The Kennedy Center Honors fell to a new low on Wednesday, when the 44th annual program settled for an average of 4.1 million total viewers from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. Still, combined with a “Price Is Right” holiday special, CBS had primetime television’s largest audience.
In the key demo of adults 18-49, CBS and NBC tied for first place, both with a 0.4 rating last night.
Wednesday’s Kennedy Center Honors recognized Lorne Michaels, Bette Midler (pictured above), Justino Díaz, Joni Mitchell and Berry Gordy. Last year’s special, which aired in June, drew 5.3 million total viewers.
Fox and ABC ended up in another broadcast tie, this one for third place. Fox aired its “Masked Singer” Christmas special on Wednesday. NBC, ABC and The CW aired reruns last night. NBC was a contender thanks to re-airing “Dr. Seuss’s The Grinch” from 8 to 10 p.m.
CBS and NBC tied for first in ratings, both with a 0.4 in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic. CBS was first in total viewers with an average of 4.4 million, according to preliminary numbers. NBC was second with 2.3 million total viewers.
For CBS, “The Price Is Right at Night: Holiday Edition” earned a 0.5 rating in the demo and posted 4.9 million total viewers. It the was night’s most-watched show, and tied with “The Grinch” for the highest rating among adults 18-49. The Kennedy Center Honors managed a 0.3 rating among those same young adults.
Fox and ABC tied for third in ratings, both with a 0.3. Fox was third in total viewers with 2 million, ABC was fourth with 1.7 million.
For Fox, the “Masked Singer” holiday singalong aired throughout the net’s two-hour primetime window, averaging the channel’s above numbers.
The CW was fifth in ratings with a 0.1 and in total viewers with 541,000.
We do not have early Nielsen numbers for Spanish-language broadcast networks Univision and Telemundo.