TV Ratings: Football And Holiday Movies Rule

Hallmark was the most-watched entertainment cable channel last week, as it often is as the holidays approach. The Associated Press citing Nielsen data reports the network scores particularly well among its target audience of women ages 25-to-54.

Broadcast networks are rolling out their own holiday fare, with NBC's special surrounding the Christmas tree lighting in Rockefeller Center the most popular last week.

NBC reached 5.3 million people for its live production of “Annie!” Live television musicals are losing their pull ever since becoming a semi-regular feature when a production of “The Sound of Music” surprised people by drawing more than 18 million viewers in 2013. “Annie! Live” did beat ABC's interview with Alec Baldwin on the “Rust” movie set shooting, which was a direct competitor.

Meanwhile, Fox rode football to a win in the weekly ratings, averaging 6.4 million viewers in prime time last week. NBC had 6.1 million, CBS had 5.3 million, ABC had 2.9 million, Univision had 1.4 million, Ion Television had 930,000 and Telemundo had 900,000.

📺Top 20 Prime-Time TV Shows (Total Viewers):

1. NFL Football: Denver at Kansas City, NBC, 17.51 million.

2. NFL Football: Dallas at New Orleans, Fox, 16.7 million.

3. “NFL Pregame,” NBC, 12.12 million.

4. College Football: Michigan vs. Iowa, Fox, 11.66 million.

5. NFL Football: Seattle at Washington, ESPN, 10.9 million.

6. “NFL Postgame,” Fox, 10.46 million.

7. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 10.3 million.

8. “College Football Pregame,” Fox, 9.74 million.

9. “NFL Pregame,” Fox, 9.73 million.

10. “Football Night in America, Part 3,” NBC, 9.34 million.

11. “NCIS,” CBS, 7.34 million.

12. “Yellowstone,” Paramount, 7.28 million.

13. “College Football Postgame,” CBS, 7.23 million.

14. “The Voice” (Tuesday), NBC, 6.76 million.

15. “Young Sheldon,” CBS, 6.59 million.

16. “The Voice” (Monday), NBC, 6.48 million.

17. “Christmas in Rockefeller Center,” NBC, 6.18 million.

18. “Blue Bloods,” CBS, 5.81 million.

19. “Survivor,” CBS, 5.63 million.

20. “Ghosts,” CBS, 5.46 million.

ABC's “World News Tonight” led the evening news ratings race with an average of 8 million viewers. NBC's “Nightly News” had 7.4 million and the “CBS Evening News” had 5.2 million.

Fox News Channel led cable networks with an average of 2.42 million viewers in prime time. ESPN had 2.05 million, Hallmark had 1.53 million, MSNBC had 1.16 million and Freeform had 1.02 million.

Graphics Courtesy of RoadMN

On the programming front, Tucker Carlson Tonight finished No. 1 on cable news, averaging 3.475 total viewers and 571,000 A25-54. 

According to TV Newser, The Five finished second in cable news with 3.43 million total viewers and 511,000 in the 25-54 demo. Hannity was third in cable news across the board, with 2.93 million viewers and 466,000 in the 25-54 demo. Special Report with Bret Baier was the fourth most-watched show in cable news with 2.52 million total viewers and 370,000 A25-54. The Ingraham Angle came in fifth, averaging 2.26 million total viewers and 352,000 adults 25-54.Fox also had 14 of the top 15 cable news shows in total viewers and 15 of the top 16 cable news shows among adults 25-54.

In terms of non-Fox programming, MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show ranked No. 7 in average total viewers (2.07 million) and No. 14 among adults 25-54 (249,000) on cable news this past week. It was the No. 1 non-Fox News show of the week.