Ellen DeGeneres Is Now A Reality TV Titan, Producing The Year’s Biggest New Unscripted Hit — Ratings Watch
Ellen DeGeneres has done it again. The star’s new NBC unscripted series “Ellen’s Game of Games” has become the biggest alternative series launch during the regular season in two years, since the premiere of the Peacock’s “Little Big Shots” — which DeGeneres also executive producers.
“Ellen’s Game of Games” features host DeGeneres (who executive producers through her A Very Good Television Production shingle) as she puts contestants through a wide variety of stunts, quizzes and games as first seen on her daytime talk show. “Game of Games” premiered on Jan. 2 with back-to-back episodes that averaged a strong 2.5 rating and 2.7 rating. The show was almost immediately renewed for a second season based on those numbers. Serving as the Tuesday night lead-in to “This Is Us,” the show has also benefited a bit from that hit’s halo.
“Ellen’s enthusiasm and energy is utterly infectious,” NBC Entertainment alternative president Paul Telegdy said when he renewed the show last month. “It’s been exciting to watch her antics supersized on a primetime stage.”
Hosted by Steve Harvey, “Little Big Shots” was an even bigger phenomenon when it premiered in 2016, and spawned the spinoff “Little Big Shots: Forever Young.” Like “Game of Games,” “Little Big Shots” was inspired by a segment on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” where she features child performers.
Besides those two unscripted shows, DeGeneres is also an executive producer on ABC’s new comedy “Splitting Up Together” and Netflix’s animated adaptation of Dr. Seuss’ “Green Eggs and Ham.”
Meanwhile, the biggest story of the week, of course, was the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, which led the week’s ratings charts even though it didn’t start until last Thursday. The Opening Ceremonies averaged 29.2 million viewers on linear TV — making it the most-watched Friday night in four years, according to NBC, besting four World Series games, two NBA Finals games and all three Fridays of the Rio Olympics.
In cable, Atlanta ruled: Bravo’s “Real Housewives of Atlanta” was the top-rated program of the week (1.4 rating). And according to Xfinity, “This Is Us” continues as the most-watched show on demand.
Here are this week’s rankers:
Adults 18-49 ranker, week ending Feb. 11, 2018:
RANK | SHOW & NETWORK | LIVE+3 RATING | WATCHED RATING |
1 | Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony NBC | 6.9 | 6.5 |
2 | Winter Olympics Sunday Prime NBC | 5.5 | 5.4 |
3 | Winter Olympics Saturday Prime NBC | 5.0 | 4.8 |
4 | This Is Us NBC | 4.3 | 2.7 |
5 | Winter Olympics Thursday Prime NBC | 3.9 | 3.7 |
6 | Grey’s Anatomy ABC | 3.1 | 2.0 |
7 | The Good Doctor ABC | 3.0 | 1.7 |
8 | 9-1-1 Fox | 2.8 | 1.7 |
9 | Celebrity Big Brother Wednesday CBS | 2.4 | 1.8 |
10 | The Bachelor ABC | 2.3 | 1.8 |
11 | Chicago Med NBC | 2.2 | 1.5 |
12 | Law & Order: SVU NBC | 2.1 | 1.3 |
tie | Ellen’s Game of Games NBC | 2.1 | 1.9 |
14 | NCIS CBS | 2.0 | 1.5 |
tie | Celebrity Big Brother Thursday CBS | 2.0 | 1.4 |
tie | Chicago PD NBC | 2.0 | 1.2 |
17 | Scandal ABC | 1.8 | 1.1 |
18 | The Resident Fox | 1.7 | 1.1 |
tie | The Middle ABC | 1.7 | 1.2 |
tie | Celebrity Big Brother Sunday CBS | 1.7 | 1.2 |
tie | Bull CBS | 1.7 | 1.2 |
22 | Lethal Weapon Fox | 1.6 | 1.1 |
tie | How to Get Away with Murder ABC | 1.6 | 0.8 |
tie | Celebrity Big Brother Friday CBS | 1.6 | 1.0 |
tie | The Blacklist NBC | 1.6 | 1.0 |
Adults 18-49; ratings points. Source: Nielsen Media Research |
Total viewers ranker, week ending Feb. 4, 2018:
RANK | SHOW & NETWORK | LIVE+3 | WATCHED |
1 | Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony NBC | 29.19 | 27.86 |
2 | Winter Olympics Sunday Prime NBC | 23.34 | 22.70 |
3 | Winter Olympics Saturday Prime NBC | 22.31 | 21.41 |
4 | NCIS CBS | 16.98 | 13.90 |
5 | Winter Olympics Thursday Prime NBC | 16.79 | 16.00 |
6 | The Good Doctor ABC | 15.07 | 9.64 |
7 | This Is Us NBC | 14.71 | 10.14 |
8 | Bull CBS | 14.12 | 10.90 |
9 | NCIS: New Orleans CBS | 11.65 | 8.39 |
10 | Chicago Med NBC | 10.62 | 7.36 |
11 | Chicago PD NBC | 10.56 | 7.25 |
12 | Grey’s Anatomy ABC | 10.33 | 7.33 |
13 | 9-1-1 Fox | 10.22 | 6.64 |
14 | Law & Order: SVU NBC | 9.11 | 6.64 |
15 | Celebrity Big Brother Wednesday CBS | 8.68 | 7.28 |
16 | The Blacklist NBC | 8.64 | 6.35 |
17 | Ellen’s Game of Games NBC | 8.45 | 7.70 |
18 | The Bachelor ABC | 7.97 | 6.83 |
19 | 60 Minutes CBS | 7.95 | 7.61 |
20 | Scorpion CBS | 7.91 | 5.55 |
21 | Kevin Can Wait CBS | 7.78 | 6.96 |
22 | Man With a Plan CBS | 7.20 | 6.47 |
23 | The Middle ABC | 7.12 | 5.63 |
tie | Celebrity Big Brother Thursday CBS | 7.12 | 5.50 |
25 | The Wall NBC | 7.10 | 6.75 |
Total viewers; in millions. Source: Nielsen Media Research |
Here is this week’s Xfinity On Demand ranker:
Top 20 TV Series, Feb. 5-11, 2018:
RANK | SHOW | NETWORK |
1 | This Is Us | NBC |
2 | 9-1-1 | Fox |
3 | The Good Doctor | ABC |
4 | The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story | FX |
5 | Game of Thrones | HBO |
6 | Shameless | Showtime |
7 | Big Brother: Celebrity Edition | CBS |
8 | The Resident | Fox |
9 | Homeland | Showtime |
10 | Married At First Sight | FYI |
11 | The Alienist | TNT |
12 | Law & Order: SVU | NBC |
13 | The Chi | Showtime |
14 | Grey’s Anatomy | ABC |
15 | The X-Files | Fox |
16 | The Bachelor | ABC |
17 | The Simpsons | Fox |
18 | Grown-ish | Freeform |
19 | Divorce | HBO |
20 | The Big Bang Theory | CBS |
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