Tv Ratings | featured news

The 2013 Pro Bowl gave NBC a win among adults 18-49 and total viewers on Sunday night. Fast National returns are approximate, but before time zone adjustments the NFC-AFC matchup pulled a 3.3 rating in the key demo. That's down 8 percent from last year's game. With the pre-game special (3.0 adults), the network averaged a 3.3 adults rating and 9.9 million viewers.

President Obama's public swearing-in ceremony and parade may have been full of pageantry, but the inauguration wasn't much of a draw on television. About 20.6 million people tuned in to watch as Obama repeated his oath for a second term at the U.S. Capitol on Monday, according to Nielsen, the TV ratings company. That's way down from the nearly 37.8 million people who watched the nation's first black president take office in 2009.

The NFL averaged 44.9 million total viewers for its two conference championship games on Sunday, which was down 16% from last year and continued a trend that has gone on all postseason.

"The Big Bang Theory" led yet another easy Thursday win for CBS both overall and among young viewers, but as has been the case for several weeks, the night's most intriguing story is ABC's "Scandal" hitting yet another series high.

Big life celebrations scored in the ratings last night. The Liz Lemon wedding episode of NBC’s departing 30 Rock drew a 1.3/4 in adults 18-49 and 3.6 million viewers. That was up 8% from its last original two weeks ago and the comedy’s best demo rating since Oct. 11 and largest viewership this season. Meanwhile, ABC’s sophomore drama Scandal (2.2/6) popped 10% from its last episode two weeks ago to hit a season high. (In adults 18-34, it hit a series high). That is with Scandal‘s lead-in, Grey’s Anatomy (3.0/8), dipping 6% from two weeks ago to tie its season low. No dead cat bounce for ABC’s Last Resort. In its first airing post cancellation news, the freshman drama (1.0/3) fell 17% from two weeks ago to a series low.

It's remarkable how strong the Charlie Brown specials continue to perform in the ratings, year after year. "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" is not the most popular entry in the beloved animated franchise (both "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and It's the "Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" deliver bigger numbers). Yet the program still managed to hold its own against CBS' "Survivor" and Fox's "The X-Factor" (in fact, the special edged out Factor in total viewers, see below). Plus,"A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" delivered its biggest audience in four years — 8.1 million viewers and a 2.2 rating in the adult demo, up 22 percent from last year. Pretty spry for a 39-year-old repeat, huh?

Despite rolling out Justin Bieber acceptance speeches about his haters and his mom, Nicki Minaj in pink wig and fake snow, more Taylor Swift ring kissing, Christina Aguilera, Carly Rae Jepsen, Kelly Clarkson, Usher, Carrie Underwood, Ke$ha, Pink, Pitbull, Linkin Park, No Doubt and the triumphant return of MC Hammer in a “Gangman Style” dance-off with PSY, the “American Music Awards” suffered its smallest audience in its 40-year history Sunday night.

Some television executives have blamed use of digital video recorders as a reason for sharp declines in "live" viewing of most major broadcast networks this fall. But data capturing a full week of delayed viewing through DVRs reveals nearly identical audience declines. The data are likely to underscore concerns about traditional television viewing, suggesting that people are either watching broadcast television shows through on-demand services, or are turning to alternatives such as online video.

ABC rolled out its new comedy block Friday night, but it was the Sharks that made the biggest splash. Tim Allen’s Last Man Standing (7.8 million, 1.9 adult demo rating) returned to its new time period, obviously down quite a bit from its Tuesday series debut last year, but still pulling a solid number for this slot. That led into Reba McEntire’s new comedy Malibu Country (8.9 million, 2.2), which notably improved upon its lead-in.

Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert’s visit to ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” attracted the show’s eighth biggest audience ever — 2.52 million viewers.