NBC Weekly Ratings Release: August 12 - 18, 2019

NBC has tied for #1 for the primetime ratings week of Aug. 12-18 in adults 18-49 and taken the week in total viewers and adults 25-54, according to “live plus same day” viewership figures from Nielsen Media Research.

It’s the ninth week in a row NBC has finished #1 or tied for #1 in total viewers and sixth time in eight weeks NBC has earned at least a share of the 18-49 lead.

Tuesday and Wednesday editions of “America’s Got Talent” generated the week’s top two total-viewer performances, with the Tuesday telecast tying Sunday NFL football on Fox as the #1 show in 18-49.

“Talent” continued its streak this summer of ranking as television’s #1 most-watched entertainment show every week it’s aired.

In 18-49, NBC telecasts ranking in the top 20 among primetime shows on the Big 4 networks were the Tuesday and Wednesday “AGT” editions (tied for #1 and tied for #5 respectively), Monday’s “American Ninja Warrior” (tied for #10) and Wednesday’s “Songland,” Tuesday’s “Bring the Funny” and Monday’s “Dateline NBC” (tied for #15).

Season to date, NBC ranks #1 among ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox in adults 18-49, adults 25-54 and adults 18-34 and is #1 or tied for #1 in all key adult-female demos, men 18-49 and men 25-54. In total viewers, excluding sports, NBC is running within 1.074 million persons of #1 CBS, NBC’s closest position to #1 in total viewers at this point in the season, excluding sports, in 16 years, since trailing by 578,000 persons at this time in 2002-03.

Weekly ratings are “live plus same day” figures from Nielsen Media Research unless otherwise noted. Season-to-date ratings are averages of “live plus seven day” data except for the two most recent weeks, which are “live plus same day.”

Adult 18-49 Rating, “live plus same day,”
FOX…0.6    NBC…0.6    ABC…0.6
CBS…0.5    CW…0.1

Total Viewers
NBC…3.6 million    CBS…3.4 million    ABC…2.9 million
FOX…2.4 million    CW…0.6 million

NBC highlights for the week of Aug. 12-18:

Monday
NBC won Monday night in total viewers and adults 25-54.

“American Ninja Warrior” (0.9 rating in 18-49, 4.8 million viewers overall from 8-10 p.m. ET) ranked as the #1 show of the night in total viewers and adults 25-54. In adults 18-49, “Ninja” equaled the show’s Monday high for this season and matched its high for any night since the show’s season premiere Wednesday, May 29 (1.0). It’s the most-watched “ANW” since June 17 (4.782 million). “Ninja” grew +13% week to week in 18-49 (0.9 vs. 0.8) and +3% in total viewers (4.8 million vs. 4.6 million).

L+35+Digital: After 35 days of digital and linear delayed viewing plus encores, “American Ninja Warrior” has been growing this summer by +149% in adults 18-49 and +5.6 million viewers overall versus its next-day “live plus same day” Nielsens, to a 2.26 rating in 18-49 and 10.3 million viewers overall in L+35+digital including encores.

“Dateline NBC” (0.7 rating in adults 18-49, 1.0 in adults 25-54, 4.0 million viewers overall from 10-11 p.m. ET) matched the show’s Monday highs this season in adult 18-49 and adults 25-54, growing week to week by +17% in adults 18-49 (0.7 vs. 0.6), +25% in adults 25-54 (1.0 vs. 0.8) and +16% in total viewers (4.0 million vs. 3.4 million). “Dateline” ranked #1 in the timeslot among ABC, CBS and NBC in adults, men and women 18-49; adults, men and women 25-54; and total viewers.

Tuesday
NBC won Tuesday in adults 18-49, adults 25-54 and total viewers.

“America’s Got Talent” (1.4 rating in 18-49, 9.1 million viewers overall from 8-10:01 p.m.) ranked as the #1 telecast of the night on the Big 4 networks in adults 18-49, adults 25-54 and total viewers, outrating ABC’s Week 2 of “Bachelor in Paradise” by +27% in 18-49 (1.4 vs. 1.1 from 8-10) and +5.0 million persons or +123% in total viewers (9.1 million vs. 4.1 million). L+35+Digital: “America’s Got Talent” is growing by +145% versus its next-day “live plus same day” Nielsens after 35 days of digital and linear delayed viewing and encores, increasing all the way to a 3.93 rating, while adding +8.7 million viewers, growing to 18.6 million persons in L+35+Digital including encores. Digital & Social: “America’s Got Talent” has amassed 2.12 billion views across all digital video platforms so far this summer. “Talent” is the #1 most-social Broadcast Series of the year (27.6 million Total Interactions to-date in Linear metrics, Source: Nielsen Social SCR, 1/1/19-8/11/19. Linear Metrics. Series only. Live or New. All dayparts and channels. Excludes News & Sports).

“Bring the Funny” (0.7 rating in 18-49, 3.4 million viewers overall from 10:01-11 p.m. ET) ranked #1 in the timeslot among ABC, CBS and NBC in nine of nine key demographics -- adults, men and women 18-34; adults, men and women 18-49; and adults, men and women 25-54. L+7+Digital: “Bring the Funny” is increasing by +78% versus its next-day “live plus same day” Nielsens after seven days of digital and linear delayed viewing plus encores, growing to a 1.63 rating, while adding +2.8 million viewers, growing to 7.4 million persons in L+7+Digital including encores.

