Summer Sees TV Viewing Declines, Unscripted Series Shift To Fall Prime Time

Linear TV viewing declines continue, with the top 20 summer TV shows down 15% to 3.6 million average viewers using Nielsen's live airing-plus-7 days of time-shifted viewing metric for the period from May 25-July 16.

The heavy non-scripted summer TV period has also been affected by some broadcast TV networks delaying the start of top summer performers and moving fresh TV content into the fall prime-time schedule. 

Due to the current writers' and actors' strike, virtually all scripted TV broadcast prime-time series currently have been shut down.

CBS will be starting the 25th edition of its highly rated “Big Brother” summer TV series -- a top summer performer -- in early August, where episodes will bridge into the fall season. In previous years, the big show summer reality series started the first week in July.

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The series will run on Sundays and Wednesdays with fresh episodes. In past summer periods, it could run three times a week. 

Last year, “Brother” aired on Sundays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Total estimated episodes typically amount to 35-40 per season. In 2022, over a similar time span, the show averaged 4.6 million viewers.

NBC’s “America's Got Talent” remains the top summer TV show -- well ahead of the competition -- averaging 7.58 million, down just 2% over the same period a year ago.

Only two other primetime TV series amassed more than 4 million average viewers so far -- NBC's scripted TV series “Blacklist” (4.06 million) and NBC's “Nascar Cup Series Race (4.04 million).

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