Sunday, September 30, 2018

Thursday September 27, 2018 Nielsen Finals

FOX's coverage of 'Thursday Night Football' (4.8/21, 14.4 million) led the way for an easy victory in both the demo (4.8/22) and total viewers (14.45 million) on primetime Thursday. CBS (1.4/6, 8.48 million) ranked second, led by 'The Big Bang Theory' (2.2/10, 12 million) and 'Young Sheldon' (1.6/7, 10.2 million), both of which aired their second episodes of the season. The season premiere of 'Mom' (1.3/5, 7.9 million) led into the premiere of reboot 'Murphy Brown' (1.1/4, 7.5 million) which brought in decent numbers; however, the new season premiere of 'S.W.A.T.' (0.7/3, 4.7 million) leaves little room for optimism. Over on ABC (1.4/6, 4.56 million), 'Grey's Anatomy' (1.9/8, 6.8 million) began with its lowest-rated and lowest-viewed season premiere ever (down from last year's premiere: 2.3, 8.07 million), but was in par with its Spring 2018 numbers. 'How to Get Away with Murder' (0.8/3, 2.9 million) was also on par with its Spring numbers. Finally, over at NBC (1.1/4, 4.11 million), the hour-long season premiere of 'The Good Place' (1.0/4, 3.1 million) led into the two-hour season premiere of 'Law & Order: SVU' (1.1/5, 5.1 million), both of which started low. 

Friday, September 28, 2018

Wednesday September 26, 2018 Nielsen Finals

CBS took victory in the demo on a very competitive Wednesday, averaging a 1.7/7 rating/share and 6.74 million viewers in primetime. NBC led in viewers (7.67 million) despite ranking fourth in the demo (1.2/6). FOX (1.7/7, 5.37 million) ranked second, and ABC (1.3/6, 4.99 million), third. The season premieres of ABC's three returning Wednesday comedies: 'The Goldbergs' (1.4/7, 5.15 million), 'American Housewife' (1.2/6, 4.4 million), and 'Modern Family' (1.6/7, 5.4 million) provided decent lead-in numbers for the series premieres of both 'Single Parents' (1.3/6, 4.9 million) and 'A Million Little Things' (1.1/5, 5.1 million). On NBC, the new night of all Chicago shows exhibited remarkable compatibility. The night was led by 'Chicago Med' (1.2/6, 7.8 million), then 'Chicago Fire' (1.3/5, 8.1 million), and finally 'Chicago PD' (1.2/5, 7.1 million). Both FOX's 'Empire' (1.9/9, 6.1 million) and 'Star' (1.4/6, 4.6 million) returned on par with their numbers last season, and on CBS, 'Big Brother' (1.7/7, 5.6 million) held all of its 'Survivor' (1.7/7, 7.8 million) lead-in. 

Thursday, September 27, 2018

Tuesday September 25, 2018 Nielsen Finals

On the opening Tuesday of the new broadcast television season, NBC (2.3/10) strolled to an easy victory in the demo, beating second-ranked CBS (1.2/5) by over full point. In total viewers; however, CBS (10.54 million) had the edge over NBC (9.61 million), ABC (4.53 million, 0.7/3), and FOX (3.01 million, 0.9/4). NBC was led by dominant performances from the season premieres of 'The Voice' (2.2/10, 9.9 million) and 'This is Us' (3.0/12, 10.5 million) as well as newcomer 'New Amsterdam' (1.8/8, 8.4 million) which performed well in its first airing. CBS's 'NCIS' (1.4/6, 12.6 million) returned stable from last year and provided a nice lead-in for the new series 'FBI' (1.3/5, 10.1 million) which had moderate success. The season premiere of 'NCIS: New Orleans' was OK at 1.0/5 and 9 million viewers. Both 'The Gifted' (0.9/4, 2.6 million) and 'Lethal Weapon' (0.8/3, 3.4 million) had stable returns on FOX. 

Wednesday, September 26, 2018

Cable Network Ratings: 9/17 - 9/23/2018

FOX News easily led the cable network ratings for the week ending September 23, 2018, averaging 2.79 million viewers in primetime. ESPN took a close second with 2.6 million, and MSNBC took third with 1.94 million. Elsewhere in cable news, CNN took 10th on the week with 947,000 viewers, HLN (272,000) took 49th, CNBC (227,000) ranked 53rd, and FOX Business (96,000) was 76th. Other networks to average over 1 million viewers this week include HGTV (1.32 million, #4), NFL Network (1.31 million, #5), USA Network (1.27 million, #6), and Hallmark Channel (1.17 million, #7). FX took the 16th spot on the week (750,000) with help from new episodes of 'American Horror Story' and 'Mayans MC.'

Live +3 and Live +7 Ratings: 9/10 - 9/16/2018

NBC's Tuesday edition of 'America's Got Talent' tied CBS's 'Big Brother' in the L+7 raw demo gains for the week ending September 16, 2018. Both shows rose 0.52 - the former to 2.44 and the latter to 2.14 (the top two shows on the week on broadcast). CBS's 'Elementary' had the largest viewership rise, up 2.5 million viewers to 5.68 million. The aforementioned episode of 'America's Got Talent' had the second highest viewership L+7 gain, rising 2.1 million viewers to 12.85 million. On the cable side, the season premiere of FX's 'American Horror Story: Apocalypse' easily led the cable L+3 ratings for the week, rising 1.25 in the demo to 2.71, and up 2.64 million viewers to 5.74 million. 'Mayans M.C.' (+0.84, +1.98M) and 'Better Call Saul' (+0.57, +1.59M) ranked second and third.  

