• by Wayne Friedman , September 10, 2018

Just two weeks before the new TV season is about to begin, NBC still leads when looking at the 2017-2018 September-to-September results. They include the traditional fall programming through spring as well as summer programming.  

NBC is at 7.75 million average prime-time viewers, just ahead of CBS’ 7.74 million through September 2, according to Nielsen data. This comes from a combination of live program plus seven days of time-shifted viewing, and for the most recent weeks, live program-plus-same day time-shifted viewing.

ABC is next at 5.59 million average prime-time viewers, followed by Fox at 4.18 million; the CW with 1.54 million; Univision at 1.49 million, and Telemundo with 1.23 million. Average prime-time viewers among these top seven national TV networks are at 4.22 million.

The race for NBC is far easier among 18-49 viewers -- averaging a 1.8 rating/8 share. ABC is just a tick above CBS with a 1.3/6 to CBS’ 1.3/5. Fox is at 1.2/5. The CW, Telemundo and Univision are tied at a 0.5/2.

The 2018-2019 TV season starts Monday, September 24.