Last night belonged to football and CBS–but it wasn’t as big as it could have been.
DEMOGRAPHIC DETAIL: For each broadcast program (or hour segment), the chart below displays preliminary key advertiser demographics (adult 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54 ratings), audience skews (women 18-49, men 18-49 and adults 50+ shares) and total viewership (thousands of people over the age of 2).
Ratings analysis and comparisons follow the chart.
CBS: The 12.3 preliminary rating for the AFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME walloped everything else on TV last night. But the game was a blowout, with New England’s victory a foregone conclusion by halftime, and the game was considerably below last year’s NFC Championship (the primetime game in 2014), which had a 15.4 preliminary number. Consequently, the POST-GAME SHOW was at 5.6 versus last year’s 6.7, and the special episode of SCORPION that started around 10:28PM in the Eastern time zone was at 3.0, compared to the 3.6 for FOX’s special hour of THE FOLLOWING.
ABC: Only female-skewing ABC dared counterprogram the game with fresh episodes, and it didn’t go well. GALAVANT, plunged once again, down 0.4 to 0.9 with only one more airing to come. RESURRECTION hit a new series low, down 0.1 to 0.7. REVENGE, airing against the post-game show and SCORPION, gained 0.1 to 0.9. The night started with a 0.2 drop for AMERICA’S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEOS to 0.9.
NBC: After 0.7 for DATELINE, a run of the movie BRIDESMAIDS was at 0.9.
FOX The current 1.5 for a burned-off episode of MULANEY will disappear in final numbers, as it’s actually the overrun for FOX’s afternoon football game. The reruns that followed were topped by 1.2 for THE SIMPSONS.
Midseason steps up its pace tonight with the returns of THE ORIGINALS and the newly -Golden Globed JANE THE VIRGIN on CW. On cable, THE FOSTERS and new lead-out CHASING LIFE return to ABCFamily, and Comedy Central debuts THE NIGHTLY SHOW, the Larry Wilmore-hosted follow-up to Stephen Colbert’s retired DAILY SHOW companion piece.
COMPARISONS TO SIMILAR NIGHTS: Preliminary adult 18-49 ratings versus the same night last year and same night last week.
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