Tuesday, September 25, 2018

Monday September 24, 2018 Nielsen Finals

NBC took victory on the first day of the 2018-19 television season, scoring a 2.1/9 A18-49 rating/share and 10.03 million viewers in primetime. NBC's night was led by the much-anticipated series premiere of 'Manifest' (2.2/9, 10.4 million) and the season premiere of 'The Voice' (2.0/8, 9.7 million). Over on CBS (1.6/6, 9.74M), the final season premiere of 'The Big Bang Theory' brought in the lowest ratings ever for a premiere (2.5/11), and was the least-viewed (12.5 million) since the second season premiere in 2008 (3.6/9, 9.36 million on 9/22/08). 'Young Sheldon' hit a series-low 1.7/7 rating/share with 10.6 million viewers, and the series-premiere of 'Magnum PI' began with a mediocre 1.2/4 and 8.1 million viewers. ABC's (1.3/5, 7.52M) 'The Good Doctor' (1.3/5, 7.35 million) dropped its new season behind 'Dancing with the Stars' (1.0/4, 7.7 million). FOX (1.4/6, 5.74M) saw positive marks with both '9-1-1' (1.6/6, 6.6 million) and 'The Resident' (1.1/5, 4.9 million). 

Sunday September 23, 2018 Nielsen Finals

TLC'S '90 Day FiancÄ—' topped Sunday cable with a 0.82 A18-49 rating and 2.36 million total viewers. The show led cable in women 18-49 (1.14 rating), females 12-34 (0.68), people 18-34 (0.63), and people 25-54 (0.98). 'Unexpected,' which followed, had a 0.55 in W18-49 with 1.21 million viewers. On AMC, 'Fear the Walking Dead' took the second spot on the day with a 0.69 rating (0.72 in M18-49) and 2.03 million viewers, while on Hallmark Channel, 'Chesapeake Shores' averaged a 1.2 rating in P50+ with 1.67 million viewers. Among female-skewing programming, E!'s 'Keeping Up with the Kardashians' notched a 0.76 W18-49 rating with 1.08 million viewers, 'Ashlee & Evan' was at 0.38 in that demo with 544,000 viewers, and Lifetime's 'You' had a 0.28 with 574,000 viewers. Three episodes of 'Ridiculousness,' on MTV, were at 0.29/0.24/0.24 in W18-49 (0.37/0.32/0.31 in M18-49) and at 779,000/651,000/600,000 in total viewers. On premium cable, HBO aired new episodes of 'The Deuce' (585,000), 'Ballers' (715,000), 'Insecure' (544,000), and 'Last Week Tonight' (1.01 million), while Showtime aired 'Shameless' (1.05 million) 'The Circus' (272,00), and 'Kidding' (303,000). Among lower-rated cables, STARZ had 'Warriors of Liberty' (82,000) and 'America to Me' (46,000).

U.S. Social Content Ratings: 9/17 - 9/23/2018

NBC's coverage of the '70th Primetime Emmy Awards' dominated all programming on the social networks for the week ending September 23, 2018. The awards show averaged 5.13 million total interactions, with the majority (2.97 million) coming from Twitter. The Wednesday finale of 'America's Got Talent' took third on the week with 1.19 million total interactions (703K from Instagram), while the Tuesday edition of the show averaged just under 1 million interactions (978,000) with the majority also coming from Instagram (628K). USA's 'WWE Monday Night RAW' (1.8 million) and 'WWE Smackdown (1.14 million) took the second and fourth spots on the week, while FX's 'American Horror Story' (559,000) took the seventh spot.

Saturday September 22, 2018 Nielsen Finals

Coverage of college football dominated Saturday cable. The 'Georgia/Missouri' game, on ESPN, led everything on cable with a 1.12 A18-49 and 3.33 million viewers. The game notched the best ratings on the day in men 18-49 (1.57 rating), males 12-34 (1.21), people 18-34 (0.99), and people 25-54 (1.23). Outside of college sports, A&E's 'Live PD' continued to put up big numbers, scoring a 0.64 rating in the key demo (0.66 in F18-49, 0.62 in M18-49) with 1.9 million overall viewers. Oxygen's 'Cold Justice' averaged 625,000 viewers, while 'Unspeakable Crimes' managed 449,000; both were the same in the demo (0.11). Among children's programming, the return of 'Henry Danger' found 1.02 million viewers (last episode had 1.05 million), while 'Knight Squad' had 774,000 (last episode had 0.84M). Finally, the Hallmark movie 'Truly, Madly, Sweetly' had a cable-best 1.95 rating in P50+ and 2.69 million viewers. 

Friday September 21, 2018 Nielsen Finals

The return of A&E's 'Live PD' topped all of Friday cable with a 0.64 A18-49 rating and 1.9 million total viewers. The program was robust in women 18-49 (0.7 rating) and females 12-34 (0.42), leading cable in both demos. Two college football games on ESPN had 0.75/0.54 ratings in men 18-49 with 1.64 million and 1.3 million viewers. On HBO, 'Real Time with Bill Maher' stayed strong, averaging a 0.32 rating (0.38 in M18-49) with 1.7 million viewers; 'Vice' had 243,000 viewers and 'Animals.' managed 226,000. Syfy's numbers were rather abysmal: 'Wynnona Earp' struggled with only 460,000 viewers, while 'Killjoys' averaged only 482,000. In younger programming, Disney Channel's 'Raven's Home' notched a 0.31 rating in F12-34 and a 0.45 in T12-17, with 824,000 viewers, and 'Bunk'd' was even worse, at 0.26/0.41 in those demos with 650,000 viewers. Finally, Cinemax's 'Outcast' had 93,000 viewers and a 0.03 in the demo. 

