TV Ratings: More Watched Derby Replays Than Watched It Live

NBC said some 36 million people watched the exciting finish of horseracing’s premier event on NBC Sports’ social media accounts, including 11.6 million on TikTok, the most ever achieved for a network sports presentation. That doesn’t account for non-NBC outlets, reports The Associated Press citing Nielsen data.

NBC’s live Derby coverage was seen by an average of 16 million people on the network and Peacock on Saturday. That peaked at 19 million during the actual running of the race, the network said.

It was NBC’s most-watched program since the Super Bowl, the Nielsen company said.

CBS dominated the ratings in prime-time last week, averaging 4.2 million with “NCIS” as the most popular show. ABC had 3.7 million, NBC had 2.8 million, Fox had 2.1 million, Univision had 1.4 million, Ion Television averaged 970,000 and Telemundo had 900,000

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

1. “NCIS,” CBS, 7.27 million.

2. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 7.11 million.

3. “The Equalizer,” CBS, 6.46 million.

4. “Blue Bloods,” CBS, 6.23 million.

5. NBA Playoffs: Memphis at Golden State (Saturday), ABC, 6.1 million.

6. “American Idol” (Monday), ABC, 5.82 million.

7. “Survivor,” CBS, 5.61 million.

8. “American Idol” (Sunday), ABC, 5.52 million.

9. “The Neighborhood,” CBS, 5.47 million.

10. “Bob Hearts Abishola,” CBS, 5.4 million.

11. NBA Playoffs: Golden State at Memphis (Tuesday), Turner, 5.32 million.

12. “NCIS: Hawai’i,” CBS, 5.21 million.

13. “NCIS: Los Angeles,” CBS, 5.18 million.

14. “911,” Fox, 5.1 million.

15. “Magnum, P.I.,” 5.06 million.

16. “Law & Order: SVU,” NBC, 4.9 million.

17. “America’s Funniest Home Videos,” ABC, 4.86 million.

18. “FBI,” CBS, 4.83 million.

19. “This is Us,” NBC, 4.67 million.

20. NBA Playoffs: Miami at Philadelphia (Sunday), Turner, 4.63 million.

📺BROADCAST EVENING NEWS

ABC’s “World News Tonight” won the evening news ratings race, averaging 7.8 million viewers. NBC’s “Nightly News” had 6.5 million viewers and the “CBS Evening News” had 4.6 million.

With its performance this past week, ABC’s evening newscast has now defeated its competition from NBC and CBS 179 of the past 180 weeks in average total viewers—and 108 of the last 110 weeks among adults 25-54.

📺CABLE TV

Fox News Channel was the most-watched basic cable network in total day and the second-most-watched in primetime during the week of May 2. The cable news powerhouse also averaged more total viewers than CNN and MSNBC combined for the 38th consecutive week.

Turner Networks was the most-watched cable network for the week, benefiting from the NBA’s playoff games, at an average of 2.85 million viewers. Fox News Channel had 2.25 million, ESPN had 1.38 million, HGTV had 998,000 and MSNBC had 963,000.

Graphics Courtesy of RoadMN (w.permission)

On the cable news programming front, Fox News’ The Five remained the most-watched show on cable news this past week, averaging 3.27 million total viewers at 5 p.m. Tucker Carlson Tonight took second place in total viewers, averaging 3.16 million at 8 p.m., Hannity at No. 3 ( 2.655 million viewers at 9 p.m.),  Special Report with Bret Baier at No. 4 (2.49 million at 6 p.m.), with Jesse Watters Primetime, which featured guest hosts throughout the week, rounding out the top five in average total viewers ( 2.35 million at 7 p.m.).

Graphic Courtesy of RoadMN (w/permission)

According to TVNewser, Tucker Carlson Tonight remained the top-rated cable news show among adults 25-54—averaging 517,000 this past week—and Fox News as a network secured 9 of the 10-most-watched cable news shows of the week, and the top 15 in the key A25-54 demo.

MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show was the sole non-Fox show to break the cable news top 10 in total viewers (1.94 million – No. 8).