All the Whos down in Whoville like Christmas a lot, but the majority of Monday night viewers tuned into the NBA’s Houston Rockets vs. Oklahoma City Thunder game on ABC.
While basketball brought ABC to the top of the Nice List (and Nielsen ratings) for the holiday evening, showings of the 1966 animated classic “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas” and the 2000 live-action flick “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” brought NBC into a comfortable second place.
ABC was first in ratings with a 1.8 rating/7 share in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic and in total viewers with an average of 5.5 million, according to preliminary numbers. The Rockets vs. Thunder game drew a 4.1 rating in metered markets from 8-10:30 p.m., followed by a repeat of “Black-ish.”
NBC was second in ratings with a 1.3/5 and in viewers with 4.2 million. At 8, a telecast of “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas” nabbed a 1.6/6 and 5.3 million viewers. From 8:30-11, a showing of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” posted a 1.3/5 and 4 million viewers.
CBS was third in ratings with a 0.6/2 and in viewers with 4 million. The network’s primetime lineup included reruns of “The Big Bang Theory,” “Kevin Can Wait,” “Young Sheldon,” “Man with a Plan,” and “Scorpion.”
Univision and Fox tied for fourth in ratings, with a 0.4/2 and 0.4/1, respectively. Fox came in fourth in total viewers with 1.4 million, airing repeats of their “Showtime at the Apollo” special and “The Gifted.” Univision was fifth with 1.3 million.
Telemundo was sixth in ratings with a 0.3/1 and seventh in viewers with 807,000.
The CW was seventh in ratings with a 0.2/1 and sixth in viewers with 948,000, broadcasting reruns of the “iHeartRadio Jingle Ball 2017” concert and “Whose Line is it Anyway.”