Sunday, September 23, 2018

Thursday September 20, 2018 Nielsen Finals

NFL Network's sole telecast of 'Thursday Night Football' between the Jets and Browns topped all of television (broadcast and cable) with a 3.04 adults 18-49 rating, a 5.21 HH rating, and 8.63 million total viewers. In addition to pulling huge numbers in major male demographics: men 18-49 (4.23 rating) and males 12-34 (2.62 rating), the game also averaged 10.3 million viewers in its final six minutes. Outside of sports, MTV's 'Jersey Shore Family Vacation' took a distant second on cable with a 0.76 A18-49 rating (0.99 in W18-49, 0.9 in F12-34) with 1.28 million viewers, and Bravo's 'Shahs of Sunset' had had 0.43/0.23 in those demos with 924,000 viewers. Elsewhere, TruTV's hit series 'Impractical Jokers' was strong with a 0.29 demo rating (about even between men and women) and 513,000 viewers, while the season finale of the recently-renewed 'Snowfall,' on FX, found 783,000 viewers and a 0.34 demo rating (0.39 M18-49 skew). 

Saturday, September 22, 2018

Wednesday September 19, 2018 Nielsen Finals

Week two of FX's 'American Horror Story' fell to 1.07 in the 18-49 demo (from 1.45), and to 2.21 million viewers (from 3.08 million), but still remained atop the Wednesday cable ratings by a healthy margin. The show put forth big numbers in the women 18-49 demo (1.11 rating, #1), and the female 12-34 demo (0.85 rating, #1). VH1's 'Black Ink Crew Chicago' had a 0.83 rating in W18-49 at 8pm (#3) with 1.13 million viewers, while two episodes of 'Black Ink Crew' were at 0.93 (#2) and 0.78 (#4) in that demo with 1.31 million and 1.14 million viewers at 9pm and 10pm respectively. On Bravo, 'Real Housewives of Dallas' averaged a 0.36 rating in W18-49 with 683,000 viewers, and on OWN, 'Greenleaf' was at 0.43 in that demo with 1.42 million total viewers. Over on USA Network, both 'Suits' and 'The Sinner' finished their runs for the year (the former will return in the winter), both skewing female (0.29 in W18-49 for 'Suits,' and 0.31 for 'Sinner'), and averaging 1.08 million and 1.13 million viewers respectively. MTV aired 'Teen Mom: Where Mackenzie' and two episodes of 'Are You The One?' which were at 0.43/0.32/0.31 in W18-49 (0.31/0.34/0.36 in F12-34) and at 486,000/416,000/359,000 in total viewers. Finally, on FXX, 'It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia' saw slight gains from last week, up to 0.25 in the demo with 420,000 viewers (from 0.2/390K). 

Friday, September 21, 2018

Tuesday September 18, 2018 Nielsen Finals

Week three of FX's 'Mayans M.C.' saw slight growth from last week, up 0.01 in the 18-49 demo to 0.79, and a rise of about 100K viewers to 2.1 million. The series has consistently been doing well in the major male demographics, scoring a cable-best 1.01 in M18-49 and a 0.48 in M12-34 (2nd). It also had the highest P25-54 rating on cable (1.03). USA Network's 'WWE Smackdown' took a very close second on the day with a 0.78 rating in the key demo (0.98 in M18-49) with 2.28 million viewers. 'The Purge' held a little more than half of it's 'Smackdown' lead-in, averaging 0.44 in the demo (about even between men and women) with 1.13 million viewers. Among more female-skewing shows, MTV's 'Challenge: Final Reckoning' averaged a cable-best 0.59 rating in women 18-49 (0.54 in F12-34) with 811,000 viewers. On Bravo, 'Below Deck' was at 0.27 in that demo with 648,000 viewers, and 'Flipping Out' had 0.26 with 674,000 viewers. Other scripted series of note include: TBS's 'Wrecked' (910,000), Nickelodeon's 'I Am Frankie' (748,000), and WGN America's 'Carter' (218,000). 

Wednesday, September 19, 2018

Live +3 and Live +7 Ratings: 9/3 - 9/9/2018

NBC's Tuesday edition of 'America's Got Talent' topped the broadcast Live+7 raw 18-49 gains, up 0.6 to 2.43 in the demo, and up 2.42 million viewers, to 13.12 million. ABC's Monday 'Bachelor in Paradise' took second on the week, up 0.59 in the demo to 1.7, and up 1.42 million viewers to 5.63 million. CBS's 'Elementary' saw the biggest viewership gains, rising  2.73 million viewers to 6.03 million, and up 0.49 in the demo to 0.96. The series-premiere of FOX's 'Rel' rose a modest 418K to 5.91 million. Over on cable, FX's new series 'Mayans M.C.' dominated the Live+3 gains, jumping 0.89 in the demo to 1.94 and up over 2.07 million viewers to 4.62 million. Other notables this week were: AMC's 'Better Call Saul' (+0.49, +1.48 million), FX's 'Snowfall' (+0.41, +926K), FXX's 'It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia' (+0.35, +561K), and Showtime's 'Shameless' (+0.35, +800K). The season finale of STARZ's 'Power' rose 0.24 to 0.86 in the demo, and 603K viewers to 2.14 million.

