RATINGS: NFL Coverage & AGT on NBC Account For Four Of The Week's Top Five Most-Watched Shows

NBC has generated a dominant win for the primetime ratings week of Sept. 2-8, with NBC Sports coverage of Thursday and Sunday season-opening NFL football combining with "America's Got Talent" to deliver four of television's five most-watched telecasts of the week, according to "live plus same day" viewership figures from Nielsen Media Research.

NBC's averages for the week of a 2.4 rating in adults 18-49 and 8.8 million viewers overall are the highest for any network since CBS averaged a 5.8 in 18-49 and 20.9 million viewers for SUPER BOWL week, Jan 28-Feb. 3.

In total viewer, Sunday and Thursday NFL coverage ranked #1-2 in total viewers and adults 18-49, with Tuesday and Wednesday editions of "Talent" ranking third and fifth in total viewers. "American Ninja Warrior" also rated in the top 10 at #9. Rankings exclude sports pre- and post-game shows and primetime segments of afternoon sporting events.

In 18-49, "Talent" finished #4 and tied for #5, "Ninja" and "Songland" tied for #12 and "Bring the Funny" tied for #15.

"Talent" continued its streak this summer of ranking as television's #1 most-watched entertainment show every week it's aired.

For the week, NBC ranked #1 among the Big 4 networks in 10 of 10 key ratings categories - adults, men and women 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54, plus total viewers.

Season to date, NBC ranks #1 among ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX in adults 18-49, adults 25-54 adults 18-34 and is #1 or tied for #1 in all key adult-female demos, men 18-49 and men 25-54. In total viewers, excluding sports, NBC is running within 995,000 persons of #1 CBS, NBC's closest position to #1 in total viewers at this point in the season, excluding sports, in 16 years, since trailing by 614,000 persons at this time in 2002-03.

Weekly ratings are "live plus same day" figures from Nielsen Media Research unless otherwise noted. Season-to-date ratings are averages of "live plus seven day" data except for the two most recent weeks, which are "live plus same day."

Week 50 Averages

Adult 18-49 Rating, "live plus same day," Sept. 2-8

NBC...2.4

Fox...0.9

ABC...0.8

CBS...0.5

CW...0.1

Total Viewers

NBC...8.8 million

CBS...3.7 million

ABC...3.5 million

Fox...3.3 million

CW...0.6 million

Season-to-Date Averages

Adult 18-49 Rating, "Most Current"

NBC...1.4

CBS...1.2

Fox...1.2

ABC...1.2

CW...0.4

Total Viewers

CBS...7.5 million

NBC...6.5 million

ABC...5.2 million

Fox...4.5 million

CW...1.2 million

NBC highlights for the week of Sept. 2-8:

Monday

NBC won the night in total viewers.

"American Ninja Warrior" (0.8 rating in 18-49, 4.5 million viewers overall from 8-10 p.m. ET) ranked as the #1 most-watched show of the night in total viewers and was the #2 show in adults 18-49.

L+35+Digital: After 35 days of digital and linear delayed viewing plus encores, "American Ninja Warrior" has been growing this summer by +133% in adults 18-49 and +4.9 million viewers overall versus its next-day "live plus same day" Nielsens, to a 2.06 rating in 18-49 and 9.5 million viewers overall in L+35+digital including encores.

"Dateline NBC" (0.4 rating in adults 18-49, 0.7 in adults 25-54, 2.9 million viewers overall from 10-11 p.m. ET) tied for #1 in the timeslot among ABC, CBS and NBC in adults 18-49 and was #1 outright in adults, men and women 25-54.

Tuesday

NBC finished #1 Tuesday night among the Big 4 networks in adults 18-49, adults 25-54, adults 18-34 and total viewers.

