CBS declares television season victory with weeks to go
NEW YORK (AP) - The traditional broadcast television season doesn't end until later this month, but that hasn't stopped CBS from declaring victory.
CBS issued a statement on Tuesday saying it would end the 2021-22 season as the most-watched television network in prime-time for the 14th straight time, and 19th time out of the past 20, according to figures provided by the Nielsen company.
The early victory dance coincided with CBS' parent company, Paramount Global, announcing its earnings on Tuesday. Although CBS' lead over second-place NBC (6.35 million to 6.25 million) isn't large, there was no pushback from NBC. Fox is currently third and ABC fourth.
CBS said that 'œNCIS'ť will end the season as the most-watched television drama for the 12th time in 13 years. 'œYoung Sheldon'ť is the most popular comedy.
'œA winning streak of this scale is quite unprecedented in the history of media, linear or digital,'ť said Radha Subramanyam, CBS' chief research and analytics officer.
NBC, which aired the Super Bowl and Winter Olympics this season, said it will finish first among the advertiser-friendly demographic of 18-to-49-year-old viewers.
CBS won last week in prime time, averaging 4.4 million viewers. ABC had 3.3 million, NBC had 2.8 million, Fox had 2 million, Univision had 1.4 million, Ion Television had 1 million and Telemundo averaged 910,000.
Fox News Channel was the most popular cable network in prime time, averaging 2.29 million viewers. TNT had 2.13 million, ESPN had 1.55 million, MSNBC had 1.14 million and HGTV had 1.03 million.
ABC's 'œWorld News Tonight'ť won the evening news ratings race with an average of 7.2 million viewers. NBC's 'œNightly News'ť had 6.6 million and the 'œCBS Evening News'ť had 4.6 million.
For the week of April 25-May 1, the top 20 prime-time programs, their networks and viewerships:
1. 'œFBI,'ť CBS, 7.56 million.
2. 'œ60 Minutes,'ť CBS, 7.53 million.
3. 'œYoung Sheldon,'ť CBS, 6.91 million.
4. 'œAmerican Idol'ť (Sunday), ABC, 6.57 million.
5. 'œFBI: International,'ť CBS, 6.1 million.
6. 'œAmerican Idol'ť (Monday), ABC, 5.823 million.
7. 'œBlue Bloods,'ť CBS, 5.815 million.
8. 'œSurvivor,'ť CBS, 5.72 million.
9. 'œFBI: Most Wanted,'ť CBS, 5.44 million.
10. 'œAmerica's Funniest Home Videos,'ť ABC, 5.36 million.
11. 'œNCIS: Los Angeles'ť (Sunday, 8 p.m.), CBS, 5.21 million.
12. 'œNCIS: Los Angeles'ť (Sunday, 9 p.m.), CBS, 5.19 million.
13. 'œ911,'ť Fox, 5.08 million.
14. 'œThis is Us,'ť NBC, 4.93 million.
15. 'œLaw & Order: SVU,'ť NBC, 4.89 million.
16. "Magnum, P.I., CBS, 4.81 million.
17. 'œUnited States of Al,'ť CBS, 4.62 million.
18. 'œ911: Lone Star,'ť Fox, 4.58 million.
19. 'œNFL Draft, Round 1,'ť ESPN, 4.44 million.
20. 'œThe Price is Right,'ť CBS, 4.37 million.