Monday September 17, 2018 Nielsen Finals

ESPN's 'Monday Night Football' dominated Monday cable with a 3.99 adults 18-49 rating and 11.72 million viewers. The game led all of television (broadcast included) in the following demos: households (7.00), men 18-49 (5.66 rating), women 18-49 (2.34), females 12-34 (1.63), males 12-34 (3.76), people 18-34 (3.21), people 25-54 (4.63), and people over 50 (5.12). The game peaked with 13.377 million viewers, delivering a 31.1 local rating in Seattle and a 29.1 rating in Chicago. Three hours of USA Network's 'WWE Entertainment' were at 1.14/1.07/1.02 from 8pm - 10pm in the M18-49 demo and at 2.84M/2.75M/2.43M in total viewers. On VH1, 'Love & Hip Hop Hollywood' delivered a 1.45 rating in W18-49 (ranked second on cable) with 1.95 million viewers while 'Real Housewives of OC' was at 0.82 in that demo with 1.54 million viewers. On the scripted side, AMC's 'Better Call Saul' rose slightly in the demo to a 0.41 rating (up from 0.39 last week), but fell to a series-low in viewership (1.35 million). 'Lodge 49' continued its descent, down to 0.08 in the demo with 355,000 viewers. 

Sunday September 16, 2018 Nielsen Finals

TLC's '90 Day FiancÄ—' led all of Sunday cable in both the key 18-49 demo (0.71 rating) and in total viewers (2.2 million), also leading the day in W18-49 (1.01 rating) and F12-34 (0.66 rating).  On AMC, 'Fear the Walking Dead' took second on the day with a 0.57 rating (0.64 in M18-49) and 1.87 million viewers, and 'Talking Dead: Fear' was at 0.22 with 761,000 viewers. On Showtime, 'Shameless' notched a 0.39 rating (0.42 in W18-49) with 1.12  million viewers, but 'Kidding' stumbled to 0.07 with 151,000 viewers. MTV's 'Ridiculousness' was at 0.31/0.28/0.26/0.22 in W18-49, 0.26/0.21/0.20/0.17 in F12-34, and at 609K/586K/551K/501K in total viewers. Over at TNT, 'The Last Ship' averaged a 0.84 rating in people over 50 with 1.31 million viewers, and on E!, 'Keeping Up with the Kardashians' was at 0.64 in W18-49 with 919,000 viewers. Lifetime's 'No One Would Tell' had a 0.57 in W18-49 with 1.31 million viewers but 'You' rose to 0.35 in W18-49 with 768,000 viewers. Finally, HBO aired new episodes of 'Ballers' (870,000), 'Insecure' (665,000), and 'The Deuce' (605,000). 

Tuesday, September 18, 2018

Saturday September 15, 2018 Nielsen Finals

ESPN's coverage of 'College Football' between Alabama and Ole Miss easily topped Saturday cable with a 1.24 adults 18-49 rating with 4.11 million viewers. The game led all of cable in all the major sub demos: men & women 18-49 (1.57 and 0.92 ratings), males & females 12-34 (1.08 and 0.6 ratings), people 18-34 (0.98), people 25-54 (1.43), and people over 50 (1.92). On Hallmark Channel, an original movie, 'Love in Design' notched a 1.64 rating in people over 50 (0.38 rating in P25-54) with 2.22 million total viewers. FXX's airing of the 'Creative Arts Emmy Awards' brought little attention to either the show or the network, averaging only a 0.02 demo rating with 77,000 viewers. Finally, over on Oxygen, 'Cold Justice' was at 533,000 in total viewers and the premiere of 'Unspeakable Crimes' (Who Killed Jessica Chambers) was at 528,000. 

U.S. Social Content Ratings: 9/10 - 9/16/2018

Week 2 of the semifinals on NBC's 'America's Got Talent' took the first and second spots in the social ratings for the week ending September 16, 2018. Tuesday's performance episode averaged 1.81 million interactions on social media, while Wednesday's results show ranked first with 3.54 million interactions. Both shows saw most of their social media interactions come from Twitter (1.23 million and 2.91 million respectively). The season premiere of FX's 'American Horror Story' averaged 506,000 interactions (342K from Twitter) while MTV's 'Jersey Shore Family Vacation' had 455,000 interactions (409K from Instagram).

Cable Network Ratings: 9/10 - 9/16/2018

ESPN topped the primetime cable networks ratings for the week ending September 16, 2018. The network averaged 2.73 million viewers in primetime, a healthy lead over second-ranked FOX News which had 2.49 million viewers. Other cable news network ratings for the week include third-ranked MSNBC (2.19 million), sixth-ranked CNN (1.2 million), 43rd-ranked HLN (289,000), and 77th-ranked FOX Business (89,000). Networks averaging over 1 million viewers in primetime include HGTV (1.37 million), USA Network (1.3 million), NFL Network (1.12 million), hurricane coverage on the Weather Channel (1.08 million), and History (1.02 million). 

Friday September 14, 2018 Nielsen Finals

MSNBC's 'The Rachel Maddow Show' led another slow day on Friday cable notching a 0.57 rating in the key cable news demo, adults 25-54, and averaged 3.66 million viewers - the most on cable for the day. HBO's 'Real Time with Bill Maher' notched a 0.39 rating in men 18-49 with 1.74 million viewers. Two episodes of MTV's 'Wild N Out' were at 0.27 & 0.24 in W18-49, 0.24 & 0.21 in F12-34, and at 440,000 & 415,000 in total viewers. Scripted series airing include: Syfy's 'Wynonna Earp' (490,000) & 'Killjoys' (428,000), Nickelodeon's 'I Am Frankie' (791,000), and Cinemax's 'Outcast' (98,000). 

