Friday, April 30, 2021

Song Ratings: Week Ending April 22, 2021

Music ratings are divided into two weekly posts: one for albums, and one for individual songs; this is the song post. Songs achieve their positions on the weekly Billboard & Rolling Stone lists based on three major metrics: sales, streaming, and airplay. Below are three charts: the top 25 songs of the week based on total U.S. sales, the top 25 based on total U.S. streaming and the top 40 songs of the week based on U.S. pop radio airplay. An additional radio chart is also included with the top 50 songs of the week according to Mediabase which uses different methodology than Nielsen who compiles the regular chart. 

Top Streaming (SVOD) Ratings: Week Ending March 28, 2021

Acquired programming again led the weekly streaming ratings as Netflix's 'NCIS' and 'Criminal Minds' took victory as the most-watched programs in the week ending March 28th. 'NCIS' logged 725 million minutes of watch-time to lead streaming while 'Criminal Minds' was a bit behind at 656 million. Disney+'s 'The Falcon and the the Winter Soldier' was the most-viewed original programming with 628 million minutes in its first full week of availability (and episode 2 dropped on Mar. 26) and Netflix's 'Country Comfort' reached the chart with 253 million minutes in its first full week. Netflix's 'The Irregulars' led among all new premieres this week with 424 million minutes in its first three days, 'Who Killed Sara' garnered 363 million in its first 5 days (dropped on Mar. 24), and the second season of Hulu's 'Solar Opposites' nabbed 196 million in its first 3 days. Finally, leading on the movie-front was 'Bad Trip' which had a respectable 308 million minutes while 'Secret Magic Control Agency' grabbed 201 million in its first full week. 

Broadcast & Cable Nielsens: Week Ending November 28, 2004

Below are the Nielsen ratings for the 10th week of the 2004-05 television broadcast season; most reruns are excluded from the list. Final household (HH) ratings, 18-49 ratings, and viewership (in millions) are provided in the first chartThe second chart includes data for cable programs that aired this week.

Cable TV Ratings: Week Ending April 18, 2021

Below is a recap of the cable TV ratings for the week ending April 18, 2021. This is merely a selection of original airings and does not include every single program that aired in the week. Syndicated programming, sports news, and non-original movies are not included in these charts. A second chart includes the ratings for various sports programming that aired during the week, and there is a separate post with cable news ratings from this week.

Thursday, April 29, 2021

News Ratings: Week Ending April 18, 2021

Below are the ratings for the evening news telecasts on the three major broadcast networks: ABC (World News Tonight), CBS (CBS Evening News), and NBC (NBC Nightly News), as well as six hours of evening/night ratings (6pm-12am) for the three major cable news networks: CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC. There are three charts below, the first includes total viewership (presented in thousands), the second includes viewership among adults 25-54 (the news demographic), and the final chart includes 18-49 ratings for the cable programs. I don't have 18-49 data for the broadcast news programs. Additionally, data only goes from Monday-Friday as I do not track weekend news ratings.

Broadcast TV Ratings: Week Ending April 18, 2021

Below is a recap of the broadcast TV ratings for the week ending April 18, 2021. With a few exceptions this chart includes programs that aired in primetime (8pm-11pm) on the broadcast networks in the week. All reruns and theatrical movies are excluded.  

Top Streaming (SVOD) Ratings: Week Ending March 21, 2021

In a quiet week on the streaming platforms, acquired programming on Netflix led the way as the most-watched programs of the week. 'Grey's Anatomy' led the pack with approximately 673 million minutes of watch-time, and 'Criminal Minds' was not too far behind at 647 million minutes. On the movie front, both 'Yes Day' (593 million) and 'Savages' (434 million) had fairly solid weeks while among originals 'Ginny & Georgia' (540 million) and Disney+'s 'The Falcon and the Winter Soldier' (495 million) led the way. 

Album Ratings: Week Ending April 22, 2021

Albums achieve their positions on the weekly Billboard & Rolling Stone lists based on total units sold; a metric which is the sum of of pure album sales (sales of the entire actual album), streaming-equivalent album units (SEA), and track-equivalent album units (TEA). One SEA unit is equal to 1,250 premium (paid) streams, or 3,750 free streams, and one TEA unit is equal to 10 purchased tracks. There are three charts below: the first one has the top 10 albums based on total weekly units sold according to both Billboard and Rolling Stone. The two sites have different sources of data, hence why their numbers are different (but close). A second chart includes the top 10 albums of the week according to Billboard based on pure album sales, and the third chart includes the top 40 albums of the week, according to Alpha Data, with breakdowns of pure albums, SEA units, and TEA units.

