‘Big Brother’ Is the Head of American Households With Thursday Primetime Ratings Win

Brandon Katz
·4 min read

CBS’ “Big Brother” was the top-rated primetime series across all of broadcast television Thursday night. The episode, which followed the show’s similarly dominant ratings performance on Wednesday, scored a leading 0.71 rating in the highly-coveted advertiser-friendly 18-49 demo and a healthy 3.2 million total viewers. The strong performance helped anoint CBS as the highest-rating broadcast network in Thursday primetime ratings with an average demo score of 0.42.

Yet despite the top-notch numbers, “Big Brother” wasn’t the most-watched offering of the night. That honor goes to ABC’s “Press Your Luck,” which drew a 0.43 demo rating and 3.6 million total viewers. As such, it’s no surprise that ABC was the most-watched network overall with 3.1 million total average viewers.

Also Read:
‘Big Brother’ Wins the Primetime Wednesday Ratings Duel

Here’s an overview of the major broadcast network ratings for the night:

CBS was the top-rated network with a 0.42 average demo rating, though it was second in total average viewers with 2.7 million, according to official live plus same day Nielsen data.

A rerun of “Young Sheldon,” the network’s biggest comedy, cooked up a 0.32 rating and 3.5 million total viewers at 8. At 8:30 p.m., a rerun of of breakout rookie comedy “Ghosts” scared up a 0.30 rating and 2.8 million viewers. It was followed by the second night of “Big Brother’s” return, which notched a massive 0.71 demo rating and 3.2 million viewers at 9. CBS closed out the primetime night with 10 p.m.’s “CSI: Vegas,” which drew a 0.23 rating and 1.7 million total viewers.

ABC was second in the ratings with a 0.36 average demo score, but first in total average viewership with 3.1 million. As mentioned, “Press Your Luck” led the night in total viewers with 3.6 million while the series also notched a healthy 0.43 demo rating. It was followed at 9 by “Generation Gap,” which scored a 0.41 rating in the key demo and 3.4 million total viewers. “Fatal Flaw” rounded out the primetime night with a 0.24 rating in the ad-friendly demo and 2.1 million total viewers.

NBC dropped down to third in both the average demo ratings and total average viewers with a 0.24 and 2.3 million, respectively. A block of “Law & Order” reruns are dependable, but perhaps not explosive when it comes to viewership. At 8, “Law & Order” scored a 0.22 demo rating and 2.5 million total viewers. It was followed by “Law & Order: SVU” (0.28, 2.5 million) at 9 and “Law & Order: Organized Crime” (0.23, 1.8 million) at 10.

Fox was fourth in the ratings with a 0.18 key demo average and 830,000 total average viewers. This included “MasterChef’s” 0.23 rating and 1.1 million viewers at 8 p.m., followed by back-to-back episodes of sitcom “Welcome to Flatch,” which earned a .15 demo rating and 622,000 total viewers at 9 p.m. and a 0.12 rating and 536,000 total viewers at 9:30 p.m.

The CW rounds out the broadcast networks with an average demo score of 0.04 and 347,000 total average viewers. “Walker” rustled up a 0.04 rating and 396,000 total viewers at 8 while 9’s “The Flash” jogged toward a 0.04 and 299,000 total viewers.

Neither Fox nor The CW air primetime programming at 10 p.m.

Also Read:
NBC’s ‘America’s Got Talent’ Scores the Golden Buzzer for Tuesday Primetime Ratings

Among the Spanish-language networks, Univision finished first with a 0.4 average demo rating and 1.2 million total average viewers. “Mexicana y El Guero” drew a 0.3 rating and 1 million total viewers at 8, followed by “La Herencia: Un Legado de Amor” (0.5, 1.5 million) at 9 p.m. and “Mujer de Nadie” (0.4, 1.3 million) at 10 p.m.

Telemundo was second in ratings with a 0.25 average key demo rating and 1.1 million total average viewers. “Casa de Famosos” led the way from 7 p.m.-9 p.m. with a 0.3 demo rating and 1.3 million viewers. “Amor Valiente” followed from 9 p.m.-10 p.m. with a 0.2 rating and 922,000 total viewers.