Sunday, September 16, 2018

Thursday September 13, 2018 Nielsen Finals

Due to Hurricane Florence, the Weather Channel's 'Weather Center Live' took up 17 spots in the top 50 on cable on Thursday. The highest-rated airing took seventh on the day with 2.009 million viewers. The top program of the day on cable was unsurprisingly NFL Network's 'Thursday Night Football' which notched a 2.58 adults 18-49 rating (3.81 in M18-49, 1.38 in W18-49), with 7.02 million viewers. The game also performed well in males 12-34 (2.47 rating), people 18-34 (2.05), and people 25-54 (2.89). MTV's 'Jersey Shore Family Vacation' had a 1.08 rating in both W18-49 and F12-34 with 1.47 million total viewers, while Bravo's 'Shahs of Sunset' had 0.45/0.19 in those demos with 913,000 viewers. Over at FX, 'Snowfall' was at a modest 0.36 A18-49 rating (0.47 in men) with 855,000 viewers, while over at E!, 'Model Squad' stayed low at 0.07 in 18-49s with 173,000 viewers. Finally, USA's Queen of the South' scored a 0.55 in women 18-49 with 1.22 million viewers, while 'Shooter' only managed 785,000 viewers. 

Friday, September 14, 2018

Wednesday September 12, 2018 Nielsen Finals

FX's 'American Horror Story' launched its eighth season to 1.45 adults 18-49 rating with 3.08 million viewers, topping Wednesday cable Although the numbers are still solid, this was the lowest-viewed season premiere of the show (previous low was 3.18 million for its series-premiere in 2011). The show had a 1.78 household rating, a 1.68 rating in women 18-49 (1.28 in M18-49), and a 1.41 rating in females 12-34 (0.94 in M12-34). VH1's 'Black Ink Crew Chicago' had a 0.63 rating in W18-49 with 995,000 viewers, Bravo's 'Real Housewives of Dallas' had a 0.45 in that demo with 721,000 viewers, and MTV's 'Teen Mom II' notched a 0.42 in that demo with 568,000 viewers. Over on USA Network, 'Suits' edged ahead of 'The Sinner' in adults 18-49 (0.25 vs. 0.24) and remained on top in total viewers (1.06 million vs. 1.04 million); both shows performed better in W18-49 (0.28/31) than M18-49 (0.23/0.17). The return of TBS's 'Full Frontal with Samantha Bee' notched a 0.33 adults 18-49 rating (0.34 in men, 0.31 in women) with 903,000 viewers. Finally, the second week of the season for FXX's 'It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia' dropped to 0.20 with 390,000 viewers. 

U.S. Social Content Ratings: 9/3 - 9/9/2018

USA Network's 'WWE Monday Night RAW' again led all of regular television programming on social media for the week ending September 9, 2018. The show was estimated to have 2.51 million total interactions across the social platforms, including over 1.91 million from Instagram. NBC's Wednesday edition of 'America's Got Talent' ranked second on the week with 1.57 million interactions, and saw most of its activity come from Twitter (1.04 million). The Tuesday edition of 'AGT,' by comparison saw most of its social activity come from Instagram (590,000 vs. 71,000). Telemundo's Friday airing of 'Sin Senos Sí Hay Paraíso' was the most Facebook-heavy program on the week with an estimated 252,000 interactions on that platform. 

Thursday, September 13, 2018

Tuesday September 11, 2018 Nielsen Finals

Week Two of FX's 'Mayans MC' led all of Tuesday cable with a 0.78 adults 18-49 rating and 2.01 million viewers. The show performed particularly well in men 18-49 (1.03 rating), and people 25-54 (0.94), topping all of cable in both, and second only to 'America's Got Talent' on all of television in the former demo, and third to both 'AGT' and 'Bachelor in Paradise' in the latter. Although the show did lose 0.27 from its premiere last week, it still managed to stay on top of USA Network's 'WWE Smackdown' which had a 0.72 demo rating (0.82 in M18-49, 0.53 in M12-34) wth 2.23 million viewers. 'The Purge,' also on USA, lost only 0.09 from its premiere last week, to 0.46 in the demo (0.49 in M18-49, 0.42 in W18-49) with 1.27 million viewers. Bravo's 'Below Deck Mediterranean' found a 0.57 rating in women 18-49 with 1.28 million viewers, while MTV's 'Challenge: Vendettas' was at 0.54 in that demo with 719,000 viewers. On WGN America, 'Carter' rose to 0.05 with 266,000 viewers. 

Wednesday, September 12, 2018

Cable Network Ratings: 9/3 - 9/9/2018

ESPN topped all cable networks in primetime for the week ending September 9, 2018, averaging 2.56 million viewers. FOX News ranked second on the week with 2.33 million, and MSNBC took third with over 2.04 million viewers. Other cable news outlets include CNN which took sixth (1.17 million), HLN which took 45th (302,000), CNBC which took 49th (251,000), and FOX Business which took 58th (198,000). FX took 13th on the week (770,000) with help from the series-premiere of 'Mayans FC,' while USA Network ranked fifth (1.35 million) in the premiere week of its new series, 'The Purge.' 

