It didn’t have much to go up against, but CBS topped Tuesday primetime with some reruns and the Kennedy Center Honors special. But that doesn’t mean it was a particularly good night for America’s most-watched network.
The year-ago Kennedy Center Honors had a 1.2 rating/4 share in the key 18-49 demographic and about 9.3 million viewers overall. This year, it tied a record low 0.9 rating, which it previously had fell to in 2013. The show two-years-ago marked a low of a rounded 7.2 million viewers; this one was up around 7.5 million — still down quite a bit year over year.
Still, the Nielsen marks were good enough for the outright broadcast win last night, as aside from the awards ceremony, no other shows on the English-language networks were even originals.
CBS was first in ratings with a 1.0 rating/3 share in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic and in total viewers with an average of 8.5 million, according to preliminary numbers. Following reruns, the Kennedy Center Honors special aired from 9 p.m. to 11.
NBC and Univision tied for second in ratings, both with a 0.8/3. NBC was second in total viewers with 4.1 million; Univision was fourth with 2.1 million.
Telemundo was fourth in ratings with a 0.7/2 and fifth in viewers with 2 million.
ABC was fifth in ratings with a 0.6/2, but third in viewers with 2.5 million.
Fox was sixth in ratings with a 0.5/2 and in viewers with 1.7 million.
The CW was seventh in ratings with a 0.3/1 and in viewers with 1.1 million.