NBC Claims Weekly Ratings Win

Chevel Shepherd and Kelly Clarkson

The 16-year-old charmer who conquered “The Voice” with her old-school country touch helped boost NBC to a weekly ratings win, reports The Associated Press citing Nielsen data.

Nearly 10 million viewers watched Chevel Shepherd win the singing contest, making it last week’s most popular entertainment show. Shepherd, of Farmington, New Mexico, was coached by another talent show discovery: inaugural “American Idol” victor Kelly Clarkson.

Football once again proved its ratings dominance, with broadcast and cable games and pre- or post-game shows claiming six of the week’s top 10 spots. The top-ranked game — and program overall — was NBC’s Sunday night NFL showcase, in which the Seattle Seahawks clinched a spot in the NFC playoffs with a 38-31 win over the Kansas City Chiefs.

NBC won the week in prime time, averaging 6.7 million. CBS, aided by “60 Minutes” and top 20 reruns of stalwart series including “NCIS” and “The Big Bang Theory,” followed with 6.4 million. ABC had 3 million, Fox had 1.7 million, ION Television had 1.28 million, Univision had 1.2 million, Telemundo had 1 million and the CW had 790,000.

CABLE TV

ESPN was the week’s most popular cable network, averaging 2.8 million people in prime time. Holiday-spirited Hallmark had 2 million, MSNBC had 1.9 million, Fox News Channel had 1.87 million and CNN had 1.1 million.

MSNBC had an impressive week, finishing ahead of Fox News and CNN in prime time across the key measurements, including total viewers and among the advertiser-preferred Adults 25-54 demographic. In fact, with only one week left in December, NBC’s politics-focused cable network is on track to finish the month as the No. 1 cable news network in prime time among Adults 25-54.

Prime Time (Total Viewers):

1. ESPN (2,890,000)
2. Hallmark Channel (2,069,000)
3. MSNBC (1,975,000)
4. Fox News (1,923,000)
5. NFL Network (1,371,000)

Basic Cable Ranker: Week of... by on Scribd

ABC’s “World News Tonight” topped the evening newscasts with an average of 8.7 million viewers. NBC’s “Nightly News” was second with 8.4 million and the “CBS Evening News” had 6.2 million.

TOP SHOWS ON BROADCAST TV

Prime-time viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen for Dec. 17-23. Listings include the week’s ranking and viewership.

1. NFL Sunday Night Football: Kansas City at Seattle, NBC, 19.6 million.
2. NFL Regular Season: New Orleans at Charlotte, ESPN, 13.3 million.
3. “Sunday Night NFL Pre-kick,” NBC, 12.6 million.
4. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 12 million.
5. “Fox NFL Sunday Post-Game,” Fox, 10.3 million.
6. “The Voice (Tuesday),” NBC, 9.9 million.
7. “The Voice (Monday),” NBC 9.5 million.
8. “Thursday Night Football: Baltimore at Los Angeles Chargers,” NFL Network, 8.2 million.
9. “Football Night in America,” NBC. 8.1 million.
10. “Survivor,” CBS, 7.7 million.

11. “The Voice (Tuesday),” NBC, 7.2 million.
12. “NCIS,” CBS, 7.1 million.
13. “The Big Bang Theory,” CBS, 7 million.
14. “Madam Secretary,” CBS, 6.6 million.
15. “Young Sheldon,” CBS, 6.57 million.
16. “The Big Bang Theory,” CBS, 6.4 million.
17. “America’s Got Talent: Holiday,” NBC, 6.2 million.
18. Thursday Night Football: Washington at Tennessee, NFL Network, 6.19 million.
19. “The Neighborhood,” CBS, 6.1 million.
20. “Thursday Night Football Pre-kick,” NFL Network, 5.6 million.

The top talk and court shows had hot hands in the session ending Dec. 16, with leaders Doctor Phil and Judge Judy both scoring double-digit increases.

Phil surged 11% to a four-week high 3.0 live-plus-same-day national Nielsen rating and finished first among takers for the 119th straight week.

TALK SHOWS

1. Dr. Phil (CTD) 3.0 +11%
2. Live with Kelly and Ryan (Disney-ABC) 2.3 +5%
3. Ellen DeGeneres (WBDTD) 2.3 NC
4. Maury (NBCU) 1.4 +8%
5. Wendy Williams (Debmar-Mercury) 1.4 +8%

MAGAZINE SHOWS

1. Inside Edition (CTD) 3.1 +3%
2. Entertainment Tonight (CTD) 3.0 +3%
3. TMZ (WBDTD) 1.3 NC
4. Access (NBCU) 1.3 NC
5. Extra (WBDTD) 1.1 NC