Monday September 10, 2018 Nielsen Finals

ESPN's 'Monday Night Football' dominated a competitive day on Monday cable. The 7pm game notched a 3.78 adults 18-49 rating (5.42 rating in M18-49, 3.82 in M12-34, 4.25 in P25-54) with 10.34 million viewers. The 10pm game had a similar 3.68 key demo rating (5.34 in M18-49, 3.69 in M12-34, 4.07 in P25-54) with 9.61 million viewers. VH1's 'Love & Hip Hop Hollywood' squeaked between Monday Night Football and three hours of 'WWE Entertainment,' hitting a 1.02 rating in A18-49 (1.57 in W18-49, 1.26 in F12-34) with 2.02 million viewers. The aforementioned three hours of USA's 'WWE Entertainment' ranged between 0.88 and 0.91 in A18-49 (1.07 to 1.14 in M18-49, 0.65 to 0.74 in M12-34) with between 2.6 and 2.82 million viewers. On Bravo, 'Real Housewives of OC' had a 0.85 rating in W18-49 (0.4 in F12-34) with 1.55 million viewers, and on MTV, 'Floribama Shore' hit a 0.47 rating in F12-34 with 571,000 viewers, while 'Teen Mom OG' had a 0.34 in that demo with 473,000 viewers. Finally, on AMC, 'Better Call Saul' tied its series-low 0.39 adults 18-49 rating and hit a new series-low 1.4 million viewers. 'Lodge 49' had only a 0.1 rating with 363,000 viewers. 

Sunday September 9, 2018 Nielsen Finals

TLC's '90 Day Fiance' topped all of cable on Sunday, notching a 0.62 rating in adults 18-49 (0.87 in women of that demo) with 1.96 million viewers. The season finale of STARZ's 'Power' took second on the day with the same 0.62 rating (0.65 in W18-49, 0.58 in M18-49) and 1.53 million viewers, its lowest-rated and lowest-viewed finale since season 1 back in 2014 (0.52 rating, 1.08 million viewers). 'Power' did however remain on par with its season premiere which also had a 0.62 rating with 1.55 million viewers. On AMC, 'Fear the Walking Dead' notched a 0.57 rating in the key demo (even between men and women 18-49) with 1.71 million viewers. Over on HBO, the season premiere of 'The Deuce' hit a series-low 636,000 viewers (0.16 rating), down from the first season premiere last year (830K) and last year's season finale (771K). 'Ballers' had 725,000 viewers (0.35 in M18-49), 'Insecure' had 563,000 (0.3 in W18-49), and 'Last Week Tonight' led the network with 901,000 viewers (0.37 in W18-49, 0.23 in men). The series-premiere of Showtime's 'Kidding' brought in a respectable 0.13 rating with 443,000 viewers behind its 'Shameless' (0.47, 1.31 million) lead-in. The premiere of Lifetime's 'You' had a 0.21 rating with 824,000 viewers (0.27 in W18-49). In F12-34s, 'Ridiculousness' was at 0.25, 0.26, 0.16 and 0.19 (0.29, 0.30, 0.19, 0.22 in W18-49). 'Kardashians' had a 0.72 in W18-49 and a 0.57 in F12-34.

Live +3 and Live +7 Ratings: 8/27 - 9/2/2018

AMC's 'Better Call Saul' topped the scripted Live +3 cable ratings for the week ending September 2, 2018 in both the 18-49 demo growth (up 0.54 to 0.92) and viewership growth (up 1.53 million to 3.06 million). Also on that network was 'Fear the Walking Dead,' which has officially entered mediocre-territory, up only 0.36 to 0.84 and up 985,000 to just over 2.5 million viewers. USA's 'The Sinner' was the only other scripted cable entry to rise more than 1 million viewers in three-day timeshifting, up 1.35 million viewers to 2.49 million and up 0.36 in the demo to 0.64. 'Power,' on STARZ, tied 'Sinner' in demo growth (also up 0.36), but rose only 760,000 viewers to a 3-day total of 2.18 million. 

On the broadcast side, CBS's 'Big Brother Thursday' (up 0.7 to 2.0) edged out NBC's Tuesday edition of 'America's Got Talent' (up 0.64 to 2.5) in the L+7 18-49 gain, but 'Talent' strolled to an easy victory in total viewership growth, up 2.58 million viewers to 13.36 million, compared to 'Brother's' 1.8 million viewership growth. CBS's 'Elementary' led all of the scripted entires on the week, rising 0.45 to 0.9 and 2.63 million to 6.2 million - the highest viewership growth among all of broadcast for the week.

Saturday September 8, 2018 Nielsen Finals

Saturday cable was filled with numerous college football games, including three that made their way into the top 5 of the day. The Clemson/Texas A&M game on ESPN took an easy victory on the day, notching a 1.39 adults 18-49 rating (1.87 in men 18-49, 1.31 in males 12-34, 2.06 in people over 50), with just under 4.5 million viewers. This game was lightyears ahead of the day's second-best game, Michigan State vs. Arizona State, which notched a 0.83 rating in the key demo (1.15 M18-49, 0.68 M12-34, 0.96 P50+) with 2.3 million viewers. On the scripted side, the only airing of note belonged to the Hallmark original movie, 'Wedding of Dreams' which had a 0.25 in adults 18-49 (0.32 in W18-49), a 1.43 in adults over 50, and just over 2 million viewers. 

