Primetime Ratings: ABC Wins With Noisy ‘Idol’
ABC won the Sunday ratings race easily, as a healthy American Idol paced the network to a 1.4 score in viewers 18-49, per the Nielsen overnights, and a 6 share. In second was Fox at 0.8/3.
For ABC, America’s Funniest Home Videos grew 20% to 1.2 and two hours of American Idol, with a Disney theme, and a live show to boot, was also up 20% for a healthy 1.8. Drama Deception closed out prime up 33% for a 0.8.
Fox had Bob’s Burgers at 0.8 and The Simpsons at 0.9, both shows flat with the previous Sunday, then Brooklyn Nine-Nine at 0.9 and Family Guy at 1.0, both up a tenth of a point. The Last Man on Earth also grew a tenth to 0.7.
CBS and NBC both did a 0.7/3. For CBS, 60 Minutes increased 14% to 0.8 and Instinct was a flat 0.6. NCIS: Los Angeles slid 13% to 0.7 and Madam Secretary was a level 0.6.
For NBC, it was Dateline up 17% to 0.7 and Little Big Shots at a flat 0.8. Genius Jr. was a level 0.6 and Timeless grew 20% to 0.6.
Broadcasting & Cable Newsletter
The smarter way to stay on top of broadcasting and cable industry. Sign up below
Michael Malone is content director at B+C and Multichannel News. He joined B+C in 2005 and has covered network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television, including writing the "Local News Close-Up" market profiles. He also hosted the podcasts "Busted Pilot" and "Series Business." His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The L.A. Times, The Boston Globe and New York magazine.