ABC’s look-back at 2016 was good enough to win a weak Tuesday in primetime’s key 18-49 demographic. CBS reruns actually topped the night among total viewers.
NBC and CBS tied for second in the main demo. NBC was runner-up on the evening in terms of overall audience, which means ABC actually settled for third by that all-in tally.
Tony Bennett’s 90th birthday celebration on NBC clearly skewed towards an older audience, easily besting “The Year: 2016” by that metric.
ABC was first in ratings with a 1.0 rating/4 share in the advertiser-coveted demographic, but third in total viewers with an average of 3.7 million, according to preliminary numbers.
CBS and NBC tied for second in ratings, both with a 0.8/3. CBS was first in total viewers with 7.4 million, airing all reruns; NBC was second with 6.2 million.
For NBC, “Michael Buble Sings and Swings” at 8 p.m. had a 0.8/3 and 5.3 million viewers. At 9, “Tony Bennett Celebrates 90: The Best Is Yet to Come” got a 0.8/3 and 6.6 million viewers.
Univision, Fox and Telemundo all tied for fourth in ratings, each with a 0.6/2. Univision was fourth in total viewers with 1.9 million, Fox was fifth with 1.7 million, and Telemundo was sixth with 1.5 million viewers.
For Fox, following reruns, the “Scream Queens” season finale managed a 0.5/2 and 1.4 million viewers.
The CW was seventh in ratings with a 0.3/1 and in viewers with 919,000. “Terry Crews Saves Christmas” at 8 received a 0.3/1 and 952,000 viewers. At 9, the “Greatest Holiday Commercials Countdown” was flat with its lead-in in terms of ratings and share, but dipped to 887,000 viewers.