A 1-3 finish by the Detroit-Seattle NFL playoff game and the 74th Golden Globe Awards helped NBC to its sixth prime-time ratings victory in the past seven weeks, despite having only two other programs among the top 20, according to live-plus-same day figures released by Nielsen.
NBC averaged 10.32 million viewers for its prime-time programming between Jan. 2 and Sunday. CBS had each of the 11 most-watched scripted series and was second for the week, averaging 7.92 million viewers.
A 62-minute runover of its coverage of Sunday’s Green Bay Packers-New York Giants wild-card playoff game that averaged more than 40 million viewers helped Fox finish third, averaging 6.12 million viewers for its 15 hours, 10 minutes of prime-time programming. NBC, CBS and ABC, each aired 22 hours of prime-time programming for the week.
The runover is not considered a separate program but is included in the weekly average.
Fox’s most-watched non-football show was “The Simpsons,” 18th for the week, averaging 8.187 million viewers.
ABC was fourth for the week, averaging 5.15 million viewers. Its most- watched program was the Friday comedy “Last Man Standing,” 20th for the week, averaging 7.752 million viewers.
NBC’s coverage of the Seattle Seahawks’ 26-6 victory over the Detroit Lions in a wild-card playoff game Saturday was the week’s most-watched program, averaging 26.885 million viewers. A sporting event has been the most-watched program for each of the 16 weeks of the 2016-17 television season.
The 74th Golden Awards averaged 20.016 million viewers to finish third for the week behind the Detroit-Seattle game and Fox’s eight-minute NFL postgame show Sunday, which averaged 21.523 million.
A highlight of news coverage of the awards show was actress Meryl Streep’s warning to Hollywood that they are targets of the new Trump Administration.
NBC’s other programs in the top 20 were its 10-minute playoff game kickoff show, fifth for the week averaging 16.781 million viewers, and the police drama “Chicago P.D.” 19th for the week, averaging 7.894 million.
“The Big Bang Theory” was both the most-watched scripted and CBS program, averaging 16.804 million viewers to finish fourth for the week. CBS’ “NCIS” was the week’s most-watched drama, finishing sixth for the week, averaging 15.797 million.
The premiere of “Emerald City,” the NBC fantasy series based on the “Land of Oz” book series, was third in its Friday 9-11 p.m. time slot and tied for 59th for the week, averaging 4.485 million viewers.
Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s debut as host of NBC’s rebranded “The New Celebrity Apprentice” was fourth in its 8-10 p.m. time slot and 54th for the week, averaging 4.952 million viewers.
The 21st season premiere of “The Bachelor” aired on ABC opposite “The New Celebrity Apprentice” and averaged 6.633 million viewers to finish second in the time slot behind ESPN’s coverage of the Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl and 30th for the week.
The ABC documentary, “Truth and Lies: The Menendez Brothers,” won its Thursday 9-11 p.m. time slot and was 26th for the week, averaging 7.053 million viewers, ABC’s largest non-sports audience in the time slot since Dec. 31, 2015.
ESPN’s coverage of the Auburn-Oklahoma Sugar Bowl was the week’s most- watched prime-time cable program, averaging 9.522 million viewers, 12th overall.
ESPN was the most-watched cable network for the fourth consecutive week, averaging 3.137 million viewers. Fox News Channel was second, averaging 2.369 million.
The week’s most-watched Spanish-language prime-time program was the Tuesday episode of the Univision telenovela Vino El Amor” which averaged 2.514 million viewers, 107th overall.
Long-time leader Univision averaged 1.95 million viewers to be the most- watched Spanish-language network for the ninth consecutive week and 11th time in 12 weeks.
Telemundo was second, averaging 1.64 million viewers, followed by UniMas, which averaged 690,000 viewers, Estrella TV, which averaged 270,000, and Azteca America, which averaged 110,000.
ABC’s “World News Tonight with David Muir” was the most-watched nightly newscast for the second consecutive week, averaging 9.963 million viewers. “NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt” was second, averaging 9.769 million.
Both averages exclude the Jan. 2 newscast.
The “CBS Evening News” was third, as it has been throughout Scott Pelley’s more than five years as anchor, averaging 8.121 million viewers for its Monday through Friday newscasts.
The week’s 10 most-watched prime-time programs were the Detroit-Seattle NFL wild-card playoff game on NBC; Fox’s eight-minute NFL postgame show; NBC’s coverage of the Golden Globes; CBS’ “The Big Bang Theory”; the 10-minute NFL wild-card playoff game kickoff show on NBC; and CBS’ “NCIS,” “Bull,” “Blue Bloods,” “NCIS: Los Angeles.” and “Hawaii-FiveO.”
—City News Service