Song Ratings: Week Ending April 15, 2021

Music ratings are divided into two weekly posts: one for albums, and one for individual songs; this is the song post. Songs achieve their positions on the weekly Billboard & Rolling Stone lists based on three major metrics: sales, streaming, and airplay. Below are three charts: the top 25 songs of the week based on total U.S. sales, the top 25 based on total U.S. streaming and the top 40 songs of the week based on U.S. pop radio airplay. An additional radio chart is also included with the top 50 songs of the week according to Mediabase which uses different methodology than Nielsen who compiles the regular chart. 

Song Ratings: Week Ending April 8, 2021

Music ratings are divided into two weekly posts: one for albums, and one for individual songs; this is the song post. Songs achieve their positions on the weekly Billboard & Rolling Stone lists based on three major metrics: sales, streaming, and airplay. Below are three charts: the top 25 songs of the week based on total U.S. sales, the top 25 based on total U.S. streaming and the top 40 songs of the week based on U.S. pop radio airplay. An additional radio chart is also included with the top 50 songs of the week according to Mediabase which uses different methodology than Nielsen who compiles the regular chart. 

Saturday, April 24, 2021

Broadcast & Cable Nielsens: Week Ending August 3, 2008

Below are the Nielsen ratings for the 45th week of the 2007-08 television broadcast season; most reruns are excluded from the list. Final household, adults 18-49, adults 25-54, and viewership figures are providedThe second chart includes data for cable programs that aired this week. DVR ratings are not available this week and won't be included again until the week ending August 10th.

Friday, April 23, 2021

How Streaming Can Save Network Television

        The television industry had changed and evolved significantly over the last decade, and most notably due to the rise of streaming. Audiences have more content, channel, and platform options than ever before and as a result, audiences on traditional TV look to be on the decline. Due to this audience fragmentation, Nielsen’s TV ratings no longer provide a holistic view of television audiences, and their new ratings framework, which is said to include comprehensive cross-platform measurement, won’t be available until late 2022 at the earliest. So I wanted to research how declines in the holism of Nielsen ratings have led to industrial shifts in determining programming successes & failures because I want people to understand the symbiotic role that streaming services play in this cultural moment. The key industrial shift here has been the increasingly symbiotic role that streaming platforms are playing in determining renewals and cancellations for network TV programs. First, these platforms serve as a way for long-running broadcast TV programs to find new audiences who then, in turn, begin watching them on linear TV. And second, licensing fees for these programs provide an alternate revenue stream for networks outside of advertising which can incentivize them to renew programs that have become popular on streaming.

Wednesday, April 21, 2021

Broadcast & Cable Nielsens: Week Ending July 27, 2008

Below are the Nielsen ratings for the 44th week of the 2007-08 television broadcast season; most reruns are excluded from the list. Final household, adults 18-49, adults 25-54, and viewership figures are providedThe second chart includes data for cable programs that aired this week. DVR ratings are not available this week and won't be included again until the week ending August 10th.

Tuesday, April 20, 2021

Album Ratings: Week Ending April 15, 2021

Albums achieve their positions on the weekly Billboard & Rolling Stone lists based on total units sold; a metric which is the sum of of pure album sales (sales of the entire actual album), streaming-equivalent album units (SEA), and track-equivalent album units (TEA). One SEA unit is equal to 1,250 premium (paid) streams, or 3,750 free streams, and one TEA unit is equal to 10 purchased tracks. There are three charts below: the first one has the top 10 albums based on total weekly units sold according to both Billboard and Rolling Stone. The two sites have different sources of data, hence why their numbers are different (but close). A second chart includes the top 10 albums of the week according to Billboard based on pure album sales, and the third chart includes the top 25 albums of the week, according to Alpha Data, with breakdowns of pure albums, SEA units, and TEA units.

Album Ratings: Week Ending April 8, 2021

Albums achieve their positions on the weekly Billboard & Rolling Stone lists based on total units sold; a metric which is the sum of of pure album sales (sales of the entire actual album), streaming-equivalent album units (SEA), and track-equivalent album units (TEA). One SEA unit is equal to 1,250 premium (paid) streams, or 3,750 free streams, and one TEA unit is equal to 10 purchased tracks. There are three charts below: the first one has the top 10 albums based on total weekly units sold according to both Billboard and Rolling Stone. The two sites have different sources of data, hence why their numbers are different (but close). A second chart includes the top 10 albums of the week according to Billboard based on pure album sales, and the third chart includes the top 25 albums of the week, according to Alpha Data, with breakdowns of pure albums, SEA units, and TEA units.

