A 1-2 finish by “NCIS” and “Bull” helped CBS to its 11th consecutive weekly prime-time ratings victory while the Billboard Music Awards helped ABC finish higher than third for the second time in the 12 weeks since it aired the Oscars, according to live-plus-same day figures released by Nielsen.
CBS averaged 6.04 million viewers for it prime-time programming between May 15 and Sunday, finishing first for the 22nd time in the 35-week-old season. ABC was second, averaging 5.11 million viewers.
NBC averaged 4.93 million viewers to finish third after nine second- place finishes in the previous 10 weeks.
Fox was fourth among the broadcast networks for the 15th consecutive week since airing Super Bowl LI, averaging 2.6 million viewers, and fifth overall, behind cable’s TNT, which averaged 3.448 million.
Fox’s most-watched program was the hip-hop drama “Empire,” 22nd for the week, averaging 6.142 million viewers.
CBS is assured of being the most-watched network for a record ninth consecutive season and an unprecedented 14th time in the past 15 seasons. The official television season ends Wednesday.
“NCIS” was the most-watched program for the third consecutive week, averaging 13.192 million viewers. “Bull,” which follows “NCIS,” was second for the week, averaging 10.851 million viewers.
The only other program to average more than 10 million viewers was ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” which averaged 10.067 million viewers to be the most-watched non-CBS program for the seventh consecutive week.
ABC’s coverage of the Billboard Music Awards was sixth for the week, one spot lower than a year ago, averaging 8.695 million viewers, 10.9 percent less than the 9.76-million average for the 2016 ceremony.
This is the second consecutive year viewership has dropped. The 2015 ceremony averaged 11.18 million viewers, its most since 2001.
The premiere of the ABC comedy “Downward Dog” was fifth in its Wednesday 9:30-10 p.m. time slot and 43rd for the week, averaging 4.672 million viewers, retaining 75.3 percent of the 6.203-million viewer averaged audience for “Modern Family” that preceded it.
“Downward Dog” was fourth in the time slot and 35th for the week among viewers ages 18-49, averaging 1.383 million viewers among the group targeted by ABC, Fox and NBC and coveted by advertisers.
TNT’s coverage of the NBA playoffs made it the most-watched network among viewers ages 18-49 for the second time in three weeks, averaging 1.772 million viewers among the group.
ABC was second, averaging 1.52 million, followed by NBC, which averaged 1.26 million, CBS, which averaged 1.08 million, and Fox, which averaged 1.02 million.
Each of the three most-watched programs among the group were NBA Eastern Conference finals games on TNT, topped by Game 3 Sunday, which averaged 3.66 million.
The Billboard Music Awards were fourth, averaging 3.333 million. “Empire” was the most-watched scripted program, averaging 2.779 million, sixth overall.
TNT was the most-watched cable network for the third time in five weeks, averaging 3.448 million viewers. Fox News Channel was second, averaging 2.169 million, a week after finishing first. MSNBC was third, averaging 1.789 million viewers.
NBA-related programming on TNT and ESPN accounted for each of the week’s seven most-watched cable programs, topped by Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals, which averaged 6.997 million viewers, 15th overall.
The most-watched non-sports program on cable was Monday’s edition of MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show,” which averaged 3.142 million viewers, seventh among cable programs and 62nd overall.
The most-watched Spanish-language prime-time program was the Tuesday episode of the Univision telenovela “La Doble Vida de Estela Carrillo,” which averaged 1.825 million viewers to finish 148th overall.
Longtime leader Univision averaged 1.48 million viewers to be the most- watched Spanish-language network for the 28th consecutive week and 30th time in 31 weeks.
UniMas was second, averaging 1 million viewers, followed by Telemundo, which averaged 890,000 viewers, Estrella TV, which averaged 290,000, and Azteca America, which averaged 140,000.
ABC’s “World News Tonight with David Muir” was the most-watched nightly network newscast for the second consecutive week, averaging 7.548 million viewers.
The “NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt” was second, averaging 7.41 million viewers. The “CBS Evening News” was third, as it has been throughout Scott Pelley’s nearly six years as anchor, averaging 6.138 million viewers.
The week’s 10 most-watched prime-time programs were CBS’ “NCIS” and “Bull”; ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars”; the Monday episode of NBC’s “The Voice”; ABC’s coverage of the Billboard Music Awards; the Tuesday episode of “The Voice”; CBS’ “Survivor” and “60 Minutes”; and ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy.”
—City News Service