Patriots-Seahawks NFL Football Is the #1 Primetime Show of the Week in 18-49, Total Viewers & Every Other Key Measure
Summer 2020: NBC Wins its 10th Consecutive Summer in 18-49 and 6th in a Row in Total Viewers
Monday’s "Dateline" Grows +13% in Viewers to a High Since July 20; "Ninja Warrior" Is the #2 Show of the Night on the Big 4
On Tuesday, "Transplant" Grows to a New 18-49 High, "AGT" Is the Night’s #1 Show in Total Viewers, NBC Is #1 in Viewers
L+7 Nielsens: The Sept. 1 “Transplant” Premiere Delivered Television’s #1 Biggest L+7 Lift for That Week In Total Viewers, Adding +1.7 Million
"Talent" Is Wednesday's #1 Regular Telecast in 18-49 & Total Viewers
Digital / Social: Wednesday’s “AGT” Scores as the #1 Most Social Episode in Series History & NBC’s Most Social Series Episode of the Year to Date
A "Transplant" Encore Delivers NBC's Biggest Thursday 9 p.m. Audience, Excluding Sports, Since May
“Sunday Night Football” Takes the Night in 10 of 10 Key Ratings Categories
UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. — Sept. 22, 2020 — NBC has won the primetime ratings week of Sept. 14-20 among the Big 4 networks in adults 18-49, total viewers and every other key ratings category. It’s NBC’s second straight 18-49 win and fourth week in a row ranking #1 in total viewers.
According to “live plus same day” ratings from Nielsen Media Research, NBC averaged a 1.1 rating in adults 18-49 and 4.8 million viewers overall for the Sept. 14-20 week, led by the #1 primetime show of the week in every key ratings measure, “NBC Sunday Night Football.”
NBC is completing the 52-week 2019-20 season tied for #1 in adults 18-49 and adults 25-54 when sports programming is excluded. NBC also ranks #1 in scripted programs in adults 18-49 and #1 in alternative programs in total viewers.
Summer 2020: NBC has won its 10th consecutive summer in adults 18-49 and sixth in a row in total viewers. NBC has finished #1 among the Big 4 networks in 10 of 10 key ratings measures – adults, men and women 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54, plus total viewers.
In adults 18-49, “America’s Got Talent,” “World of Dance” and “Titan Games” account for three of the top four summer shows on the Big 4 networks (counting “Talent” and “Big Brother” as single series), with “The Wall” tying for #5. In total viewers, “AGT” remained the summer’s #1 alternative series for a 15th consecutive season and “World of Dance” finished this summer #2 with a +17% increase over the show’s total-viewer average last season (5.6 million vs. 4.8 million, L+7).
Weekly ratings are “live plus same day” figures from Nielsen Media Research unless otherwise noted. Summer-to-date and Season-to-date ratings are averages of “live plus seven day” data except for the two most recent weeks, which are “live plus same day.”
Week 52 Averages
Adult 18-49 Rating, “live plus same day,” Sept. 14-20
NBC…1.1
CBS…0.8
ABC…0.7
Fox…0.3
CW…0.1
Total Viewers
NBC…4.8 million
CBS…4.1 million
ABC…3.8 million
Fox…1.3 million
CW…0.6 million
2019-20 Season Averages
Adult 18-49 Rating, “Most Current”
Fox…1.3
NBC…1.1
ABC…0.9
CBS…0.8
CW…0.3
Total Viewers
CBS…6.3 million
NBC…5.6 million
Fox…4.7 million
ABC…4.6 million
CW…0.9 million
NBC highlights for the week of Sept. 14-20:
Monday
“American Ninja Warrior” (0.5 rating in 18-49, 3.2 million viewers overall from 8-10:01 p.m. ET) ranked as the #2 show of the night on the Big 4 networks in adults 18-49, adults 25-54 and total viewers.
“Dateline NBC” (0.4 rating in adults 18-49, 0.7 in adults 25-54, 2.9 million viewers overall from 10:01-11 p.m. ET) increased by +13% week to week in total viewers (2.9 million vs. 2.6 million), to the show’s top Monday result since July 20 (3.4 million). “Dateline” also matched its best 18-49 rating (0.4) and 25-54 rating (0.7) since July 20 and won the timeslot among ABC, CBS and NBC in adults 25-54.
Tuesday
NBC won Tuesday night among the Big 4 networks in total viewers and adults 25-54, and tied for #1 among those nets in 18-49. NBC has now ranked #1 or tied for #1 on 21 Tuesdays in a row among those networks in 18-49 when sports are excluded, and has won 10 in a row outright among those nets in total viewers.
