10 Weeks Into TV Season, NBC Leads Total Viewing, Fox Grows Prime-Time Viewers

Ten weeks into the new season, Fox is the lone major broadcast TV network to see an increase among key prime-time audience viewing groups -- with NBC maintaining the top spot in total TV viewing.

NBC has 9.08 million average total prime-time viewers, according to Nielsen’s live program-plus-seven days of time-shifted viewing, plus live program/same day time-shifted viewing for the most two recent weeks -- Sept. 24 through Dec. 1.

NBC is down 7% versus a year ago. Rising viewership this season from the NFL’s “Sunday Night Football” has helped to keep NBC from bigger declines.

For its part, Fox is the only network to post higher overall results -- up 5% among adult 18-49 viewers to a 2.1 rating and 4% higher to a 2.6 among 25-54 viewers. Fox has also risen 4% to 7.5 million viewers -- in third place overall.

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Fox has seen major growth from its unscripted singing competition show “The Masked Singer” as well as strong results from the NFL’s “Thursday Night Football.”

CBS is now just slightly behind NBC, in second place among total prime-time viewers at 9.03 million -- down 12% from a year ago. After CBS comes Fox with 7.5 million.

ABC is next at 5.7 million viewers, down 4%. One positive sign for the network -- versus CBS and NBC -- is that it has seen lower percentage declines among total viewers in the 18-49 and 25-54 categories. ABC is down 8% to a 1.2 rating in 18-49 viewers, off 6% to a 1.7 in 25-54.

NBC, however, is down in the two-and-a-half-month period so far by 14% -- in 18-49 viewers and 25-54 viewers to a 1.9 rating and a 2.5 rating, respectively.  CBS is 27% lower in 18-49 (a 1.1 rating) and 19% less in 25-54 (a 1.7 rating).

Trailing other major broadcast networks, the CW fell 16% in total prime-time viewers to a 1.2 million. It is down 20% in 18-49 viewers to a 0.4 rating and off 33% in 25-54 viewers to a 0.4 rating.

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