The Most-Watched TV Shows of 2015: Here Are the Episodes and Telecasts That Had the Most Viewers
Here’s how you can sum up 2015 TV in three words: Football, Cookie and zombies.
As always, the Super Bowl was by far the most-watched program of the year in all of TV, with a whopping 115,204,000 viewers. That halo effect also allowed The Blacklist‘s post-Super Bowl episode to be the most-watched broadcast scripted telecast of the year.
The dominance of AMC’s The Walking Dead continues unabated: Among adults 18-49, it boasts the top 10 most-watched scripted episodes of the year among adults 18-49. The only other scripted show to make it into the Top 20? NBC’s The Blacklist, at No. 20.
When you split up broadcast and cable into different charts, Fox’s Empire dominates the broadcast list. And of course, The Walking Dead takes all 10 of the top cable slots.
In broadcast total viewers, CBS stalwarts NCIS and The Big Bang Theory continue to do quite well. (We’re waiting on a final cable total viewers list; when we get it, we will post!)
Here’s our ratings roundup of the year’s most-watched telecasts, according to different broadcast and cable measurements.
More Ratings Wrap:
MOST-WATCHED PRIMETIME TELECASTS OF 2015, ADULTS 18-49
The top 20 broadcast and cable primetime telecasts (including Live+7 DVR and VOD data) in 2015, overall by 18-49:
|
RANK |
SHOW & NETWORK |
LIVE+7 |
AIRDATE |
|
1 |
Super Bowl XLIX: New England vs. Seattle NBC |
39.4 (50.1 million) |
2/1/2015 |
|
2 |
Super Bowl Post-Game NBC |
26.5 (33.7 million) |
2/1/2015 |
|
3 |
AFC Championship: Indianapolis vs. New England CBS |
13.9
(17.7 million) |
1/18/2015 |
|
4 |
Academy Awards ABC |
11.5 (14.5 million) |
2/22/2015 |
|
5 |
College Football Championship: Ohio State vs. Oregon ESPN |
11.2 (14.2 million) |
1/12/2015 |
|
6 |
The Walking Dead AMC |
11.1 (14.1 million) |
3/29/2015 |
|
7 |
The Walking Dead AMC |
11.0 (13.9 million) |
2/8/2015 |
|
8 |
The Walking DeadAMC |
10.7 (13.6 million) |
3/1/2015 |
|
9 (tie) |
The Walking Dead AMC NFL Playoff: Baltimore vs. New England NBC |
10.6 (13.5 million) |
10/11/2015 1/10/2015 |
|
11 (tie) |
NFL Playoff: Carolina vs. Seattle Fox NFL Thursday Special: Pittsburgh vs. New England (Season opener) NBC |
10.4 (13.2 million) |
1/10/2015 9/10/2015 |
|
13 (tie) |
The Walking Dead AMC The Walking Dead AMC |
10.3 (13.1 million) |
3/8/2015 3/15/2015 |
|
15 (tie) |
NFL Sunday Night Football: NY Giants vs. Dallas NBC The Walking Dead AMC |
10.2 (12.9 million) |
9/13/2015 2/22/2015 |
|
17 (tie) |
The Walking Dead AMC The Walking Dead AMC The Walking Dead AMC |
10.0 (12.7 million) |
11/1/2015 3/22/2015 10/25/2015 |
|
20 |
The Blacklist (post-Super Bowl) NBC |
9.9 (12.6 million) |
2/1/2015 |
| Adults 18-49 rating and Adults 18-49 viewers in millions |
MOST-WATCHED BROADCAST NETWORK TELECASTS OF 2015
The top 10 broadcast network telecasts (including Live+7 DVR and VOD data) in 2015, overall by total viewers:
|
RANK |
SHOW & NETWORK |
LIVE+7 |
AIRDATE |
|
1 |
Super Bowl XLIX: New England vs. Seattle NBC |
115,204,000 |
2/1/2015 |
|
2 |
Super Bowl Post-Game NBC |
73,156,000 |
2/1/2015 |
|
3 |
AFC Championship: Indianapolis vs. New England CBS |
42,257,000 |
1/18/2015 |
|
