‘Big Brother’ Continues Ratings Domination Despite NFL Return to Thursdays

Thanks to NFL preseason games, there were pre-emptions across the country and all the broadcast networks. Big Brother came out victorious on the night, although many of the numbers were lowered after Nielsen updates are published.

The NFL pre-emptions resulted in stronger than usual early numbers. The final numbers later published by TV By The Numbers were more in line with summer averages.

The networks mostly ran repeats so new shows would not be pre-empted by NFL play. The only new shows on the night were CBS‘ Big Brother, NBC‘s Trial & Error and ABC‘s game show night.

Over at CBS, the night started with a repeat of The Big Bang Theory, which drew 4.60 million viewers and a 0.7 18-49 rating. Young Sheldon followed with 4.12 million viewers and a 0.7 rating in the key demographic.

Big Brother followed with 4.99 million viewers and a 1.7 18-49 rating, making it the most-watched and highest-rated show of the night, notes TV By The Numbers. This was a return to the top for the show, since last week’s Thursday episode lost out to the NFL’s annual Hall of Fame Game.

CBS’ night ended with a repeat of SWAT, which had 2.32 million viewers and a 0.4 18-49 rating.

NBC’s night started with an America’s Got Talent repeat, which had 3.82 million viewers and a 0.7 18-49 rating.

Trial & Error‘s first half-hour had 1.91 million viewers and a 0.4 18-49 rating, while the second episode had 1.37 million viewers and a 0.3. The early numbers were heavily inflated thanks to the NFL, since Trial & Error had been averaging just 0.5 18-49 ratings for season two, notes The Hollywood Reporter.

A Law & Order: SVU repeat had 2.39 million viewers and a 0.5 18-49 rating.

Over at Fox, a two-hour MasterChef repeat had 1.84 million viewers and a 0.6 18-49 rating.

ABC’s gameshow night started with The Gong Show, which had 2.35 million viewers and a 0.4 18-49 rating. Match Game had 2.97 million viewers and a 0.6 rating in the demographic and Take Two had 2.95 million viewers and a 0.6. All three shows’ final numbers were down from last week.

The CW had a night of scripted repeats, whose numbers were also boosted by NFL games. Supernatural had 620,000 viewers and a 0.1 18-49 rating. Black Lightning had 530,000 viewers and a 0.1 18-49 rating.

Overall, CBS was the king of the night, with 4.02 million viewers and a 0.8 18-49 rating across the three hours of primetime. NBC had 2.37 million viewers and a 0.5, while Fox had 1.84 million viewers and a 0.6 rating as well. ABC had 2.76 million viewers and a 0.5 18-49 rating, while The CW‘s two hours averaged 580,000 million viewers and a 0.1 18-49 rating.

Photo credit: Sonja Flemming/CBS