Tuesday, September 11, 2018

Friday September 7, 2018 Nielsen Finals

ESPN2's College Football game between TCU and MSU (not in the list below) led a very slow cable day on Friday, with a 0.33 adults 18-49 rating and 1.076 million viewers. The game scored a 0.48 rating in men 18-49 (best on cable for the day), and a 0.28 rating in males 12-34 (also best). Only NBC's 'Dateline' (0.6) had a higher rating in men 18-49. On HBO, 'Real Time with Bill Maher' took third, averaging a 0.32 rating in the key demo with 1.68 million viewers; it did a 0.46 rating in people 25-54, second on cable only to 'The Rachel Maddow Show' (0.47). Over at MTV, two episodes of 'Nick Cannon Wild N Out' were at 0.28 and 0.31 respectively in females 12-34, and at 468,000 and 502,000 in total viewers. Those F12-34 figures ranked third and fourth on cable, behind an 11pm Kevin Hart Comedy Central special (0.34, 407,000 viewers), and 7pm 'E! News' (0.33, 374,000 viewers). 'Safeword,' also on MTV, had a 0.28 rating  in F12-34 with 415,000 viewers.

Monday, September 10, 2018

Power (Starz): Ratings Recap

UPDATED 2020: Starz's 'Power' premiered June 7, 2014 to an unimpressive 0.15 adults 18-49 rating with 462,000 viewers; however, saw impressive growth in not only its first season, but in two subsequent seasons as well. The series jumped to a 0.52 rating with 1.08 million viewers in its first season finale, and rose even higher to 0.61 with 1.43 million viewers in its 2015 second season premiere. The second season stayed relatively stable, averaging between 1 million and 1.3 million viewers, but hit a new season-high 0.66 with 1.54 million viewers in its finale. A third season premiered in 2016 with the most impressive numbers to-date, hitting a massive 1.1 adults 18-49 rating with about 2.26 million viewers, its current series-high. The show broke the 2 million viewers threshold three additional times in its third season; however, couldn't sustain those numbers in either the fourth or fifth season. The fourth season ended with just under 2 million viewers (1.998M) in 2017, and the fifth season ended with a 0.62 rating and 1.53 million viewers in 2018. A sixth and final season aired in 2019 and 2020. 

Saturday, September 8, 2018

Thursday September 6, 2018 Nielsen Finals

MTV's 'Jersey Shore: Family Vacation' led the Thursday cable ratings, scoring a 0.86 rating in adults 18-49 (including a 1.08 in women 18-49) with 1.43 million viewers. On the scripted side, USA Network's 'Queen of the South' notched a 0.38 rating in the key demo (0.52 in W18-49, 0.29 in F12-34) with 1.14 million viewers, while 'Shooter' had a disappointing 0.13 rating with only 593,000 viewers. Finally, on FX, 'Snowfall' had a 0.31 18-49 rating (0.41 in M18-49) with 752,000 viewers. 

Friday, September 7, 2018

Wednesday September 5, 2018 Nielsen Finals

BET'S 'The Bobby Brown Story' dominated cable on Wednesday with a 1.02 adults 18-49 rating, amazingly up 0.01 from its Tuesday premiere, and more than double the ratings of the second-ranked show of the day, 'Real Housewives of NYC' (0.47). In the sub demos, 'Brown' performed best in women 18-49 (1.39 rating) and people 25-54 (1.16 rating). 'Real Housewives' found its best numbers in those same demos at 0.69 and 0.63 respectively. The season premiere of 'It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia,' on FXX, brought in a respectable 606,000 viewers and a 0.38 demo rating, doing quite well in men 18-49 (0.5) and males 12-34 (0.36). On USA Network, both 'The Sinner' and 'Suits' were at 0.29 in the demo, the former had 1.13 million viewers, while the latter averaged slightly higher at 1.3 million. 'Suits' does skew slightly older than 'Sinner,' averaging only a 0.15 in adults 18-34 compared to 0.24. 

Tuesday September 4, 2018 Nielsen Finals

The series premiere of FX's 'Mayans M.C.' topped all of cable on Wednesday, scoring an impressive 1.05 adults 18-49 rating with 2.53 million viewers. The premiere performed particularly well in men 18-49 (1.27 rating) and people 25-54 (1.25 rating). On BET, the premiere of 'The Bobby Brown Story' notched a 1.01 rating in the key demo with 2.17 million viewers, finding its best numbers in women 18-49 (1.37 rating), females 12-34 (0.89), and people 25-54 (1.11). The simulcast on BET Her was at 0.05/153,000. The night's other big premiere, USA's 'The Purge,' began with a rather promising start, hitting a 0.55 in adults 18-49 with 1.39 million viewers. The show also didn't skew particularly old - its adults 18-34 rating (0.49) was on par with its people over 50 rating (0.52), but it performed best in M18-49 (0.62 rating). A simulcast of the premiere on Syfy brought in 368,000 viewers. Finally, WGN America's 'Carter' had 218,000 viewers. 

Thursday, September 6, 2018

Live +3 and Live +7 Ratings: 8/20 - 8/26/2018

AMC's 'Better Call Saul' topped the Live +3 cable DVR ratings for the week ending August 26, 2018, rising a half-point to 0.93 in adults 18-49, and 1.35 million viewers, up to 2.86 million. Also on that net was 'Fear the Walking Dead, up 0.38 to 0.99 & 987,000 to 2.82 million, and 'Preacher,' up 0.32 to 0.61 & 778,000 to 1.8 million. 'Yellowstone,' on Paramount, took second on the week, up 0.45 to 0.9 and 2.44 million to 4.81 million in three days, while 'The Sinner,' on USA Network, took third, increasing 0.42 to 0.72 and 1.53 million to 2.62 million. 