Top Streaming (SVOD) Ratings: Week Ending March 14, 2021

A program on Amazon's Prime Video led the weekly streaming ratings for the first time ever as movie 'Coming 2 America' scored 770 million minutes of watch-time in the week ending March 14, 2021. This was the first full week of availability for the program as it was released March 4 and therefore only had 4 days of tracking in the previous week. In second was Netflix's 'Ginny and Georgia' which had 722 million minutes of watch-time to easily lead the original programming (miles ahead of second-ranked 'The Crown' which had 449 million). The next best two were acquired programs 'Criminal Minds' and 'Grey's Anatomy' (both Netflix) which were at a modest 699 million & 628 million respectively. Finally, 'Murder Among the Mormons' logged 264 million minutes in its first full week of availability. 

Cable TV Ratings: Week Ending April 11, 2021

Below is a recap of the cable TV ratings for the week ending April 11, 2021. This is merely a selection of original airings and does not include every single program that aired in the week. Syndicated programming, sports news, and non-original movies are not included in these charts. A second chart includes the ratings for various sports programming that aired during the week, and there is a separate post with cable news ratings from this week.

News Ratings: Week Ending April 11, 2021

Below are the ratings for the evening news telecasts on the three major broadcast networks: ABC (World News Tonight), CBS (CBS Evening News), and NBC (NBC Nightly News), as well as six hours of evening/night ratings (6pm-12am) for the three major cable news networks: CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC. There are three charts below, the first includes total viewership (presented in thousands), the second includes viewership among adults 25-54 (the news demographic), and the final chart includes 18-49 ratings for the cable programs. I don't have 18-49 data for the broadcast news programs. Additionally, data only goes from Monday-Friday as I do not track weekend news ratings.

Monday, April 19, 2021

Broadcast TV Ratings: Week Ending April 11, 2021

Below is a recap of the broadcast TV ratings for the week ending April 11, 2021. With a few exceptions this chart includes programs that aired in primetime (8pm-11pm) on the broadcast networks in the week. All reruns and theatrical movies are excluded.  

Sunday, April 18, 2021

Broadcast & Cable Nielsens: Week Ending November 21, 2004

Below are the Nielsen ratings for the ninth week of the 2004-05 television broadcast season; most reruns are excluded from the list. Final household (HH) ratings, 18-49 ratings, and viewership (in millions) are provided in the first chartThe second chart includes data for cable programs that aired this week.

Monday, April 12, 2021

Law & Order: Criminal Intent (NBC/USA): Ratings Recap

'Law & Order: Criminal Intent' premiered September 30, 2001 on NBC to a moderate 4.4/10 adults 18-49 rating/share and 12.8 million viewers. It hit a ratings peak of 6.8/18 and 19.3 million viewers in the fourth episode and that would remain the highest the program ever performed. The first season overall did relatively OK, averaging a 4.4 rating, but the second season is where the show found its best numbers. That season averaged a 5.2 rating with over 15 million viewers and concluded on a very strong note with a 6.0 rating and 16.2 million viewers. But after that, the ratings gradually began falling, and by the sixth season, it averaged only a 3.0 rating with 9.5 million viewers, prompting NBC to cancel the show. Following its cancellation, it was picked up by USA Network and aired a seventh season split between fall 2007 and summer 2008 where it was regularly one of the strongest scripted cable programs. The show would ultimately air an additional three seasons, concluding for good in June 2011. 

Sunday, April 11, 2021

Broadcast & Cable Nielsens: Week Ending July 20, 2008

Below are the Nielsen ratings for the 43rd week of the 2007-08 television broadcast season; most reruns are excluded from the list. Final household, adults 18-49, adults 25-54, and viewership figures are providedThe second chart includes data for cable programs that aired this week. DVR ratings are not available this week and won't be included again until the week ending August 10th.

Song Ratings: Week Ending April 1, 2021

Music ratings are divided into two weekly posts: one for albums, and one for individual songs; this is the song post. Songs achieve their positions on the weekly Billboard & Rolling Stone lists based on three major metrics: sales, streaming, and airplay. Below are three charts: the top 25 songs of the week based on total U.S. sales, the top 25 based on total U.S. streaming and the top 40 songs of the week based on U.S. pop radio airplay. An additional radio chart is also included with the top 50 songs of the week according to Mediabase which uses different methodology than Nielsen who compiles the regular chart. 

Album Ratings: Week Ending April 1, 2021

Albums achieve their positions on the weekly Billboard & Rolling Stone lists based on total units sold; a metric which is the sum of of pure album sales (sales of the entire actual album), streaming-equivalent album units (SEA), and track-equivalent album units (TEA). One SEA unit is equal to 1,250 premium (paid) streams, or 3,750 free streams, and one TEA unit is equal to 10 purchased tracks. There are three charts below: the first one has the top 10 albums based on total weekly units sold according to both Billboard and Rolling Stone. The two sites have different sources of data, hence why their numbers are different (but close). A second chart includes the top 10 albums of the week according to Billboard based on pure album sales, and the third chart includes the top 25 albums of the week, according to Alpha Data, with breakdowns of pure albums, SEA units, and TEA units.

