‘This Is Us’ Beats ‘Big Bang Theory’ in Total Ratings

This Is Us scored a huge victory in its Monday night time-slot earlier this month, beating out Big Bang Theory in all the key Nielsen metrics. Fans of the NBC favorite are rejoicing now that the number are in from Monday, November 6th, week 7 of the 2017-2018 broadcast season.

Typically, This Is Us is neck and neck with The Good Doctor — ABC‘s hit drama, which is having a sensational first season. On November 6th, however, The Good Doctor took a night off to make room for an ABC News special, called Living Every Day: Luke Bryan. That gave This Is Us a foothold to one-up the competition.

The success of big network shows like these are measured by the Nielsen+7 rating. Nielsen approximates total viewers in the live audience, plus people who watch the episode in the seven days after it airs, either on demand, through Hulu, or certain other services.

This Is Us beat out Big Bang Theory — which was its closest competitor — by 28 percent of total viewers during the week of November 6th, and 36 percent in key demographics. In total, the show made a 64 percent increase in total viewers, jumping from 9.88 million viewers to 16.16 million.

The trend looks good for This Is Us, but does it represent a one night fluke, or a demographic shift?

It’s hard to say, especially in today’s day and age when most people simply don’t tune in live for their favorite shows on cable. The Nielsen+7 is a step in the right direction, but it’s still hard for the old network establishment to track their audience. It’s especially strange in comparison to streaming services like Netflix, HBO, and Hulu — who have precise data on who watches what and when.

Photo Credit: Getty / NBC