The 24th Annual Critics’ Choice Awards pulled in ratings that were even with last year’s show in the all-important 18-49 demographic on Sunday — but rose 18 percent in total viewers, according to preliminary numbers.
The year-ago Critics’ Choice Awards had a 0.3 rating and 1.283 million viewers — airing Thursday, Jan. 11 on The CW — while last night’s three-hour broadcast also put up a 0.3, but earned 1.510 million viewers for the younger-skewing network.
Meanwhile, Fox scored an easy Sunday victory in both the key demo and overall eyeballs, thanks to a very strong lead-in from an NFL playoff game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the New Orleans Saints, which spilled over by about six minutes into the rest of primetime.
That overrun gave a serious boost to Fox’s Sunday comedy line-up, including a four-year high for “The Simpsons,” which put up a 3.8 in the demo and and 10.2 million viewers, the highest same-day numbers the animated sitcom has seen since a 4.7 and 10.62 million viewers in January 2015, which also came courtesy of an NFL lead-in.
However, due to the nature of live programming, those Fox numbers above — and the ones below — are subject to significant adjustment when time-zone adjusted final figures come in later Monday.
Fox was first in ratings with a 4.8 rating/18 share in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic and second in total viewers with an average of 14.9 million, according to preliminary numbers. From 7-8 p.m., the end of the Eagles vs. Saints game posted a 10.1/36 and 33.4 million viewers. At 8, “The Simpsons” (with a six-minute spillover from the game) put up a 3.8/14 and 10.2 million viewers. At 8:30, “Bob’s Burgers” earned a 2.2/8 and 5.3 million viewers. “Family Guy” at 9 took a 1.8/7 and 4.2 million viewers. At 9, the “Rel” Season 1 finale got a 1.1/4 and 2.8 million viewers.
ABC was second in ratings with a 1.0/4 and third in viewers with 4.5 million. Following a repeat, “America’s Funniest Home Videos” at 8 received a 1.3/5 and 6.3 million viewers. At 9, “Shark Tank” got a 1.1/4 and 4.3 million viewers. ABC finished primetime with an encore “Shark Tank.”
CBS was third in ratings with a 0.8/3 and second in viewers with 7.6 million. At 7, “60 Minutes” took a 0.7/3 and 8.1 million viewers. At 8, “God Friended Me” posted a 0.9/3 and 8.2 million viewers. “NCIS: LA” at 9 had a 0.9/4 and 8.3 million viewers. At 10, “Madam Secretary” managed a 0.6/3 and 6 million viewers.
NBC was fourth in ratings with a 0.6/2 and in viewers with 2.5 million, filling its primetime block with a telecast of “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.”
Univision and Telemundo tied for fifth in ratings, each with a 0.5/2.
Univision was fifth in viewers with 1.6 million.
Telemundo was seventh in viewers with 1.2 million.
The CW was seventh in ratings with a 0.3/1 and sixth in viewers with 1.5 million, airing the 24th Annual Critics Choice Awards throughout primetime.