Cable TV Ratings: Week Ending April 4, 2021

Below is a recap of the cable TV ratings for the week ending April 4, 2021. This is merely a selection of original airings and does not include every single program that aired in the week. Syndicated programming, sports news, and non-original movies are not included in these charts. A second chart includes the ratings for various sports programming that aired during the week, and there is a separate post with cable news ratings from this week.

News Ratings: Week Ending April 4, 2021

Below are the ratings for the evening news telecasts on the three major broadcast networks: ABC (World News Tonight), CBS (CBS Evening News), and NBC (NBC Nightly News), as well as six hours of evening/night ratings (6pm-12am) for the three major cable news networks: CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC. There are three charts below, the first includes total viewership (presented in thousands), the second includes viewership among adults 25-54 (the news demographic), and the final chart includes 18-49 ratings for the cable programs. I don't have 18-49 data for the broadcast news programs. Additionally, data only goes from Monday-Friday as I do not track weekend news ratings. 

Broadcast TV Ratings: Week Ending April 4, 2021

Below is a recap of the broadcast TV ratings for the week ending April 4, 2021. With a few exceptions this chart includes programs that aired in primetime (8pm-11pm) on the broadcast networks in the week. All reruns and theatrical movies are excluded.  

Sunday, April 4, 2021

Song Ratings: Week Ending March 25, 2021

Music ratings are divided into two weekly posts: one for albums, and one for individual songs; this is the song post. Songs achieve their positions on the weekly Billboard & Rolling Stone lists based on three major metrics: sales, streaming, and airplay. Below are three charts: the top 25 songs of the week based on total U.S. sales, the top 25 based on total U.S. streaming and the top 40 songs of the week based on U.S. pop radio airplay. An additional radio chart is also included with the top 50 songs of the week according to Mediabase which uses different methodology than Nielsen who compiles the regular chart. 

Saturday, April 3, 2021

Broadcast & Cable Nielsens: Week Ending July 13, 2008

Below are the Nielsen ratings for the 42nd week of the 2007-08 television broadcast season; most reruns are excluded from the list. Final household, adults 18-49, adults 25-54, and viewership figures are providedThe second chart includes data for cable programs that aired this week. DVR ratings are not available this week and won't be included again until the week ending August 10th.

Top Streaming (SVOD) Ratings: Week Ending March 7, 2021

For the second consecutive week, Netflix's 'Ginny & Georgia' led all original programs on the streaming platforms with 1.16 billion minutes of watch-time in the week ending March 7. This was the second-most watched program overall behind Amazon's new movie 'Coming 2 America' which scored 1.41 billion minutes, more than a billion ahead of the week's second-ranked movie, Netflix's 'Bigfoot Family' which had 363 million. Back to the originals, Disney+'s 'Wandavision' concluded its run on March 5 and logged 924 million minutes in the week while Netflix premiered 'Murder Among the Mormons' which had 587 million in its first 5 days. Finally, 'Criminal Minds' (929 million) and 'Grey's Anatomy' (858 million) led all acquired programming. 

Cable TV Ratings: Week Ending March 28, 2021

Below is a recap of the cable TV ratings for the week ending March 28, 2021. This is merely a selection of original airings and does not include every single program that aired in the week. Syndicated programming, sports news, and non-original movies are not included in these charts. A second chart includes the ratings for various sports programming that aired during the week, and there is a separate post with cable news ratings from this week.

Thursday, April 1, 2021

News Ratings: Week Ending March 28, 2021

Below are the ratings for the evening news telecasts on the three major broadcast networks: ABC (World News Tonight), CBS (CBS Evening News), and NBC (NBC Nightly News), as well as six hours of evening/night ratings (6pm-12am) for the three major cable news networks: CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC. There are three charts below, the first includes total viewership (presented in thousands), the second includes viewership among adults 25-54 (the news demographic), and the final chart includes 18-49 ratings for the cable programs. I don't have 18-49 data for the broadcast news programs. Additionally, data only goes from Monday-Friday as I do not track weekend news ratings. 

Broadcast TV Ratings: Week Ending March 28, 2021

Below is a recap of the broadcast TV ratings for the week ending March 28, 2021. With a few exceptions this chart includes programs that aired in primetime (8pm-11pm) on the broadcast networks in the week. All reruns and theatrical movies are excluded.