“America’s Got Talent” (0.7 rating in 18-49, 5.9 million viewers overall from 8-10:01 p.m. ET) won its two-hour timeslot in total viewers and ranked as the #1 telecast of the night by that measure.
“Transplant” (0.5 rating in 18-49, 3.6 million viewers overall from 10:01-11 p.m. ET) delivered its highest rating to date in adults 18-49 among three original telecasts on NBC, growing week to week by +0.1 of point or +25% in 18-49 (0.5 vs. 0.4) and retaining 98% in total viewers (3.6 million vs. 3.7 million). “Transplant” won the timeslot among ABC, CBS and NBC in adults 18-49, total viewers and all key adult-female demos and tied for #1 among those nets in adults 25-54. L+7: The Sept. 1 premiere of “Transplant” generated that week’s #1 biggest linear lift in “live plus seven day” total-viewer Nielsens, growing by +1.730 million persons in seven days.
Wednesday
A live results telecast of “America’s Got Talent” (0.6 rating in 18-49, 5.3 million viewers overall from 8-9:01 p.m. ET) ranked as the top regular telecast of the night on the Big 4 networks in adults 18-49, adults 25-54 and total viewers. Digital / Social: Wednesday’s telecast, featuring BTS, ranked as “AGT’s” most social episode ever, with total activity hitting 4.25 million Total Social Interactions. This also ranks as NBC’s #1 most social series episode of 2020 to date. Versus the prior week’s results show (782,400 Total Interactions), the Sept. 16 telecast was up +443%, and versus the results show season average (591,100), the increase is +619%
A rebroadcast of “Ellen’s Game of Games” (0.4 rating in 18-49, 2.4 million viewers overall from 9:01-10 p.m. ET) retained 100% of the show’s prior encore in this timeslot in 18-49 (0.4 vs. 0.4 on Sept. 2), to equal its highest rating among eight Wednesday encores for far this summer.
An encore “Chicago P.D.” (0.3 rating in 18-49, 1.9 million viewers overall from 10-11 p.m. ET) joined with the episode’s original telecast on April 15 and subsequent linear and digital delayed viewing to total more than 17 million when including delayed digital and linear viewing..
Thursday
A rebroadcast of “Transplant” (0.3 rating in 18-49, 2.4 million viewers overall from 8-9 p.m. ET) ranks as the most-watched among three Thursday “Transplant” encores to date.
A second rebroadcast of “Transplant” (0.3 rating in 18-49, 2.2 million viewers overall from 9-10 p.m. ET) captured NBC’s best total-viewer result in the time period, excluding sports, since May 21 (2.3 million), improving by +20% versus NBC’s average in the timeslot this summer prior to the arrival of “Transplant” encores on Sept. 3 in total viewers (2.212 million vs 1.842 million).
A rebroadcast “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (0.2 rating in 18-49, 1.7 million viewers overall from 10-11 p.m. ET) combined with the episode’s original telecast on April 23 (3.7 million viewers) and an Aug. 6 rebroadcast (2.1 million) to total 7.5 million persons, and more than 12 million when including delayed digital and linear viewing.
Friday
A rebroadcast of “America’s Got Talent” (0.3 rating in 18-49, 1.8 million viewers overall from 8-10 p.m. ET) delivered a steady 0.3 in 18-49 for a fifth Friday in a row.
“Dateline NBC” (0.4 rating in adults 18-49, 0.5 in adults 25-54, 2.3 million viewers overall from 10-11 p.m. ET) equaled an 18-week Friday high in 18-49 (matching its best rating since May 15, 0.5). “Dateline” maintained or increased its ratings from the show’s first half-hour to its second in 10 of 10 key ratings measures, despite the 10 p.m. hour.
Sunday
NBC Sports coverage of New England Patriots-Seattle Seahawks “Sunday Night Football” (5.2/29 in 18-49, 17.7 million viewers overall from 8:23-11:30 p.m. ET) won the night among the Big 4 networks in 10 of 10 key ratings measures – adults, men and women 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54, plus total viewers. The game’s Total Audience Delivery of 18.4 million (according to official-national figures from Nielsen and digital data from Adobe Analytics) topped last year’s Eagles-Falcons “SNF” Week 2 telecast (18.2 million viewers), which did not face competition from NBA Playoffs or the Emmy Awards.
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Media contact:
Tom Bierbaum, 814-452-2091