Ratings Watch: Debates, Adele and ‘Big Bang’ Among Week’s Winners
‘Tis the season… for presidential primary debates, apparently.
CNN’s coverage of the Dec. 15 Republican debate, held in Nevada, attracted 18.2 million viewers live, plus added another 600,000 viewers via time-shifting over the following three days. That made it the third largest non-sports cable telecast ever. The telecast also gave a boost to Anderson Cooper’s regular audience on the night.
Meanwhile, even though it aired on the Saturday before Christmas–and went up against an NFL game–the Dec. 19 Democratic presidential debate also made it into the week’s Top 25, averaging 8.3 million viewers.
Beyond politics, hitmaker Adele is unstoppable. Adele: Live in New York gave NBC its most-watched concert special (excluding award shows) in 12 years, since Cher: Farewell Tour in 2003.
And Survivor remains strong even in its 31st cycle, ending its run by winning the night with adults 18-49 and total viewers.
CBS’ The Big Bang Theory won the week, thanks to an impressive lift of 5.8 million viewers when three days of DVR and VOD lift is included.
Here are the top 25 shows (including Live+3 DVR and VOD data) for the week of December 14 through December 20.
|
RANK |
SHOW & NETWORK |
LIVE+3 |
WATCHED |
|
1 |
The Big Bang Theory CBS |
23.0 |
17.2 |
|
2 |
NCIS CBS |
18.9 |
15.5 |
|
3 |
Nevada Republican Presidential Debate CNN |
18.8 |
18.2 |
|
4 |
Sunday Night Football: St. Louis vs. Philadelphia NBC |
18.2 |
18.1 |
|
5 |
The Voice (Monday) NBC |
15.4 |
14.0 |
|
6 |
NCIS: New Orleans CBS |
14.7 |
12.1 |
|
7 |
The Voice (Tuesday) NBC |
14.3 |
12.7 |
|
8 |
60 Minutes CBS |
13.2 |
12.7 |
|
9 |
Adele: Live in New York NBC |
13.1 |
9.3 |
|
10 |
NCIS: Los Angeles CBS |
12.1 |
9.2 |
|
11 |
Scorpion CBS |
11.9 |
9.3 |
|
12 |
Life in Pieces CBS |
11.8 |
10.3 |
|
13 |
Monday Night Football: NY Giants vs. Miami ESPN |
11.6 |
11.5 |
| 14 |
Survivor CBS |
11.1 |
9.5 |
|
15 |
Mom CBS |
10.4 |
9.0 |
|
16 |
Limitless CBS |
9.4 |
6.6 |
|
17 |
Anderson Cooper 360 (Tuesday) CNN |
9.2 |
9.1 |
|
18 |
Supergirl CBS |
9.1 |
7.3 |
|
19 |
Elementary CBS |
8.8 |
5.9 |
|
20 |
The Voice (Tuesday 8 pm) NBC |
8.6 |
8.5 |
|
21 |
2 Broke Girls CBS |
8.5 |
6.9 |
|
22 |
New Hampshire Democratic Debate ABC |
8.3 |
8.0 |
|
23 |
Survivor Reunion CBS |
8.1 |
6.5 |
|
24 |
Undercover Boss CBS |
8.0 |
7.5 |
|
25 |
CSI: Cyber CBS |
7.8 |
6.2 |
| Total viewers; in millions |
