The cheers for the 25th season finale of “Dancing with the Stars” weren’t as audible as the sobs out of “This is Us” fans Tuesday night. The NBC drama drew more viewers on-average than ABC’s competitive dance series, which set a new all-time low rating for a Mirrorball handoff episode.
“This is Us” was the No. 1 show of the night in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic and won the 9 p.m. time slot up against the first hour of “Dancing with the Stars,” helping NBC crush ABC in Nielsen ratings for the evening.
That all said, “NCIS” and “Bull” handed CBS another first place primetime finish among overall members. The Disney-owned broadcaster settled for third by that metric.
NBC was first in ratings with a 1.8 rating/7 share in the 18-49 demographic and second in total viewers with an average of 8.3 million, according to preliminary numbers. At 8, “The Voice” snagged a 1.7/7 and 9.3 million viewers. At 9, “This is Us” posted a 2.5/9 and 9.3 million in viewers. At 10, the season premiere of “Chicago Med” received a 1.3/5 and 6.2 million viewers.
ABC was second in ratings with a 1.3/5 and third in viewers with 7.8 million. At 8, “The Middle” had a 1.3/6 and 6 million viewers. At 8:30 p.m., “Fresh Off the Boat” received 1.1/4 and 4.3 million viewers. The “Dancing with the Stars” finale from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. put up a 1.3/5 and averaged 9.2 million viewers across those 2 hours.
CBS was third in ratings with a 1.1/4 and first in viewers with 9.8 million. At 8, “NCIS” put up a 1.4/6 and 12.5 million viewers. At 9, “Bull” snagged a 1.1/4 and 9 million viewers. At 10, “NCIS: New Orleans” had a 0.9/4 and 7.9 million viewers.
Fox was fourth in ratings with a 0.8/3 and in viewers with 2.9 million. At 8, “Lethal Weapon” got a 1.0/4 and 3.9 million viewers. At 9, “The Mick” had a 0.7/3 and 2.2 million viewers. Following that lead-in, “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” had a 0.6/2 and 1.7 million viewers at 9:30 p.m.
The CW was fifth in ratings with a 0.6/2 and in viewers with 1.8 million. At 8, “The Flash” grabbed a 0.8/3 and 2.2 million viewers. At 9, “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow” had a 0.5/2 and 1.5 million viewers.
Telemundo was sixth in ratings with a 0.5/2 and seventh in viewers with 1.3 million.
Univision was seventh in ratings with a 0.4/2 and sixth in viewers with 1.4 million.