NBC Is Still On Top, But ABC Gains With 'Roseanne'
- by Wayne Friedman , April 12, 2018
Although NBC is still ahead in leading all broadcast TV networks in key viewing metrics, ABC is making a big push to grab the second spot as the TV season winds down next month.
Thanks to another big week for “Roseanne,” ABC earned the top spot among key 18-49 viewers for the week ending April 8, with an average 1.1 rating/5 share. CBS was second at 1.0/4, followed by NBC with 0.9/4; Fox at 0.7/3; Univision with 0.5/2; Telemundo at 0.4/2; and CW with 0.3/1.
After 28 weeks of the TV season, through April 8, NBC remains in the lead with a Nielsen 2.4 rating/9 share among 18-49 viewers, as well as best in overall top prime-time viewer average, with 9.5 million.
Helping NBC to its big lead are two major February sports programs: the Super Bowl and the two-week Winter Olympics.
advertisement
advertisement
CBS is currently second for the season with a 1.6/6 among 18-49 viewers and 9.0 million in total average viewers.
ABC is tied with Fox for third place among 18-49 viewers at a 1.5/6. ABC is at 6 million prime-time viewers, followed by Fox at 5.2 million. This week, “Roseanne” earned another big 3.9 rating among 18-49 viewers, following up on the show’s debut the week before, which took in a 5.2 rating.
Farther down the TV season rating's scoreboard is The CW with a 0.6/2 for 18-49 viewers and 1.7 billion total viewers; Univision at a 0.5/2 for 18-49 viewers and 1.6 million viewers; and Telemundo with a 0.5/2 and 1.3 million overall prime-time viewers.
It's not surprising to see "Roseanne" down in "the key" viewing group ratings---adults 18-49----by 25% in its second week. That follows a familiar pattern. The next two or three weeks should tell the story. If the ratings stabilize around the Week Two level, the network probably has a hit---by current standards---on its hand as, by then, most of the latent samplers have had a chance to see what the reincarnation is all about. If not----???