On the broadcast side, NBC's Tuesday 'America's Got Talent' and ABC's Tuesday 'Bachelor in Paradise' both led the week in Live +7, each rising 0.61 to 2.72 & 1.71 respectively. The former rose 2.54 million in viewership to 13.75 million, while the latter was up 1.53 million to 5.51 million. Rounding out the top 5 were Monday's 'Bachelor in Paradise' (+0.56, +1.36M), Thursday's 'Big Brother' (+.0.55, +1.36M), and Wednesday's edition of 'America's Got Talent' (+0.54, +2.18M). CBS's 'Elementary' led the scripted entires, up 0.49 and 2.69 million to 0.85 and 6.03 million. The finale of NBC's 'Trial & Error' was up to 0.55 and 2.15 million in L+7. 

Wednesday, September 5, 2018

Monday September 3, 2018 Nielsen Finals

ESPN's coverage of the Virginia Tech/Florida State college football dominated Monday cable, scoring a 1.87 adults 18-49 rating with 5.58 million viewers. The game also pulled in a 2.56 rating among men 18-49, a 2.54 in people over 50, a 2.22 in people 25-54, and a 1.78 in males 12-34. Three hours of USA Network's 'WWE Entertainment' ranged between 0.95 and 1.0 in adults 18-49, 1.22 and 1.28 in M18-49, and 2.74 and 2.95 million in total viewers. On AMC, 'Better Call Saul' was steady at 0.43 with 1.53 million viewers, while 'Lodge 49' managed only 409,000 viewers with a 0.08 rating. Finally, on VH1, 'Love & Hip Hop Hollywood' had a 1.4 rating in W18-49, a 1.05 in F12-34, and 1.96 million viewers.  

Sunday September 2, 2018 Nielsen Finals

TLC's '90 Day Fiance' led Sunday cable with a 0.58 18-49 rating with 1.91 million viewers. The series also had a 0.78 rating in women 18-49, a 0.47 in females 12-34, and a 0.93 in adults over 50. Starz's 'Power' ranked second on the day with a 0.58 rating with 1.42 million viewers and pulled its best numbers in W18-49 (0.69 rating) and P25-54 (0.7). On AMC, 'Fear the Walking Dead' notched a 0.48 rating in the key demo with 1.52 million viewers, and while it performed slightly better in men 18-49 than women (0.50 vs. 0.45), younger females aged 12-34 led over males (0.19 vs. 0.11). Four episodes of MTV's 'Ridiculousness' were at 0.22, 0.22, 0.23, and 0.22 in W18-49, 0.15, 0.16, 0.19, 0.19 in F12-34, and 563,000, 620,000, 671,000, and 605,000 in total viewers. Elsewhere, HBO's 'Ballers' found 874,000 viewers (0.4 in M18-49), 'Insecure' found 474,000 (0.24 in W18-49), and the season finale of TeenNick's 'Star Falls' managed 67,000 viewers.

Saturday September 1, 2018 Nielsen Finals

ESPN's coverage of Ole Miss/Texas Tech college football topped Saturday cable, notching a 0.64 rating in adults 18-49 with 1.93 million viewers. The game performed best in men 18-49 (0.9 rating), males 12-34 (0.55 rating), people 25-54 (0.87 rating), and people over 50 (0.68 rating). BYU/Arizona, Texas/Maryland, and Austin Peay/Georgia games ranked second, third, and fourth on the day respectively, notching 0.65, 0.54, and 0.45 in men 18-49. John McCain funeral coverage at 12pm on CNN led among all coverage, with a 0.34 rating in people 18-49, a 1.87 rating people over 50, and 2.73 million viewers. A TV run of 'Finding Dory' on Freeform had a 0.25 rating in females 12-34 with 705,000 viewers. 

Friday August 31, 2018 Nielsen Finals

ESPN's coverage of the Tennis U.S. open led a slow day on Friday cable, notching a 0.45 rating in adults 18-49 with 1.95 million viewers. It rated relatively evenly between men and women 18-49, slightly favoring men 0.46 to 0.43, but found its best numbers in people over 50 (1.14 rating). Two episodes of MTV's 'Nick Cannon Wild N Out' at 10pm and 10:30 were at 0.34 and 0.32 in females 12-34 respectively, and about even in total viewers: 538,000 and 533,000. Also on that net was 'Safeword' which found 425,000 viewers and a 0.29 rating in F12-34. Elsewhere, 'Wynonna Earp' had 502,000 on Syfy, while 'Killjoys' managed 378,000. 

U.S. Social Content Ratings: 8/27 - 9/2/2018

USA Network's 'WWE Monday Night RAW' led the week on social media among television broadcasts, averaging over 1.7 million total interactions, with the majority (1.14 million) coming from Instagram. Tuesday's 'WWE Smackdown' took the second position with 1.12 million interactions, while NBC's Tuesday edition of 'America's Got Talent' found the third position with 803,000 interactions. 

Saturday, September 1, 2018

Veep (HBO): Ratings Recap

UPDATED 2020: HBO's 'Veep' premiered April 22, 2012 to a 0.6 adults 18-49 rating with 1.38 million viewers, still it's current series-high. The first season fell as low as 0.4/831,000 but rebounded to 0.6 with 1.08 million viewers for its finale and averaged 1.04 million viewers over its first 8 episodes. Seasons two through five aired in the springs of 2013 through 2016, and remained remarkable stable at 1.14 million, 936,000, 955,000, and 994,000 viewers respectively. The sixth season premiered in 2017, and for the first time, not on the same night as 'Game of Thrones;' perhaps as a direct result, the premiere only managed a 0.27 rating with 659,000 viewers, and the season as a whole only averaged 584,000 viewers. A seventh and final season premiered in 2019.