Wednesday
NBC wins Wednesday night among the Big 4 networks in total viewers.

The Wednesday season premiere of “America’s Got Talent” (1.1 rating in 18-49, 7.9 million viewers overall from 8-9:01 p.m. ET) tied as the #1 show of the night in adults 18-49 and was #1 outright in total viewers. In the timeslot, “AGT” tied for #1 with “Big Brother” and won the slot in total viewers by +87% or +3.7 million persons (7.9 million vs. 4.2 million). Versus NBC’s summer-to-date average in the timeslot “Talent” was up by +57% above (1.1 vs. 0.7, L+SD excluding sports) and +4.4 million persons or +128% in total viewers (7.9 million vs. 3.5 million).

“Songland” (0.7 rating in 18-49, 3.3 million viewers overall from 9:01-10 p.m. ET) won the hour in total viewers, outdelivering Fox’s Week 2 of “BH90201” in the timeslot by +30% in total viewers (3.3 million vs. 2.6 million). “Songland” returned from a six-week break and moved to a new night and maintained 100% of the 18-49 for its prior original telecast (0.7 vs. 0.7 million on Tuesday, July 2 at 10:01 p.m. Versus NBC’s timeslot average so far this summer, “Songland” was up +17% (0.7 vs. 0.6, L+SD excluding sports) and +15% in total viewers (3.277 million vs. 2.848 million). L+35+Digital: After 35 days of digital and linear delayed viewing plus encores, “Songland” has been more than doubling this summer, growing by +105% in adults 18-49 versus its next-day “live plus same day” Nielsens, to a 1.97 rating in 18-49. In total viewers, “Songland” is increasing by +3.5 million persons to 8.1 million viewers in L+35+digital including encores.

The InBetween” (0.4 rating in 18-49, 2.4 million viewers overall from 10-11 p.m. ET) equaled the show’s highest 18-49 rating since June 5 (0.5) and finished within 0.1 of a point of the timeslot lead among ABC, CBS and NBC in adults 18-49 (0.4 vs. 0.5 for ABC’s “The Match Game”). L+35+Digital: After 35 days of linear and digital delayed viewing, “The InBetween” grows by +170% in adults 18-49 and adds +3.2 million viewers overall to its next-day “live plus same day” results, increasing to a 1.30 rating in 18-49 and 6.3 million viewers overall.

Thursday
An encore telecast of “The Wall” (0.5 rating in 18-49, 2.9 million viewers overall from 8-9 p.m. ET) topped ABC’s original competition of “Holey Moley” in total viewers (2.9 million vs. 2.5 million). “The Wall” jumped +25% versus the previous week’s encore in this timeslot in 18-49 (0.5 vs. 0.4) and +18% in total viewers (2.9 million vs. 2.5 million).

A rebroadcast of “Ellen’s Game of Games” (0.5 rating in 18-49, 2.5 viewers overall from 9-10 p.m. ET) outscored ABC’s original competition of “Family Food Fight” in 18-49 (0.5 vs. 0.3) and total viewers (2.5 million vs. 1.6 million), while delivering NBC’s biggest audience in the timeslot, excluding live events, since July 11 (2.666 million), and equaling the network’s 18-49 slot high excluding live events since April 4 (0.6).

An encore telecast of “Law & Order: SVU” (0.4 rating in 18-49, 2.4 million viewers overall from 10-11 p.m. ET) tied CBS’ original “Elementary” for #1 in the time period among the ABC-CBS-NBC dramas in adults 18-49 (0.4 each) and 25-54 (0.6 each), and beat ABC’s original competition of “Reef Break” in adults 18-49 (0.4 vs. 0.2), adults 25-54 (0.6 vs. 0.4) and total viewers (2.4 million vs. 1.8 million). “SVU” surged by +33% versus the prior week’s encore in this timeslot in 18-49 (0.4 vs. 0.3) and +35% in total viewers (2.410 million vs. 1.784 million).

Friday
NBC’s Friday encores won the night among the Big 4 networks in adults 18-49 and adults 25-54.

A rebroadcast “American Ninja Warrior” (0.4 in 18-49, 1.9 million viewers overall from 8-10 p.m.) won the timeslot among the Big 4 in adults 18-49 and 25-54.

“Dateline NBC” (0.5 in 18-49, 0.7 in 25-54, 2.7 million overall viewers from 10-11 p.m.) ranked as the night’s #1 telecast on the Big 4 networks in adults 18-49 and adults 25-54. L+7: Through the traditional September-to-May season, Friday’s “Dateline” grew by +51% in 18-49 rating (from a 0.57 to a 0.86) and more than +1.2 million viewers overall (3.5 million to 4.7 million) going from L+SD to L+7.

Saturday
An encore telecast of “America’s Got Talent” (0.3 rating in 18-49, 1.7 million viewers overall from 8-9 p.m. ET) tied for #1 in the timeslot among the Big 4 networks in adults 18-49 and adults 25-54.

"Dateline Saturday Night Mystery” (0.5 rating in 18-49, 0.7 in 25-54, 2.8 million viewers overall from 9-11 p.m. ET) scored as the #1 primetime telecast of the night on the Big 4 networks in adults 18-49 and 25-54, growing week to week by +25% in adults 18-49 (0.5 vs. 0.4 from 10-11 p.m.), +40% in adults 25-54 (0.7 vs. 0.5) and +14% in total viewers (2.8 million vs. 2.5 million).