TV Ratings Two Episodes Of "AGT" Dominate

“America’s Got Talent” wasn’t content with just the top spot in the Nielsen company’s rankings of the most popular television programs last week. This time it took the top two, according to the Associated Press citing Nielsen data.

First place is familiar territory for NBC’s talent competition. It has been the most-watched summer series for six straight years and the No. 1 alternative summer series for all 14 years that it has been on the air.

The dominance continues even though the show is slipping in popularity, which is typical of most TV series these days. “AGT” averages 11.4 million viewers live and within a week of an episode’s premiere, down 18% from last year, Nielsen said.

The summer’s ratings illustrate how scripted series are fading as a factor, after a couple of years where networks tried to attract viewers with a handful of new shows. Last summer the second-ranked show was the CBS drama “Code Black,” with 8.8 million viewers. The most-watched scripted series this summer has been reruns of CBS’ “NCIS,” at 5.6 million, Nielsen said.

NBC won the week in prime time, averaging 3.6 million viewers. CBS had 3.4 million, ABC had 2.9 million, Fox had 2.4 million, ION Television had 1.4 million, Univision had 980,000, Univision had 950,000 and the CW had 580,000.

ABC’s “World News Tonight” topped the evening newscasts with an average of 8 million viewers. NBC’s “Nightly News” was second with 7.2 million and the “CBS Evening News” had 5 million viewers.

⏩ Broadcast Prime-time viewership numbers:

1. “America’s Got Talent” (Tuesday), NBC, 9.1 million.
2. “America’s Got Talent” (Wednesday), NBC, 7.9 million.
3. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 7.11 million.
4. NFL Exhibition Football: Seattle at Minnesota, Fox, 5.3 million.
5. “Celebrity Family Feud,” ABC, 5.06 million.
6. “American Ninja Warrior,” NBC, 4.76 million.
7. “Big Brother” (Sunday), CBS, 4.72 million.
8. “The $100,000 Pyramid,” ABC, 4.42 million.
9. “NCIS,” CBS, 4.4 million.
10. “America’s Funniest Home Videos,” ABC, 4.37 million.

11. “Bachelor in Paradise” (Monday), ABC, 4.35 million.
12. “Big Brother” (Wednesday), CBS, 4.23 million.
13. “Big Brother” (Thursday), CBS, 4.21 million.
14. “Bachelor in Paradise” (Tuesday), ABC, 4.09 million.
15. “NCIS: New Orleans,” CBS, 4.04 million.
16. “Dateline NBC” (Monday), NBC, 4 million.
17. “FBI,” CBS, 3.91 million.
18. “The Big Bang Theory,” CBS, 3.75 million.
19. “Young Sheldon,” CBS, 3.61 million.
20. “Blue Bloods,” CBS, 3.6 million.

Fox News Channel was the week’s most popular cable network, averaging 2.36 million viewers in prime time. MSNBC had 1.54 million, HGTV had 1.2 million, USA had 1.13 million and Hallmark had 1.11 million.

CNN slipped out of the prime time top 10, finishing No. 12 for the week in total prime time viewers. It still held a spot in the Top 10 in total day viewing, coming in at No. 8 by averaging 578,000 viewers across 6 a.m. – 6 a.m. It also beat MSNBC in total day among adults 25-54.

⏩ Basic cable ranker:  on Scribd