"America's Got Talent" (1.5 rating in 18-49, 9.1 million viewers overall from 8-10:01 p.m. ET) grew +15% week to week in 18-49 (1.5 vs. 1.3) and up +1% in total viewers (9.1 million vs. 9.0 million) to rank as the #1 telecast of the night on the Big 4 networks in adults, men and women 18-49; adults, men and women 25-54; and total viewers. In the 8-10 p.m. timeslot, "AGT" outrated "Bachelor in Paradise" by +36% in 18-49 (1.5 vs. 1.1 head to head from 8-10) and +5.1 million persons or +125% in total viewers (9.1 million vs. 4.0 million). L+35+Digital: "America's Got Talent" is growing by +140% versus its next-day "live plus same day" Nielsens after 35 days of digital and linear delayed viewing and encores, increasing all the way to a 3.79 rating, whileadding +8.4 million viewers, growing to 18.2 million persons in L+35+Digital including encores. Digital & Social: "America's Got Talent" has amassed2.21 billion views across all digital video platforms so far this summer. "Talent" is the #1 most-social Broadcast Series of the year (30.2 million Total Interactions to-date in Linear metrics, Source: Nielsen Social SCR, 1/1/19-8/18/19. Linear Metrics. Broadcast Series only. All dayparts. Excludes News & Sports).

"Bring the Funny" (0.7 rating in 18-49, 3.2 million viewers overall from 10:01-11 p.m. ET) equaled the hour's ABC-CBS timeslot competition combined in adults 18-49 (0.7 vs. a combined 0.7) and ranked #1 in the timeslot among ABC, CBS and NBC in nine of nine key demographics - adults, men and women 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54. L+35+Digital: "Bring the Funny" is increasing by +138% versus its next-day "live plus same day" Nielsens after 35 days of digital and linear delayed viewing plus encores, growing to a 2.51 rating, while adding +5.7 million viewers, increasing to 11.0 million persons in L+35+Digital including encores.

Wednesday

NBC ranked #1 Wednesday night among the Big 4 networks in adults 18-49, total viewers and adults 25-54, and was #1 or tied for #1 for the night inevery other key measure.

"America's Got Talent" (1.2 rating in 18-49, 8.6 million viewers overall from 8-9:01 p.m. ET) delivered the show's highest 18-49 and total-viewer results for a Wednesday edition among four telecasts to date this summer, tying "Big Brother" as the #1 show of the night and beating "Brother" in total viewers by a margin of +92% or more than +4.1 million persons (8.6 million vs. 4.4 million). "AGT" scored NBC's strongest 18-49 rating in the timeslot, excluding sports, since the "Billboard Music Awards" on May 1 (1.9 from 8-9 p.m.), and the net's top total-viewer result in the slot, excluding sports, since Feb. 20 (9.112 for "Chicago Med"). L+7+Digital: The Wednesday "Talent" is increasing by +114% versus its next-day "live plus same day" Nielsens after seven days of digital and linear delayed viewing plus encores, growing to a 2.37 rating, while adding +5.7 million viewers, increasing to 13.6 million persons in L+7+Digital including encores.

"Songland" (0.8 rating in 18-49, 4.0 million viewers overall from 9:01-10 p.m. ET) delivered the show's top 18-49 and total-viewer Nielsens for a Wednesday edition among four telecasts so far this summer, winning the timeslot outright for the first time versus "BH90210" in adults 18-49 (0.8 vs. 0.6). "Songland" also won the hour among the Big 4 networks in all other key measures. Week to week, "Songland" increased by +14% in 18-49 (0.8 vs. 0.7) and +19% in total viewers (4.0 million vs. 3.3 million). L+35+Digital: After 35 days of digital and linear delayed viewing plus encores, "Songland" has been more than doubling this summer, growing by +103% in adults 18-49 versus its next-day "live plus same day" Nielsens, to a 1.86 rating in 18-49. In total viewers, "Songland" is increasing by +3.2 million persons to 7.6 million viewers in L+35+digital including encores.

