'Criminal Minds,' 'Fresh Off the Boat' end on ratings high
NEW YORK (AP) - Two long-running series - CBS drama 'œCriminal Minds'ť and ABC's 'œFresh Off the Boat'ť - ended their runs last week with modest bumps in the ratings.
The investigators on 'œCriminal Minds'ť concluded their 15th and last season by chasing a psychopath who liked to cut off the faces of his victims. The last episode reached 5.4 million viewers, up 12% from its season average, the Nielsen company said.
The Huang family finished the sixth season of "Fresh Off the Boat'' with a sweetly nostalgic episode that included a peek at the future for the characters. Its last episode was seen by 2.4 million people, or 6% more than the season average, Nielsen said.
Both shows had one oddity in common. They each ended with two separate episodes where the second, the actual finale, had fewer viewers than the first. 'œFresh Off the Boat'ť had 3 million for its first half hour.
The numbers will increase when delayed viewing is added in.
Television's week was dominated by the Democratic presidential debate, which was seen by 19.8 million people on either NBC or MSNBC. It's the most-watched Democratic nomination debate ever.
CBS won the week with an average of 6.1 million viewers in prime time. NBC had 4.4 million viewers, ABC had 4.2 million, Fox had 3 million, Univision had 1.7 million, ION Television had 1.4 million, Telemundo had 1 million and the CW had 650,000.
Fox News Channel was the most popular cable network, averaging 3.01 million viewers in prime time. MSNBC had 2.17 million, HGTV had 1.18 million, TLC had 1.17 million and Discovery had 1.12 million.
ABC's 'œWorld News Tonight'ť won the evening news ratings race, averaging 9 million viewers. NBC's 'œNightly News'ť had 7.8 million and the 'œCBS Evening News'ť had 5.8 million.
For the week of Feb. 17-23, the top 20 programs, networks and their viewerships:
1. Democratic Presidential Debate, NBC, 12.11 million.
2. 'œNCIS,'ť CBS, 11.92 million.
3. 'œDaytona 500'ť rainout coverage, Fox, 10.08 million.
4. 'œFBI,'ť CBS, 8.95 million.
5. 'œYoung Sheldon,'ť CBS, 9.12 million.
6. 'œ60 Minutes,'ť CBS, 8.95 million.
7. Democratic Debate, MSNBC, 7.67 million.
8. 'œAmerica's Got Talent Champions,'ť NBC, 7.61 million.
9. 'œAmerican Idol,'ť ABC, 7.5 million.
10. 'œSurvivor,'ť CBS, 7.18 million.
11. 'œThe Masked Singer,'ť Fox, 7.13 million.
12. 'œHawaii Five-0,'ť CBS, 6.66 million.
13. 'œThe Bachelor,'ť ABC, 6.65 million.
14. 'œThis is Us,'ť NBC, 6.48 million.
15. 'œThe Neighborhood,'ť CBS, 6.46 million.
16. 'œFBI: Most Wanted,'ť CBS, 6.3 million.
17. 'œMom,'ť CBS, 6.283 million.
18. 'œStation 19,'ť ABC, 6.277 million.
19. 'œBull,'ť CBS, 6.23 million.
20. 'œNCIS: Los Angeles,'ť CBS, 6.2 million