‘Celebrity Big Brother’ Premiere Can’t Push CBS Past NBC’s ‘Chicago’ Reruns in Total Viewers

But CBS wins Wednesday’s key-demo ratings battle

Celebrity Big Brother
CBS

“Celebrity Big Brother” was Wednesday’s highest-rated show among adults 18-49, but it didn’t draw enough eyeballs (of any age) to push CBS past NBC and its “One Chicago Reruns.” Don’t blame “Big Brother” or “The Amazing Race,” however, it was 10 o’clock’s “Good Sam” episode that dragged CBS’ primetime averages down. Still, with “Chicago Med,” “Fire” and “P.D.” in repeats, CBS was No. 1 in the key demo in terms of primetime ratings averages.

ABC and Fox bested the NBC encores in the key demo. The CW didn’t do any damage to the other nets last night, but it had a nice evening grading on a curve.

Both of The CW’s primetime hours (The CW and Fox do not nationally program the 10 p.m. hour; ABC, CBS and NBC do) last night rose double digits on a percentage basis to season-high viewership. “Legends of Tomorrow” drew its largest audience since June 2020 and “Batwoman” posted its best overall viewership since last April. All told, last night was The CW’s most-watched Wednesday since early August.

CBS was first in ratings with a 0.6 rating in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic and second in total viewers with an average of 3.25 million, according to preliminary numbers. The “Big Brother – Celebrity Edition” premiere at 8 drew a 0.7 rating and 3.7 million total viewers. It was the night’s highest-rated individual program in the demo. At 9, “The Amazing Race” received a 0.6 rating and 3.6 million total viewers. “Good Sam” at 10 settled for a 0.3 rating and 2.5 million total viewers.

ABC and Fox tied for second in ratings, both with a 0.4. ABC was third in total viewers with 2.5 million, Fox was fourth with 2.2 million.

For ABC, “The Goldbergs” at 8 landed a 0.6 rating and 3.4 million total viewers. At 8:30, “The Wonder Years” posted a 0.5 rating and 2.3 million total viewers. “The Conners” at 9 earned a 0.5 rating and 3.2 million total viewers. At 9:30, “Home Economics” had a 0.4 rating and 2.1 million total viewers. “The Chase” at 10 got a 0.3 rating and 2.1 million total viewers.

For Fox, “I Can See Your Voice” at 8 had a 0.4 rating and 2.4 million total viewers. At 9, “Next Level Chef” got a 0.4 rating and 2 million total viewers.

NBC was fourth in ratings with a 0.3, but first in total viewers with 3.30 million, airing the trio of repeats.

The CW was fifth in ratings with a 0.1 and in total viewers with 608,000. “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow” at 8 had a 0.1 rating and 678,000 total viewers. At 9, “Batwoman” got a 0.1 and 538,000 total viewers.

We do not have early Nielsen numbers for Spanish-language broadcast networks Univision and Telemundo.

Comments