‘Twas a good run while it lasted, NBC.
ABC just snapped the summer champ’s nine-week winning streak in both the key 18-49 demographic’s TV ratings and among total viewers.
The Disney broadcaster held four of the top 15 shows last week, with “Bachelor in Paradise” and some primetime college football leading the way. Those shows had to contend with “America’s Got Talent,” “Big Brother,” “American Ninja Warrior,” “Better Late Than Never” and “MasterChef,” among other chief competition.
NBC will still win the summer, thanks to a strong slate of originals and the Rio Olympics, of course. ABC had a hot start to the hottest-months’ season with a seven-game NBA Finals. It didn’t hurt that LeBron James dropped the defending champs, finally bringing the Larry O’Brien Trophy to Cleveland.
Beyond the roundball achievement, ABC hasn’t had much to smile about on the Nielsen spreadsheets lately, coming off of a particularly rough traditional fall TV season.
Beyond just June, July and August, the “AGT” home will also once-again claim the full September-to-September 52-week season, overcoming CBS and Super Bowl 50. That’s also due in very large part to the 2016 Summer Games.
Below is how Week No. 50 stacked up in the main demo and in total viewers, in that order.
- ABC: 1.5 rating/5.20 million viewers.
- NBC: 1.1/5.18 million
- CBS: 0.7/4.30 million
- Fox: 0.6/2.00 million
- CW 0.3/1.09 million
Nielsen’s fall TV season technically begins on Sept. 19.