TV Ratings: NBC Scores Wins

The week before Christmas was a good one for NBC, which won in prime time, early morning news and evening news.

According to The Orlando Sentinel, NBC’s “Today” had the most viewers for the fourth straight week. The show started winning with the firing of Matt Lauer for sexual misconduct in the workplace.

“Today” averaged 4.383 million viewers, according to Nielsen ratings for last week. ABC’s “Good Morning America” was right behind with 4.331 million.

The margin of victory for “Today” continued to shrink. The NBC show won by 539,000 the week of Nov. 27, when Lauer was fired; 201,000 the week of Dec. 4; and 59,000 the week of Dec. 11. The margin was 52,000 last week.

“Today” won across the board, also placing first with the 25-to-54 and 18-to-49 age groups. “GMA” ranked second in those counts, and “CBS This Morning” was third. “Today” and “GMA” tied for first in households.

In prime time, the most-watched telecasts were:

1. “Saturday Night Football” (Minnesota-Green Bay), NBC, 15.3 million
2. “The OT,” Fox, 12.8 million
3. “Young Sheldon,” CBS, 11.3 million
4. “The Voice” Monday, NBC, 11 million
5. “The Voice” Tuesday, NBC, 10.9 million
6. “The Big Bang Theory,” CBS, 9.4 million
7. “Mom,” CBS, 8.9 million
8. “Survivor” finale, CBS, 8.7 million
9. “Football Night in America Part 3,” NBC, 8 million
10. “The Voice” 8 p.m. Tuesday recap, NBC, 7.9 million

The prime-time averages in total viewers: NBC with 6.9 million, CBS with 5.6 million, ABC with 3.3 million, Fox with 2.9 million and The CW with 930,000.

NBC was the winner with the 18-to-49 age group. CBS and Fox tied for second, edging ABC.

“NBC Nightly News With Lester Holt” won across the board for the week. Holt averaged 8.914 million viewers. “ABC World News Tonight With David Muir” averaged 8.843 million – a victory by just 71,000 viewers. But “World News Tonight” is No. 1 this season and was the only newscast to improve from the comparable week last year. “CBS Evening News With Jeff Glor” ranked third with 6.507 million viewers.

Holt also won the 25-to-54 age group for the 79th straight week and the 18-to-49 age group. It has won the latter count for 124 of the last 125 weeks.

In cable prime time for the week the top channels were ESPN with 2.997 million viewers, Fox News Channel with 2.703 million, Hallmark with 2.223 million, MSNBC with 2.071 million and USA with 1.470 million. CNN ranked No. 19 with 795,000.

In 25-to-54 viewers in prime time, here’s how cable news performed last week: Fox News with 503,000, MSNBC with 440,000 and CNN with 293,000.