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One Network Just Won the Season Ratings — and Knocked Out a Milestone or Two in the Process

May 23, 2017  •  Post A Comment

The 2016-2017 broadcast television season still has three nights left to go, but the ratings battle is over. TheWrap reports that NBC has clinched first place in prime time in the key 18-49 demo.

“It’s the first time in five years that a network has finished No. 1 without the Super Bowl or an Olympics boost,” the story reports. “Speaking of sports, NBC didn’t even need them to claim its trophy this time around. Counting entertainment shows only, the Peacock still flies the highest among the over-the-air channels — this is the first time they could say that since the final seasons of ‘Friends’ and ‘Frasier.’”

Looking at prime time overall, NBC has averaged a 2.1 rating this season in 18-49 to lead the pack, followed by Fox at 1.9, CBS at 1.8, ABC at 1.6 and the CW at 0.7. The numbers include Nielsen’s “most current” metric, calculating Live+7 through 35 weeks of the season.

CBS remains dominant in total viewers, averaging 9.6 million to lead NBC (8.1 million), ABC (6.2 million), Fox (5.8 million) and the CW (1.8 million). CBS has now won total viewers in 14 of the past 15 seasons.

Looking at entertainment programming alone, with live news and sports taken out of the equation, NBC stands at No. 1 in adults 18-49 with a 1.7 average rating, just ahead of ABC and CBS (both with 1.6 averages) and ahead of Fox (1.3) and the CW (0.7).

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