Demos: NBC Wins Big With Sunday Night Football
Broadcast: October proved to be a very successful month for broadcast television, with each of the five major networks experiencing an increase in viewership. Once again, live sports are to thank for their success. The days with the strongest audience numbers were a direct result of a live sports event or programming related to the event. NBC is the network with the most NFL coverage available; as a result, it continues to have the highest viewership, bringing in an impressive average of 5.878 million daily viewers. On two separate Sundays, NBC viewership exceeded 19 million, while on other days the viewership was as low as two million. ABC was the second most popular network this month, averaging 4.199 million viewers. Home to Monday Night Football, ABC was able to reach a high of 10 million viewers; however, the viewership dropped as low as 1.8 million on other nights. CBS came in third place with an average of 3.181 million viewers. CBS reached a high of 9.406 million viewers and a low of 628,000 viewers. Per usual, FOX came in just behind its competition with an average of 2.600 million viewers. Throughout the month FOX viewership was inconsistent, stretching from a high of 11.816 million viewers to a low of 683,000 viewers. The CW continues to grow its audience, rising to an average of 348,000 daily viewers, 30,000 more than the previous month.
Cable: In October, many cable stations continued struggling to bring in viewers. While the writer’s strike may have concluded, its effects continue to be felt. Combined with the ongoing SAF-AFTRA strike, fall content is more limited than ever. With less original content on the air, there are fewer reasons to tune in. BET lost viewers for the second straight month, dropping to a daily average of 247,000 viewers. Its sister station BET Her was one of the few networks to see a bump in viewership, rising to a daily average of 30,000 viewers. Magnolia Network lost a few thousand viewers, with its daily average dropping to 139,000 viewers. Close behind, OWN garnered an average of 127,000 daily viewers. The Weather Channel lost a few thousand viewers after a couple months of audience growth; it fell from an average audience of 174,000 the previous month to a 100,000 viewer average. The viewership for smaller stations remained mostly consistent as Justice Central, Cleo TV, and Comedy.TV brought in average viewerships of 16,000, 14,000, and 7,000 respectively.
Spanish Language: October was a strong month for a few Spanish speaking stations as the three biggest networks experienced increased viewership. Univision reigned supreme once again, with its average daily viewership rising from 1.120 million the previous month to 1.357 million viewers. Telemundo’s viewership rose from 682,000 to 760,000 average viewers. UniMas continues to grow its audience, rising to 375,000 average daily viewers. The smaller Spanish speaking stations remained mostly consistent with last month’s viewership. TUDN experienced a slight increase, rising to an average of 85,000 daily viewers. Meanwhile, Universo experienced a slight dip, dropping to an average of 47,000 daily viewers. Gala Novelas and BeIN Sports Espanol garnered an average audience of 11,000 and 2,000 viewers respectively.
Streaming Viewership in %
Streaming: For the second month straight, the overall streaming viewership decreased. In September, streaming accounted for 37.5% of total television viewership, down from August’s 38.3%. This downward trend is likely a consequence of televised sporting events’ increasing prevalence, both on the collegiate and professional level. Although many streaming services are breaking into the world of live televised sports, such as Prime Video with Thursday Night Football and Hulu accompanying their live sports packages, it has not won over audiences accustomed to watching live events via broadcast. Among streaming services, YouTube and Netflix remain firmly at the top, accounting for 24% and 20.8% of streaming viewership respectively. Hulu and Prime Video continue to vie for third place, with each service accounting for 9.6% of streaming viewership, a small increase for both platforms. Following these two services is Disney+ with 5.1% of streaming viewership. Tubi narrowly outperformed Max in September, garnering 3.5% of viewership compared to Max’s 3.2%. Peacock and Roku tied, each accounting for 2.9% of the streaming audience. Paramount+ continues to struggle, only holding 2.7% of the streaming audience in September. Lastly, Pluto TV came in with only 2.2% of total streaming viewership. The remaining 13.5% of streaming viewership belonged to other streaming services, including high-bandwidth video streaming on television and apps designed to deliver live broadcast and cable programming.