Wednesday, November 18, 2020

TV Ratings: Scripted Shows Start Returning

After the coronavirus pandemic sidelined creators and led to a delayed start of the traditional fall television season, scripted shows are beginning to return to network schedules, reports The Associated Press.

Dick Wolf’s Chicago-based trilogy of dramas is back, and all three shows finished among the Nielsen company’s 20 most-watched programs last week.

CBS’ “Young Sheldon” led the path for comedies. ABC’s “Station 19” and “Grey’s Anatomy” were strong performers, along with CBS’ “NCIS: Los Angeles.”

But there are signs that viewers aren’t immediately returning to old habits. A CBS double-header of “S.W.A.T.” episodes on Wednesday fell flat, with neither episode reaching 3 million viewers. Similarly, NBC’s long-playing “Law & Order: SVU” reached only 3 million people for its season debut.

Former President Barack Obama had drawing power. “60 Minutes” landed as the week’s most-watched non-football program as it featured an Obama interview hawking his new book.

Ratings for the Masters golf tournament plunged this year as the broadcast faced competition for viewers from NFL games for the first time.

SportsMediaWatch reported Tuesday that the 2020 Masters was the lowest-watched since at least 1995, as far back as records exist, while ratings were the lowest since 1957. Viewership for the final round was down 48 percent compared to last year.

Last year's tournament, won by Tiger Woods, was held during its traditional period in April while this year's was postponed until November due to the coronavirus pandemic. Dustin Johnson won this year's tournament.

NBC was the most popular network, averaging 5.9 million viewers in prime time. ABC had 4.94 million viewers and Fox had 4.89 million. CBS averaged 4.1 million, Univision had 1.2 million and both Ion Television and Telemundo averaged just under 1 million viewers.

Fox News Channel was the most-watched cable channel, averaging 3.36 million viewers for the week. CNN had 2.36 million, MSNBC had 2.15 million, ESPN had 2.04 million and Hallmark had 1.67 million.

Fox in a press release noted that it saw a 55 percent increase in prime-time viewers and a 10 percent increase in total day viewers in that demographic.

Fox News in its release also praised “Hannity," hosted by Sean Hannity, for being the top rated telecast in cable for the week with its Nov. 10 show, after NFL football on ESPN.

MSNBC touted its dayside shows in a release that said it had won more viewers Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. than Fox News for the first time since 2001. It also touted that "Morning Joe" with Joe Scarborough had averaged 1.62 million viewers for the week. Fox News received 1.38 million viewers for that time period for the week.

👉Top 20 Prime-Times Shows (Total Viewers):

1. NFL Football: Baltimore at New England, NBC, 15.79 million.

2. NFL Football: Indianapolis at Tennessee, Fox, 12.51 million.

3. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 12.38 million.

4. “NFL Pregame,” NBC, 11.82 million.

5. NFL Football: New England at N.Y. Jets, ESPN, 10.22 million.

6. “Football Night in America,” NBC, 9.03 million.

7. “Chicago Med,” NBC, 7.84 million.

8. “The OT,” Fox, 7.73 million.

9. “The Voice” (Tuesday), NBC, 7.64 million.

10. “NFL Pregame,” Fox, 7.55 million.

11. “Young Sheldon,” CBS, 7.41 million.

12. “The Voice” (Monday), NBC, 7.27 million.

13. “Chicago Fire,” NBC, 7.24 million.

14. Country Music Association Awards, ABC, 7.09 million.

15. “This is Us,” NBC, 6.86 million.

16. “Station 19,” ABC, 6.61 million.

17. “Chicago PD,” NBC, 6.43 million.

18. “NCIS: Los Angeles,” CBS, 6.11 million.

19. “The Masked Singer,” Fox, 6.07 million.

20. “Dancing With the Stars,” ABC, 5.97 million.

ABC’s “World News Tonight” led the evening newscasts, averaging 9.9 million viewers. NBC’s “Nightly News” had 8.3 million and “CBS Evening News” had 5.9 million.

Ratings for most syndicated shows slipped as the attention of many viewers was riveted on election results in the session ending Nov. 8, reports TV Newscheck.

For example, all of the most popular games lost ground, with Family Feud falling 9% from the previous frame to a 5.3 live-plus-same-day national Nielsen rating; Wheel of Fortune fading 6% to a 5.0, and Jeopardy sliding 9% to a 4.9.

Elsewhere in access, TMZ — at a 0.8 — and Extra right behind at a 0.7, were the only two magazines in the top six able to hold their ground in the face of heavy preemptions for voting coverage and football. Inside Edition eroded 8% to a 2.2 but still led the category.

In daytime, Live with Kelly and Ryan took over sole possession of first place in talk, doing well to dip only 5% to a 1.8, despite being bumped 21 times in the top 10 markets alone.

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