TV Ratings: 'Password' Reboot Finds An Audience

NBC Reboots 'Password'

Enough viewers stayed tuned to NBC last Tuesday after “America’s Got Talent” to make the latest incarnation of “Password” the most watched of the summer’s nine premieres on the five major broadcast networks, reports The L-A Times citing Nielsen data.

The word-guessing game hosted by Keke Palmer, with Jon Hamm and Jimmy Fallon as the initial celebrity players, averaged 4.211 million viewers, eighth among prime-time and broadcast programs airing between Aug. 8 and Sunday and first among programs beginning at 10 p.m., according to live-plus-same-day figures released Tuesday by Nielsen.

“Password” retained 65.2% of “America’s Got Talent’s” audience. The two-hour “AGT” episode averaged 6.452 million viewers, finishing first for the third consecutive week and fifth time in seven weeks.

The summer’s previous high for a premiere was the ABC game show “Generation Gap,” which averaged 3.864 million viewers on July 7.

A second episode of “Password” that aired Wednesday was fourth for the week, averaging 4.576 million viewers for games with Fallon and model-turned-television host and businesswoman Heidi Klum. It followed the first Wednesday “America’s Got Talent” episode of the summer and retained 83.2% of its audience. The 61-minute “America’s Got Talent” episode was third for the week, averaging 5.499 million viewers.

The CBS news magazine “60 Minutes” was the only other prime-time program to average more than 5 million viewers, averaging 5.945 million viewers for an edition with three previously broadcast segments that were updated.

“America’s Got Talent” and “60 Minutes” have finished 1-2 in the ratings for three consecutive weeks and four of the past five.

Major League Baseball’s “Field of Dreams” game was the top-ranked prime-time sporting event and Fox’s ratings leader, averaging 3.103 million viewers, 24th for the week.

NBC won the network race for the second consecutive week, averaging 2.72 million viewers, followed by CBS, which averaged 2.68 million.  ABC was third among the broadcast networks, averaging 2.45 million viewers.

📺Top 20 Prime Times Shows. Week of Aug 8 

1. “America’s Got Talent” (Tuesday), NBC, 6.45 million.

2. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 5.95 million.

3. “America’s Got Talent” (Wednesday), NBC, 5.5 million.

4. “Password” (Wednesday), NBC, 4.58 million.

5. “Celebrity Family Feud,” ABC, 4.51 million.

6. “Tucker Carlson Tonight” (Monday), Fox News, 4.26 million.

7. “Hannity” (Monday), Fox News, 4.24 million.

8. “Password” (Tuesday), NBC, 4.21 million.

9. “The $100,000 Pyramid,” ABC, 4.01 million.

10. “Big Brother” (Sunday), CBS, 3.95 million.

11. “Big Brother” (Wednesday), CBS, 3.86 million.

12. “America’s Funniest Home Videos,” ABC, 3.81 million.

13. “The Ingraham Angle” (Monday), Fox News, 3.7 million.

14. “Big Brother” (Thursday), CBS, 3.63 million.

15. “FBI,” CBS, 3.57 million.

16. “The Rachel Maddow Show” (Monday), MSNBC, 3.523 million.

17. “Tucker Carlson Tonight” (Tuesday), Fox News, 3.518 million.

18. “Press Your Luck,” ABC, 3.5 million.

19. “Hannity” (Tuesday), Fox News, 3.4 million.

20. “Tucker Carlson Tonight” (Wednesday), 3.36 million.

📺BROADCAST EVENING NEWS

ABC’s and NBC’s evening newscasts gained viewers from the previous week, driven by a busy news cycle featuring the FBI search at Donald Trump’s Florida residence and the attack on Salman Rushdie.

According to TV Newser citing five-plus-same-day data from Nielsen, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir remains at the top of the evening news food chain, averaging 7.53 million total viewers and 1.30 million adults 25-54 for the week of August 8. The 7.53 million figure means World News Tonight is once again the most-watched show on U.S. TV—excluding sports and syndication—for the week. Additionally, ABC’s evening newscast has now defeated its competition from NBC and CBS 193 of the past 194 weeks in average total viewers—and 122 of the last 124 weeks among adults 25-54.

World News Tonight gained +1% in total viewers and +2% from the adults 25-54 demo vs. the previous week (August 1), but was down -4% in total viewers and -10% among adults 25-54 from the comparable week in 2021 (Aug. 9).

Lester Holt had the week off from NBC Nightly News. Tom Llamas anchored the newscast on Monday, Tuesday and Friday and Kate Snow anchored Wednesday and Thursday. With Llamas and Snow at the desk, Nightly News averaged 6.17 million total viewers on the linear network, which is +2% from the week prior, to go with 1.03 million adults 25-54 which is an +11% gain from the week prior. 

The CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell averaged 4.44 million total viewers and just 715,000 adults 25-54 for the second week of August. 

📺CABLE TV

All three major cable news networks—Fox News, MSNBC and CNN—gained scores of viewers when news broke of the FBI executing a search warrant at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Florida residence last Monday. According to TV Newser, the breaking news coverage was featured on cable news throughout the week, resulting in week-to-week and year-over-year gains for the top newsers.

CNN and MSNBC may have delivered more substantial week to week audience gains, but Fox News Channel was once again the most-watched network overall, not only in primetime but also in total day viewers.

Graphic Courtesy of RoadMN (w/permission)

In terms of individual programming, 

• Fox News’ Tucker Carlson Tonight (guest-hosted by Will Cain) broke The Five’s eight-week-long winning streak and was the most-watched cable news show for the week of August 8. 
• The Five took second place in total viewers (3.72 million at 5 p.m.), followed by MSNBC’s weekly The Rachel Maddow Show (3.52 million), 9 p.m. rival Hannity (3.48 million) with Jesse Watters Primetime (3.175 million at 7 p.m.) rounding out the top five. 

📺LATE NIGHT TV:

FOX News Channel’s (FNC) Gutfeld! topped all late-night programs on broadcast and cable networks in total viewers and the coveted 25-54 demo last week while delivering the most-watched show on television starting at 11PM/ET, according to Nielsen Media Research. This is the third full week host Greg Gutfeld has reigned as king of late night, outpacing all programs with original telecasts in Live+SD and notably beating Stephen Colbert four separate times for the week when both hosts were in.

Graphic Courtesy of RoadMN

The show has increased the viewership of FNC’s 11 PM/ET timeslot by 43% in total viewers and 17% in the younger 25-54 demo and remains the fastest growing late-night program in television. Additionally, Gutfeld! reaches the most upscale audience in all of late night (broadcast and cable) with the highest median income in total viewers and the A25-54 audience. According to data from Nielsen MRI Fusion, the program has more Democrats and Independents watching than tuning into any program on CNN.

📺DAYTIME TV

For the second year in a row, “The View” is the most-watched daytime talk show across both network and syndication, Variety has learned.

Variety reports the ABC series ranked No. 1 in both households and total viewers for the 2021-2022 television season. Its 1.7 rating topped all other network and syndicated daytime talk shows, tying with “Dr. Phil” in households and netting an average of 2.411 million total viewers for the season, per Nielsen.

In total viewers for the full season, “The View” came ahead of “Dr. Phil” — which ranked in second place, averaging 2.405 million total viewers — “Live With Kelly and Ryan” with 2.357 million total viewers and “Today Third Hour” with 2.144 million total viewers. “GMA3,” “Today With Hoda & Jenna,” “The Talk,” “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” and “The Kelly Clarkson Show” followed as the top-rated daytime shows for the 2021-2022 season.