Media Life Magazine - For media buyers and Planners

Overnights

Football inflates ratings for the Big Four

Preseason coverage preempts programming across country

By Toni Fitzgerald

August 14, 2015

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At first glance, it appears the Big Four networks had a banner night on Thursday, with a number of shows growing week to week and even hitting season highs.

But those numbers are deceiving: Preseason football preempted regular programming in a number of large markets across the country last night, driving up overnight ratings.

Overnights measure timeslot data, not actual program data.

That means that, for example, the 9 p.m. showing of “Big Brother” on CBS includes viewership for NFL games in Los Angeles and New York City, where “Brother” was preempted on CBS affiliates.

When Nielsen releases final numbers later this afternoon, the football games will have been removed and only viewership for the actual programs will be included in the numbers.

Since preseason NFL games tend to draw bigger audiences than a regular summer show, you can expect ratings for virtually everything last night to decline from these overnights.

All four networks—ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC—had significant preemptions last night, affecting at least 8 percent of the country.

For that reason, Media Life won’t offer comparisons to last week for Thursday’s ratings, since they will change significantly.

We’ll add final numbers later today, after Nielsen has released them, so you can see how shows actually fared.

***

Top show of the night in 18-49s

CBS’s "Big Brother," 9-10 p.m., 2.4 rating.

Top show of the night in 25-54s

CBS’s "Big Brother," 9-10 p.m., 2.9 rating.

Top show of the night in total viewers

CBS’s "Big Brother," 9-10 p.m., 7.74 million.

(As noted above, there were significant preemptions last night, and so these numbers are subject to change when final ratings come out later today.)

Overnights Networks Ranked on 18-49s Aug. 13
Network	Adults 18-49		Adults 25-54		Households
Network	Rating	Share	Rating	Share	Rating	Share
CBS	1.8	7	2.3	7	4.1	8
NBC	1.3	5	1.8	6	3.8	7
Fox (8-10 p.m.)	0.9	4	1.2	4	2.3	4
ABC	0.9	4	1.3	4	3.0	5
Univision	0.7	3	0.8	2	1.1	2
Telemundo	0.7	3	0.8	2	0.9	2
CW (8-10 p.m.)	0.4	2	0.5	2	1.0	2
All ratings based on live-plus-same-day DVR playback, including shows replayed before 3 a.m. Seven-day DVR data won’t be available for several weeks. Forty-nine percent of Nielsen households have DVRs Source: Nielsen

Overnights Primetime by Half Hour Aug. 13
Network - Program	Adults 18-49		Adults 25-54		Households
Network - Program	Rating	Share	Rating	Share	Rating	Share
8 p.m.
CBS - Mom (R)	1.5	6	1.9	7	4.2	8
NBC - Food Fighters	1.2	5	1.6	6	3.1	6
ABC - The Astronaut Wives Club	0.9	4	1.3	5	3.2	6
Fox - Boom!	0.8	4	1.0	4	2.0	4
Univision - Amores con Trampa	0.8	3	0.8	3	1.1	2
CW - Beauty and the Beast	0.5	2	0.6	2	1.1	2
Telemundo - Avenida Brasil	0.5	2	0.6	2	0.8	2
8:30 p.m.
CBS - Mom (R)	1.5	6	2.1	7	4.1	7
NBC - Food Fighters	1.3	5	1.8	6	3.2	6
Fox - Boom!	0.9	4	1.1	4	2.1	4
ABC - The Astronaut Wives Club	0.9	4	1.3	4	3.1	6
Univision - Amores con Trampa	0.8	3	0.8	3	1.1	2
CW - Beauty and the Beast	0.4	2	0.5	2	1.0	2
Telemundo - Avenida Brasil	0.4	2	0.5	2	0.7	1
9 p.m.
CBS - Big Brother	2.5	9	3.0	9	4.8	9
NBC - Dateline Thursday Night Mystery	1.3	5	1.7	5	3.7	7
ABC - Mistresses	1.1	4	1.4	4	3.0	5
Fox - Bones (R)	0.9	3	1.2	4	2.5	4
Univision - Lo Imperdonable	0.7	3	0.8	3	1.1	2
Telemundo - Bajo el Mismo Cielo	0.6	2	0.7	2	0.8	2
CW - Arrow (R)	0.4	1	0.5	1	0.9	2
9:30 p.m.
CBS - Big Brother	2.4	8	2.8	8	4.4	8
NBC - Dateline Thursday Night Mystery	1.3	5	1.8	5	4.0	7
Fox - Bones (R)	1.0	4	1.3	4	2.7	5
ABC - Mistresses	1.0	4	1.4	4	2.9	5
Univision - Lo Imperdonable	0.7	3	0.8	2	1.2	2
Telemundo - Bajo el Mismo Cielo	0.7	2	0.7	2	0.8	1
CW - Arrow (R)	0.4	1	0.5	1	0.9	2
10 p.m.
NBC - Dateline Thursday Night Mystery	1.6	6	2.1	6	4.4	8
CBS - Under the Dome	1.5	5	2.0	6	3.7	7
ABC - Rookie Blue	0.9	3	1.2	3	3.0	5
Telemundo - El Señor de los Cielos	0.9	3	1.1	3	1.2	2
Univision - Yo no Creo en los Hombres	0.7	2	0.7	2	1.1	2
10:30 p.m.
NBC - Dateline Thursday Night Mystery	1.4	5	1.9	6	4.3	8
CBS - Under the Dome	1.3	5	1.8	6	3.4	7
Telemundo - El Señor de los Cielos	0.9	3	1.0	3	1.2	2
ABC - Rookie Blue	0.8	3	1.1	3	2.8	5
Univision - Yo no Creo en los Hombres	0.6	2	0.6	2	1.1	2
Note: (R) denotes rerun All ratings based on live-plus-same-day DVR playback, including shows replayed before 3 a.m. Seven-day DVR data won’t be available for several weeks. Forty-nine percent of Nielsen households have DVRs Source: Nielsen