The broadcast TV season is coming to a close this week, and CBS was the most-watched network in total viewers for the 10th year in a row…and 15 out of the last 16. But it was close this year.
CBS averaged 9 million viewers, which was down 7% from last year. NBC was second at 8.9 million viewers, after getting a big boost from having both the Super Bowl and the Winter Olympics. Their audience was up 10% from last year.
ABC was a distant third with 6.1 million, followed by Fox at 4.9 million, and The CW with 1.7 million. Both Fox and the CW were down significantly from last season.
NBC was #1 in the coveted demographic of 18- to 49-year-olds, by a wide margin. Despite CBS’ overall dominance, it’s the fourth time in five years NBC has won the demo, because as you may know, a lot of CBS’ viewers are super old.
Fox, CBS, and ABC tied for second in the demo this season.
Technically, the season runs through Thursday night…but the averages won’t change in that time.