00 PM]
"Survivor" Historic 50th Season Concludes with Most-Watched Finale Since 2020
The season finale drew an average of 5.78 million viewers, based on Nielsen Preliminary panel only data.

[05/21/26 - 07:01 AM]
NBC Sports' 2026 SuperMotocross Coverage Delivers Viewership Gains and Milestones
The seven races featured on NBC and Peacock averaged a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 468,000 viewers on NBC and Peacock, up 8% vs. 2025.

[05/20/26 - 03:05 PM]
NBC and Peacock Deliver the Most-Watched Western Conference Finals Game 1 Ever for Monday's Spurs-Thunder Double Overtime Thriller
Coverage peaked with 12.0 million viewers from 11:30-11:43 p.m. ET for the second overtime and game's conclusion.

[05/20/26 - 03:04 PM]
ESPN Aired Its Most Viewed 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs Second Round of the Current Rights Deal
Collectively all 11 Second Round games, with nine airing on ESPN and two on ABC, delivered 2.2 million viewers, up 76% year-over-year.

[05/20/26 - 07:36 AM]
After Record-Setting 2025 Season, "Sunday Night Football" Finishes Fall-Spring TV Season as Primetime's No. 1 Show for Unprecedented 15th Consecutive Year
The series averaged 23.5 million viewers in 2025, marking the show's best-ever viewership - up nearly 1 million viewers from the prior record for the series set a decade ago (22.6 million in 2015 season) and an increase of 9% over the '24 season (21.6 million).

[05/19/26 - 02:52 PM]
Subway Series Delivers Second Most-Watched FOX Saturday Baseball Telecast of the Season
2,500,000 viewers tuned-in to the two-game slate highlighted by the Mets' 6-3 victory over the Yankees in most of the country.