"Hollywood Game Night" (0.4 rating in 18-49, 2.2 million viewers overall from 10-11 p.m. ET) tied for #1 in the timeslot among ABC, CBS and NBC inadults 18-49 and adults 25-54, while delivering the show's most-watched Wednesday telecast to date this summer. L+35+Digital: "Hollywood Game Night" is growing by +104% versus its next-day "live plus same day" Nielsens after 35 days of digital and linear delayed viewing and encores, increasingto a 0.98 rating, while adding +2.1 million viewers, growing to 4.6 million persons in L+35+Digital including encores.

Thursday

NBC Sports coverage of the Green Bay Packers-Chicago Bears NFL Kickoff Game (7.1/34 in 18-49, 22.1 million viewers overall from 8:23-11:30 p.m. ET) averaged a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 22.7 million viewers across NBC TV, NBC Sports Digital, and NFL Digital platforms, MAKING IT the most-watched sporting event since SUPER BOWL LIII in February, according to Nielsen viewership figures and digital data from Adobe Analytics. The Packers-Bears matchup scored a +16% increase over last year's opener (19.6 million TAD for Falcons-Eagles) and is the most-watched NFL Kickoff Game since 2016.

Friday

NBC ranked #1 among the Big 4 networks Friday night in adults 18-49, adults 25-54 and every other key demographic (including a tie in men 18-34).

An encore telecast of "American Ninja Warrior" (0.6 rating in 18-49, 2.7 million viewers overall from 8-10 p.m. ET) tied as the #1 show of the night on the Big 4 networks in adults 18-49 with "Dateline NBC." The Sept. 6 rebroadcast was up +20% versus the prior week's encore in this timeslot in 18-49 (0.6 vs. 0.5) and +16% in total viewers (2.7 million vs. 2.4 million), to match the highest 18-49 rating this summer among 14 "Ninja" Friday encores and set a new high among those rebroadcasts in total viewers.

"Dateline NBC" (0.6 rating in 18-49, 0.9 in adults 25-54, 3.3 million viewers overall from 10-11 p.m. ET) tied as the #1 show of the night on the Big 4 networks in adults 18-49 with NBC's "Ninja" encore and was the night's #1 show outright on those nets in the key news demo of adults 25-54. The Sept. 6 "Dateline" delivered the show's highs for a Friday edition in adults 18-49, adults 25-54 and total viewers since July 12 (0.6 in 18-49, 0.9 in 25-54, 3.378 million viewers). "Dateline" was up +20% week to week in adults 18-49 (0.6 vs. 0.5), +29% in adults 25-54 (0.9 vs. 0.7) and +27% in total viewers (3.338 million vs. 2.627 million). L+7:Through the traditional September-to-May season, Friday's "Dateline" grew by +51% in 18-49 rating (from a 0.57 to a 0.86) and more than +1.2 million viewers overall (3.5 million to 4.7 million) going from L+SD to L+7.

Saturday

The NBC Movie of the Week, the 2011 feature film "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2" averaged a 0.3 in 18-49 and 1.3 million viewers overall from 8-11 p.m. ET)

Sunday

NBC Sports coverage of Pittsburgh Steelers-New England Patriots "Sunday Night Football" (7.5/31 in 18-49, 22.2 million viewers overall from 8:23-11 p.m. ET) won the night in all key ratings measures. The game's Total Audience Delivery of 22.7 million (according to fast-official figures from Nielsen and digital data from Adobe Analytics) topped last year's Bears-Packers "SNF" opener (22.6 million viewers).

Coupled with Thursday's Packers-Bears NFL Kickoff Game - which also registered a viewership increase over last season - NBC's two-game NFL Kickoff Weekend viewership average of 22.7 million viewers is up 8% from last year's first two NBC games (21.1 million TAD). With Thursday's game also scoring gains versus last year, it's the first time both of NBC's NFL opening weekend games posted year-over-year increases since 2015. The Thursday and Sunday games also combined as television's two most-watched primetime telecasts since ABC's Feb. 24 coverage of THE ACADEMY AWARDS (29.6 million viewers).

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