Football once more has a stranglehold on the Nielsen sheets. The NFL claimed the top six primetime broadcast spots in the key 18-49 demographic last week.
The week before that, it actually had the eight highest-rated telecasts.
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But this time around, the seventh spot in our Top 20 study was actually occupied by a “60 Minutes” rerun. Of course, that telecast had a big Sunday afternoon NFL lead-in, which just goes to show the true power of pro football.
“Big Brother” took the next three slots in the most recent period, scoring a 2.5, 2.4 and 2.3 on Sunday, Wednesday and Tuesday, respectively.
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Further down our list, at No. 17, ABC’s “Miss America” earned a 1.7 rating. That was good enough to make our ranking cutoff, but it wasn’t a particularly strong number for the pageant on network TV.
Still, it managed to edge NBC’s “Biggest Loser” and Fox’s “Hell’s Kitchen” season premieres, which round out the Top 20.
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To make it into our ranker last week, a show needed a 1.5 — flat with the prior period.
Here’s the full Top 20:
