NBC, CBS Tie in Key Demo as Fox Has Worst Week Since December (Update)

Fox schedule disrupted by World Series

NBC and CBS tied in the key demographic last week as Fox scored its worst demo ratings since the last week of December and lowest viewership since the last week of 2011.

NBC remains the top-rated network this season in the key 18-49 demographic, and CBS the most-watched network overall. Last week was the only one of the 2013-14 season that NBC didn’t win outright, except for Week 5, which Fox won by airing four World Series games.

Also read: NBC – Yes, NBC – Is Still No. 1 for the Season

But the World Series disrupted Fox’s schedule, leading to lower ratings when it returned to its normal lineup last week, Week 7. Further muddying things for Fox was a do-over episode of “X Factor” Thursday in which contestants re-performed because of a glitch that may have affected voting Wednesday.

For the season, NBC has a 3.1 rating, CBS a 2.8, Fox a 2.51, and ABC a 2.48.

Also read: ‘The Voice,’ ‘X Factor’ Hit All-Time Ratings Lows Thursday – But Here’s Why

In total viewers for the season, CBS averages 12 million, NBC 9.6 million, ABC 8.7 million, and Fox 7.6 million.

Last week, NBC and CBS tied in the demo with a 2.7 rating. ABC had a 2.0, and Fox a 1.4 — its lowest rating since the last full week of December.

CBS had 11.4 million total viewers, NBC 8.6 million, ABC 7.9 million, and Fox 3.8 million — its lowest overall tune-in since the last week of December 2011.

(For the record: An earlier version of this story gave percentages for network gains and losses since last year that are now in dispute; those numbers have been removed from this story.)

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