The second Republican presidential debate of the 2024 campaign was the most-watched non-sports program in the first week of the 2023-24 prime-time television season, while the Tuesday edition of the NBC singing contest, “The Voice” was the most-watched entertainment program.
The two-hour debate on September 27 from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley averaged a combined 9.323 million viewers on Fox News Channel, Fox Business Network, and Univision, ranking seventh among prime-time programs airing between September 25 and Sunday, according to live-plus-same-day figures released by Nielsen on Tuesday.
NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” game between the Kansas City Chiefs and New York Jets was the week’s most-watched program, with an average of 24.832 million viewers. Additionally, two NFL pregame shows, two postgame shows, and ABC’s “Monday Night Football” game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Tampa Bay Buccaneers also topped the debate.
The September 26 edition of “The Voice” had an average of 6.539 million viewers, ranking twelfth for the week, one spot ahead of its September 25 season premiere, which had an average of 6.26 million viewers.
During a week when the Writers Guild of America strike limited first-run scripted programming, the most-watched scripted program was the 8 p.m. Sunday episode of “Yellowstone.” Originally airing on Paramount Network in 2018, this episode averaged 4.433 million viewers on CBS following “60 Minutes”. It ranked nineteenth for the week and ninth among non-sports programs.
An episode of “Yellowstone” has been the most-watched scripted series each of the three weeks it has aired on CBS.
The ABC dating series “The Golden Bachelor” was the most-watched of the week’s three premieres on the five major English-language broadcast networks, with an average of 4.361 million viewers. It ranked first in its Thursday 8-10 p.m. time slot, twentieth for the week, and tenth among non-sports programs.
The NBC crime drama “The Irrational” ranked second among the premieres, with an average of 3.833 million viewers on September 25 following the season premiere of “The Voice.” It was the most-watched show beginning at 10 p.m., twenty-fourth for the week, and fourteenth among non-sports programs.
The week’s other premiere, “Snake Oil,” had an average of 1.79 million viewers, ranking fifty-third among broadcast programs. Its overall rank was not available. The Fox game show retained 55.6% of the audience from “The Masked Singer” which preceded it.
“The Masked Singer” had an average of 3.219 million viewers, ranking thirty-second for the week and twentieth among non-sports programs.
The combination of “Sunday Night Football,” “The Voice,” and the season’s final three editions of “America’s Got Talent” made NBC the most-watched network for the fourth consecutive week, coinciding with the start of the NFL season. NBC averaged 6.79 million viewers.
The Chiefs’ 23-20 victory was officially the season’s most-watched NFL game, surpassing the previous high of 24.65 million for Kansas City’s 21-20 upset loss to the Detroit Lions in the NFL Kickoff game on September 7, which had an average of 24.752 million viewers.
The total audience delivery for Sunday’s game, across NBC, Peacock, NBC Sports digital, and NFL digital platforms, was second for the season, with 26.7 million viewers, behind the 27.5 million for the NFL Kickoff game.
With pop star Taylor Swift watching from a suite, viewership for the game increased by 53% among girls ages 12-17, 24% among women ages 18-24, and 34% among women 35 and over, according to Nielsen fast national figures. These figures exclude out-of-home viewing, unlike the final national figures.
The collective growth resulted in an approximate increase of more than 2 million female viewers, according to NBC.
“Sunday Night Football,” three of its pregame shows, the two episodes of “The Voice,” and the three editions of “America’s Got Talent” accounted for nine of the week’s 21 most-watched programs.
ABC ranked second for the second consecutive week, averaging 4.57 million viewers. ABC’s most-watched program was the Philadelphia Eagles’ 25-11 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on “Monday Night Football,” with an average of 13.72 million viewers. It ranked fourth for the week, behind “Sunday Night Football,” the 10-minute “Sunday Night Football” pre-kickoff show, and Fox’s six-minute postgame show immediately following its Sunday NFL coverage.
The season premiere of “Dancing with the Stars” was ABC’s most-watched non-sports program, with an average of 4.778 million viewers. It ranked eighteenth for the week and eighth among non-sports programs.
CBS ranked third for the second consecutive week, averaging 2.88 million viewers. The most-watched program on CBS was “60 Minutes,” with an average of 6.886 million viewers. It ranked tenth overall and second among non-sports programs.
NBC, ABC, and CBS each aired 22 hours of prime-time programming.
Fox averaged 2.54 million viewers for its 15 hours and 41 minutes of prime-time programming, which included a 21-minute runover of its Sunday afternoon NFL coverage into prime time, averaging 22.318 million viewers. This runover is not considered a separate program but is included in the weekly average.
The thirty-fifth season premiere of “The Simpsons” was Fox’s most-watched non-sports program, with an average of 3.584 million viewers. It ranked twenty-sixth for the week and sixteenth among non-sports programs.
The CW averaged 340,000 viewers for its 15 hours of programming. The most-watched program on The CW was the Miss USA pageant, with an average of 811,000 viewers. It ranked one hundred twenty-second among broadcast programs, one spot ahead of the rerun episode of the 1960-68 CBS comedy “The Andy Griffith Show,” which aired at 8:30 p.m. last Wednesday on MeTV and had an average of 810,000 viewers. The overall ranks for both programs were not available.
The week’s twenty most-watched broadcast and cable prime-time programs consisted of three NFL games, four NFL pregame shows, two NFL postgame shows, the Republican presidential debate, “60 Minutes,” both editions of “The Voice,” two editions of “America’s Got Talent,” ABC’s “Saturday Night Football” game between Notre Dame and Duke, CBS’ “Survivor,” ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars,” the 8 p.m. episode of “Yellowstone,” and “The Golden Bachelor.”
Fox News Channel was the most-watched cable network for the second consecutive week and the twelfth time in 14 weeks, averaging 2.122 million viewers. It ranked first among cable news networks for the sixteenth consecutive week and the one hundred thirty-sixth time in 137 weeks.
ESPN ranked second for the second consecutive week, with an average of 2.046 million viewers, following two consecutive first-place finishes.
MSNBC was the other cable network to average more than 1 million viewers for its prime-time programming, with an average of 1.474 million viewers.
The cable prime-time top 20 consisted of the Republican presidential debate and its 30-minute countdown show, ESPN’s September 25 “Monday Night Football” game between the Rams and Cincinnati Bengals and its 12-minute kickoff show, two college football games on ESPN, nine Fox News Channel weeknight political talk shows – four broadcasts of “
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