4 |
Academy Awards ABC |
38,538,000 |
2/22/2015 |
|
5 |
NFL Playoffs: Carolina vs. Seattle Fox |
31,139,000 |
1/10/2015 |
|
6 |
The Blacklist (post-Super Bowl) NBC |
30,489,000 |
2/1/2015 |
|
7 |
NCAA Basketball Tournament Championship: Wisconsin vs. Duke CBS |
28,426,000 |
4/6/2015 |
|
8 |
NFL Playoff Game: Baltimore vs. Pittsburgh NBC |
28,058,000 |
1/3/2015 |
|
9 |
Sunday Night Football: Chicago vs. Green Bay (Thanksgiving Special) NBC |
27,905,000 |
11/26/2015 |
|
10 |
Sunday Night Football: Pittsburgh vs. New England (Thursday opener) NBC |
27,563,000 |
9/10/2015 |
| Total viewers; in millions |
MOST-WATCHED ENTERTAINMENT (NON-SPORTS) BROADCAST NETWORK TELECASTS OF 2015
The top 10 broadcast network entertainment telecasts (including Live+7 DVR and VOD data) in 2015, overall by total viewers:
|
RANK |
SHOW & NETWORK |
LIVE+7 |
AIRDATE |
|
1 |
Academy Awards ABC |
38,538,000 |
2/22/2015 |
|
2 |
The Blacklist (post-Super Bowl) NBC |
30,489,000 |
2/1/2015 |
|
3 |
Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary NBC |
27,331,000 |
2/15/2015 |
|
4 |
Grammy Awards CBS |
26,950,000 |
2/8/2015 |
|
5 |
Oscars Red Carpet Preview Show ABC |
24,016,000 |
2/22/2015 |
|
6 |
NCIS CBS |
23,747,000 |
1/6/2015 |
|
7 |
The Big Bang Theory CBS |
23,726,000 |
9/21/2015 |
|
8 |
NCIS CBS |
23,544,000 |
1/13/2015 |
|
9 |
The Big Bang Theory CBS |
23,441,000 |
2/19/2015 |
|
10 |
The Big Bang Theory CBS |
23,321,000 |
3/5/2015 |
| Total viewers; in millions |
TOP-RATED ENTERTAINMENT BROADCAST TELECASTS (NON-SPORTS) AMONG ADULTS 18-49
The top 10 broadcast network entertainment telecasts (including Live+7 DVR and VOD data) in 2015, overall by adults 18-49:
|
RANK |
SHOW & NETWORK |
LIVE+7 (RATING) |
AIRDATE |
|
1 |
Academy Awards ABC |
11.4 |
2/22/2015 |
|
2 |
The Blacklist (post-Super Bowl) NBC |
9.9 |
2/1/2015 |
|
3 |
Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary NBC |
9.5 |
2/15/2015 |
|
4 |
Empire Fox |
9.4 |
9/23/2015 |
|
5 |
Empire Fox |
9.3 |
3/18/2015 |
|
6 |
Grammy Awards CBS |
9.1 |
2/8/2015 |
|
7 |
Empire (8 pm special) Fox |
8.7 |
3/18/2015 |
|
8 |
Empire Fox |
8.5 |
3/11/2015 |
|
9 |
Empire Fox |
8.3 |
3/4/2015 |
|
10 |
Empire Fox |
8.2 |
9/30/2015 |
| Adults 18-49 |
TOP-RATED ENTERTAINMENT CABLE TELECASTS (NON-SPORTS) AMONG ADULTS 18-49
The top 10 cable network entertainment telecasts (including Live+7 DVR and VOD data) in 2015, overall by adults 18-49:
|
RANK |
SHOW & NETWORK |
LIVE+7 (RATING) |
AIRDATE |
|
1 |
The Walking Dead AMC |
11.1 |
3/29/2015 |
|
2 |
The Walking Dead AMC |
11.0 |
2/8/2015 |
|
3 |
The Walking Dead AMC |
10.7 |
3/1/2015 |
|
4 |
The Walking Dead AMC |
10.6 |
10/11/2015 |
|
5 |
The Walking Dead AMC The Walking Dead AMC |
10.3 10.3 |
3/8/2015 3/15/2015 |
|
7 |
The Walking Dead AMC |
10.2 |
2/22/2015 |
|
8 |
The Walking Dead AMC The Walking Dead AMC The Walking Dead AMC |
10.0 10.0 10.0 |
11/1/2015 3/22/2015 10/25/2015 |
| Adults 18-49 |
Watchlist Easy access to only the shows you care about — all in one simple place
Alerts Only important notifications — when a show is returning, when it becomes available to stream, and more.
Special Offers Exclusive products we release related to your favorite shows and streaming services