If you like to watch TV, chances are you like to watch “The Big Bang Theory” on CBS.
The top-rated sitcom that debuted in 2009 about a bunch of clueless but spectacularly brainy scientist nerds is still the nation’s most popular way to spend a TV-watching evening.
Only ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” kept CBS from sweeping the top five spots in last week’s prime-time television ratings as the network finished first for the seventh consecutive week and 24th time in the 32- week-old season.
With CBS airing a rerun of television’s most-watched scripted program, “NCIS,” “The Big Bang Theory” was the most-watched prime-time program between April 25 and Sunday, averaging 14.13 million viewers, according to live- plus-same day figures released Wednesday by Nielsen.
“Dancing with the Stars” was second, averaging 11.75 million viewers, followed by “60 Minutes” (10.34 million), “NCIS” (10.25 million) and “Blue Bloods” (10.13 million).
The only other non-CBS programs to average more than 10 million viewers were NBC’s “Little Big Shots,” sixth for the week averaging 10.1 million, and the Tuesday episode of “The Voice,” which averaged 10.07 million to finish seventh for the week, and the Fox hip-hop drama “Empire,” eighth for the week averaging 10.03 million.
CBS averaged 7.53 million viewers for its prime-time programming for the week. NBC was second, averaging 5.42 million, followed by ABC, which averaged 5.13 million, and Fox, which averaged 3.21 million.
In a week when the first- and third-place finishers were separated by 40,000 viewers, CBS was the most-watched network among viewers ages 18-49, averaging 1.49 million viewers among the group targeted by ABC, Fox and NBC and advertisers pay a premium to reach.
ABC was second, averaging 1.47 million, followed by NBC, which averaged 1.45 million, cable’s TNT, which averaged 1.29 million, and Fox, which averaged 1.26 million.
“Empire” was the most-watched program among the group, averaging 4.82 million viewers. The HBO fantasy drama “Game of Thrones” was second, averaging 4.66 million a week after its season premiere was first among the group, averaging 5.05 million viewers.
“The Big Bang Theory” was third, averaging 4.25 million viewers, followed by ESPN’s coverage of Thursday’s first round of the NFL draft (3.36 million) and the AMC horror drama “Fear the Walking Dead” (2.73 million).
CBS, and NBC each aired 22 hours of prime-time programming for ratings purposes, ABC 21 hours, and Fox 15 hours, 19 minutes.
“Game of Thrones” was the most-watched cable program, averaging 7.29 million viewers, 22nd overall. The viewership was down 8.2 percent from the 7.94 million average for the season premiere a week earlier.
ESPN’s coverage of Thursday’s first round of the NFL draft was second among cable programs and 28th overall, averaging 6.29 million viewers, down 10.5 percent from last year’s average of 7.03 million and 36.7 percent from the record average of 9.94 million in 2014.
TNT was the most-watched cable network for the second consecutive week, thanks to coverage of the NBA playoffs, averaging 2.59 million viewers. Fox News Channel was second for the second consecutive week, averaging 2 million.
The most-watched Spanish-language program was the Thursday episode of the Univision telenovela “Pasion y Poder” which averaged 3.14 million viewers, 81st overall.
As usual, Univision was the most-watched Spanish-language network, averaging 2.07 million viewers. Telemundo was second, averaging 1.52 million, followed by UniMas, which averaged 650,000, Estrella TV, which averaged 220,000, MundoMax, which averaged 120,000, and Azteca America, which averaged 100,000.
The “NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt” was the most-watched network nightly newscast for the 12th consecutive week and 42nd time in the 45 weeks since Holt was named as the anchor, averaging 8.28 million viewers. ABC’s “World News Tonight with David Muir” was second, averaging 8.03 million.
The “CBS Evening News” was third, as it has been throughout Scott Pelley’s more than four years as anchor, averaging 6.97 million.
The week’s 10 most-watched prime-time programs were CBS’ “‘The Big Bang Theory”; ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars”; CBS’ “60 Minutes,” “NCIS” and “Blue Bloods”; NBC’s “Little Big Shots” and the Tuesday edition of “The Voice”; Fox’s “Empire”; CBS’ “Madam Secretary”; and the Monday edition of “The Voice.”
—City News Service