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Ratings: ‘Great News’ – We’ve Got Some Terrible News

NBC’s “SNL” Christmas special dukes it out with CBS’ “Mom,” “Life in Pieces” and “S.W.A.T.”

Tony Maglio | December 22, 2017 @ 8:47 AM
Great News - NBC

NBC

NBC settled for a second-place tie with ABC among adults 18-49 on Thursday — but don’t blame the first network’s “SNL” Christmas Special. At 8 p.m., a new “Great News” episode managed just a 0.5 rating/2 share and 2.7 million total viewers. A second half-hour of the same show was even worse.

ABC’s Christmas specials last night handed the Disney broadcaster 1.4 million more audience members than NBC, though CBS easily topped Thursday thanks to “Young Sheldon.”

Running reruns, Fox slipped behind Univision and into a fifth-place tie with Telemundo.

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CBS was first in ratings with a 1.3 rating/5 share in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic and in total viewers with an average of 8.1 million, according to preliminary numbers. Following a repeat, “Young Sheldon” at 8:30 landed a 1.7/8 and 11.2 million viewers. “Mom” at 9 had a 1.4/6 and 9 million viewers. “Life in Pieces” at 9:30 received a 1.1/4 and 6.7 million viewers. “S.W.A.T.” at 10 finished primetime to a 1.1/4 and 6.3 million viewers.

ABC and NBC tied for second in ratings, both with a 0.9/4. ABC was second in total viewers with 4.7 million, NBC was third with 3.3 million.

For ABC, “A Charlie Brown Christmas” at 8 had a 1.3/6 and 5.6 million viewers. ABC reran its two-hour “CMA Country Christmas” special after.

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For NBC, readers already know what the 8 o’clock “Great News” got. The 8:30 episode settled for a 0.4/2 and 1.8 million viewers. From 9-11, the “Saturday Night Live” Christmas special averaged a 1.1/5 and 3.8 million viewers.

Univision was fourth in ratings with a 0.5/2 and in viewers with 1.4 million.

Fox was fifth in ratings with a 0.3/1 and in viewers with 1.3 million.

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Telemundo was sixth in ratings with a 0.3/1 and in viewers with 1.1 million.

The CW was seventh in ratings with a 0.2/1 and in viewers with 714,000, also airing just repeats.

15 Most-Watched TV Specials of 2017: From Oscars to AMAs (Photos)

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Sorry, “A Christmas Story Live!” — you weren’t even close

With increased competition and a general downward trend in live viewing, television specials tend to feel, well, less special with each passing year. There are still quite a few annual must-see live-TV hours -- and no, we're not even talking about sports (for this one).  

From the Oscars to the Emmys and everything toward the top, TheWrap ranked the 15 most-watched broadcast-television entertainment specials of 2017. And with those very low Nielsen ratings out of Fox's "A Christmas Story Live," we've got no musicals making the cut this time.  

Scroll through the gallery for the 15 biggest.  

Also Read: 20 Most-Watched TV Specials of 2016: From Oscars to ‘Hairspray Live’ (Photos)

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